The sun sets and rises again. My suitemate comes and goes as the dorm comes alive, and by the time I finally dust myself off and stand, I’ve made my decision.
I’m going to transfer schools.
As quickly as possible.
1
JAKE
Two years & three months later
Some betrayals cut deeper than others.
Expectation is everything. Knowing shit’s headed your way and preparing for the tackle keeps a man’s spirit intact despite whatever gale force sacks him.
It’s the difference between staying down and getting back up again.
The film flickers against the screen, filling the room with the familiar crunch of player smashing against player. It’s a sound I love. A sound I live for.
Or at least, I used to.
My mind is a million miles away. It should be on the upcoming game against Alabama. It should be on their killer defense that could pound my ass into the turf come next week. It should be on leading my new team to a victory.
Instead, I see my ex, Dakota, bare ass up, face down on our bed as my best friend Troy railed her from behind.
While our baby sat in a dirty diaper and cried in the other room.
Mentirosos. Liars. Both of them.
I’ll admit I wasn’t excited to have a kid. Not at first. But despite my party reputation in high school, I would never let my responsibilities slide. Unlike my father, who eventually left us, I promised myself I’d be there for Dakota.
She and I were a hookup after I’d seen my parents get into another screaming match on my mom’s front porch, one that almost made me come to blows with my father.
I was pissed off at the world, drank too much, and banged the bombshell blonde at the party who straddled my lap and told me it was my lucky night.
There was nothing lucky about that night.
I rub the ache in my chest.
No, it feels wrong to think that. I got Asher, and he’ll always be the highlight of my life even though his mother has made my life hell.
I changed everything for her.
She planned to attend North Texas U, so that’s where I went even though I’d gotten a full ride to my dream school, Lone Star State, which was four hours away. I wanted to support her and be near our son. I committed myself to her in a way I’d only ever done for family and football.
And cheating was the thanks I got.
Dakota finally admitted she’d been fucking Troy Snyder almost the entire time we were at NTU.
At least Asher is mine—the DNA test confirmed it.
Sometimes I’m tempted to pick up the phone and call Charlotte to vent before I remember she doesn’t give a shit.
That’s a whole different level of betrayal. I don’t even know where the fuck she went. Dakota and her mother Waverly won’t tell me anything, and Charlotte changed her number, so it’s not like I can ask her. And even though she took pics for her sister’s social media, Charlie never posted any of her own online. After being on that reality show as a kid, she hated being in the spotlight.
Charlotte was my best friend from high school, the girl who never asked for tickets to games or wanted my help getting into hot parties or grilled me about my college prospects. I had a little thing for her when we first met. With her light blonde hair, big blue eyes, petite frame, and quiet ways, she drew out all of my protective instincts.
She was in my English class freshman year, and one day our teacher randomly picked her to be Juliet. Charlie had to lie there while I, Romeo, reacted to her death. Even though we’d never spoken at that point, I could tell she was terrified. I hooked her pinky finger with mine to help steady her, and from that point on, we became the best of friends.
So when guys were dicks to her, I made it clear they’d have to go through me if they ever thought to mess with her. When I saw her sitting alone in the cafeteria, I pulled up the seat next to her. When she seemed sad, I invited her to hang out.
But she never looked at me all googly-eyed like the other girls. She never flirted or found reasons to touch me. She actually made me do my homework when we studied together. I figured she wasn’t into me like that and moved on. But she was still my best friend. Even when things got awkward between us after I started dating Dakota.
And no, I’m not that dick who goes around fucking friends’ siblings. To be clear, I didn’t know Dakota was Charlie’s older sister when we hooked up. One, we weren’t real big on names that night. Two, Dakota had been off recording a reality show at some ritzy boarding school in New York. She’d just moved back home after one of her classmates partied too hard and overdosed, resulting in the show getting cancelled and the school nearly closing. And three, Charlotte called her sister Kota, and being a drunk dumbass, I didn’t put it all together until it was too late.
In my head, I run through all the reasons Charlotte might’ve taken off two years ago.
Initially, I’d thought she was upset after I accidentally walked in on that conference call in the buff. Dakota had called out to me, demanding we talk that very minute, and I waltzed out of the shower with my dick and balls hanging free like an asshole. Honestly, things between me and Dakota had been so strained, I thought it would be funny. A way to break the ice, I suppose. We hadn’t had sex in months, despite the dumb shit she told her friends—probably because she’d been screwing my teammate—and some stupid part of me wanted to show her what she was missing.
Instead, I gave poor Charlie a full-frontal show, just barely stopping short of giving my dick a tug.
Chingao. I don’t get embarrassed easily, but that’s definitely not my proudest moment.
Dakota laughed her ass off. Almost as hard as she’d laughed a few nights before when she’d pretended we were fucking in the other room.
She stopped laughing when Charlie refused to return her calls. Or respond to her texts. Or do her social media posts. That’s when shit got real.
Dakota swears her “jokes” weren’t the reason Charlie went MIA. She says they got in an argument, but refused to tell me what it was about.
I didn’t get a chance to ask Charlotte before she took off.
Not knowing really fucking bugs me.
I just don’t understand why Charlie would ghost me too. I thought our friendship meant more to her. Thought she loved Asher and wanted to watch him grow up. Thought we were family, for better or worse.
Guess I was wrong. But I’m wrong about a lot of things, I’m realizing.
The lights flip on, and Coach Santos returns to the podium.
Coach, whose nickname from his NFL days is the Saint, is only in his early forties, but he has the authority of a much older man.
“Gentlemen, our first game of the season is around the corner. The challenge won’t be physical. You’ve done the workouts and routes and training. You’re elite athletes at one of the best programs in the country. Some might say the best.” Lone Star State lost in the championship game last year, and everyone knows Coach Santos spent the last several months recruiting his ass off.
The guys let out a roar of approval, and Coach cracks a rare smile before his eyes go squinty. “The challenge will be in here.” He taps his temple. “Football, like life, is a mental game. Broncos, we can go all the way this year if you want it badly enough, but it starts with mental fortitude. Tonight, when you’re lying in bed, envision those killer tackles you’re going to make. Feel the ball in your hands after you catch that miraculous throw.”