Pass Protection (Quarterback Sneak Book 3)

by Natalie Brock

  “Um. The news about our suspension is all over school, but they’re not as interested in me as they are in you. You’re the talk of the school.” Sofia handed her the phone.

  Brittany scrolled through EFU’s student intranet network. Her anger grew as she read post after post filled with gossip about her. She shook her head back and forth and handed the phone back to Sofia. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

  She leaned her forehead against the bus window. She felt just about as alone as she’d ever felt in her life. Everything was spinning out of control. She didn’t want to read the online chatter, but in those few moments, she’d seen enough. The school’s social media mavens immediately blamed her for corrupting the saintly Matthew Warner. They said she seduced him and forced him to compromise his principles and break his purity vow. They even brought up her past, how in high school she’d wrongly accused a star basketball player of rape, and now she’d done the same to the Barracudas offensive lineman. She felt sick, more because people assumed Matthew broke his vow than the things anyone said about her.

  It was all crashing down on her now, and that scarlet letter would never leave her. And to top it off, Matthew’s throwing arm got injured fighting with Bennie. She knew he was hoping to get in a few plays if the team made it to the post season. Even if he didn’t get in a game, he’d at least figure heavily in team practice. Now he couldn’t even do that.

  A tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about going home for the holidays. She and Matthew would be going their separate ways, maybe for good, and maybe it would be for the best. After all this drama, she wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to lay eyes on her again.

  »»•««

  Brittany wheeled her overnighter into her dorm and let the door slam behind her.

  Jamie rushed over and hugged her roommate. “Brit, I didn’t think I’d see you, cutie. I’m just about to leave for the airport.” Brittany blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what Jamie was saying. “I’m catching the redeye out to California tonight.”

  “Oh right. You’re spending Christmas with Theo and his family.”

  Jamie touched Brittany’s hair. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look like death warmed over. Did the team lose? Sorry, but I’ve been busy and I haven’t been following—”

  Brittany shook her head slowly. “No, we won. But everything’s a mess.” Brittany plopped onto the sofa. “I guess you haven’t looked at EFUbook lately either.”

  Taking a seat beside her, Jamie asked, “What happened, kiddo?”

  “I got suspended from the squad.”

  “What? That’s crazy.”

  “Actually, in order of the horrible things that happened in the past twenty four hours, that was the least of it.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Jamie glanced at the stove clock. “Listen, I really have to run. I’ll call you from the car and you can tell me the rest.”

  “Yeah well, I lost my phone.”

  Jamie’s jaw dropped. “Oh hon.”

  She waved her hand. “It’s fine. You need to go. Don’t miss your flight on my account. I’ll call you from my mom’s.”

  “You’re flying up tomorrow morning, right?”

  “Yeah and to be honest, I can’t wait to get away from this place.”

  Jamie stood up and kissed Brittany’s forehead. “I hate leaving you like this.” Squeezing her hand, she said, “You take care of yourself, okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Tell Theo hi for me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  In the van from the airport back to school on Sunday afternoon, Matthew played with his phone, flipping it over and over in his left hand. His right arm was now in a sling. The doctors ordered him to keep it immobilized for at least the next week, after which he’d be evaluated for physical therapy. Won’t Christmas be fun, he scoffed to himself. Traveling was hard enough without a disability.

  This wasn’t how he’d expected the weekend to end. He expected to leave for Illinois on Sunday morning. That was before he got hurt and ended up spending Saturday night in a Nashville hospital’s emergency room. That threw his whole schedule off. The travel coordinator was able to change his flight to Sunday night instead.

  He needed to warn his parents about the injury so they wouldn’t freak out when they picked him up from the airport in Illinois. He turned the phone on to text his parents, hoping he’d see a message from Brittany. He sighed deeply. Still nothing. He’d left her at least two dozen messages and texts since last night but couldn’t reach her. The only messages he got were a couple of inconsequential texts from the coaching staff and a message from a sender whose email address he didn’t recognize, so he’d deleted it without reading.

