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Brandon stares at him like he’s an idiot. “Have you been reading romance novels again?”

Ignoring him, Chris stares at me, eyes wide in anticipation. “All of the above,” I say, feeling a pang in my chest.

“I’m sorry”?Chris cups a hand around his ear?“What? It sounded like you said all of the above .”

I shrug, like the pain shooting behind my diaphragm doesn’t take my fucking breath away. “I did. We were . . . everything to each other.” I swallow over the lump in my throat, avoiding their eyes.

The room falls silent. No one says a word as they absorb what I just said, and I wonder just how fucked I am when I pinch the bridge of my nose and continue.

“We met in seventh grade. I got a scholarship to play football for this private school outside Pittsburgh. It was just my dad and I, and though he busted his ass to earn a nice living, he never could’ve paid the tuition without football.

I wasn’t the only scholarship kid there, but there weren’t many of us.

The rest of the kids were all a bunch of snobby assholes, elites who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

But there was one person who was different.

One girl. It didn’t matter that we came from different worlds. ”

I pause for a moment, remembering. That shock of straight white teeth, the blonde waves spilling over her shoulders, and her long legs in those little plaid skirts. My heart aches just thinking about it.

“We became fast friends. She was my only friend at first, until everyone saw what I could do on a football field. By the time I reached high school, everyone wanted to know me. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that my family had no money because I had something else they wanted, something they couldn’t reproduce?raw talent.

An ability to win state championship and put Wellington Academy on the map, something they’d wanted for years.

Avery and I were best friends all through junior high, but I think both of us knew we were inevitable. ”

God, I remember that feeling. Being with Avery was like the pulling of the tide, like gravity sucking you in. I couldn’t escape it? her ?even if I wanted to.

“In ninth grade, we started sneaking around because I may have been a star on the football field, but that still didn’t make me good enough to date Reginald Astor’s daughter.”

“Wait! Hold up.” West narrows his eyes, and I can practically see the wheels churning. “Did you say Reginald Astor?”

I clear my throat and nod.

“An Astor, rich, from Pittsburgh . . .”

“What the fuck are you getting at?” Jace snaps.

West’s eyes widen, then meet mine. “As in the Astor Hotel Group?”

“The largest fucking hotel chain in the world?” I smirk. “That’s the one, alright.”

“Holy shi?” Brandon starts, but Chris cuts him off with: “And she was going out with you?”

I glare at him before continuing, “By our junior year, there was no hiding our relationship, even from her asshole father. We were joined at the hip. There wasn’t a place I went that she didn’t follow, and vice versa.

We were each other’s firsts.” I shrug. “And I sure as fuck thought we’d be each other’s lasts. ”

“Damn. So, what happened?” Brandon asks.

“Avery was adamant about attending the same college. She applied to all the ones who’d expressed interest in recruiting me, and when I committed to AAU, it was a joint decision.

I’d head to Ann Arbor in the summer, and she’d follow two months later in preparation for fall semester.

We had our whole future mapped out. First Ann Arbor, then the draft, marriage, and babies.

The whole nine yards. Fuck, we went as far as dreaming up what kind of house we’d live in, to what kind of dog we’d get, and what kind of parents we’d be.

” I stare off into the distance as I remember.

“But the weeks went by, and between the long distance and my acclimating to life as a college athlete, we only saw each other a couple times before August. When moving day came, I made the four-hour drive to Pittsburgh to pick her up, but when I got there, she didn’t even want to come to the fucking door.

She had her parents tell me she wasn’t going to school in Michigan. ”

“Brutal,” Jace murmurs and I nod in agreement, because it was fucking brutal.

“I refused to leave, and her parents threatened to call the cops, but I made such a scene in the street, she finally came out to face me. Told me that she’s sorry, but her feelings had changed.

She said they’d been changing for a while, but she didn’t know how to tell me, and the time apart over the summer gave her clarity.

She wanted her own life. One without me.

And that’s exactly what she got. I went back to AAU alone, shell-shocked, and licking my wounds, and she started at Harvard the following week. ”

By the time I finish and find the courage to glance around at my teammates, their expressions are a combination of shock and sympathy.

“Fuck.” Jace crosses his arms, and the others nod in agreement, all of them somber.

“Damn, bro, that’s . . .” Brandon shakes his head, his blue eyes as dark as the denim of his jeans.

“Savage,” Chris finishes for him.

Beside me, West clasps a hand over my shoulder in silent support while the muscle in my jaw twitches, trying to contain my emotions.

