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Chapter Two

ROWAN

A t first, I try to ignore all the noise coming from downstairs.

It’s been suspiciously quiet for the last hour and I figured the guys had moved to one of the other houses on the street. Over the last two years, I’ve tried to avoid these parties. About three months into freshman year, the chaos that comes with cohabiting with a bunch of rowdy football players started getting to me. I moved out the following summer and haven’t looked back.

I love these idiots. But fuck if I don’t need my own space.

I only came to this party because Christian basically begged me to. Given everything that's changing, it seemed like a good idea to show my face, though I wasn’t expecting the invite to include forty minutes of going over his gameplay from this week’s practice.

Call me crazy, but I kind of thought he wanted to hang out.

All I wanted was one night of screwing around with the team, and as a bonus, it would have given me a great excuse to ignore the twelve unread messages from my dad. Don’t get me wrong, I was going to ignore them anyway, but at least if I’m busy, I don’t have to feel so guilty about it later.

Downstairs, it sounds like they’re playing beer pong or something, but as the voices start to pick up a panicked sort of edge, Christian raises his eyebrow at me from the edge of his bed. “You gonna go check that out?”

“No.” I grumble.

The last thing I want is to get involved in whatever they’ve got happening down there. This afternoon at practice, I heard some of the guys talk about ‘breaking in’ some of the freshmen. We’ve never had much of a problem with hazing, but sometimes the pranks get stupid as all hell and I don’t want to be around when it inevitably blows up in their faces.

“It sounds pretty bad?” Christian states hesitantly. I know exactly what he’s looking for, but I’m not about to play into his hand here.

“You go check it out then.”

“What?” he splutters. “I can’t-what can I-Rowan, come on, man.”

I lean forward in his chair and prop my elbows on my knees. “I’m not their babysitter, Christian. If they want to be hungover at practice, then it’s not my problem.”

Just as Christian opens his mouth to reply, there’s a collective sound of shock from downstairs, followed by some scuffling and a clatter.

God damn it.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but deep down, I knew this was probably how the night was going to end.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” I drop my head, pulling in a deep breath before I push up to stand, resigned to the fact that I’m going to have to go pick up the pieces of whatever shit’s being pulled on the ground floor.

This is why I moved, to try and get away from all this.

As I open Christian’s door, the voices get louder and from what I can pick out, it sounds like one of tonight’s pranks hasn’t gone to plan. I swear, one of these days, I’m going to strangle someone, coaching job be damned.

I round the top of the stairs, pausing to look down into the living room. The sight below has me stopping in my tracks.

There’s someone I don’t recognize on the couch. From above, all I can see is a mess of dark hair, waves that look partially crushed by what I assume was the green head that Jasper’s holding.

They didn’t…

Shoulders poke out above the back of the couch, wearing something green and fuzzy. Six members of the team, including three of our new freshmen, are standing around the living room, staring at the person with varying expressions of shock and horror.

I rub my hand across my face, steeling myself against whatever bullshit is headed my way before heading down the steps, keeping my footsteps deliberately heavy to announce my arrival. Once I’ve got their attention, I ask, not sure I’m ready for the answer. “What the fuck is going on down here?”

I’m like Medusa; my face alone has turned them all to stone. Nobody moves; the only sound is the occasional holler from a party down the street.

I catch Darius’ eye, but he ducks my stare and looks over to Jasper. It takes a long time before anybody answers and the silence puts a knot in my gut. It sounds too much like the hush in the locker room before Coach Marshall chews us out, and the looks that the guys are giving one another make me feel like a parent coming down to bust a rowdy sleepover.

I let out a sigh that’s almost a growl. “Somebody start talking.” I raise an eyebrow as I hit the bottom step. “Who the fuck is that?”

“Rowan, it’s not that big a deal,” Jasper starts, moving to put the green head he’s holding down on the end of the sectional.

“It’s a very big deal!” the person on the couch practically spits at him. Taking several long strides, I eat up the distance until I’m standing beside Jasper and get my first look at the person sitting in the center of this mess.

