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  I walked over. He handed me a small card with a number written on it.

  “That’s your locker. All your stuff is in there. Coach said you can change in the girl’s bathroom downstairs if you want.”

  He pointed in the direction I should go. I walked past two aisles when I spotted my number at the end. There inside just like he said was equipment and a practice uniform.

  As nerves started to get the best of me, I steeled my spine. I’d wanted this, which was why I’d prepared myself before the ride over. I blew out a breath, hooked fingers into my shorts, and then pushed them down. The boy shorts I wore were full coverage, hiding most everything I had to offer and were certainly more modest than a basic bikini. Still, I had to push past another jolt of fear when I removed my shirt. Again, my sports bra was super concealing. When it was done, I turned to the gawking peanut gallery.

  “Never seen a girl before?” I said with fake bravado.

  The crowd of guys just nodded, making low agreeable nonverbal sounds. I blew out a breath and did a slow turn. “Seen enough?”

  Billy stepped into the aisle from the midway point further down.

  “Put your tongues in your mouths, assholes, and get dressed. Meeting in five,” he said.

  Billy obviously held massive respect because the guys turned and stopped focusing on me. I gave him a small smile, and he tipped two fingers from his temple to me in a salute. Then he was gone. I grabbed my shorts first because I wasn’t exactly sure how to put on the pads.

  After I slipped them on, Shepard came from behind me and spoke. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  “Need help?”

  “Dear God,” I panted. “You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Sorry. I just thought you might need a hand with that.”

  He pointed at the shoulder pads that hung from the hook. They looked a little different than the ones other guys had on. I wasn’t surprised. Coach had muttered something about having to overnight Zena gear for me yesterday. I guessed that meant the pads left for me had a front protective area shaped slightly like boobs molded into the design.

  “I do.”

  I’d walked into football knowing the rules, having played it a lot, but never competitively.

  “Put your T-Shirt on first,” he said, his eyes never leaving me.

  Self-consciously, I folded my arms over my chest. His brow arched. I dropped my hands, but there was just something about looking up into his sky-blue eyes that made me feel naked.

  I took the plain orange shirt with our school name printed on it and put it on. Then I grabbed the pads. I lowered them over my head and faced Shepard.

  “Lift your arms.”

  I did as told and shivered when he leaned in to reach for something attached at my back. He held two straps.

  “These hook here.”

  My mouth was dry as he hooked in the straps to the sides of the pad where my breasts were. Then he tightened them.

  “If this isn’t tight, you’re not wearing it right.”

  I nodded. Then he worked at the laces in between the pad. “These should be tight too.”

  My skin was a live wire with currents zinging from his bare touch against my skin. Tingles danced down my spine, and I held in a shiver.

  “That’s it,” he said, taking a step back.

  Though he held my gaze, his focus dipped a little to my mouth, and I found myself rolling my lips in to lick them. They were suddenly dry to the point I thought I might need some Chapstick.

  When our eyes locked once again, there was a moment, a space in time, I could have sworn he might have kissed me. But Billy broke that spell.

  “Meeting time.”

  I inched back, not realizing how close I’d come from lifting on my toes and pressing my mouth to Shepard’s again. Our one and only kiss, though spoiled from pity, still left me breathless when I thought about it.

  Billy glanced between us, and I turned away from them both and headed off to the open area of the locker room I’d heard guys call the pit.

  Coach clapped his hands together.

  “Listen up, ladies.” He stopped himself and found me in the back standing next to August. “And gents. This is my ship, and I may run it differently than any coach you’ve had before me. These are my rules. Morning meetings are here. After, find the wall. The squads you’ll be practicing with will be there in those boxes.”

  He pointed to two columns of colored boxes with names listed in them.

  “After warms-ups, we separate into the indicated groups. If you don’t remember what squad you were assigned to, you will run back here, figure it out, and run stairs until I see fit to let you stop. Do you understand?”

  There was a chorus of, “Yes, sir.” The sound vibrated the walls.

  “One other thing. Farrow,” he deftly pointed at me, “is a member of this team, and you will treat her as such.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  That time I was ready for it and didn’t jolt where I stood.

  “Furthermore, she is a lady.” Coach pointed to me. “You boys will also treat her like you would a little sister. Hands off. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Before he could dismiss us, one joker spoke up. “She can borrow my cup if she needs to.”

  He gestured at his crotch. That got a round of snickers. But then everyone seemed to wait on something, and I decided it was me.

  “Thanks. I guess yours is small enough for me,” I teased.

  That got a rowdy ruckus of laughter. “Little sister has jokes,” the guy said good-naturedly.

  “And the jokes on you,” someone else said from my right.

  When the day was over, my muscles ached, and I was drenched in sweat. Morning warm-ups had been almost comical. All the guys were used to the commands called out to do certain moves or stretches. I’d done my best to keep up and not look like a total idiot. Thankfully, no one called me on it. I guess they expected I wouldn’t know. But somehow I didn’t think my pass for ignorance would last long. I’d have to get Cooper or August to teach me.

