Page 135 of All My Kisses for You

I dare to look at him, fighting the disgust I feel when I do.

“You told Willow that my parents asked you to do this,” I throw at him, letting my anger show. That’s one of the many things he said that bugged the shit out of me. “Which is a straightup lie.”

“I spoke with your parents privately, right before the school year.” Westscott’s gaze goes to my mom and dad. “Back me up here. This conversation did happen.”

Dad exhales roughly, rubbing along the side of his jaw. “Yeah, we spoke to you. But you initiated the call and you told us, you assured us, you would watch over him. We didn’t tell you to be his watch dog and decide who he can and cannot spend time with.”

“You lied to her,” I say again, because it makes me so fucking angry he tried to intimidate her. Actually, there’s no trying about it—he did intimidate her. And that’s some straight-up bullshit. “You said Willow was just some girl who would spread her legs for me. And you threatened her by practically daring her to go to her parents and tell. That they would do nothing anyway because all the Lancasters care about is the bottom line and you were delivering exactly what they wanted.”

“You threatened Crew Lancaster’s daughter?” Whit Lancaster’s voice is casual, but I see the flash of anger in his blue eyes that are like ice. “You know her father is here on campus. Want me to pull him into this meeting?”

Fuck, this guy is cold.

Westscott’s face turns pale. “I didn’t threaten her.”

“Sounded like what Rhett repeated was a threat. Are you calling him a liar? Are you calling Willow Lancaster a liar?”

I can practically feel Westscott scrambling to come up with the right answer. “No, of course not. They just—she just misunderstood me.”

“Seems like there’s been a lot of misunderstanding from you lately,” Dad says, leaning forward to prop his arms against the edge of the marble boardroom table. “You know, I thought my son coming to this school would be good for him and everyone else too. Looks like that has come true, but I’m guessing with all of this attention the school is getting, you’re power-tripping. Believing you’re solely responsible for all of it.”

“I do believe it,” Westscott says with a sniff.

“And that just goes to show me how you don’t know what it’s like to be part of a team. You can’t do this alone. There are so many moving parts. So many members of this team who’ve made this school better. But you can’t even give them any credit. You want all the accolades and fuck everyone else.” Dad shoots a look in Whit Lancaster’s direction. “Sorry.”

“No need. That was perfectly said.” Whit leans back in his chair, his gaze never straying from Westscott. “You’ve really stepped in it, Claude. I’m afraid we’re going to have to put you on administrative leave while we finish this investigation.”

“Administrative leave? Investigation? What the hell are you investigating? What a great job I’m doing? How much attendance is up? How much more tuition the school is taking in? Don’t even get me started on alumni donations. The money is pouring in by the millions every month. We’ll be able to start construction on the new stadium in the spring!”

“Keep this up and there won’t be anything else to investigate. You’ll be fired.” Lancaster glances over at us. “I’m sorry this happened, and that you just had to listen to that little tirade. The board of trustees will investigate this matter further and let you know what we’ve decided. Rhett, you’ll still be on the football team if you want to be.”

“I want to be,” I say without hesitation. “But am I going to get into any trouble?”

“Trouble?” Whit asks. “Why would you be in any trouble?”

Mom sends me a look, one that says don’t open your mouth, and I take it to heart.

“Just asking.” The relief that hits me has me slumping in my seat. “I’m good. We’re good.”

We all shuffle out of the meeting room, leaving Westscott in there alone with Whit, and the moment we’re outside, Dad is breathing a sigh of relief.

“I wouldn’t want to be that guy, alone with Whit Lancaster.” Dad mock shivers. “He’s scary.”

“He’s not that bad,” Mom murmurs. “Very handsome.”

“Oh, you like that type now?” Dad wraps his arm around Mom’s shoulders, hauling her in close. She digs her elbow into his side, pretending to try and get away, but she gives in quickly, letting him wrap her up in his arms. “He’s intimidating.”

“He is,” I agree, ignoring my parents. They always do this sort of thing. I just never expected them to act like this while we’re walking across campus, but whatever. “I seriously thought I was going to get suspended.”

“Glad you kept your mouth shut.” Mom sends me a pointed look.

“Yeah, good call.”

We make small talk as I walk with them out to the guest parking lot and Dad promises to talk to my coaches. Mom gives me a big hug when we stop by the rental car they drove over. They have a flight they need to catch in about four hours so they need to get going.

“Are you sure you’re okay with us leaving?” Mom stands in front of me, standing on her tiptoes to brush the hair away from my forehead since she’s such a shrimp.

“Yeah, Mom, I’m not a baby.” Though I gotta admit, I kind of like it when she babies me. “I’ll be fine.”

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