Chapter 30

chapter thirty

Gavin

Voltage is the same as always, dirty and full of drunk idiots.

I can tell Quinn isn't thrilled about coming but somehow having her here makes it more bearable. Oddly enough, when she's around I don't care, all the stupid ass shit that comes along with being a football player on this campus disappears. I can deal with some drunk assholes if she's here.

"I'm glad you don't drink much," she whispers, looking around the table at the empty beer bottles.

I shake my head, "It's hard to get drunk when you have so much shit riding on your performance. If I did something stupid, it could cost me the game."

"Levi shouldn't be drinking at all," I sigh. "He's been weird since Allie was here the other night."

"He shouldn't drink because of his heart condition?" She asks.

I push one of the empty beer bottles away from us on the table, "Yeah, he always pushes things a little too far. Even now."

She turns away from the rest of the table so no one else can hear her, "Will he need another surgery?"

"Levi has cardiomyopathy. The open heart surgery he had was a procedure to remove a piece of the thickened heart muscle so his heart could pump blood to his lower ventricles. There's a chance that the obstruction could recur but we really just don't know. He's always at risk for sudden cardiac death, that's why he can't play football. It's too much of a risk, one sudden wrong move could be his last."

She turns to watch him, laughing at his rendition of I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys. Yeah, you'd never know he had any type of medical condition cause Levi doesn't want anyone to know. As long as he does what the doctors tell him, he should be fine, but getting him to listen? That's like pulling teeth. When he's done, the song fades out and everyone yells.

"That was great," Quinn says, giving him a high five when he returns to our table.

The DJ's voice fills the air, and I gulp knowing damn well I'm next.

"Next up we have Gavin Richardson and Quinn Garner."

She stares at me, and I can't help but smile.

Yep, that's right sweetie.

"Gavin, no. I didn't agree to this."

I take her hand and pull her off the stool, "You're going down with me, pretty girl."

"I can't sing," She growls, as I drag her to the small stage in the corner and watch as a woman thrusts a microphone into her hand.

"Neither can I."

The music starts and I swear she looks scared to death. She glares at me with eyes as wide as saucers, then chuckles when the music starts. "High school musical, really?"

I shrug, "Don't judge me. I liked that movie so I know all the words."

She doesn't look at all comfortable, so I hold up a finger to tell them to give us a second. "I know you said you didn't want to draw attention, but this place is a shit hole. No one here will remember this tomorrow."

Her eyes tilt up to mine, "You will remember it."

"Daisy, I remember everything that involves you. Remember? I'm obsessed." I wink at her, causing her cheeks to blush.

The music starts back up, and she gives me a look that says, "Why are you so fucking adorable and annoying?"

I give her a lethal grin right as I belt, "Soarinnnnn' flyinnnnn'."

The performance isn't grammy worthy by any means, but honestly we sounded pretty good together. Luckily Ava recorded the entire thing, so I'll have the memory to look back on.

"I've never done anything like that," Quinn says, practically laughing the entire way to the truck.

"I know, me either, but it was fun. You have to admit."

She shakes her head in agreement, "It really was."

We all pile into my truck, and as much as I want Quinn to sit next to me, she opts for the back and puts Levi up front, claiming he needs the leg room more, while she sits in the back with Ava.

"What are you doing?" She says, yanking the phone from Ava's hand. "You posted that video of us?"

Ava grabs it back, "Yeah bitch, on Tiktok. Ya'll are like a modern day Troy and Gabriella."

"Oh my god," She whines. "Now the whole world will see it, not just the drunks."

"Only two hundred thousand views," She argues, which causes Quinn to freak out.

"What?! You can't be fucking serious, Ava. Let me see that."

Quinn grabs the phone to investigate and she's quiet for a minute while I drive out of the lot, careful not to get hit by any of the drunks.

"Oh my God," Quinn whispers, handing the phone back to Ava. "Read that comment."

I watch Ava's eyes turn back on Quinn, "It's not that bad. No one knows anything."

"What is it?" I ask.

Ava shrugs, "Just some prick."

I can see that Quinn's upset in the mirror, so I pull over. "Do I need to hunt down some internet troll?"

Levi looks irritated with all of us, especially by the fact I stopped the car, and grabs the phone from Ava. "Y'all are annoying, it's just a video."

As Levi reads, so do I.

Some of the comments, in fact, most of them are nice. Several people "shipping" the hell out of us, but one comment stands out.

Isn't this Grayson Collins' girlfriend? There's still pictures of them together on Instagram. Looks like the Ridge U football team has a new cleat chaser.

As I scroll down, several other comments are coming in.

Does she fuck the whole team?

Grayson, then Gavin, who's next? My bet is on Grady since his name starts with a G.

She's cheating on Grayson with this guy?

"Delete the video," I demand, grabbing the phone from Levi and handing it back to Ava. "Delete it now."

Ava rolls her eyes, "Yes, Mr. Bossy pants."

She clicks around on her screen and the video vanishes. The fact that people were saying those things makes me furious. Quinn isn't some slut and I'll be damned if I sit here and allow anyone to talk about her like that.

Levi looks at me, and then to the back at Quinn. "I don't want to come off like an asshole, but y'all need to get ahead of this. You should tell people you met over the summer."

"By people you mean Grayson?" Quinn asks.

He shakes his head, "No, I mean the entire school. Collins is obviously telling people you are still together. You need to make a statement."

I look at Quinn in the rearview mirror, and it makes me even more angry. She doesn't deserve this shit.

"This is exactly what I thought would happen," she whispers. "It's exactly what Grayson wanted."

Ava growls, "Someone needs to expose that asshole for what he really is."

I couldn't agree more. The way he controls Quinn's life and thinks he's about to control mine isn't going to go as smoothly as he thinks.

"How do you plan to do that?" Quinn asks. "He's got everyone on this campus wrapped around his finger. He did before he even got here."

Levi interrupts, "The girls maybe, but not the whole team."

"What are you suggesting?" Ava asks.

"I'll take care of it," I snap.