Page 10 of Out of Bounds

"I’ll think about it." I rubbed my temples. "I will."

Adam whistled, jogging over to the water coolers. "You’ll think about being fun. That’s promising!"

King stood next to me. "Sorry, Ryan."

"It’s fine."

"Adam can be…he’s worried about you."

I knew that. Adam and I went way back, we met in elementary school and when Adam had his injury in high school, it’d been the kind of experience that bonds two guys for life. I knew how Adam operated. The only time he went over the line was when somebody needed it. And when it came to Kassandra Ragar, I needed it.

"I don’t know why I’m letting this girl get to me. I’ve got to get my head in the game."

Muttering under my breath, I tried to settle into our routine. If I stopped talking about her, if I stopped sliding her into every conversation, if I stopped thinking about her, I could at long last get back to my routine.

"We have game reruns at three," I counted down. "Practice after class."

"First class canceled," King pointed out. "We could grab breakfast atGianna’s."

It was a damn tempting offer. But my phone—that shitty, thousand-dollar piece of plastic—burned in my pocket. If I went to the best on-campus restaurant we had, I’d spend the entire time on Kassie’s old accounts. That was an unsettling thought. Distractions like Kassandra Ragar couldn’t happen.

"Maybe another time," I said reluctantly.

"Ryan!" Adam waved by the water cooler. "The swim girls are practicing at pool three! We could make some rounds!"

I turned back to King. "Five times around the track?"

King nodded and started stretching, but Cleo hurrying across the field made me pause.

She held her phone to her ear, snapping her fingers at me. Part of her red hair was flat against her head, the rest in tangles.She struggled to slip on a heel while she stumbled across wet grass.

I’d never witnessed Cleo half-ready.

"Ryan!I told June to tell you to come to my office! Why didn’t you—?!"

I tried to explain. "I was going to see you after."

"My officenow. We’ve got something big!"

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

I followed her to the doors just to see our new transfer football player holding them open like it was his nine-to-five.

Miles Locke.

Cleo had gone to KYU over the summer to scout for players and ended up signing him onandgetting engaged. The man was a great football player, but I couldn’t believe how often I had to snap at him to get his focus back in practice and stop gazing up at Cleo’s War Room, her office that overlooked the training center’s field.

"Miles." I nodded to him.

"Ryan."

Even if he held the door open for us, the way Cleo barreled through it, she might as well have crashed through the glass.

I cleared my throat. "Cleo, I told you I’m leaving in April. I appreciate the talks but—"

"We’re not discussing that! We’re putting a pin in that!"

"Is this about Adam’s photoshoot? I already talked to him. He wants to apologize."

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