by Aria Ford
He glared at me and my two self-proclaimed protectors.
I turned to leave. “Guys, let’s go.”
Tanner and Brittany practically stomped out of the office. Once outside, I looked at them. They were both furious. I could see it written on their faces, and I never felt more loved than in that moment. They had both gone to bat for me, and it made me feel better, even if everything I had been working toward had just gone up in flames.
“Thank you, both of you. I really appreciate you guys sticking up for me. It means a lot,” I told them.
They looked at each other and then at me. “Of course,” they said in unison.
I had to laugh despite my life unraveling. They were an unlikely team, but damn, they were dangerous when they worked together.
“Now what?” Tanner asked.
“I still train. I don’t want to miss any more time. If he lets me stay on, I have to be able to prove myself worthy of a second chance.”
“Good,” he said, nodding his head. “Don’t give up.”
“Brittany, you still need to practice with the team. Don’t let this mess you up,” I told her.
She shrugged. “I’m really not that vested in this like you are, hon. I don’t have to be on the team. I can still train and still try out for the Olympic team. That little maggot has no power over me,” she said in a haughty voice.
I laughed. “Yes, he does. Staying on the team will keep you competition ready. Don’t give that up for me.”
“We’ll see how I’m feeling at the end of the day. I gotta get going. I have class in a few, and even though I would love to skip it, my dad is threatening to cut me off if I don’t maintain a B average. Like that’s going to be tough to do at this school,” she groaned.
I watched as she walked away, and Tanner stepped into view. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I will be. We did what we could. It’s in his hands now.”
“Okay, I need to go, I have a client. I’ll see you tonight at the gym. I want to focus on the strength training,” he said.
“I’ll be there. Thanks again, Tanner.”
He turned and walked away. I wasn’t sure if I expected a kiss, but I wanted one. I knew he wouldn’t, not with so many witnesses strolling about. Hopefully tonight. Maybe he’d come back to my place.
Chapter 15
Tanner
Last night I had to go straight home after my training session with Lindsey. I knew she was expecting me to go to her house again, but Brian was waiting for me. The guy had been playing hooky again and had stayed in town. Normally, that would be great. I loved having him around, but with the things heating up between Lindsey and me, it was a huge inconvenience.
I had told her Brian had stayed, and at first, she was a little pissed he hadn’t showed up to the meeting on Monday. I explained he felt it would be overkill. Plus, he was her brother and had no real information to offer. I was her trainer and could vouch for her dedication. Brittany was at the party and could attest to what Lindsey did and didn’t do.
With Lindsey’s schedule opened up, we did an early training session, freeing up my evening. Brian and I were going to hang out before he headed back tomorrow—assuming he didn’t change his mind and stay another day.
“Hey, I brought tequila,” I said, walking through the door of my apartment.
“Awesome,” Brian said, getting up from the couch where he had been watching some basketball game.
“I got lemons and Corona as well.” I put the bag down and started unpacking. I didn’t have any clients tomorrow and was ready for a night of partying. Even if it was in my own apartment.
“Line them up!” Brian said, grabbing the lemons and a knife. He was slicing wedges while I grabbed shot glasses out of the cupboard.
“Four?” I asked.
“For now.” He grinned.
I laughed, four shots would definitely get us on the road to getting shitfaced. I lined four for him and four for me and began pouring the tequila.
He brought over the plate of lemons. I grabbed my bottle opener and opened us each a beer before putting the rest in the fridge.
“Ready?” I asked.
He grinned. “Go!”
We picked up the shot glasses and slammed them, one after the other. My eyes were burning by the fourth. I quickly grabbed a lemon wedge and sucked on it before taking a long drag from my beer.
“I kicked your ass,” I said, laughing as he started to drink his beer.
“That last one wanted to fight back,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Lightweight.” I was already feeling the effects of the stout alcohol.
We went back to the couch with our beers, chatting about nothing in particular.
“Ready for another round?” I asked after about thirty minutes.
“Hell, yeah. This time, I’m going to kick your ass.” He jumped up and grabbed two fresh beers out of the fridge while I refilled the shot glasses.
“Want me to give you a head start?” I joked.
“Whatever. Go!”
Once again, we slammed the shots of liquid, one after another. By the last one, I could feel the burn in my chest and low in my belly. I was going to be drunk at the end of this run, but I wasn’t a quitter. I had to take a breather, which gave Brian the advantage he needed.
“Shit,” I said, popping a lemon wedge in my mouth, sucking the juice out.
He laughed, slammed his nearly empty beer bottle on the counter and almost knocked over the empty shot glasses.
“I think we’re going to have some serious hangovers in the morning,” I mumbled.
I could feel the buzz fading and the drunkenness taking hold.
“Holy shit,” Brian said. “I haven’t slammed tequila in a while. I think you just got me drunk.”
I laughed. “No kidding. I—” I stopped talking, completely forgetting what I was going to say.
“You what?” he asked, leaning heavily against the kitchen counter.
I stood up straight. My legs felt a little unsteady, so I back up until my butt hit the wall. I leaned against it.
