41

Adam

Locker

Thinking back to all of the conversations in the locker room where I'd laughed at other football players dealing with their girlfriends' exes, I knew this was some sick, twisted, karmic joke. I wasn't even dating Piper and I still had to contend with him. Bastard.

I thought about Thomas Sullender's car, one of his prized possessions at KYU.

What's another felony on the list?

My brain was thinking faster than the situation needed it to. I didn't know if Piper wanted his car smashed to pieces. I just knew it'd make me happy. But I needed to be casual about this. Piper stood there, shellshocked in the elevator—and if I was being honest—still pretty tender about her breakup. I needed to be smooth. Smoother than butter. Ice-cold smoothness. The kind of smooth that the old Adam had before being tied to my RA.

"So…you and him…?" I cut off the rest of my words.

Nice one, Russell. Subtle .

"You didn't want him to call?" I tried instead. That was better.

"Adam, be serious." She rolled her eyes.

What the hell does that mean?

That right there was the red flag that I would've laughed at if any other guy told me about it. What, her ex still calls her? Oh, man, suck it up, buddy! They're clearly still fucking. Time to move on!

Instead, I took a deliberate step away from her in the elevator to clear my head.

It wasn't the conversation. Being that damn close to her was affecting me. In the seconds that the elevator crept towards the first floor, I had to remember who she was. My resident assistant, the woman assigned to keeping me on track. My babysitter.

We were so close together, I could smell her perfume and taste it on the back of my tongue.

The Adam from three months ago would've been laughing at me right now. My right hand curled into a fist.

Piper bit her lip. "Have you ever…?"

No .

"Wanted to text an ex back?" I suggested and cleared my throat. "Uh…had feelings for an ex and kept them…after you broke it off…?"

"What? No." Piper gave me a hard look. "Don't laugh about this. I don't have feelings for Thomas. Oh my god. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

I didn't dare say another word for the rest of the elevator ride. Piper rolled her eyes next to me and strode out the moment the doors opened and then, and only then, did I allow myself to pump my fist into the air. Holy shit . Of course she didn't have feelings for Thomas anymore. Fuck that loser. She could do so much better than him.

"Yeah." I grinned, trailing right behind her, practically on her heels. "Fuck exes, am I right? Look, if it's done, it's done. Might as well block their numbers. That's the healthy thing, right? Just block. Might as well never even mention them ever, ever again. Pretty sure I read that in an article somewhere—"

"Adam." Piper stopped me and rubbed her temples. "We need to be serious for a second."

My grin was so wide, it hurt. "I can be serious. I can be the most serious dude you've ever met, one serious-ass motherfucker. Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, serious as shit. Every serious you can imagine. So fucking serious, call me Kurt Russell from—I can't think of a serious movie—but I'm sure Kassie could—"

" Adam ," Piper hushed me. Even though we stepped outside, to a campus that was just beginning to rise for the morning, she dropped her voice. "We can't let what… happened this weekend ever happen again."

"No more smashing cars. Got it."

She took a deep breath. "Not that."

Ah .

Piper wasn't talking about beating that Clemenza to a pulp at all. No, my RA was talking about when I'd touched her pussy and felt her up and finally got to do what I'd been daydreaming about for too long. It took only a few minutes for her to come in my hand and my blood had been singing ever since.

That's the part she wanted to forget about. My chest tightened.

"Understood," I said.

"We need to be professional," she stressed, gazing up at me with those gorgeous gray eyes of hers.

Her lips pressed together, full lips, the kind of lips you can't help but stare at when they're talking. She tucked a blonde strand behind her ear. Something I'd done when I had her naked in the shower.

She sighed. "You understand, right? Both of our jobs are on the line here."

Or I could pay for your housing and you can let me eat you out .

"Yep." I forced a smile. "Sounds like a plan. Professional as shit."

Thinking back to all the conversations in the locker room, where I laughed at other football players dealing with their girlfriends' exes, I knew this was some sick, twisted joke. I wasn't even dating Piper and I still had to contend with him.

Bastard.

I thought about Thomas Sullender's car, one of his prized possessions at KYU.

What's another felony on the list?

My brain was thinking faster than the situation needed it to. I didn't know if Piper wanted his car smashed to pieces, I just knew it'd make me happy. But I had to be casual about this. Piper was still pretty tender about her breakup. I needed to be smooth. Smoother than butter. Ice-cold smoothness, the kind of smooth the old Adam had before I was assigned my new RA.

"So…you and him…?" I cut off the rest of my words.

Nice one, Russell. Now, that's smooth .

"You didn't want him to call?" I tried instead.

She rolled her eyes. "Adam."

What the hell does that mean?

That right there was the red flag that I would've laughed at if any other guy told me about it. What, her ex still calls her? Oh, man, suck it up, buddy! They're clearly still fucking, she's sucking him off while you're freaking out about it, time to move on!

Instead, I took a deliberate step away from her in the elevator to clear my head.

It wasn't the conversation. It was being that damn close to her. In the seconds the elevator crept towards the first floor, I had to remember who she was. My resident assistant, the woman assigned to keeping me on track, my babysitter.

But we were so close together I could smell her perfume and taste it on the back of my tongue.

The Adam before the Birchwood Bowl would've laughed at me.

Piper bit her lip. "Have you ever…?"

No .