  For the second time that day, someone nearly scared me out of my skin as I pondered what to do about a shower. I stared at my locker as if it had the answers. I turned slightly to see it was Bryant who had come up behind me.

  “The time is coming when Banks will get tired of screwing you, and what will you do? How many dicks will you have to suck to keep you on this team?”

  My answer never came because an arm thrust forward out of nowhere. A tightly balled fist caught Bryant in the jaw. He fell back with such force, I might have screamed. But I covered it with my hand, and it came out more like a squeak. Then Shepard was moving forward, clearly not done. I reached to stop him, but he was too fast.

  Thankfully, our teammates were faster. Shep had his arm cocked back when two guys pulled him off a moaning Bryant.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Coach appeared and took in the situation.

  “Connelly, my office. Byrant, see the doc.”

  Coach briefly glanced my way. The steel in his eyes almost had me apologizing. I dropped my gaze to the ground afraid the guys would be pissed at me.

  As the crowd disbursed, Billy appeared.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I snapped.

  I shouldn’t be angry at him, but his last name was Banks. Who else thought I was hooking up with him?

  “What happened?” he pressed.

  Though his expression was sincere, how else could Bryant think we were together in that way? The fact was Billy had talked to Kevin about me. What else had he said? Who else had he talked to?

  Instead of answering, I questioned him. “Did you tell anyone we hooked up because that’s a lie.”

  I hadn’t yelled the words. It had been more like a stern whisper. Still, Billy glanced around.

  “I haven’t said anything about you like that.” I glared at him. He lifted his sh
oulders. “It’s no secret I’m into you. But that’s it.”

  Too bad the lockers were open without doors. I had a strong desire to slam something in his face because I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not. Instead, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door.

  I was more worried about Shepard and what the coach was saying to him. If he got kicked off the team for defending me, I would never forgive myself. I knew Shepard needed football to remain in school.

  I shoved the door open and left the locker room not knowing what to do until I found out from Shep what his consequences were.

  Now for the third time that day, I found myself clutching my chest as I nearly walked into someone outside the locker room door.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said.

  Her smile was pleasant, framed in a pretty face surrounded by wild corkscrew curls. Though she appeared around my age, she was buttoned up in a suit holding a leather portfolio like she was an executive in some big time corporation.

  “No, I’m sorry. Though I’m glad it’s you.”

  That stumped me. “You’re waiting on me?”

  “Yes.” She reached out a hand. “My name is Tori. I’ve been sent by the President of the University as the Freshman ambassador to welcome you to the football program.”

  My mouth rounded and let out an “oh.”

  “I’m sure you can guess you are making University history, and we want to ensure everything is going well so far and you aren’t feeling uncomfortable or harassed.”

  My first thought was Bryant and his mocking words.

  “No, everything is fine.” I managed a placid smile as I forced out the lie.

  Her grin kicked up a notch. “Do you mind if we walk?”

  She held up a hand to indicate for me to head toward the middle of the long hallway. I followed, curious as to where this conversation was going. It wasn’t until we were on the escalator headed down that she spoke.

  “Our school doesn’t discriminate on any level including race, gender, and sexual orientation, which is why we have opened some of our dorms to be coed. At the same time, we understand that not everyone is comfortable with the mixing of genders for personal reasons. While we encourage you to access the men’s locker room because a lot of team meetings occur there as designed, we also understand that you may not feel comfortable in all situations using those facilities.”

  We stopped at the bottom, and I asked, “Do you mind me asking if you’re a student here?”

  She sounded like maybe she was a dean or a professor.

  Her shoulders relaxed some after letting out a short breath.

  “Sorry.” She laughed, and I joined her.

  “I’m so used to talking to parents of the freshmen I’m assigned to reassure them their children will be fine here.”

  “No problem.”

  She heaved out another breath. “The long and short of it is, we girls have things we may not want boys to see or know about.”

  “Are you talking about my period?”

  We burst into more laughter.

  “Sure, that and taking a shower. I mean if you’re okay with showering there, it’s fine. But if you want some privacy, you can find it here.”

  She led me toward a sign that read pool. We walked in, and I was surprised by the size of it. It had to be as big as those used during the summer Olympics.

  “So,” she said. “Though this is primarily for the football team, there are female staff members. When they designed the complex, they added a small locker room for us ladies.”

  I used a fake drawl. “Are you saying they didn’t count on the little ladies playing ball?”

  She giggled. “You said it, not me.”

  We walked into the locker room, which was way smaller than the one the boys had upstairs. There were three rows of orange lockers that resembled the kind we used in high school; though they were a little shorter and skinnier.

