Page 198 of The Illicit Play

Will we just sit there reliving the past? Wallowing in each other’s pain?

It’s taken a lot of work for me to get over losing the guy who was closer than a brother. We grew up together. Best friends since before we could walk.

Losing him gutted me.

And I’ve managed to keep him out of my life in Nolan. When Atlas first died, my teammates knew, but over time, they’ve quickly worked out that he’s not a topic we talk about.

I somehow made it through the end of my sophomore year, and then I helped my family move to Texas. We spent the summer in Dallas, and for a second there, I wasn’t sure I’d make it back to Nolan. But then Wily invited me to move into Football Frat, and my parents convinced me it was the right thing to do.

It was.

I came back here, and I let Atlas go.

But now I’m staring down at one of the closest connections I had to him.

She owned my boy’s heart.

And I don’t know if I’m strong enough to let her back into my life.

But I also don’t know if I’m strong enough to ignore the fact that she’s now living in Nolan.

Especially when Dani calls him in tears one night, asking for his help. There's no way Tyrell can turn his back on her, even when he's wrestling with buried grief and the fact that he's starting to catch feelings for his best friend's girl…