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I’ll always love you, Liza. Forever isn’t long enough. When I sign my first MLB contract, we’ll get married and move far away from here.Shaking the haunting thoughts from my mind, I remind myself that Layne is long gone and I need to let it go.

“I’ve got to make sure you’re good, is all.” He catches me off guard by pulling my body into his chiseled chest with a warm hug. He rocks me side to side and gently kisses the top of my blonde hair before pulling away. I steal one deep inhale of his earthy scent before it’s gone.He's done this more times than I can count, but each time knocks me off kilter.

“How's your flavor of the week?” Hartley is known as a bit of a playboy on campus, but the way he acts around me starkly contradicts the party boy aura he lets on to the rest of the world.

“Wouldn’t have any if you’d put me out of my misery.” He winks and cracks both of his knuckles. “No one comes close to you.”

My hands dart to my fiery cheeks in a weak attempt to cool them off. Hartley and I run in the same circle since I’ve started a loose situationship with his teammate, Locke. Hartley makesit a point to make contact with me wherever we are, and the flirting has kicked up a notch since that night we met. Who am I kidding? I live for any attention.

“You know I’ll always wait,” he whispers under his breath before flipping his backward hat to its correct position.

“I know.” My heart contracts in my chest and is moments away from bursting at the seams. “But you really shouldn’t.” If it would be anyone, it would behim.Every stolen moment between us this past year brings me closer and closer to caving into temptation, but I remind myself that loving a boy like Hartley is dangerous territory. It’s heartbreak waiting to happen, and I can’t allow myself to give in to something like that again.

"What do you need from me to be ready?" His eyes are pools of reflected hope.

I lift my fingers to my mouth. He's asked me this question before, but I give him the same answer each time. "I don't know."

He huffs out a breath. "Let me know when you figure it out."

Hartley

Liza was the last person I expected to bump into outside of the Center for Academic Excellence. That girl can turn any moment, big or small, into my favorite part of the day. We’ve stayed friends throughout the past year, and I admit, I went on a bit of a wild streak: girls, parties, and drinks. What can you expect from a Division One football player with the world as his oyster? Especially after the girl he’s been pining after for the better part of a year continues to stick him in the friend zone and maul his teammate at parties.

Liza has been in a “situationship” with one of my teammates for months now, and I get downright murderous when I see them sucking face at football parties. She’s not mine, but I’d do anything for herto bemine. I should have spent the last yearconvincing her that I’m the one. Showing her that I would drop everything for just achanceat dating her, but instead, I flirt my heart out with her then, turn to self-destruction, hooking up with the second prettiest girl in the room night after night. I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in a friends with benefits arrangement. She’s too special.

“Mr. Knox. Follow me, please.” The stiff clerk escorts me to the back office so she can log me in the system for tutoring. I lounge in the office chair and wait for her to look up from her iPad.

“Coach mentioned that he stopped by and set some things up for me,” I explain.

“Yes.” She continues to click buttons on the tablet without making eye contact. “I’m pulling up your course load now. It looks like you have manageable courses selected for the fall semester.”

“Thank goodness.” I sigh in relief, needing the extra confirmation from her. “I need to bring my GPA up to at least a 2.3 to get off of academic probation with the team.”

“That shouldn’t be hard to do.” She flips the tablet screen to face me so I can get a good look at my classes and expectations coming my way. “Let’s start with Art History 101. It’s a basic elective course that can count towards all majors.” Flipping the screen back around, she clicks aggressively and nods to herself as she finishes the forms. “You’re all set with a tutor. All sessions take place in study room two in the library.” She slides a small neon green paper square across the desk that explains how to gain access to the Springs U Study Hall App. “You can edit sessions through the portal. It also allows you to message your tutor through a secure platform. If you have any issues with your tutor, please contact us and we’ll rematch you.” Slowly standing up from her desk, the woman escorts me back to the main waiting area.

“Thank you.” I extend my hand to shake hers before leaving just as quickly as I came.I’ve got this.

Springs U Study Hall Portal

All students and tutors will create a unique username to protect the personal phone numbers of each student. You may chat with your match on the portal as a safe and secure platform.

Class: Art History 101 Fall Semester

CreativeArtist1: Hi! I am assigned to be your tutor for Art History 101. I’m also taking the class this semester, so it will help keep us accountable for projects, tests, and papers. How does the second week of class sound as a starting date?

StarAthlete13: See ya then, CreativeArtist1 ;)

CreativeArtist1: I hope you plan to take this seriously. Art isn’t as ‘easy’ as you may think.

StarAthlete13: I take art very seriously. Are we going to finger paint?

CreativeArtist1 has logged off

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Hartley

“Have you managed to run your tutor off yet?” Ryan drowns on with his daily nagging.