Chapter One

Reed

"We need your head in the game before we play the Kings." Coach claps me on the shoulder, pushing the door open and stepping back to let me through. "If you think that's gonna be a problem—"

"It won't be. I'll be ready. I am ready."

He lifts his chin, narrowing his chestnut eyes on me for a long pause before he nods.

"All right then. Well, if anything changes or you need somethin', you let me know."

"I appreciate it, Coach, but I got this."

He grips my shoulder again. "Get out of here, then. Have a good night."

We exchange goodbyes, and I push past him into the parking lot, gripping the playbook in my fist.

My footsteps feel heavy, one in front of the other. The moment I climb into my Mustang, I toss the notebook onto the empty seat beside me and press my palms into my eyes, unleashing a heavy growl.

"Why does it always feel like everything crumbles on top of me all at once?"

The question is spoken out loud, but there's no one here. I'm all alone, much like I have been most of my life.

I fire up my car and gun it when I pull out of the parking lot. I take the back roads home, needing the time to feel the warm breeze hit my face with my music blaring.

I had to miss the first week of school to make a trip back home. Not something I expected to do, nor did I want to do this close to the kickoff of our football season.

When my cousin, Darren, called and told me Gram had fallen, I knew it wasn't good when he asked if I could be on the next flight out. She wasn't doing well, and as my luck would have it, she hadn't been for a lot longer than he shared.

I've been beating myself up for not going home over the summer. Instead, I stayed put in Braysen with the guys.

Aside from my grandma, there wasn't much for me in Iowa anyway. Even thinking about it makes me feel guilty, but it's true. Darren took a coaching job, and we agreed he'd take on the role of looking after her since he was nearby.

Darren kept me in the dark for long enough. It wasn't until I was there and saw how she was doing that he broke the news of her being moved into a home. Somewhere she could have the round-the-clock care she needed.

She put up a fight when we told her, but we expected that too.

When my grandpa's health took a turn for the worse in high school, Gram made me promise I'd never put her in a nursing home. She insisted if she ever got to the point where she couldn't take care of herself, she'd rather be gone than depend on anyone for help. She's too damn stubborn for her own good.

The driveway is packed when I pull onto our road. I have to admit, I was relieved to be back in Braysen.

"What the hell?" I grunt over the music, seeing the large Dodge pickup parked near the door and a U-Haul trailer hooked up behind it. "Who the hell is moving in now?"

I say that somewhat jokingly, after Beckham, Hayes's twin brother, moved in after transferring to Braysen at the start of the football season last year. The house is practically full now, aside from the empty room next to mine.

Colter keeps it locked most of the time. He refuses to talk about it, but I knew he stored some of his dad's stuff in there.

We both felt what it's like to lose a parent, so I never pressured him to open up, and thankfully, he never asked any questions either.

I pull off to the side of the driveway, eyeing the Tennessee plates on the bumper of the U-Haul.

"There you are," Hayes calls out as he and Talon approach from behind the trailer. "I was starting to wonder when you'd get home."

"My plane touched down an hour ago. I stopped to talk to Coach on my way home."

Hayes extends his hand between us, and I shake it, clapping him on the shoulder in a hug.

"What's this all about?" I motion to the U-Haul, nodding to where Talon stands behind him.

There's no way he'd pull a Beckham and transfer, especially not after his team made it to the Final Four last year.

"We've been meaning to tell you," Hayes says, exchanging a look with Talon.

Beckham appears behind them, hollering, "All right, let's do this." He stops when he sees me, and he grins.

"Meaning to tell me what?" I eye him, glancing around to see who else might be coming.

Alarm bells go off in my head. Somethin's up, and I'm starting to feel like I'm the last to find out.

"You remember when we went to Rixton over spring break?" Hayes asks, and I nod.

"Talon's sister is transferring to Braysen," Beckham interjects, cutting to the chase.

I don't miss Hayes's lingering stare on me, leaving those words hanging in the air. The first time I met Talon's sister, Tatum, was at the Rixton vs. Alder playoff game.

Talon's team was expected to make it to the championship. Since Beckham and Hayes grew up with Talon, they didn't want to miss watching him play.

Rixton is about a three-hour trip, so we decided to head to East Tennessee to catch the game.

Hayes warned me to stay away from Tatum, reading into my curiosity after the way we met. From what I've been told, they grew up together, and she's like a sister to him.

He doesn't know about how I stepped in to help shrug off her ex, who, from what I gathered, was only trying to get under her skin by showing up with his latest fling.

It wasn't my place to tell anyone. I had hoped she'd use my number, but I never heard from her again.

"What's the holdup?" a soft voice flutters from behind us. "You guys forget to put air in your muscles or what?"

Beckham turns toward Tatum and playfully shoves her on the shoulder. She giggles until her eyes land on mine, and she stops. I guess it's good to see she hasn't lost her sass.

"So you're transferring to Braysen?" I ask when our eyes lock.

She nods. "Yeah, well, I…"

"She tried getting into the dorms, but they were full," Beckham adds. "Hayes and I talked to Colter, and he agreed we could free up the room next to yours upstairs and let her stay there. At least for the semester to help her get on her feet. When a dorm opens in the spring, she'll move in if she wants."