  He awkwardly cradled his phone against his abdomen and sent his parents a text to tell them not to be concerned when they picked him up from the airport and saw his arm in a sling. His parents were formal people, so he normally didn’t use abbreviation or omit punctuation, but under the circumstances, he made an exception. I’m fine I promise C U 2nite

  His luggage had flown back with the team the night before and had already been transferred to his dorm room, so as soon as the van from the airport dropped him off, he darted across campus toward Brittany’s dorm. He thought he remembered her saying she’d be leaving for New York on Sunday morning, and even though it was late afternoon and the campus was deserted, he wasn’t ready to give up hope.

  He reached in his pocket to check his messages as he ran up the stairs to her floor. Still nothing. He pounded on her door. “Brittany. Brit, you there?” He put his ear to the door. “Angel, please open up. I need you.” He stepped back and stared at the door.

  He turned around and leaned against the door, letting gravity pull him down to the floor. His head slumped down and he felt like he’d lost his best friend. He lost his future in football and his girlfriend all in the same weekend. The past forty-eight hours had been a rollercoaster ride, minus the fun. He and Brittany were supposed to have more time together before leaving for Christmas break. There were things he wanted to tell her, things he wanted her to know, starting with the fact he was in love with her. He should have told her long ago, but he couldn’t, not while he was holding on to a secret from the past. The truth was, he intended to tell her on Friday night, knowing they’d be together all night. But after spending so much time talking about Michelle, it just hadn’t seemed like the right time to bring up his feelings about Brittany.

  She had been so understanding and supportive when he told her about the pregnancy scare. He’d been carrying that burden around for years, feeling ashamed of everything that went down. With only a kiss, the burden disappeared and suddenly it didn’t feel like such a big deal anymore. She got him. And she understood why that event led him to take the vow of chastity.

  So where was she now and why wasn’t she answering any of his messages?

  Last he saw her was in the clinic at the Nashville University sports complex while his arm was being evaluated. Then she was gone. Gone, like into thin air. And the fact she didn’t return any calls or texts was beyond troubling. That wasn’t like Brittany. Could she be mad at him? And if so, for what?

  He sighed deeply. The last thing he wanted to do was board another plane, especially without getting in touch with his girlfriend. He looked at his phone and briefly considered contacting Janna before he remembered she’d suspended Brittany from the squad. She had a way worse weekend than he did, when you factor in being attacked by a brutish lineman. He couldn’t bear to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he did. Matthew may not have won the war with Mazursky, but he kept Brittany from being violated. He adjusted the sling on his shoulder, thinking he’d do it all over again, even if it meant he’d never be able to throw a football.

  He inwardly scoffed at the irony. She got suspended for sleeping in his room. He didn’t get suspended, but he couldn’t play. Everything was upside-down. How he longed to hold her and comfort her and s
troke her hair and tell her everything would be all right. If only there was something he could do for her, some way to get her reinstated. Right now, it all seemed moot, since he couldn’t even reach her.

  He looked up and stared at the wall on the opposite side of the hallway as a thought occurred to him. The students may have departed, but some faculty members could still be on campus. He started to get up off the floor. “Ow.” Pain shot through his shoulder. He’d forgotten about his arm for a minute. He couldn’t get up the way he normally would, so he rolled on to his knees and held the wall with his good arm to rise to his feet. He’d have to learn to adjust to this new reality while his shoulder healed.

  He sprinted back across campus to the sports complex and found Janna’s office. The door was open and she was inside, placing some items from her desk drawers into a large plastic tote. When he knocked on the open door, she lifted her head, appearing surprised anyone was there. He thought it took her a minute to figure out who he was. Usually when she saw him, he was either wearing his uniform or dressed in a suit and tie for travel. Today, he was wearing a grey sweatshirt over black jeans. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but I really need to talk to you.”

