Page 52 of The Wrong Quarterback

“Shit,” Gray cursed, crouching down and picking up the frame. It was cracked, and this time, I couldn’t stop the tear that slid down my face.

Why did that crack feel so symbolic?

Gray looked just as devastated when he finally straightened and set the cracked picture back on his desk.

“I’ve got to get back down there. Just get changed and crawl into my bed.” He winced, looking at his unmade covers. “I promise they’ve been cleaned…recently.”

I nodded, biting down on my lip as I stared at him, wishing he would stay…

“I’ll just handle this and then we’ll talk. I promise.” He crossed the room and pulled me into his arms, giving me a soft kiss that for some reason felt…heartbreaking.

“Love you, Case,” he whispered, and I blinked up at him, in disbelief that the words had come out of his mouth.

I opened my mouth to say it back to him, but another knock on the door cut the words from my tongue.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be right back,” he promised, pressing a hasty kiss to my mouth and then walking to the door. “Right back,” he repeated…like he was trying to convince himself.

I stood in the room awkwardly for a minute before deciding to get dry.

A shower later, I slipped into his sweats and used his brush to get the snarls out of my hair.

And then I sat on his bed to wait.

I looked at that picture again, trying to ignore the crack across the glass, trying to remember how the sun had felt as it had roasted our skin that day. I tried to remember the sound of Ben’s jokes and the water licking against the wooden dock, andthe way Mama had brought out lemonade, a fond smile on her lips as she’d looked at the three of us.

It was another memory that was fading, just like all the others. It didn’t help that my thoughts were constantly disturbed by yells and cheers from downstairs as the fraternity members did…whatever they were doing.

Gray had said he’d be right back.

I waited.

And waited.

Finally falling asleep when it was close to two o’clock, the feeling that I was pathetic floating through my soul.

Dawn broke through the thin slats of the blinds, streaks of pale light filtering into the room and casting it in a tired glow. Gray’s arm was heavy around my waist, his breath warm against the back of my neck, the unmistakable stench of alcohol clinging to him.

I sighed, careful not to wake him as I shifted and untangled myself from the sheets. He stirred, murmuring my name in a slurred, half-conscious voice that made my chest tighten and ache all at once. I pulled the covers up over his shoulders, pausing for a moment as I stared down at him. His face was peaceful in sleep, the tension gone, leaving only the boy I used to know.

The floor creaked as I moved, and I winced, holding my breath until he settled again, snoring lightly. I slipped my shoes on and stepped into the hall. The house was eerily quiet now, the wild energy from before completely snuffed out.

When I reached the large room I’d passed last night, I hesitated. Guys were sprawled out on the floor, limbs tangledand twisted in awkward angles, the sour smell of vomit heavy in the air. I would never get why Gray loved this place so much.

I wrapped my arms around myself as I slipped through the front door, the morning air biting against my skin and waking me up. The first rays of sunlight cut across the sky, no sign of the storm that had pelted the campus last night. I sighed, because I was exhausted, and the sky felt too happy for what I was feeling.

I stood there for a moment, eyes closed, breathing in the cool, damp air, trying to muster the energy for another day of classes, of pretending everything was fine. But as I walked away from the house, the fatigue pressing down on me, a strange thought surfaced, uninvited and sharp.

For the first time, I hoped I wouldn’t see Gray that day.

CHAPTER 13

PARKER

Ispotted her sitting on the bench outside the building, wrapped up in her thoughts and looking like she hadn’t slept in days. Her eyes were shadowed as she stared blankly at the book in her lap, their usual brightness dulled by exhaustion. I rubbed at my chest, realizing that more and more I was affected by her moods. If she was unhappy, or sad, or tired…there was no way for me to be okay. I shifted the coffee cup in my hand, nervous as usual because I was about to talk to her.

I’d never had this much on the line before as I did with this girl.

“Hi,” I told her, amused at how surprised she looked every time I talked to her. If she knew how much I’d been watching her this week, she maybe wouldn’t have been so surprised.

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