"Wanted to text an ex back?" I suggested and cleared my throat. "Uh…had feelings for an ex and kept them…after you broke it off…"

"What? No." Piper gave me a hard look. "I don't have feelings for Thomas, oh my god . Never mind. Forget I said anything."

I didn't dare say another word for the rest of the elevator ride. Piper strode out the moment the doors opened and then, and only then, did I allow myself to pump my fist into the air. Holy shit . Of course she didn't have feelings for Thomas anymore. Fuck that loser. She could do so much better than him.

"Yeah." I grinned, trailing right behind her, practically on her heels. "Fuck exes, am I right? Look, if it's done, it's done. Might as well block their numbers. That's the healthy thing, right? Just block. Might as well never even mention them ever, ever again. Pretty sure I read that in an article somewhere—"

"Adam." Piper stopped me and rubbed her temples. "We need to be serious for a second."

My grin was so wide it hurt. "I can be serious. I can be the most serious dude you've ever met, one serious-ass motherfucker. Clint Eastwood, Samuel L. Jackson, serious as shit. Every serious you can imagine. So fucking serious, call me Kurt Russell from—I can't think of a serious movie—but I'm sure Kassie could—"

" Adam ," Piper hushed me. Even though we stepped outside to a campus that was just beginning to rise for the morning, she dropped her voice. "We can't let what… happened this weekend ever happen again."

"No more smashing cars. Got it."

She took a deep breath. "Not that."

Ah .

My RA was talking about when I felt her up and drew circles over her clit and finally got to do what I'd been daydreaming about for too long. It took only a few minutes for her to come in my hand and my blood had been singing ever since.

That's the part she wanted to forget about. My chest tightened.

"Understood."

"We need to be professional," she stressed, gazing up at me with those gorgeous gray eyes of hers.

Her lips pressed together, full lips, the kind of lips you can't help but stare at when they're talking. She tucked a blonde strand behind her ear. Something I'd done when I had her naked in the shower.

She sighed. "You understand, right? Both of our jobs are on the line here."

Or I can pay for your housing and you can let me eat you out .

"Yep." I forced a smile. "Sounds like a plan. Professional as shit."

Our walk took us to the training center but before we made the entrance, Piper needed to make one thing clear with me.

" No one can know about the car."

"Yep."

"Nothing about the car."

I nodded. "Not one person."

Another voice interrupted us, coming up from the sidewalk. Kassie. "What about a car?"

My friends had some great timing. Both King and Kassie strolled up together.

"We're talking about my cars ," I retorted, pivoting on the fly with our new audience. "When the hell are my cars going to be released?"

Kassie laughed. "They put the boot on them for forty minutes. You could've waited an hour."

" What?! "

The traitor, Piper, giggled and tried to stifle it when I glared at her. All of my jokes got eye rolls but my Mustang, shackled—hilarious! I muttered under my breath and followed after them.

"Where's Ryan?" I asked, irritable.

"Early meeting with Coach Lawson," King replied before Kassie could. "He won't be at practice."

"How's it feel to have some time apart?" I lobbed at Kassie.

She made a noise at the back of her throat. By now, the two of them were used to the constant jokes about how they couldn't be six inches apart from each other without their organs shutting down.

"Piper, this is a good example right here." I drew her back into the conversation. "Relationships put a dog collar on you, you should see the collage in Ryan's locker, it's all these drawings of Kassie."

"Better than the collection of used condoms in yours," Kassie retorted.

"I don't have—" I stopped myself at Piper's giggle. "She's kidding. I don't have that."

"Nope, no used condoms," King announced. "I checked your locker yesterday."

We took a right but I glanced at King. He gave me an all-knowing look. Wait. Did he actually open my locker? I stopped in the hallway and Piper bumped into me. She shot me a quizzical look but I just broke away from her to try and read King to see if he was serious. Why the hell did King open my locker?

"My little sister wanted me to drop off Uncle Adam a gift," King informed me, layers and layers to his words. To anyone else, it was just a comment between friends, but my muscles tensed, watching him.

"Time to get to work," I nodded the girls off towards the side entrance to the training field but I matched my stride with King, who finally shut up.

He said absolutely nothing. The silence was murder.

"It's not what you think," I muttered.

King shrugged.

"A locker's a sacred place. You're not supposed to go looting through another man's private quarters," I continued.

He grunted.

I ground my teeth in the back with all the questions that hung in the air. If I knew King was going to rifle through my shit, I would've cleaned it out before the conference and hid them somewhere else.

"Why do you have door decorations in your locker?" King finally said.

I scoffed but I had no idea what to say. Both Piper's original door decoration—the turtle—and the brand new one she'd made for me, were hanging up in my locker. If they would've stayed on my door, someone would've stolen them. Which never bothered me before.

"It's part of a…" I wracked my brain. "It's part of a prank."

He didn't say anything.

"It's a prank—I'm doing the prank," I repeated. "But it's a prank that's not—you'll figure it out when I put it in motion. I can't explain it now. It'd ruin the magic."

A lone grin lifted on King's lips. "Could you describe the prank? I'm struggling to picture it."

"Well, I'm struggling to picture football practice," I snapped. "We're in the training center, talking like we don't have things to do. Like getting prepared for next year's Birchwood Bowl."

King chuckled and I stalked down the hallway.