  “Matthew,” she said, as if to confirm his identity. “How’s the arm?”

  “Hurts,” he said, rubbing it with his left hand. “Doctors called it a severe sprain. I need to keep it immobilized for at least a week, and then they’ll reassess.” He half-shrugged, thinking he sounded rehearsed, like a sports commentator doing the injury report segment.

  “It’s good nothing’s broken.” She pushed her brown hair behind her ear. “Look, if there’s something you want, make it quick. I’m kind of in a hurry. I need to finish packing up the office and then we’re heading out of town tonight.”

  “Yeah, me too.” He took a step farther into the office. “This won’t take long. I think you know what I’m going to say. You need to give Brittany another chance.”

  Janna raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?” Her tone was defensive. “I don’t need to do anything.” She hooked her fingers into air quotes when she said the word need. “The rules are clear and she broke them.”

  “The thing is, she didn’t break anything.” Janna’s inflexibility was making him angry. If his arm wasn’t in a sling, he’d have made air quotes around the word break, just to mock her. “Nothing happened.”

  “Save your breath, Warner.” She turned back to packing again.

  “I swear.” He took a step closer to her desk. “Hey, I’ll swear on a stack of bibles if it gets you to believe me.”

  “You don’t want to sully your reputation any further than you already have.”

  Now he was really mad. Keep it in check, he told himself. Getting emotional wouldn’t solve anything. He took a deep breath and silently recited a passage from Proverbs 15. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. “Look, Brittany is a great girl. I don’t have to tell you that. And she thinks the world of you too. Can’t you just get behind her instead of crucifying her? Can’t you please be supportive?”

  “No!” Her eyes flashed. “I cannot make an exception for Brittany regardless of how I feel about her personally.”

  Aha! The lady was protesting too much, making Matthew feel like maybe he was getting somewhere. “Maybe you can’t make an exception, but you don’t need to make an example out of her either, do you? She doesn’t deserve it. Give her a break, will you?”

  Janna sighed deeply and her demeanor softened. “I’m sorry, Matthew. My hands are tied.”

  “Are they? You’re leaving EFU anyway, right?”

  “Brittany told you?”

  “No. My trainer told me on the way back from Nashville.”

  “So much for confidentiality. Look, she’ll be eligible for reinstatement next semester.”

  “That means she’ll miss the post-season. Do you know how important cheerleading is to her? She wanted to make a career out of it. Now it’s going to be harder. They look at everything in the pros, and this suspension will be on her record.” Janna snapped the lid onto the tote like she wasn’t even listening. She lifted it off her desk and walked toward the door. “I’d offer to carry it,” he said, “but I’m at a bit of a disadvantage right now. Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  “There’s nothing else to say. I’ve said it all. Just go home and enjoy your holiday. In the scheme of things, this isn’t as important as you’re making it out to be.” She stepped out of the office. “Get the door for me.”

  He walked out of the office and shut the door. As he watched Janna walk away, he mumbled, “Maybe it’s not important to you, but I know Brittany, and it’s important to her.”

  He felt like there just had to be more he could do. What did other students do when there was a cause they were passionate about? His eyes widened when an idea came to him. “That’s it!” He started to snap his fingers but felt a pinch in his shoulder that reminded him not to. At least now he had a plan. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn’t, but it was better than doing nothing at all. He took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled with his thumb.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  She was so glad to be home where she was surrounded by the love and warmth of her parents, parents who supported her and loved her unconditionally. She needed that right now. In truth, she needed Matthew too. She kept reaching for her nonexistent phone to call Matthew. She longed to hear his voice, listen to his laugh, feel the way he made her feel every time he called her angel. She couldn’t even count the number of times she had to remind herself first, that she didn’t have a phone, and second, that he probably wouldn’t want to hear from her anyway. It was probably a good thing she didn’t know his phone number by heart. It was probably lucky for both of them that there were dozens of Warners in the phone book in Wheaton, the Chicago suburb where his family lived. Fate was telling her she had to give him up. Her inability to take care of herself may have ruined his life.

