Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Bentley, I’m warning you.”
I throw my hands up in the air as I walk backward. “I’m only stating the facts, Coach. My teammate needs some medical attention. He looks pretty banged up,” I say with a smug grin.
“Fuck you,” Henry snarls.
I lift my arm and flex my muscles then kiss my bicep before I turn back to Henry and wink. He growls and tries to lunge at me.
Coach grabs him by the shoulders and shoves him back. “You didn’t get enough? Want him to close the other eye? I told you not to touch him in the first place. You’re lucky I didn’t let him beat your ass some more. You’ve lost your starting spot. Make me sit you down for the season,” he says to Henry.
I laugh and blow Henry a kiss from behind Coach’s back. Jason and Corey come to grab me by an arm each, tugging me off the field. I shrug them off and start for the locker room.
“Bro, he’s an asshole. We all know that, but are you sure it’s wise to mess with the chemistry in the locker room?” Corey says, always the voice of reason.
“It’s my locker room. If anyone wants to get behind him, they can all find another team to play for. He broke the rules. I showed him the consequences. Fuck him,” I say and shrug.
“I kind of agree with you both on this one,” Jason says. “Coach clearly stated not to touch Bentley or the receivers in this practice. If he can’t show self-control now, I can point out who will cause all our penalties during the season.”
“Exactly.”
I freeze in my tracks as the word falls from my lips. Standing across the field watching me is Zah. Fuck, I can’t catch a break.
CHAPTER 8
Flowers
Zahirah
“When did your brother turn into a complete bully?” I say into the phone as I talk to Erica.
“I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like him. That guy had to have had it coming for something,” she replies.
I can’t tell her the guy ratted her brother out for blocking guys from talking to me. I don’t want to raise any questions. I can’t lie to Erica. She’ll know something more is up.
Instead, I try to change the subject. “How is school going for you so far?”
“You mean this lame campus where I know no one and have no friends? Yeah, go on and call me an idiot. I should be there with you and Bentley. This was such a dumb idea.”
“I still don’t know what made you change your mind.”
She heaves a heavy sigh. “If I tell you something, will you keep it between us?”
“You know I will. Of course.”
“I overheard Mom and Dad talking. They were thinking about selling the house. Dad lost a few million dollars in some bad investments. He needed to turn things around, or we were headed toward losing everything.
“I couldn’t follow you and Bentley. You’re both on scholarship. I would have been counting on Mom and Dad to pay my tuition. I couldn’t put that on them, so I chose the affordable option once I couldn’t pull off a scholarship like you guys,” she explains.
“Oh, Erica. I didn’t know. Is everything all right now?”
“Now, yeah. Dad was able to turn it all around. I might transfer next semester or something. I really hate it here,” she groans.
“I would love that. I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too, best. It will be like old times. The three of us taking over the world.”
“I don’t know about that. Bentley is … I don’t know. He’s different.”
“Still think there’s something going on you’re missing. You should talk to him and see what’s up,” she says.
“I don’t know,” I drag out. I glance at the clock and see I’m running late. “Erica, I have to go. We’re doing evening training this week and I should be on my way to practice. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you. Call me later.”
“Love you too. I will. Promise.”
I hang up and grab my gym bag to rush out. I’m going to have to run for it so I’m not late. I take off as soon as I step out of the dorm building. As I run, a shirtless Bentley catches my eye in the grass outside the training facility. He’s surrounded by a bunch of girls while he laughs and smiles at them.
I roll my eyes and keep running. I don’t miss that he pauses and watches me as I pass by. I still can’t get over how he beat that guy up earlier. If Arlene didn’t have to drop off those notes to one of Bentley’s teammates, I wouldn’t have known my childhood friend had turned so violent.
Sure, I’ve seen him lose it on the field before, or go at it with guys at school, but that was different today. It seemed so personal. Bentley meant to hurt that guy.