It’s the eyes I notice first. Big and green, rimmed with dark lashes. Her round face is framed by a mess of wavy brown hair, a little frizzy with tendrils escaping from the low ponytail it’s been pulled back into. Her jaw’s clenched in fury as her nostrils flare, but despite her obvious rage, I can see that her eyes are swollen, as if she’s been crying. A bolt of anger shoots through me as I take in this girl, so determined for us not to see how freaked out she is.

I turn slowly, taking in the guilty faces of the guys. “Whose idea was this?”

“Taylor said-” Darius starts, but gets cut off by shouts, descending into arguments about who the real mastermind was.

“Hey!” I yell, drawing up to my full height. “Knock it off. Someone just tell me what the fuck happened tonight.”

I need to get this under control before things start spiraling, but I’m so pissed off my head feels like it’s about to fly off my neck. How could they be so irresponsible? This team’s been through enough, seen enough scrutiny in the past year to last a lifetime, and they’re pulling this? How many times has Coach explained that this year, of all years, is the one where we need to keep our heads down, toe the line, and not get caught in any more bullshit?

Taylor steps forward a pace, guilt marring his features. He’s a junior, and currently lined up to take over as starting quarterback next year. He’s not someone I would usually expect to get into all this. “We wanted something to mark our first win of the season.”

“So you figured a felony was the way to go?” I ask incredulously.

“There was a bit of a misunderstanding…” Darius chimes in.

Taylor looks down at the floor, the picture of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I might have said that it would be funny if some of the freshmen went to Allbreck and brought back Gunther.”

My gut churns, realization dawning as I look back at the girl on the couch. “You meant the animal.”

“I was not clear enough, apparently.” Taylor gives a half-hearted laugh; he catches my expression and straightens awkwardly.

“We didn’t know Allbreck had a girl in the suit,” Jasper adds.

“What the fuck has that got to do with anything?” the girl seethes.

“Well, we wouldn’t have knowingly kidnapped a lady…”

“You shouldn’t be kidnapping anybody!” she yells back, trying to stand up but struggling to get off the couch. The combination of her massive outfit and cushions that could swallow a grown man whole means she just gets sucked further in.

“Okay, okay.” I put out a placating hand, stepping between them. A pulsing pain starts to form at my temples from the strain of trying to keep my composure. “Let’s all simmer down. Jasper, she’s right. I can’t believe I have to even say this, but you can’t just grab people against their will and bring them home with you.”

“I didn’t actually do any of the grabbing.” His tone is petulant. “I was the driver.”

“You drive like an asshole,” she mutters under her breath.

“How would you know?” He leans around me to glare down at her. “You had a blindfold on.”

There’s a pause in the room as his words hit home.

“I did?” she asks, her confusion mirroring mine. Her head turns, expression baffled. My eyeline matches hers until it lands on the mascot head sat next to her on the couch—the one with a carefully tied piece of black cloth over the set of eyes that protrude from the top.

The two of us stare at it for long moments, disbelief tinging the air. I almost have to laugh at how ridiculous this whole thing is, but then I remember the look in her red-rimmed eyes, and I’m pissed off all over again.

“This is the dumbest thing that’s ever happened to me…” she murmurs, her voice tinged with shock.

“I…don’t even have words…” I say. “Somebody just level with me and explain what you were thinking.”

I know that the guys barely see me as part of the team anymore, but I don’t need the reminder I’m getting as they all look at me like lost puppies. I look around, spotting one glaring absence. “Where’s Jed?”

A throat clears and I see Harley, a freshman defensive tackle, looking pointedly toward the door. Fuck. I sigh, realizing who’s at the heart of this fuckup. Jed’s a promising player, but he’s cocky. He came in this year as a legacy, his brother having graduated four years ago as a first-round draft pick, and he pretty much thinks he’s the shit. Coach Fitzpatrick has already had to have words with him a few times about his attitude, and we’re only a couple weeks into the season.

Darius steps forward, not quite looking me in the eyes. “He told me Taylor wanted us to steal Gunther from the Allbreck campus.” He sends an apologetic smile toward the girl on the couch. “He said that the freshmen do it every year.”

