Page 46 of Necessary Roughness

Sloane

“The fuck?” Logan asked.

“Why is Troy suing you?” I demanded. My heart was pounding in my temple, making it hard to think. “You didn’t do anything!”

In the kitchen, Roman stood very still while watching us.

“He says…” Knox’s eyes scanned the documents. “He claims I pushed him down, allowing my teammate to beat him up.”

“That’s not even close to what happened!” I said.

Knox flipped the page, then held it up for us to see. “They have a photograph.” The photo must have been taken from someone else at the party, and showed Knox standing between Troy and Roman, with one palm pressed against Troy’s chest.

“You’re trying to break up the fight!” I argued. “That still image doesn’t show what really happened!”

“I don’t understand,” Logan said, one hand shoved into his hair. “Roman is the one who beat the shit out of him. Why is he suing Knox?”

“Because,” Roman said quietly from the kitchen, “Knox might be a millionaire in six months.”

It sunk in for me just as it did for the others. Knox was going to receive a very large signing bonus after the NFL draft, somewhere between five and thirty million dollars. He would get that just for signing with a team, before ever playing in a single game.

“Fuck,” Logan said.

“Fuck is an understatement.” Knox sat on the back of the couch and stared off. “This lawsuit is going to affect my draft appeal. Teams might be afraid to sign me.” He waved the documents in the air. “He’s trying to pump me for money, but this is going to damage just how much money I receive!”

“He probably wants you to settle out of court,” I suggested. “I mean, I’m not a lawyer or anything, but that seems like the goal, right? Because if this goes to court, he’ll never win. There’s tons of evidence showing you weren’t a participant in the fight!”

I glanced toward Roman, but he was hanging his head. His emotions couldn’t have been more obvious even if he had a giant neon sign over his head that said, “Guilt and shame.”

“You can’t settle,” Logan insisted. “Don’t give that piece of shit a single dime. Right, Sloane?”

I nodded, but I didn’t know what else we could do.

“Our first hearing with a judge is three weeks from now,” Knox read out loud for us. “Maybe he’ll throw it out. Summary judgment or whatever.”

“They’d better,” Logan said. His hands were balled into fists. “At least it’s after the conference championship.”

I sniffed the air, remembered my pancakes, and rushed back into the kitchen.

The week dragged on, fueled by the cluster of bad moods in the house.

Roman tackled his classwork with a quiet sense of fatalism, like his fate was out of his hands.

Knox was brooding. Logan was the only one who was anywhere close to his normal self, but he kept trying to cheer the rest of us up—and failed every attempt.

“I just hate seeing them down,” he told me one night while I slept in his bed. “I don’t know what to do.”

The mood in the house continued into the next day.

Roman appealed his academic suspension, and his hearing was scheduled for next week.

Like the coach had said during his visit, that meant Roman would get to play in the final game of the season on Saturday.

The game was against the worst school in the conference, a team that had only won a single game all year.

The result of the game didn’t really matter since we had already earned a spot in the conference championship the following week, but there was a lot of pride on the line.

My three lovers all needed a win to boost their spirits, and this game was the last thing standing in their way of a perfect season.

The morning of the game, as the guys packed their gear and prepared to leave, Knox took me aside. “I got something for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, secretly excited by the prospect of a gift from one of my boyfriends.

He handed me a laminated football ticket. “Is this for today’s game?” I asked. “I already have my student ticket.”

“This is a ticket to one of the family suites,” Knox explained. “It’s right on the fifty-yard line. Best view in the stadium. And… my parents will be there.”

I felt myself gasp.

“Are you asking me…” I began.

“I know we haven’t talked about the future.” His eyes were strangely intense, like he was more nervous about this than the game itself. “And I know this began as something purely physical. But it’s more than that, now. I know you might not feel the same way—”

“I do!” I quickly said, taking his hands in mine. “It’s more than just physical. With you and Logan.” I felt like adding that last part, because for a few moments I was terrified he was going to ask me to be exclusive with him. And that was something I wasn’t ready to do.

“I want you to meet my parents,” Knox finished. “And I want them to meet you . You’re important to me, Sloane.”

I leaned in and kissed him. “You’re important to me, too.”

“Does this mean you’ll watch the game from the family suite?” he asked.

“Yes.” I held up a finger. “But I need to drastically rethink the kind of outfit I’m going to wear.”

Knox gazed down at my body. “What’s wrong with jeans and a T-shirt?”

“Everything!” I exclaimed.

He laughed, then glanced at his watch. “I need to go. My parents don’t know you’ll be there. I wanted it to be a surprise. So you’ll have to introduce yourself.”

“What should I tell them?” I asked. “That I’m your fuck-buddy?”

Knox scratched the back of his neck. “You could tell them you’re my girlfriend. I know we haven’t discussed labels—”

I cut him off again. “You’re my boyfriend. You and Logan. I’ve been thinking of both of you that way for a while. Roman… it’s still too new. But definitely you and Logan.”

Knox gave me a parting kiss. “They’re going to love you.”

For the first time since the fight, I felt hopeful—and insanely nervous.