Page 14 of Change Your Play

“The law library?” Cleo raised an eyebrow.

“Yep, the law library. Full of laws.”

“Actually, it’s in renovations,” she teased. “It’s full of nothing.”

I sighed dramatically. “Damn.”

“No offense, Miles, but…how do you not know your own campus?”

My car pulled up to the law library, and I stuck my head out to look at KYU. The college was a well-endowed school in a bustling Oklahoma town that practically catered to it. A place I had never been comfortable in.

“I don’t like it here,” I answered honestly. “I don’t really know anybody. They transferred me again pretty quickly once I won the third award. By the time I got here, all the groups had settled in.” I shrugged. “Everybody knows everybody from high school, or they met at the beginning of the year. They don't know me. I don't know them.”

But I knew where the conversation was heading.

Why don’t you give Marrs a try?

I’d been through the conversations with recruiters, scouting teams, and random KYU donors. Even if I was enamored with Cleo, I knew her job. I knew the drill.

But Cleo just stared at me.

I frowned. “What?”

“I’m…I’m so sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything.”

“No, but….” Cleo wrung her hands and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’d picked up the same girl who’d snapped at three of my teammates yesterday for leaving their locker room a mess, didn’t I? But she didn’t look ready to get into a sales pitch.

She looked…concerned.

“I’m so sorry because that sounds so lonely.” She smoothed down her skirt. “Marrs is a big family and I can’t imagine how that feels. I’m sorry, Miles.”

“It’s fine.”

“Have you tried…talking to your coach about it?”

“Which one? The one they fired at the start of the spring semester or the one they’ll probably fire after summer training?”

Cleo didn’t laugh at my joke. Her lips didn’t even twinge.

“Miles? I am sorry.” She sighed. “I really hope it gets better.”

“I'm feeling pretty great right now,” I assured her.

“No, I know—”

Trying to brighten the mood from where I'd dampened it, I leaned in a little closer. “I've got this gorgeous redhead in my car. And I'm waiting for her to figure out she can do better.”

“Miles.” She bit her lip. “I hope you’re able to find…people you’re comfortable with. I hope you find yours.”

A smile tugged up on my lips and I leaned back in my seat.

Her expression didn’t change. “Why’re you smiling?”

The reasoning settled somewhere between my throat and my chest, a stupid, ridiculous reason I didn’t want to share. The situation was shit, sure. But I liked Cleo caring about it. I liked the way her eyebrows furrowed and the way her hand raised over the seat like she wanted to touch my arm. And those gorgeous caramel eyes gazing at me, holding me tight, like she needed to.

I didn’t say it to garner sympathy. I didn’t. I meant every word. But she was the first person with the first genuine response. No sales pitch.

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