  “Why does this keep happening to me, Mom?” Her mother was more like a best friend than a parent, and she could tell her anything, so she poured her heart out while they were making gingerbread cookies.

  Her mother put her arm around her and lovingly pressed her cheek against Brittany’s. “Your gingerbread man is melting already.”

  Looking down at the cutout on the countertop, Brittany pouted. “That’s because I’m not working fast enough. Timing is everything with these guys.”

  “It’s fine sweetie. Let’s just put it back in the fridge to set up a little, and we can sit and talk.” Her mom scooped up the dough and covered it in plastic wrap. She put her hand on Brittany’s shoulder and led her to the kitchen table where Brittany plopped into a chair and rested her head on her folded arms on the table.

  Her mom rubbed her back. “If you want to know what I think, I think people feel they can take advantage of you because you’re pretty and sweet.”

  “You only think I’m sweet because you love me. But I’m not sweet, mom.” Her voice was muffled as she spoke into her arms. Her head popped up. “The kids at school say I have a caustic wit. That’s kind of the opposite of sweet. If you want sweet, you call Allison. She’s sugary sweet. If you want sassy and sarcastic, you call me.”

  “Who’s Allison?”

  Brittany waved dismissively. She didn’t really want to talk about Allison right now. “Friend of mine. She’s engaged to the Barracudas starting quarterback and you might say I played a role in getting them together.” Her lip quivered. “I can play Cupid for everyone else, but my love life is in the dumpster. I give up.”

  “Aw, honey, don’t say that. You’re too young to give up. Somewhere out there is a young man who’ll be worth waiting for, someone who will appreciate all your wonderful qualities.”

  “And the not so wonderful ones?”

  “Well, we all have peccadillos. Luckily, love makes allowances for faults. Just ask your father.”

  Brittany laughed on the inside, but she couldn’t
seem to bring the smile to her face. “You and Dad are so lucky you met when you were young.” She remembered Matthew calling himself and Brittany a super-couple. She loved that, especially because he’d never expected them to even be compatible when they first met. Each of them was so busy protecting themselves from getting hurt in the beginning, they nearly fumbled the ball. “I thought I found my soul mate too but I was wrong, really wrong. Every time things were going good, they got messed up.”

  “You mean Matthew? The young man you told me about?” Brittany nodded. “It doesn’t have to be over, honey. If he's everything you say he is, then he’s worth a second chance.”

  “I think we’re up to our fifth chance. Maybe sixth. I’ve kind of lost count. And it wouldn’t be me giving him another chance. It would be the other way around.”

  Her mother covered Brittany’s hand with her own. “Honey.”

  “If we were meant to be, things wouldn’t be this hard, right?” It seemed like there was always something getting in the way, whether it was his vow, or her past, or Bennie. She thought they could work through any problems, that Matthew had enough faith for the both of them. He had so much heart. She could see it in his eyes the very first time they met. It drew her in like a magnet and made her want to know him better. But now, after the obstacles kept piling up, it seemed like all she was doing was destroying his spirit, not to mention his career. She looked at her mother and saw the pain in her eyes. She swallowed hard. “It’s okay, Mom.” She placed her hand on top of her mother’s. “I’ll be okay.”

  »»•««

  No trip back home to Wheaton would be complete without paying a visit to his high school sports chaplain. Father Morrissey was a tall, thin, black man with a quiet reverence. Matthew had spent hours on end talking the chaplain’s ear off, even long after he graduated high school. Father Morrissey always made time for him. Looking around his office now, a peace came over Matthew, the first peaceful moment he’d experienced since coming home. The last time he felt at peace was when he told Brittany the reason he took the vow. That moment was short-lived, and he’d been on edge ever since.