  “Both the men and women’s locker rooms in the pool areas are temporary lockers because they are smaller and fewer. There are signs posted that any locks found overnight can and will be removed. However, we are making an exception for you. The lockers upstairs have no doors to conceal things we girls want to keep to ourselves.” I nodded. “So take your pick,” she said.

  My plan had been to use the locker room upstairs. But she was right. There were some things I wouldn’t want left exposed. I wandered down the aisle to the back. I figured most would use the lockers up front.

  “This one.”

  I pointed to one on the end that faced in the direction of the entrance so I could see anyone who came into the aisle. She made note of the number and then pulled a business card free and handed it to me.

  “Fancy,” I said, glancing at it.

  “Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or problems.”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  Maybe if things go south for Shepard, I could call her for help.

  12

  shepard

  There was no avoiding the anvil that was about to fall. I trudged to the office door and swung it open without knocking.

  “Connelly, sit.”

  Coach held out a hand indicating the single chair in front of his desk. I pushed the door and heard it click closed as I slumped in the chair. Coach examined me with silently tapping steeple fingers.

  “What happened out there?”

  I stood up for the girl I love against Devon Bryant. “Devon said some pretty nasty things to Finley, Coach.”

  He angled his head to the side. “Did he touch her in any way?”

  I shook my head as I clasped my hands in my lap.

  “So he just spoke to her?”

  I jerked my head up and down in agreement.

  “They’re just words, son. And Farrow is going to have to deal with a lot more of them when game time comes. Do you plan to punch every asshole that’s got something to say about her being on the field?”

  I would if I could. “No, Coach.”

  “Then I suggest you stop and let her handle it. From what I could tell this morning, she is more than capable.”

  I smiled again thinking about her quick retort to Jones when he’d offered his cup for her to use.

  “As far as Bryant is concerned, you’re lucky you only bruised his jaw and he doesn’t need it to kick a ball. If you’d broken anything, I might have been forced to kick you off the team. And I know you need to play to stay in school.”

  The dryness in my throat felt raw. I didn’t regret serving up justice to Devon. However, leaving school, leaving Finley, would have been painful.

  “How’s the hand?”

  I glanced down and noticed old wounds reopened.

  “It’s fine.”

  He tipped his head, and I lifted my hand so he could see.

  “Get it checked out in the morning. I need my tight end able to catch a ball.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  I got to my feet. Before I reached the door, he said, “And Connelly—”

  Though I didn’t want to be afraid there was more in store than a reprimand, I turned.

  “I can admire you standing up for your fellow teammate, but leave Bryant and his whininess over losing to a girl to me. Farrow has earned her spot. You save the rest for the battle on the field.”

  I gave him a stiff nod and exited the office. Not sure if I could contain my anger if any of the guys said something, I headed out of the locker room. August intercepted me on the way.

  “What the fuck, man? I was in with the trainer getting my ankle checked when Bryant came in bleeding from the mouth to see the doc. One of the guys with him said you fed him his front teeth.”

  Some of the guys must not have connected that August was Finley’s brother, or he would know all of it.

  “He tried to make Finley out as a slut.”

  I ground my teeth together, remembering the asshole’s words.
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  “What?” August snapped.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted August’s jaw tighten and his expression grow dark.

  “He asked her how many dicks she would have to suck to stay on the team,” I told him.

  “I’ll kill him.”

  August made an abrupt turn. I snagged his arm with my right hand and used my left to slap the locker room door, shoving it open.

  “Don’t,” I warned.

  August stopped in the hall. “Wait a minute. You told me to keep my shit together with Billy. But then you go lights out on Bryant, and I can’t do shit?”

  He had a point.

  “Coach just dressed me down and all but told me I could lose my scholarship. And I’d be kicked off the team. Both of us don’t have to be in trouble. Besides, Devon’s learned his lesson.”

  I kept walking, not sure where I was going but ended up near the escalators.

  “And I’m just supposed to sit tight and not break every bone in Bryant’s body?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Good job,” Coop said, slapping my back after catching up to us. “I would have been more subtle, but it worked.”

  Cooper was the last person to get into a fight; though he’d have our backs if we needed him. He was the kind to do shit like slit the bottom of your backpack so when you put it on, all your shit fell out.

  “Bryant is a dead man walking,” August said.

  Then I spotted Finley to the left and got on the escalator down to meet her. She wasn’t alone; though the girl hung back just out of earshot as we met midway. I noticed August perk up.

  The girl was small but extremely pretty. It wasn’t hard to imagine why Cooper’s tongue nearly hung out of his mouth, which was a surprise. He was usually indifferent to everyone around.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Finley.

  August moved forward to hug his sister, but she held up a hand.

  “I’m fine.” She pointed at the eldest of them. “I don’t need my big brother to embarrass me like I’m some delicate flower. Besides, I’m more worried about you.”

  “Wait, you’re the hugger,” he said, pouting.