107

Adam

Denied

After the bender, my friends cleaned me up as best as they could. The guys had even helped to straighten up my apartment. But I was listless. Lifeless.

The first email came in. A random reporter asked if I had any comment on the six-figure book deal.

That was it. It didn't matter that I'd never been better on the field. My tackles, my assists, my time in the gym, my dedication to the team, I'd never been more on top of everything. Because I didn't have anything else to look forward to anymore.

Before I opened the door, I checked my phone again. The seconds ticked down to Piper's presentation. The thing I promised her I'd be there for. I knew if I wasn't busy, I'd stay on my phone the entire time. Counting down the seconds. If I left myself to my own devices, I'd walk to the presentation. Instead, I picked something to do that would take my attention off the clock.

I opened the door to Coach Lawson's office and found him and six of our assistant coaches, arguing over a couple of papers on the desk. My coach's eyes flashed up to mine and glanced back down before he did a double take.

"Russell?"

For the first time in my career at Marrs University, I was the one who called the meeting with Coach Lawson. And the surprise was clear on his face.

"Hey, coach." I stayed at the door. "Sorry. I can come back later."

His eyebrows furrowed. "If this is a prank—"

"It's not a prank, sir. I just wanted to talk to you."

All of the assistant coaches turned back to look at me, silent. No one said anything. And then Coach Lawson reached up for his cap and thumped it to the desk, motioning to all the assistant coaches. "Take your exit, boys. We'll discuss it later."

We waited until everyone filed out of the room and the door closed behind us.

"Take a seat, Russell."

I stood there for a moment, debating how to start.

"It's Ms. Fontaine, isn't it?" my coach asked.

No. That wasn't why I'd walked to his office. But the question cut like another knife and I quickly took the seat, looking to talk about what I actually walked to his office for.

"Do you know the Clemenza situation, sir?" I asked.

"What?"

"The car, sir." I ran a hand through my hair, thinking back to Piper smashing in the windows. "When we went to the RA conference, and one of the residential leaders parked his car off campus, and someone smashed it."

He raised an eyebrow. "I was made aware of the situation. Yeah."

"I'm responsible for it." I took a deep breath. "At the end of the night, I went out to his cousin's place. I still have the address on my phone. You can find it. I did it. I fucked that car up—pardon the language, sir—and I'll need to be suspended from the team because of it."

Coach Lawson stared at me. "Russell?"

"It's my fault. It's all my fault."

It was quiet between us. Another first. Either Coach Lawson was yelling at me for something I did or I was trying to smooth talk my way out of punishment. But the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock overhead. It might as well have been going backward for all the good it did me.

"I—" He stopped himself and narrowed his eyes. "That's some kind of news."

Some kind of news?

"Because I received a phone call from Ms. Fontaine a few days ago, giving me her own kind of confession, saying that she busted down the Clemenza and that's why she needed out of the contract."

I jerked up in my chair.

Piper called him?

If Coach Lawson noticed, he didn't acknowledge it. "And I spent the better part of an hour letting her know that she put together one of my most valuable players on the roster. Not just because of the numbers—you're more dependable. You're reliable. You're a team player. And I wouldn't hear of her trying to take the fall for something she clearly didn't do…by herself."

I didn't say anything.

"So, Ms. Fontaine was there with you."

"That's not what I said—sir."

"And Ms. Basil and Ms. Contractor lied to me about it." He sighed. "That's disappointing. I happen to enjoy having them around. They bring me coffee and decorate my office for my birthday on Fridays." He scratched his beard, studying me. "I suppose, if you're admitting guilt, Ms. Fontaine, Ms. Basil, and Ms. Contractor will need to be implicated as well. I'm sure they'll lose their positions with the housing board."

My blood ran cold. "I—I—"

"Unless we chalk it up to Cleo quickly deduced what happened and I choose to believe your stories because Ms. Basil has been a good friend to me for years and I was made aware of exactly why the car was destroyed."

"But—" I stopped myself. "I need to be suspended from the team."

"What else are you going to do besides football?"

"Coach—"

" Adam ."

I snapped back to attention, surprised that the coach used my first name. It was a professional thing he had with all the football players. I actually couldn't remember the last time he used someone's first name.

"The NCAA has rules for a reason," he told me.

My eyebrows furrowed. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Spring training is coming to an end. You've been working too hard and it hasn't been fun to watch. You're still in college." A low chuckle escaped him. "Even Cross knows to ease back. You can't put your body through all of this, especially when you're not signed on yet. You have to be thinking long-term."

My long-term left.

So who gives a shit?

"Sir—"

"Your suspension has been denied." He studied me for a moment. "Why did you tell me about the Clemenza?"

For a moment, all I saw were the doe gray eyes. Piper's eyes, sparkling back at me, and the way she kept to the truth. My throat tightened. Piper was a lot of things and one of those things was honest. She never hid behind anything she said.

"My parents are writing a book."

He straightened up in his chair. "What?"

"My coach—my dad—called me and I figured out they're going to be publishing a—"

"That's why they called King." He froze for a second before he whipped out his phone and put it on speaker. "Bennight. Get in here."

"Sir, I don't want other people to know about this—"

"Coming in, sir," Cleo confirmed before the line ended.

This was going faster than I wanted it to. "Sir, I'm trying to keep this as quiet as possible. If you release me because of the Clemenza, it should cut the effect it'll have on our image—"

"Russell, I don't give a shit about the image."

I paused. "I…don't…"

"They've been harassing my players and now they're going to publish a book about it? I'd like to see them fucking try." He opened a drawer next to him and pulled out a packet of sunflower seeds. He cracked a few with his teeth. "I'd like to see them fucking try."

"It's going to be about everything, sir. About how I…left them out."

"Everything, huh?" Coach Lawson snapped. "Everything? I'm sure it's going to be about how they made you sweat blood?"

There was a light knock on the door. "Sir?" Cleo poked her head in and winced the moment she saw me. "Oh, Adam, you were doing so good. What now?"

"We need an emergency meeting," my coach barked. "Law team, PR team, everyone who wears a suit in this building is expected to march in."

Her eyes widened. "What? What happened?"

"His parents decided to go on ahead and do the dumbest shit they could've done—they're writing a book ."

"They're doing what?! "

I glanced between them. "This is going to be before the draft. It's going to put the spotlight on everybody." I shook my head. "It's a sign of weakness we don't need."

"A sign of weakness." Coach Lawson shook his head. "Kid, taking care of yourself is not a sign of weakness ."

I had no idea what to say to that.