Page 80 of Campus Muscle

The players began to move, a silent, grim procession of jerseys skulking off toward the locker room. Coach Harris gave Trace a long, searching look, then nodded slowly and made to follow the rest of them. They were all complicit. Every single one of them was willing to watch him break as long as the “W” stayed on the board.

I stood there, my blood boiling. The worry that had been eating me alive for the last few minutes curdled into something much darker, far more dangerous.

Delaney turned to me, a victor’s smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. “You see, Miss...?”

“I see everything, Frank,” I cut him off, my voice loud enough to echo down the hallway, stopping the retreating players in their tracks. I didn’t care who heard me anymore. “I can’t believe I was actually having second thoughts about publishing my article. That I was actually worried about the fallout.”

I stepped closer to him, my eyes burning with a fire that had been months in the making. “You are scum. You’re a parasite feeding off these kids, and people deserve to know exactly what kind of monster is holding the purse strings of this team.”

Then, I turned my gaze to Trace. He was exhausted, hurt, but the disappointment in my chest was so heavy I could barely breathe an ounce of sympathy.

I had defended him. I had lied for him.

I had almost thrown away my future to protect his.

“And you,” I whispered, the words dripping with a bitterness and a hurt all my own. “I thought you were different. But you’re just a happy pawn like the rest of them.”

I turned around and stormed down the hallway, the sound of my footsteps the only thing drowning out the silence I left in my wake.

30

Trace

It was obviously way worse than Tara had let on. No matter how many painkillers I swallowed, the scream in my shoulder didn’t stop.

“Frank says I have to play, so I’ll play,” I mumbled to no one. My roommate had bailed a couple of hours ago, tired of me wincing around the dorm.

He said he’d be back once I grew a pair and manned up, but little did he know I preferred the empty dorm room. I secretly hoped he’d crash at his girlfriend’s place across campus so I could mope in peace.

I replaced the defrosted ice pack with a fresh one from the freezer, and went right back to pacing the area in front of my bed. My plan was to keep this up until the drowsiness side-effect kicked in and put me out of my misery.

“Are you really that much of a coward?” Dakota charged in, the dorm room door swinging wildly on its hinges. She glared at me, eyes on fire. “You’re gonna let Frank bully you into playing with a shoulder that’s held together with some K-tape and good luck?”

“It’s customary to knock before—”

“Quit acting like everything’s a joke,” she cut in, nostrils flaring with how hard she worked to keep from yelling. “You’re an idiot if you think anything good is gonna come of this.”

“You heard what Tara said. I’m fine.” The lie was bitter, but it was all I had.

I tried to push past her, but she wasn’t having it. Dakota let out an exasperated groan, and smacked me right on the bruised meat of my shoulder.

“Son of a—” My knees buckled and I reeled back, clutching my arm. “Are you crazy?”

“No, but you are for getting into bed with Frank Delaney.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for the throb in my arm to dissipate. I knew it wouldn’t. Not with the way it had been toying with me all night.

“What the hell do you want from me, Dakota?”

She got right up in my face, and said, “I want you to stand for something for once in your life.”

“I tried standing up to him. I tried ignoring his offers. It didn’t work, and now he’s threatening me.”

“Then try harder.” Her face was carved of stone. She had no intention of letting up. “Grow a pair of balls and deal with the situation.”

That was the second time I’d heard that, and it was the last straw.

“I am dealing with him!” I roared back, the pain in my arm fuel for the fire in my gut. “If I play, my sisters get their tuition. My family’s debt is erased. I go pro, and they never have to worry about money ever again. That’s what I’m doing. I’m doing this for them!”