The familiar ache behind my ribs every time I think about that day is back, only it’s stronger than it’s been in a long time.

Because Avery is back and threatening to crash through my life like a wrecking ball.

“So why the hell is she back now?” Jace asks, as if reading my thoughts.

“Hell, if I know.” My jaw tightens. “But you can see why having to face her again might be fucking with my head.”

Brandon frowns. “Did she say what she wanted to talk about?”

“No, not that I gave her the chance.” I sigh, sinking back into the couch, my thoughts reeling. “But it doesn’t matter.”

Jace arches a brow. “Doesn’t it?” he asks, like I’m full of shit.

“As far as I’m concerned, it has nothing to do with me.”

“What if she wants you back?” Chris asks.

My heart skips a beat, but I shake my head. “Even if that were the case, there’s not a chance in hell.”

“I guess that answers the question about whether or not you’re still pissed,” Brandon says.

Jace scoffs. “Was that ever even a question?” he says, waving a hand toward me. “Of course he’s still pissed. Have you met him? He’s jaded as fuck. He has she broke my heart and destroyed my belief in love written all over him.”

“I’m not jaded.” I frown.

Chris snorts while Brandon laughs.

“You so are,” Jace says, snatching his sports drink off the table. He unscrews the cap and then mumbles, “Damn, I wish this was a beer.”

“Or a fifth of whiskey,” I grumble.

“Has she reached out to you at all before now?” West asks.

I turn to him, brows furrowed. “You mean, since she smashed my heart into a million fucking pieces?” When he nods, I answer, “No. Which is why I think it’s unlikely she wants a second chance.

She’s had plenty of opportunities to reach out to me.

It’s not like you can’t find me if you want.

I’m right fucking here. My name is in the sports section every week from September through December. ”

“So, let’s get this straight,” Chris drawls.

“Your ex, who sounds like she could win an award for world’s biggest bitch, heir to one of the richest men in the country, is back at the exact same time you’re competing for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

And to make matters worse, she’s in one of your classes, which means seeing her several times a week, which probably makes you want to carve your heart from your chest.”

“Pretty much.” I nod.

“Shit.”

“Why not just switch classes?” Brandon asks.

“Gee. Why didn’t I think of that?” I roll my eyes. “I can’t. Trust me, I went straight to my adviser the second I left class and tried, but to switch would really eff with my schedule and interfere with football.”

“Maybe you should just talk to her?” West shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Rip the Band-Aid off, get it over with. Maybe it will even give you closure.”

“Yes!” Chris motions toward West. “He’s quiet, but when he comes in with the advice, it’s solid. Not a bad idea, bro.”

Not a chance in hell.

“I heard all she had to say the last time we spoke,” I bite out. “Call me bitter, but I’m not interested in whatever insight she might’ve gleaned over the last couple years.”

“Then you’re out of options.” Jace shrugs. “Get through the semester, and then you only have one more year. With a campus so large, chances are you won’t see her again, especially if you’re not the same major.”

Last we spoke, Avery planned on majoring in business with the intention of working for her father.

It’s unlikely that’s changed, considering she always seems to do whatever pleases them.

So, Jace is right. The odds of having another class with her in a campus with a large student population are slim.

All I have to do is get through two classes a week, find a different chair to sit in, and it should be good. I should be fine.

But I’ll know she’s here, and it’ll be all I can fucking think about.

It’s like winding up a jack-in-the-box and waiting for the sadistic little fucker to pop.

“Right,” I say with a sigh. “I’m sure you’re right,” I say, wishing I believed it.

“What you absolutely, positively, cannot do is let this affect your game,” Chris chimes in.

“I know.” I fist my hands at my sides, thinking about the next few weeks and how crucial they are.

“Yeah, we need you, man.” Brandon slaps me on the back, and I grit my teeth.

“Just . . . push her out of your mind until after the championship,” Jace adds unhelpfully. “Focus on the game and nothing else.”

Right. Like it’s that easy.

“You can do this,” West pipes in. “We believe in you.”

I nod, silent with the heavy weight of our team’s fate resting squarely on my shoulders.

If I fail, I let everyone down. Not just myself, but my teammates, too?my brothers on the field, my friends, my coach, every Griffin fan who has been dying for a CFP win for the last thirty fucking years, even my father who sacrificed for the sport I love.

And yet, when I think about all that’s riding on this weekend’s game, when I try to picture myself on the field, leading our team to victory, all I can see is her.