“I think we should eat something. Want pizza?” I asked.
He was nodding. “And a beer. You’re right there. Gimme one,” he mumbled.
My head was being held up by the wall, I turned to the left to judge the distance to the fridge. I could do it in about three steps. I gathered my energy and stepped forward, only it ended up getting a little wonky and I went straight.
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“The other way,” Brian instructed.
I rolled my eyes. “No shit.”
I got my bearings and made it to the fridge, grabbed a beer and somehow got my legs to work properly again and delivered it to him.
“When’s the pizza coming?” he asked.
“What?”
“You asked if I wanted pizza.”
“Oh yeah. I have to order it, dumbass. It doesn’t just appear.”
I looked around the apartment, trying to find my phone. I managed to make my way over and grabbed it. I pulled up the app, quickly ordered the pizza and set my phone down.
“What’s that?” Brian asked, looking at my phone.
I looked down, it was a message from Lindsey. Shit.
“Why’s Lindsey texting you?”
I grabbed my phone, not wanting him to open the message, just in case it was something that would give away our secret.
“I don’t know,” I said, not meeting his eyes.
Brian stood up straight, leveled his gaze at me. “What the fuck, man?”
He knew. I had a feeling he suspected something was up, but now he knew.
Fuck it.
“We’ve messed around a couple times,” I said, trying to play it off.
“You fucking did what?” he yelled, coming around the counter.
“Relax, man. It’s not like that. She’s different.”
“No shit, she’s different. She’s my little sister, Tan
ner!” His face was red.
I took a deep breath. “I know. I think I’m falling for her,” I said in a quiet voice, surprising myself with the words as well.
He was shaking his head, and before I could move out of the way, he swung. His fist landed against my jaw, causing me to stumble backward. I didn’t get the chance to swing back before he was headed out the door. I blinked, trying to clear my head.
“Don’t you dare drive, Brian!” I called after him, heading out after him. I spotted his keys sitting on the small table by the door. There was one crisis averted.
“Oh shit.” The realization hit me: he was headed to Lindsey’s. I raced down the stairs, waving my arms like an idiot trying to hail a taxi. I forgot my phone upstairs, but I couldn’t risk going back to get it to warn Lindsey.
I jumped in the cab and gave the driver Lindsey’s address. I prayed Brian’s taxi would get stopped at every light.
I threw a couple of twenties at the driver and jumped out of the cab before it came to a full stop. I could hear yelling, and knew I was too late. Brian and Lindsey were in a screaming match. I didn’t bother knocking and burst through the door.
She was standing in the center of her living room, hands on her hips and facing off against Brian. When she saw me, she spun around. “Why would you tell him?”
My head was swimming in tequila. I tried to say I hadn’t meant to, but it wasn’t coming out right. I sounded like a drunken fool. I was a drunken fool.
“Shut up!” Brian yelled. “I can’t believe you two.”
“Brian, settle down,” Lindsey said, putting a hand on his arm. “We’re all adults. I’m not a little girl.”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said, unable to come up with a better argument.
Brian shrugged off Lindsey’s arms. “Don’t. I can’t believe you, Linds. You know him. You know how he is. Do you think your special? Like he is going to change for you?”
“Hey,” I said, trying to defend myself but coming up short. He was right. I had been a player since I hit puberty.
“I’m leaving. Don’t call me,” he said, looking at her. He walked by me, looking at me with disgust. He raised his arm, and I thought he was going to hit me again.
“Don’t you dare,” Lindsey warned.
Brian looked back at her. “I already did. He won’t forget it anytime soon.”
I scoffed. “Whatever, dude. I’ve been hit harder by a girl.”
Brian stomped out the door, slamming it hard as he left. My parting shot hadn’t exactly been my finest moment, but the tequila was making it difficult to think straight.
I turned to look at Lindsey.
She shook her head at me. “I can’t believe you did that. Go,” she said, pointing to the door. “I don’t want to look at you right now.”
“Lindsey,” I started, hoping to explain what happened.
Her hand went up. “No. Get out. And put some ice on your face, you idiot.”
My hand went to my jaw. I had almost forgotten about it. It was going to be sore in the morning. The tequila dulled the pain, but tomorrow would be a very different story.
“I’m sorry,” I said before turning and leaving.
Chapter 16
Lindsey
I was in a horrible mood, and I swear I couldn’t be responsible for my actions if the coach had decided to kick me off the team. Last night’s little episode with Tanner and Brian had nearly drove me to drink, but I couldn’t risk it. I had to be the mature one.
“You can go in now,” the secretary said to Brittany, who was impatiently tapping her foot.
“Let’s go,” she said, looking at me.
I took a deep breath and prepared to fight for my future. My girl Brittany was a miracle worker, and I hoped the coach would look at the evidence that proved I hadn’t actually smoked pot.
We walked in, feeling as if we were about to drop a bombshell. At least, I hoped it was a bombshell.
“Lindsey, Brittany,” the coach said, standing and gesturing for us to take a seat.
“Here,” Brittany said, handing the coach a small flash drive. “Stick that in your computer, and you will see everything we told you is the truth.”