“We just wanted to fuck with them a little,” says Harley.

“Yeah,” Jasper adds, “those guys spent all last season messing with us. We needed to teach them a lesson.”

“We didn’t do anything like this!” Couch girl pipes up. “Besides, didn’t you idiots toilet paper every car in the sports complex parking lot?”

“That was fucking funny,” Taylor snickers.

“Your team put a traffic cone on the statue in our quad,” says Jasper.

“Aww,” she pouts mockingly, “were none of you tall enough to get it down?”

“Hey-” Taylor steps a half step forward. My arm’s out in an instant, ramrod straight, braced against his chest.

“Not another inch,” I growl.

“But she-”

“No.”

The room falls silent. I take a breath, lowering my hand. Only when Taylor steps back do I allow my shoulders to relax. I know him. I know he’d never get physical with anyone, but the last thing she needs right now is someone getting in her face. Not when tensions are already this high.

“So, where’s Jed now?” I change the subject. My hands twitch at my side, inching up to land on my hips the way my dad does whenever he’s disappointed in me. I only just manage to catch them before I’m pulling the same pose.

“He took off.” Darius rubs the back of his neck. “I think he knows how bad he fucked up. He’s gone to one of the other parties.” A couple of the fraternities are using our win as an excuse to have a rager. Coach keeps things pretty locked down during training camp, so the guys haven’t blown off any steam yet. I wonder if I should have tried to keep a tighter hold on things.

I knew that something like this was probably going to go down, but I wanted at least one night where I wasn’t on watch. I just want to be able to do my own thing for once without thinking that everything’s going to go to shit without me.

“Listen, Ro…” Taylor starts, looking uncomfortable. “I can’t get mixed up in this. You know Fitz is already pissed at me.”

“You got mixed up in this when you made the plan,” I reply coldly.

“Yeah but… You know…” he gives a halfhearted chuckle. “I’m gonna go, see if I can find Jed.”

“Hey! No. You don’t get to leave,” Couch girl yells, trying to stand up again. I go to help her up, but the glare she throws my way makes me think she might bite me if I get too close. “You have to take me back!”

“Sorry, babe, there’s no way I’m driving into Allbreck with their angry mascot in my car.”

I’m about to say something, but before any of us can reply, he gives an apologetic wave and books it out the front door, followed by three more guys. Harley starts to follow them, but I grab him by the back of his shirt.

“Hell no, you are not leaving me to deal with this.”

“Rowan, what are any of us gonna do? You’re just way better at this kinda stuff.”

“Don’t give me that shit. It’s not my job to keep cleaning up your fuckin’ messes.”

He squirms out of my hold. “I’m just gonna go check on Jed. I’ll be back later, okay?”

I clench my jaw, biting back the words I know won’t do any good as he joins the four other people ‘checking on Jed’. I turn back to Darius, the last one left in the room. He chews the corner of his mouth, eyes darting between me and the exit. I know he won’t bolt; he’s too good a guy, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be here either.

I sigh, not able to watch him stare plaintively at the door anymore. “Just go.”

“I can stay and-”

“It’s fine, man.” I clap him on the shoulder, resigned. “Make sure none of them do anything else stupid.”

He deflates with a sigh of relief. “You got it.” He nods emphatically.

The door shuts after him with a loud click, leaving me alone with Toad Girl. I take a long moment after Darius leaves to turn around.

Maybe if I ignore her for long enough, she won’t be there. Maybe the past ten minutes will turn into a bad dream. Because surely there’s no way that the guys have kidnapped someone and then ditched me with her?

There’s a second after I look at her when she probably thinks that I’m still staring at the door, the first time she thinks that nobody’s watching. All that fire and indignation has bled away. She looks so small and uncertain, the fear once shoved down deep, bubbling up to the surface now that we’re alone.

God damn, I can’t handle that face.

I squeeze my eyes shut. This is not the kind of stuff I’m good at: feelings and reassurance. I’m good at solutions, at fixing the problem rather than talking about it. But I guess my track record for fixing everyone’s catastrophes is what got me into this mess.