6. Chapter 6

The locker room is hyped. A full freak-out mode. We just beat Loganville for the first time in five years. Damn, it feels great. Fucking fantastic. And the best part is, I scored the winning touchdown. The NFL scouts are going to love that shit.

"Settle down! Settle down! Settle down!" Coach Campbell yells over all our excitement. "Guys, give me five minutes, and then I'll let you have this night to celebrate."

JP turns down the music that he had blasting through the speakers, while the rest of us gather around Coach.

"Now, that was one hell of a game. I'm so fucking proud of you boys. You've worked hard all week. You were hungry for a win, and you hunted those Raiders down and persevered to get the W. Defense, you put up a big stop at the end of the fourth quarter that allowed our offense to go out and show Loganville that we are superior. Now, where's Boyd?"

Coach looks around, searching the crowd for me. Grant pushes me toward Coach.

"Boyd, that was one hell of a run! Holy shit, I've seen you jump, but that was top-notch. Not only did you score the game-winning touchdown, but you put up two-hundred-twenty-seven rushing yards."

Everyone starts whooping and hollering before Coach continues.

"Today's game ball goes to you. Keep putting in the work, and it'll keep paying off."

Coach Campbell hands me the game ball and slaps my back.

"That goes for all of you," he continues over the cheers. "This is going to be one hell of a season. Now go celebrate. Don't do anything stupid but go have some fun. Y'all earned it!"

Helmets hit lockers as Harris begins our chant. "Whose house?"

"Our house!" the rest of us yell.

"Whose house?"

"Our house!"

"Eagles on three. One! Two! Three!"

"Eagles!" the team responds as JP hits play on his playlist. "Win" by Jay Rock blares throughout the locker room.

My body is still jittery. The adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. The only way I'm going to settle down is to see Brynn and celebrate at the house. Unlacing my shoulder pads, I watch as some of the guys dance around the locker room. Grant steps up next to me to help pull the tight, sweaty jersey from my hot and sticky body. Removing a jersey post-game is such a process. Once I'm finally free, I toss the jersey into the hamper the team provides. Thank God for team laundry.

I'm going to miss these guys when the season ends if I decide to go pro. It's hard to believe how fast these three years are going. I know there are always going to be other teams and teammates, but there's something special about the bond we've formed here.

Xavier breaks my train of thought. "You going to see Mom and Dad?"

Barely making any eye contact with him, I answer with a strong, "Nope."

My relationship with my parents is a roller coaster. I know they both love me, but sometimes they're just suffocating. My brothers and I are gifted at football, but I'm the only one of us that has had college scouts stalking me since high school. Both of my parents want me to skip my senior year of college and enter the draft. Skipping my senior year was never my goal. Truth is, I like school and I want to finish my degree. If the cards line up for the possibility that I go first round, then I'll consider it. I'd be stupid not to. But it's going to be my decision to make.

Dad enjoys the attention that comes with having a son ‘follow in his footsteps' and Mom wants me to find some hoity-toity princess to have on my arm. That's not my style. Damien didn't even play after high school. And while Xav is good, he's only a sophomore, and he's got a lot of work to do.

And for some unknown reason, my mom doesn"t approve of Brynn, and that shit isn't going to fly.

"What am I supposed to tell them?" Xavier asks, not taking the hint that this is the last thing I want to talk about. I don"t want this high to fade.

Wrapping a towel around my waist, I finish stripping my boxers off. I grab my shower stuff and start walking toward the shower before turning over my shoulder.

"I don't give a shit what you tell them. Tell them I'm going to celebrate my fucking win without their goddamn nagging."

Making the walk into the showers, I find an open stall. Stepping into the shower, I remove my towel and turn on the water. Standing under the faucet, I let the hot water beat against my skin. Every muscle aches, and I could use an ice bath and a massage, but I'm not sticking around for that shit tonight. Tonight's party will have plenty of willing participants to rub down my body. Grabbing my all-in-one wash, I scrub the sweat, dirt, and grime off my body.

Toweling off, I make my way back to my locker, and slip on a fresh pair of boxer briefs. Grabbing my navy joggers and powder-blue long-sleeve, I get dressed. Coach requires us to wear suits when we arrive, but team apparel is acceptable when we leave. Thank God. Putting on a suit is the worst after a game.

"Party at your house, Q?" Riggsby asks, slapping a hand on my shoulder.

