Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“What’d you do?” Riley frowns.
“Fuck if I know.” A look at Travers’ smug face has me feeling even more on edge. Coach has given me several warnings about my temper, so I tamp down the urge to hit him as I cross the short distance to Coach’s office.
“Shut the door,” he instructs from his place behind his desk. “Sit down.” He points to the blue plastic chair in front of his desk. He’s silent for a minute, rubbing at his forehead as he looks down at his cell phone, seemingly conflicted. As the silence stretches, my palms start to sweat.
“You missed another practice this week.”
I stand stock-still, waiting for him to deal the blow that I know is coming. To be honest, I’m surprised I lasted this long.
“You got anything to say?” he asks.
“I had an emergency—”
“What about last week?” he asks, cutting me off. “And the week before that? Your grades are suffering. You’re missing classes and practices.” He ticks off my transgressions on his fingers. “You’re distracted on the field.”
When I say nothing, he leans forward, folding his hands on the desk. “Are you in some kind of trouble? Is this too much pressure?”
I clench my jaw so tight it feels like my teeth are going to crack. Pressure? Yeah, you could say I’m feeling the fucking pressure. Funny thing about lacrosse scholarships—they don’t cover shit. I can barely afford to be here. Working is prohibited while I’m on the team, so I’ve had to resort to finding creative ways to make money. It’s damn near impossible juggling it all.
“No trouble,” I grit out.
“I can’t work with you if you don’t give me something,” he says, his voice tight with frustration. This isn’t convenient for him. It’s probably the reason I’ve gotten away with breaking the rules so long, and the reason he waited until after we played one of the toughest teams to broach the subject.
“All right,” Coach stands, his voice resigned. “You’re suspended for the season. Take the rest of the year to get your shit together.”
I knew it was coming. Practically dared him to kick me off the team. Disappointment settles over me, and it’s almost a relief. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. This life wasn’t meant to be mine. It never felt real anyway. College. Sports. This shit isn’t me, no matter how hard I try.
When I leave the office, the rest of the team has cleared out. Everyone but Riley, and judging by his dejected expression, I’m guessing he heard enough to know what went down.
“Just like that?” he asks, hands braced on his sides.
“Just like that,” I confirm. He scoffs as I walk past him to clear out my locker.
“Did you even try to fight it?”
“No.”
“Why the fuck not?”
I slam my locker shut, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I force a casual stride as I make my way outside. Riley jogs to catch up to me, and I know words are coming out of his mouth, but I don’t hear anything once my eyes lock onto Travers. He glances up, cocky expression plastered to his mug before blowing me a kiss.
I flex my fingers, wanting nothing more than to knock his fucking teeth out. And now, I don’t have any reason to reel it in.
I drop my bag, prowling straight for him. He stands his ground, confident that I won’t possibly do anything to get myself in even hotter water. What he doesn’t know is that I’m already done, and I’m prepared to go out with a bang. I see the moment the fear sets in. He tries to conceal it, but his eyes widen once he realizes I’m not stopping. I send my fist into his jaw as hard as I can, and he drops like a sack of fucking rocks.
“What the fuck!” he shouts, cupping a hand under his chin to catch the tooth he spits out. Well, whaddya know? My wish came true.
“Shep!” Coach hollers, marching toward us. “Get the fuck out of here!”
I huff out a humorless laugh before spitting on the floor next to Travers. “I’m gone.”
* * *
“YOU WHAT?” MY SISTER, LO, shrieks. I curl my fists at my side, forcing myself not to react. I knew she wasn’t going to take the news well. Should’ve done it over a phone call to give her a chance to calm the hell down before I got here.
“I dropped out,” I say again.
“I heard you. I just can’t figure out how you could do something so goddamn stupid,” she snaps. She starts walking around her living room, picking up random things and roughly putting them away. It’s what she does when she’s mad. She’s an angry cleaner. And finding out her little brother is dropping out of college when she worked so hard to make it happen is right at the top of the list of things that would piss her off.