Page 18 of For Crosby

He turned slowly. Beneath his dark mask I could see his beady narrow eyes, but still he said nothing to me.

“I get the whole haze the rookie thing, but I’m gonna be one of your best players. I’m gonna help the team win. Why do this? Why humiliate me?”

One of the guys behind me laughed. “He’s never gettin’ out of these.”

One of the other guys said, “Yeah, he’ll probably still be here when classes start on Monday.”

I tried to move my arms, but they’d pulled the ropes so damned tight they were cutting into my skin. And to make matters worse, they were right. I was stuck there until someone showed up on Monday. A day and a half away.

The guys stepped out from behind me and walked over to their leader. “Dude, he’s not going anywhere,” one of them said.

“Head back,” the leader said. “I’ll meet you there.”

Like meek children, the three of them turned and did as told. Were they scared of this guy?

Once they disappeared into the darkness, he stopped pacing and stepped right up to me. “We know you’re using our team as a stepping stone for your career,” he said, low and menacing. “But let me make something very clear. We don’t like being used, and we don’t plan on making your time here easy.”

“I can take whatever you’ve got.”

“Damn straight you will. Or, I assure you, you’ll never see the pros.”

I opened my eyes, pushing away the anger I felt every time I remembered that night. Every time I remembered why I needed to put up with their shit. Every time I heard my parents’ lawyer telling me not to blow the chance I had at a bright future—one that didn’t involve my parents or what they’d done to tarnish all of our names. Every time I wanted to kick the shit out of every last one of these guys.

CHAPTER SIX

Sabrina

“He was nice.”

“Just nice?” Finlay asked, chewing down her cheeseburger in the dining hall.

“Okay fine. He was a freaking beast. The guy could go all night long.”

Finlay’s eyes widened. “Liar.”

“Hey, if you didn’t stay at Caden’s last night, you would’ve been there when he had his way with me on your bed.”

“Shut up,” she said.

“You’ll never know.”

“I already know,” she said. “I can see it all over your face. It’s not there. If it was, you’d have those big blue gaga eyes you get.”

My nose wrinkled. “Gaga eyes?”

She nodded. “All dreamy and captivated. The way you get around Forester. You play indifferent, but I know the truth.”

“You do, huh?”

She nodded.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m done being into guys who are into someone else. I want someone who wants me as much as I want him. I deserve that.”

“You do deserve that. You need someone who makes you feel larger than life.”

“And gives me gaga eyes.”

She laughed before mowing down the rest of her burger. The girl could seriously eat anything and not gain a pound. I, on the other hand, had to watch everything I ate. I wasn’t very tall, so the curves I had were a minute away from becoming rolls if I wasn’t careful. “I think I know what your problem is.”