Page 29 of Too Safe

Still fighting back the tears, I jog down the stairs of the deck and over the perfectly manicured yard toward the lakeshore. When my feet hit the sand, I push harder, forcing myself into a sprint that lights my calves on fire and sends a pang of awareness up through my right hip. But I don’t stop or falter. I keep going—keep pushing—until my feet hit the landing that juts out into a dock.

Once I reach the end of it, the farthest physical point from Decker and his merry band of assholes, I collapse.

My knees hit the wooden planks. My head drops into my hands. And finally, mercifully, I let the sob that’s been threatening to rip through me for the last several hours break free.

Chapter 12

Locke

Decker’soutofhisgoddamned mind.

He’s like a brother to me, but this has to be the most ill-conceived, harebrained idea he’s ever had.

“You can’t keep her here against her will,” I grit out again, bracing my hands on the edge of the stone countertop until the un-inked skin around my knuckles turns so pale it’s translucent.

It’s the argument I’ve been issuing for hours. The one the guys clearly don’t understand. Or maybe they do, and they’re choosing to ignore it.

“We voted,” Kylian states matter-of-factly.

That we did. Three to one, the group elected to force Joey to live here until further notice.

We’ve been making decisions this way for years. First as friends on the middle school football team, then through high school, and since we became roommates. It’s Decker’s house, and he’s our captain on the field, but he leads in a way that’s democratic and inclusive.

Most of the time.

But this girl has them all bugging out and on edge. Ironic, since I’m the only one who really knows her.

I’m sick over the whole thing. Joey doesn’t deserve this.

I only met her a week ago, but a deeper part of meknowsher. And I believe it when she says she has no idea what kind of treatments Kendrick and I received last night. Or why.

It’s Kendrick’s fucking fault this is all happening now.

His reaction when she followed us to the parking lot was over-the-top. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. I’ve never seen him so viscerally angry toward someone for no apparent reason. On the field, sure. The guy carries the record for most rushing yards in our division, a title that requires an unstoppable tenacity and bullheadedness. Now, his hotheadedness paired with the lack of information we can dig up on the girl have created the perfect storm.

“She’ll be fine,” Decker mutters, scowling at his phone. He’s trying to come off as unaffected, but I know him too well. He’s twisted up because he can’t figure her out—there’s no easy answer in this situation. There’s very little he can’t control. But apparently, Joey Meyer is an exception. “She’ll be more of a nuisance than anything,” he adds.

“What iswrongwith you?” I fume.

That gets his attention. His dark eyes are on me in an instant, swimming with anger as his jaw tics incessantly. It’s one of his few tells—that damn jaw tic.

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong withyou?” he counters. “You’re the reason we’re mixed up with this girl. If you had just kept it in your pants—”

“She doesn’t know anything!”

It’s what I suspected all along. And Joey hasn’t backed down from that claim. But the situation escalated when Kendrick shot off a text to the group chat last night.

“I don’t believe that. Even if it’s true, she hasaccess. Would it be worth it? Do you want to spend senior year in the stands?Ifthey don’t expel you and ban you from campus? Do you want Kendrick to be kicked off the team, too?”

Fuck.

I hate it, but he’s right.

Joey isn’t a threat. I’m certain she has no idea why we were at Radiance. But if shit got out…

Kendrick and I have both received peptide therapy since high school. The treatment does wonders for my rheumatoid arthritis, and Kendrick’s lupus has been in remission for almost two years. If it stays that way, he’s got a real shot at going pro.

But peptides are classified as a banned substance by the NCAA, meaning our football dreams would be dashed if our visits to Dr. Kline at Lake Chapel Radiance were to be uncovered. Between a discreet doctor and Kylian’s computer wizardry, we’ve kept it under wraps for years. Honestly, I sometimes forget that what we’re doing is against the rules. We have our routine down to a science, and the risk of being caught has always been negligible given who we are.

---