Page 4 of 4th and Goal (Season of Change #4)

I’m ashamed to admit, I’ve been avoiding Lilly. It’s not that our paths cross often during the normal course of a day or week, but I usually try to stop by a few times a week to check in with her. And to satiate my obsession with the young woman. I’ve kept it under wraps for years…

And yet I let it slip the other day that I find her cute.

She could take it as an innocuous, friendly endearment, or her eyes could grow so wide I could see her optic nerve and part of her brain, cheeks flushed, breathing choppy as time seemed to stretch between the two of us, until I felt it painfully snap, tagging me in the dick and sending me running like a prepubescent newb.

The silver lining is that Zoey laughed so hard when I told her, she fell off the couch, pissed her pants and had to clean up her own mess.

I almost, almost rubbed her nose in it like a dog, but refrained if only for the love I bore my aunt.

And my uncle would beat my ass into next week. It was close though.

She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend.

But she should be mine. Ugh! Fuck! Zoey’s right, and doesn’t that taste unpleasant on my tongue, I need to man up.

Lilly isn’t the type of woman where you wait and see what happens.

You snatch her up, bind her to you by any means necessary, and hold on with everything you’ve got.

Stupidity and misplaced noble intentions have wasted so many years, and I don’t want to wait anymore.

There’s a chance this could blow up in my face.

There’s a chance she won’t return my feelings.

But I know what I saw when I walked into her office on Monday.

“Brody!” I shake off my thoughts of long blonde hair and wide cushy hips, and spin around to find Elijah Addelsbach waving at me.

I wave back with a smile, until I notice he has someone with him and neither look happy.

She’s significantly shorter than Addy and obviously wearing his clothing as they hang off her much smaller frame.

Tension rolls off Addy in waves and my spine straightens as I leave my post at the admin entrance to the athletic complex to meet them.

“Addy? What’s going on, man?”

His jaw is clenching so hard, I’m surprised he’s able to speak. “My girl here had her stuff stolen out of her locker in the women’s cheer locker room.” I nod once, then hold out my hand to the girl in question.

“Brody Zeigler. Head of security.” Her handshake is confident and firm.

I like her already. I’ve known Addy since his freshman year and while we aren’t friends that braid each other’s hair and get coffee at the campus café, we are friendly and have gotten close over the years.

If he’s this pissed and holding her this tight, she’s important to him.

“Daya Moul. Head of…missing clothes.”

“Daya. I’ve heard good things about you.

I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances.

” I pull out my phone and open the app on my phone we use for campus security to fill out a statement.

She walks me through what happened. I document everything, take their contact information, and submit a request for someone in surveillance.

“My team and I will look into everything. The locker rooms do not have any cameras for privacy, but we should find something at the locker room entrance. I’m sorry this has happened to you, Miss Moul. ”

“Thank you, Mr. Zeigler.”

“Brody.” I smile down at her, chuckling when she rolls her eyes.

“Daya.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s worse!” Addy and I shake hands, and he leads her out of the athletic complex. With a heavy sigh, I realize I’m not nearly done with work for the day, so I head up to the surveillance office to review footage.

Eric and I are just finishing up our reports when my phone rings. “Mason, what can I do for you?”

“Are you still working?”

“I am.” I click to put my phone on speaker and set it on the desk between Eric and I. “Eric’s with me, we’re in the surveillance room, we had a situation here—”

“Daya Moul?” Eric and I share a look before I answer Mason.

“Yes?” Mason relays that he was called to Daya’s dorm, where Daya’s undergarments were displayed with a picture of her for all to see.

We coordinate notes, timeline, and then Eric and I dive into the footage surrounding the dorm.

Mason says he’ll call Addy to update him.

Hooded figure, 5’7”, both locations. Nothing to go on, unfortunately.

But I finish up the report so it’s on record.

“Eric, I’ve made a security alert in the system, but when you see the others, please relay the need for diligence.”

“Yes, sir.” I’m at the doorway, about to break free for the night and go home to crack open an ice-cold beer and watch the game I didn’t get to see much of while I was working, when Eric stops me.

“You ever get the ‘feeling’?” He’s smiling but I nod solemnly because I do get the “feeling”.

I’m getting it right now. “This is just the beginning.”

And he ain’t just talking about the football season.