Tatum nervously rubs her hands together and nods.

"If that's okay with y'all. I mean, I know this all happened kind of fast, and I'm sorry to be encroaching on your man cave."

I smirk. "Man cave? Hardly. Not since they all went out and got themselves girlfriends. I've been the odd man out, but it looks like it's you and me now."

"You and me, what?" Talon cuts in, and Tatum bites the edge of her lip to fight off laughing. "There's no you and her nothin'. So don't go gettin' any ideas."

I hold my hands up and chuckle. "Whoa, all right, man. I mean, I think she's capable of making her own decisions, but you don't have to worry about me."

Tatum flicks her eyes over at me again. I watch as Talon lifts a box from the back of the U-Haul and pushes it into her arms, nodding toward the house.

She takes it with an oof, her eyes flashing to mine.

"I got it," she mutters.

Once she's gone, Talon spins to face me, his brows deepening. Hayes mutters a low, "Whoa, hey," under his breath, extending his arm in front of Talon to stop him.

"She's been through enough as it is, all right? Just leave her alone."

"Like I said, man, you don't have to worry about me. I was joking about the two of us evening things out. I've been the seventh wheel for a while."

I guess the rumor about us at the game didn't spread enough to reach Talon, or maybe they never figured out who she was with. Either way, it didn't matter, and I wasn't about to give him another excuse to warn me away from her.

He mentioned she's been through a lot, and I think it might be related to that douchebag ex of hers and the nasty rumors I overheard at the game. I chalked it up to gossip and girls being jealous. It wasn't going to change my opinion of her.

"Let me get my suitcase inside, and I'll give you guys a hand."

I pop the trunk of my car and unload the two suitcases. After packing up my grandma's things, I bought an extra one because there were some items I wanted to keep. I knew if I left them behind, I'd probably never see them again.

Darren vowed to keep my mom away from Gram's belongings. She'd likely be the first at the pawn shop, ready to sell everything to support her addiction. I refused to let her throw away what was left of the life she built, especially when coming face-to-face with the fact Gram is not the same woman I left behind to attend college.

Hayes and Beckham jog down the stairs, Talon following them. Talon doesn't bother to make eye contact with me again, which is fine with me.

I have enough shit of my own to deal with right now. The last thing I care about is kissing his ass and trying to convince him I'm not looking to score with his sister.

I lug my suitcases through the door and carry them up to my room when I come face-to-face with my new roommate.

"Hey. I'm sorry, just ignore my brother. He's a bit overprotective," Tatum says, motioning with her hand down the hallway.

"You don't need to apologize, especially not for someone else."

She lets out a deep sigh. "I guess you didn't know I was moving in?" She looks at my suitcases and nervously bites her lip. "I'm sorry, this was all so last minute. If I had another choice, I would—"

I grip her forearm to stop her, and she lets out a soft gasp, her gaze immediately snapping to my hand. We both remain still, her eyes slowly rising to meet mine.

"Like I said, don't apologize." I shrug. "Besides, your room has been sitting mostly empty. You might as well take it if you need a place to stay."

"I promised the Carvers I'd chip in and help around here. I love to cook, and this will give me a reason when it's for more than just myself."

I press my hand against my stomach. It's been a long-ass time since I've had a decent home-cooked meal. We grill occasionally, but I often stick to meal prepping on the weekends. It holds me over through the week. Then, on the weekends, we usually go out and grab dinner and a few beers.

"I don't have to ask the guys to know that you struck yourself a deal." I grin.

"Lucy," a deep voice shouts up the stairwell. Tatum freezes, sidestepping to let me pass by, when she hollers back, "What?"

"We're getting ready to move your bed in, so make sure there's a space cleared out and you know where you want us to put it."

I pull my keys from my pocket and unlock my bedroom door, setting my suitcases in the doorway. Tatum turns to face me as I glance into her room. Several boxes are stacked along the wall, alongside a desk I hadn't noticed before.

"Well, I guess this makes us roommates now." I cross my arms over my chest and nod toward her. "You still got my number, right?"

Her brows deepen in confusion.

"Yeah, why?"

I shrug. "Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

She presses her lips together, looking past me into my room at the jersey from last year's championship game, framed and hanging on my wall. "I hadn't pegged you for a football player when we first met."

I study her face, gauging the tinge of bitterness in her voice.

"I'm hoping that's a good thing?"

She ignores my question. "Your season is kicking off soon. I won't get in your way, and I'm not really one to ask for help. Besides, Talon has ordered Beckham and Hayes to look after me, so I'm sure they won't mind if it comes to it."

Yeah, but I've learned firsthand how they go MIA since they went and fell in love with their girlfriends.

"Maybe, or it might be a role you wouldn't want two guys who claim to be like your brothers to take on." I shrug just as heavy footsteps thunder on the stairs behind us.

Only after the words leave my mouth do I realize how suggestive they sounded, but I make no effort to clarify myself. It might not have been my intention, but I'm not lying about it either.

She shifts her gaze from me to the grunts echoing down the hallway. Her tongue quickly darts out to moisten her lips, and she nods.

"I'll keep that in mind."