I give a sly grin before responding, "Hell yeah! Baseball guys are getting it set up."

The baseball team and some of the football players have worked out a system that whenever one of us wins a big game, the other sets up the party. Attending a big campus like this has its perks. There's always some wannabe DJ who is down to spin some tracks. All our parties are BYOB because we're not paying for kegs and being responsible for others. It's bad enough that we've got to be somewhat responsible since we host. A few of the backup linemen play security guards at our parties to keep the crowd under control. Fighting isn't tolerated unless it's deserved, but really, it's not tolerated.

The locker room begins to empty out. Everyone is ready to celebrate. As I get closer to the door, I hear voices rising from outside the door.

What the fuck?

"So which one of your many men are you waiting for tonight?" a girl asks in a high-pitched, Valley Girl voice.

It's a voice I can easily recognize as Tiffani's. She's the campus mean girl. Not only is she a major jersey chaser, but she's a cleat chaser, puck bunny, or whatever gets her closer to one of us athletes.

"Will," I hear Brynn quip back.

Like hell she is waiting on that prick, especially after I heard him bragging about his night with Tiffani before the game.

Turning the corner, I spot Brynn leaning against the wall. Her body is on full display and looking like sin in that red crop top, and denim skirt that barely covers her ass and makes her legs look even longer, especially with those white cowboy boots.

Goddamn, she's trouble.

Tiffani scoffs, but before she can respond, Brynn continues. "Oh no, wait, I heard you've moved on to my sloppy seconds." Continuing, she looks Tiffani in her eyes. "I guess it's time for me to choose from other available men." Brynn rolls her eyes at Tiffani and her attempt to slut-shame her.

"It's amazing you haven't passed a disease around campus," Tiffani replies in disgust, which is rich coming from her.

Will is in front of me, taking in the scene. He must have put Tiffani on the list after their hook-up last night. And a few feet from Brynn stand my parents, who I did not put on the approved list. Dammit, Xavier. This is not going to go well.

"Well, if I'm crawling with diseases, enjoy my leftovers. Now move along, I don't have time for you." Brynn gives her the brush off by pulling her phone out of her back pocket like she doesn't have a care in the world.

Only deep down, I know she cares. There is nothing wrong with the way Brynn lives her life. If she were a guy, she'd be constantly getting high fives. Hell, every guy in our locker room is getting high fives and constant praises over our conquests. Body counts are the new football stat.

Fucking double standards.

And Will just stands there, letting Tiffani attack Brynn, knowing damn well who Brynn is. I mean, Jesus, he was just with her the week before.

As that thought leaves my mind, Tiffani turns and sees Will. She runs and jumps in his arms, causing Brynn to roll her eyes.

"Baby, great game!" she squeals, and we are lucky there aren't any windows around to break. Will places Tiffani back down on her feet, and the two of them take off, hand in hand, with Tiffani's minions following close behind. I'm just about to approach Brynn when Tiffani turns back over her shoulder. "Q, you might want to double wrap it before you jump in bed with that." She says, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Bitch," Brynn mutters, but not quiet enough for my parents to miss.

I hear my mom gasp. I take a deep breath because I know I'm going to hear about this later.

"Really, Brinley?" my mother hisses. "It's appalling, the way you talk."

Turning her attention to my mom, I can see the smoke coming out of Brynn's ears.

Throwing her arms out in exasperation, Brynn claps back. "You stood right here and enjoyed the show of her running her mouth about me."

Making her way over to me, my mother gets closer to Brynn before saying something that shocks even me. "Well, Brinley, your reputation certainly implies that you should visit the health clinic more often. Thank God, my baby is smart enough not to go crawling in bed with you."

"Mom—" I cut in just as my dad says, "Abigail."

But the damage has been done. Brynn turns and storms off toward the exit. That's when I notice that even more players have filed out of the locker room to watch the shit show unfold. I turn to see Grant give me a sad, knowing look. He knows that I feel more for Brynn than I let on.

Without even acknowledging my parents, I turn and go after Brynn. I hear my mom yell my name, but there's no way in hell I'm choosing her over Brynn. Not after all that.

"B, wait up," I yell after her.

She stops with her back to me, waiting for me to catch up.

"I'm sorry about my mom."

I sling my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my side. Leaning down, I kiss the side of her head. She's quiet, and I know she's processing. She allows me to lead her through the exit to the staff and player parking lot.

