Page 50 of The Game Plan
“Will one of you fucking say it?” Martinez snaps.
I keep my face still, but my jaw tenses.
AJ Danners, one of the interns I had a class with last year, finds my eyes before quickly darting them away. Clearing his throat, he straightens his shoulders. “There’s a rumor makingthe rounds about one of our assistant coaches living with a student.”
Chaos breaks out around the room.
“Could be nothing,” Hawk adds. “There’s always gossip at the beginning of the season.”
“The athletic director will be sniffing around,” Reeves says.
“They should,” Martinez says. “Derek Campbell runs a tight ship. Policies. Procedures. Structure. This is a winning program, the kind players across the country fight to join. No drama, no distractions. The spotlight belongs on the team.”
I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Now, AJ, that’s a serious allegation to throw around based on a rumor,” Martinez says, crossing his arms over his chest.
AJ nods. “Yes, sir, but I believe the rumor is true.”
Silence fills the room once again, and Danners’s eyes land on mine. Is that anger in his gaze? Is this motherfucker still holding a grudge over something stupid that happened years ago?
I’m tucked in a corner, nursing a beer with Q as I watch Sav from across the room. She’s dancing on the makeshift dance floor with some of her sorority sisters. I spot Danners out of the corner of my eye. Dressed in khaki cargo shorts and a short-sleeve patterned button-up, he’s got a plastic cup in his hand.
I glare daggers at him as he approaches Sav, leaning in and saying something against her ear. His hand is touching her arm. I growl into my beer as Q quirks an eyebrow at me.
“You good?” he asks, and I shake him off. I’m too focused on watching the shitshow unravel.
She laughs politely at whatever line he throws her way, and I can see it in his eyes. He thinks he’s finally going to get with Savannah Holycross. Too bad she’s mine.
When he leans even closer, and her back stiffens slightly, that’s my cue.
I cut across the party, shoving drunk assholes out of my way, until I’m sliding behind her like I belong here…because I do. My arm slips around her shoulders as I drop a kiss to her temple. Her head tips up, eyes landing on mine as I drop another kiss on her lips. Driving home the point that she’s mine. Taken. Unavailable to punks like AJ Danners.
Well, technically, Savannah and I aren’t official, but there’s an unspoken rule on the football team. No matter how complicated things are with Sav and me, my eyes have always been on her.
Savannah sways closer to me, leaning into my side. I watch as Danners’s expression sours. Serves him right; he knows exactly who I am and exactly what Sav means to me.
My lips tip into a smirk as I nod in his direction. “Sup, Danners?”
He clears his throat, and instead of addressing the room, he speaks to me as if there’s no one else around. “They didn’t say a name, but…there’s context. She’s pregnant, living off campus with a football coach.”
The room stills. I don’t move, don’t breathe.
More mutters. More speculation, but it’s obvious who AJ Danners is talking about. A seedy smirk slowly spreads across his face as he shrugs at me.
Martinez turns his attention to me. “You got something to say, Coach?”
Silence.
I swallow hard. The pressure builds so fast it’s like a vise squeezing my damn chest. The unspoken question is thick in the air. And with Danners practically calling me out, there’s no way I’m going to talk myself out of this mess.
I don’t hear the door swing open as I blurt the one thing that pops into my head. The one thing that might make this situation better.
“She’s my wife.”
“What did you say?” My dad’s voice cuts through like a blade as the door slams behind him.
Fuck. Me.
