Page 61 of The Wrong Quarterback

I wanted to look away, to pretend it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t.

This was Gray—my Gray, the boy who had been there through everything, who had promised me a thousand things—wrapped around another girl like I meant nothing.

I couldn’t breathe. All I could think about were his words, the ones that had pulled me in, that had made me feel like we were building something real. He’d said he thought Ben would have understood, that he would have wanted this for us. That he would’ve been okay with us being together. But this? Ben would never have supported this. My brother would never have wanted me to feel this kind of betrayal, this sick, hollow ache that crept through my chest and made it hard to breathe.

Gray had promised me something—something sacred—and he’d thrown it away like it was nothing.

“Casey!”

I woke up with a gasp, tears streaming down my cheeks. Natalie’s concerned face was hovering over me.

“You were crying out in your sleep,” she murmured, sitting down on the edge of my bed. Her lower lip suddenly trembled, and she threw herself on me. “I’m so fucking sorry, babe. He’s the worst. The absolute worst.”

“Who told you?” I croaked out.

She squeezed me for one more second before she pulled away. “Parker came and got me and sent me after you. He was really worried about you,” she said softly.

Parker. I couldn’t think about him right now.

If my heart could be broken by a guy like Gray…I had a feeling that it would be absolutely demolished by someone like Parker.

“I just can’t believe he did that,” I whispered. She scooted back so I could sit up.

Glancing out the window, it was still dark outside. Maybe that was a good thing. Because what was I supposed to do after this, when I inevitably saw Gray? What was I even supposed to say to him?

“Want me to kill him?” Natalie asked, and I stared at her in shock, noticing for the first time she was still in her party clothes, her eyeliner smudged underneath her eyes. “Well, I wouldn’tpersonallykill him. We could just find a hit man or something. You can find anything online these days.” Her face was completely serious.

“No, that’s alright,” I said slowly, trying to smile, but finding myself incapable of it at the moment. I brought my legs to my chest and laid my cheek on my knees, looking at her. “I just didn’t think he was capable of hurting me like that, you know? Breaking up with me, yes. But to cheat on me, infrontof me. I—I feel like everything I knew about him was wrong.” More tears slid down my face and wet my sheets.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” she murmured, rubbing my back. I’d told her about Ben and how he and Gray had been best friends. And how I’d thought I’d been in love with him since the day he’d first walked through our door.

“This won’t make you feel better…but he did seem really out of it. He’d definitely drunk too much.”

“No, it doesn’t make me feel better,” I said, turning to bury my face against my knees for a moment. “He’s been drinking a lot this whole time, but I guess I just assumed there was a line, you know. When he would stop.” A sob slipped from my mouth, and I was mad about it, because it wasn’t a sob he deserved. “When you love someone, you should have a line.”

We sat there in silence for a long time. She would rub my back every time I cried and tell me she was so sorry I’d been hurt.

“Thank you for being here,” I finally told her hoarsely, as the sun was starting to light up the horizon. “It’s nice not to feel so alone.”

She grabbed my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze.

“I’m still feeling good things,” she said quietly, and I let out a quiet huff.

Because I wasn’t, not at all.

I eventually forced myself out of bed, even though Natalie thought I should take the day off. I didn’t want to stay in our room, though, going over everything again and again. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him kissing her.

Hopefully class would distract me…a little.

The ache of last night sat heavy in my chest as I washed my face and threw on clothes. Staring in the mirror, I inwardlygroaned. I looked like my heart hadn’t just been ripped out, but stomped on too.

No revenge look was going on here.

Natalie walked with me out into the hallway, her usual bubbly energy dialed down to something softer, more understanding. She didn’t ask any questions, just fell into step beside me, her quiet presence a reminder that I wasn’t completely alone.

We’d made it to my building before he appeared, as if summoned by my worst thoughts.

Gray.

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