I swear, if my night is fucked, I'm going to go off on every single person who mouthed off to Brynn. All I want to do is celebrate a win with my friends. A win that I fought hard to get. A win that I made happen. But nope, they've got to constantly fuck up everything good that happens to me and make it about themselves.

"Q, just give me a minute. I need to breathe."

She pulls away from my grasp and reaches into her bag and pulls out her vape pen. Bringing it up to her mouth, she wraps her lips around the tip and sucks. My body twitches as I watch her. It's getting harder and harder to ignore my body's reactions to Brynn.

"Oh yeah, and that's the way to breathe," I mutter, giving her the space she asked for.

"Don't start with me, Quinton."

She takes another inhale on her pen before she starts walking toward my blacked-out Tesla Model S. Following her, I get to her side of the car first and open the door.

"I know, B. I'm so fucking sorry for that. That's not why I invited you down to wait on me."

Leaning down to get in the car, Brynn looks up at me through her long eyelashes. She looks so fucking good today. I finally get a chance to fully check her out. A tight, distressed denim skirt, a barely there crop top that has my number on the back, and those boots. Goddamn, those boots. I can imagine what those white boots would look like wrapped around my dark skin.

Fuck, get a grip, Q.

"I'm not mad at you, Quinton." She tilts her head toward my seat, her crimson red stained lips smiling up at me. "C'mon. Let's go celebrate."

Closing her door, I make my way around to the driver's side of the car. Opening the door, I slide into my seat and start up the car. "Goosebumps" erupts through the speakers. It was the last song I was listening to on my phone, and, thanks to the Bluetooth, it starts right up.

"Want to grab Whataburger?" I shout over the music.

Brynn looks over at me with a smirk that I swear makes my blood rise. "Do I want to grab food from Whataburger? Q, c'mon, you know that answer."

Whataburger it is.

An hour later, both of us are stuffed from our meal and pulling into the garage of my house. I'm surprised I was able to get into the driveway with the crowd that's gathered. People are spilling from the house, taking residence in our yard and surrounding yards.

As I'm opening my car door, Brynn grabs my arm before I'm able to climb out. "I didn"t get a chance to tell you earlier, thanks to the shit show in the hallway, but I'm so proud of you Quinton. Great game tonight." She leans over the center console, giving me a very awkward hug and kiss on the cheek.

It might have been an awkward angle, but I'll take it. There's nothing I love more than this girl. She's my best friend. She makes me happy, makes me laugh, and drives me absolutely crazy. I hate that her night was ruined by comments that don't fit her.

Flinging open her door, she jumps out, taking off running toward the garage door, yelling, "Last one inside has to take a shot."

My lips turn up in a smile, and my Brynn is back to herself.

Letting her win, I enter the door as cheers erupt from the partygoers. The DJ flips the track to "Mo Bamba," and I see Brynn standing next to the kitchen counter, surrounded by Chloe, Macy, Cody, Riggsby, and a few others, with a shot glass in her hand.

This girl is going to be the death of me.

Cody pours everyone else a shot of tequila - Lord help us all.

Raising our glasses, Cody starts chanting "E-A-G L-E-S" while the rest of us chant "Eagles! Eagles! Eagles!" and down our shot.

The night is a blur. Girls are all over me, drinks are flowing, colored lights flash around us, and the party is wild. I lost sight of Brynn and her friends a while ago. I'm surprised I'm still standing. Well, I guess I'm leaning against the wall, but I'm still upright, so that still counts.

The dance floor is packed with sweaty bodies gyrating against each other. Glancing around, I see a few of the guys. Meeting each of their gazes, we tilt our heads in a bro nod.

"Q," one of the girls, Keisha, I think is her name, whines in my ear. She's one of the girls that's nestled up to my side. "Asia and I want to know if you're ready to go up to your room…maybe do some celebrating together?"

She looks up at me with pouty eyes and a seductive smirk. Her friend inches closer.

Glancing around, I spot Brynn and Will grinding against each other on the dance floor. Internally, I roll my eyes. They have the most fucked up relationship, friendship, whatever you want to call it, but Brynn's a big girl.

Wrapping my other arm around the second girl, I lead them both over to the stairs. As soon as we make it up to my room, both girls start exploring my body.

Tonight, I'm going to celebrate with these lovely ladies.