The coach picked up the thumb drive and stuck it in the port, clicked a few files and went silent.
“What am I looking at here?”
“Uh, maybe you need to look closer,” Brittany said in a snide tone. “There is Adam, Lindsey’s ex. Watch Adam head into the kitchen and fill a cup of beer from the keg. Now, watch closely,” she instructed.
The coach leaned forward, staring at the screen. “What is that? What’s in that bottle?” he asked.
“That would be some kind of GHB. Date rape drug, roofie, whatever you want to call it. He dumped that in her drink. Now, watch him grab the brownie,” Brittany ordered.
I watched the coach’s reaction. He got a puzzled look on his face, and putting the video on pause, he looked at Brittany. “What’s special. Why are those brownies labeled special?”
She gave a fake smile. “Because they’re pot brownies.”
“What?” he said in horror. “I can see several people eating those. They were all eating brownies stuffed with pot?”
She waved a hand. “In a manner of speaking, but yes, the USC team served up pot brownies. Now we all knew they were laced and had the choice to avoid them. Lindsey didn’t know. She trusted Adam not to drug her beer or serve her a brownie that would make her fail a drug test.”
I nodded, agreeing with Brittany’s statement.
The coach looked at me, back at the video, and then at Brittany. “How’d you get this?”
Another coy smile. “I know people. Needless to say, you’re not the first coach to see this video. Adam was kicked off the USC team, along with anyone else seen eating those brownies.”
“He was also expelled from the school for drugging my beer,” I added.
The coach was shaking his head. “That is awful. Truly awful. I have a daughter, and this scares me to death.”
“So is she back on the team? This little incident doesn’t go on her record?” Brittany asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t see how I can suspend her for something she didn’t do. Lindsey, you’re back on the team and please accept my apologies. I hope you have learned a lesson from all of this. Don’t trust boys!”
I laughed. “Got it, and thank you.”
Brittany stood. “We’ll see you at practice.”
We both gladly left the office. Brittany walked like a regal queen, clearly very satisfied with her sleuthing abilities and with being able to exonerate me.
“Thank you. I cannot believe you managed to get your hands on that security video,” I told her, still not sure exactly how she had managed to do it.
She shrugged. “It was nothing. I know I will be thinking twice before I go anywhere or do anything I don’t want the world to see. There are cameras everywhere!”
I nodded. “Good plan. In this case, I’m glad they were there. I have to get to class. I’ll see you at practice.”
My phone chimed again. I knew it was Tanner. He had been texting all morning, but I wasn’t quite ready to text him back. I felt betrayed. Telling Brian was something I should have done, or we should have at the very least discussed.
Another chirp. I yanked my phone out of my back pocket, unlocked it and read his latest message.
How did your meeting with the coach go?
I don’t know how he knew. I didn’t care. He could sit in the dark a while longer. I put the phone back in my pocket and put it on silent.
Class dragged on. I was looking forward to practicing with my team. I never thought I’d feel that way, but I did. I was going to kick ass and show them all I was worth keeping around, even after all the drama I’d caused.
At practice, I gave 110 percent, fighting to be better than I ever had. I could feel the difference in the team dynamic. They didn’t trust me. It was going to be hard to work my way back into the close-knit group.
Toward the end of practice, I looked up to see Tanner watching from the stands. I ignored him. He clearly didn’t get the hint. Once practice was over and everyone started to file into the locker rooms to change, he approached me. I knew it was coming. It was best to get it over with.
“Lindsey,” he started, stepping close to me. I stepped back. “Please, hear me out,” he pleaded.
“No. We have nothing to talk about. You told Brian without even talking to me about it. That was not cool. You may have ruined my relationship with my brother because you got shitfaced and couldn’t keep your mouth shut.”
“I’m sorry. What about our training? Are you giving up on that?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m not giving up on training, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to train with you. That line is blurred. Plus, if I ever hope to repair my relationship with Brian, we need to cool it. I don’t want to give him any more reason to be pissed. You and me working together would not make him happy.”
“Lindsey, stop. Think about what you’re saying. We can keep it professional. You need me. Your brother was drunk. He’s going to get over it. Your family knows I’m the best, and they all want you to reach your goal. I am the one to get you there.”
“I can find another trainer.”
My teammates were filing out of the locker room and leaving. We both stood there, looking at each other, not saying anything, afraid we would be overheard. I could see the other women on my team checking him out. I watched his response and was happy to see he didn’t return their lecherous looks. Sluts.
Once the last person left, I turned to him, “It isn’t a good idea, Tanner. I’m sorry. Thank you for stepping in, but I need to find someone else to train me.”
I turned and headed for the locker room, leaving him standing there, his mouth slightly agape. I grabbed a clean towel from the bin and began wiping off my arms and legs, before toweling off my hair. A noise behind me had me spinning around.
“Tanner,” I said in surprise.
He didn’t say a word. He stalked toward me. His gaze intent, his intentions unclear. I wasn’t afraid, but apprehensive. He looked like a man on a mission. I was his mission.
