45

Piper

All Truth, No Details

Going in felt like the principal's office. Heading out was freedom, but I couldn't leave Adam behind.

I pulled up a chair and waited by the door. There wasn't much else I could do. Whatever Adam and Coach Lawson were talking about, all business, definitely had to do with our situation. Even if the pool wasn't as bad as pulverizing the Clemenza, it wasn't good for us.

Us as in the predicament.

Not us as in ‘me and the arrogant, egotistical football player' us.

I tied my shoes, carefully pulling the knot together. Adam was arrogant. I knew it. You could practically taste it when he had one of those deep smirks on his face, like he was daring anybody to defy the fact that he wasn't the best of the best. But then…there was, there was…another Adam?

There was the Adam who yanked me into the pool. But there was also the Adam who yelled at a guy in my class for interrupting me. Adam who ruined my relationship and Adam who held me in the shower, with his hand around my throat, asking me to run away with him for another weekend. Adam who rolled his eyes at me and Adam who took the time to show me how to beat in a car window.

The more I tried to fold in all these different sides of him, the less it made sense.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and I glanced up before my eyes shot right down to the floor again.

Ryan Cross. Captain of the football team.

He sat in another chair by the door, about three feet away from me. He sat there, no expression on his face, arms folded over his chest. Zariah called him Mr. Intense and I had to agree.

Honestly, he scared me a little.

"Are you—uh—waiting for Adam?" I asked him, straightening up a little.

"Yes," he said.

"Oh." I hesitated. "Is he…in trouble?"

"Not yet."

I breathed out in relief. "Okay. Good."

His eyes flickered over to mine and he resumed staring down at the end of the hallway. For a moment, it was quiet, and then he nodded. "We go way back."

"Since the…accident?" I stopped myself. "No. Third grade. That's what Adam said."

Ryan's entire body shifted on the chair, taut. He stared at me. " What did you just say?"

A flush crept up my cheeks.

"Piper?"

"I—uh—third grade?"

"No. Before that."

I knew Ryan knew about the accident but I didn't expect to see the look of complete shock on his face. I cleared my throat. "I—uh—"

"That's a banned topic on the field," he told me, a hard edge to his words. "Everyone knows they're not allowed to talk about it. Who told you?"

"I—I—"

"Piper, you need to tell me. Now. "

I swallowed. "Adam…told me?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"He told me at—um—we were talking and he told me."

Ryan took his regular place back in the chair and gazed at me, confused. " Adam told you?"

"Yes?"

"Adam doesn't tell anybody about that," he muttered, surprised.

The door handle clicked and I straightened up on my chair. Coach Lawson and Adam left the office on a lot better terms than they'd entered. They were laughing about something and I waited for Adam to break off from him, all while I tried to push down the blush.

I didn't have to wait long.

"It's been a pleasure, Ms. Fontaine." Coach Lawson gave me a crinkly smile and I had a sneaking suspicion that the smiles were a rarity. He reached for my hand and gave me a hard shake. "You're a good one."

"Thank you…sir," I said, blushing hard.

I hadn't lied , per se. It'd been all truth but no detail. Maybe that's where we could comfortably keep each other.

When Coach Lawson walked away though, that still left two football players looking at each other. There wasn't…tension between them but there was something unsaid that made me want to leave the hallway too.

"This is the last time I can vouch for you, Adam," Ryan said carefully.

Everything in me wanted to run but I kept my eyes firmly planted on the floor instead.

Adam's voice was low. "I understand."

"You're my brother. You're family to me. But I have Kassie to think about now and I can't keep sticking my neck out for you. That's it."

"I get it. Thanks, man."

It was quiet as Ryan walked away and I held my breath, waiting until I could hear the elevator doors closed.

"And?" I asked, glancing up at Adam.

A grin tugged up on his lips. It was the same grin after we escaped the Clemenza hit, the same hidden smile that held a thousand secrets that I couldn't possibly guess at. He shrugged. "I guess we're stuck together, ice princess. Welcome to the Marrs family."

Slowly, I nodded. "What's the final day?"

"First of May." He nodded off towards the end of the hallway and the two of us started the walk together. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You'll get a good review for Roman Hall from Coach Lawson, personally."

"Wow."

I thought about the graduate dorm, the gorgeous apartments, and the zero work that went into it. No crazy parties, no weird incidents, and no…Adam.

This could be my first and only semester with the athletes. In the end, I'd never have to deal with them again. It'd be a whole new chapter of my life. And that would guarantee my housing would be covered and paid for my entire college career.

"All you have to do is keep me out of trouble." Adam shrugged. "Pretty easy."

"I just have to keep you in line." I almost patted his arm and thought better of it. Instead, I shoved my hands in my pockets like him. It was too easy to forget and touch him. "Did you keep the handcuffs from the party?"

A laugh burst out of him and that was the only sound in the hallway.