Page 20 of Forging Legacy

Mom glances at her watch. “I should ride with you. I don’t like to take the train too late.” She looks up at me. “How long are you staying on campus, sweetheart? You said you have TA work to do this evening?”

I nod. “I want to get a head start on grading these exams alongside the other folks, get a sense of the routine and all that.”

Mom frowns. “But you won’t stay too late? Or splurge for a car if you do?”

There’s no way I’m splurging on a ride share after we just had expensive milkshakes, but I nod my head to appease her. Public transportation is perfectly safe if you know how to use your elbows, which I do.

Mom and Thora wave and head to catch a bus toward downtown. They sandwich me in a hug on their way out of the shop, and once they’re gone, I fiddle with my cup, deciding it can’t hurt to listen to Wyatt’s voicemail. His voice comes through the phone in a broken, muffled torrent about threats from his father and demands for money.

It’s hard to ignore the undercurrent of panic in Wyatt’s voice as I listen to his message, and I head instinctively toward his apartment a few blocks away, worried.

I knock on the door, hoping it’s the correct one, and am greeted by a giant who shouts something about food delivery. “Sorry,” I mutter. “I must have the wrong apartment…”

But then I see Wyatt over the man’s shoulder. He sits on his couch, staring at me wide-eyed, face pale. He looks so vulnerable; I want to rush over and wrap my arms around him. The guy who answered the door looks at me, turns over his shoulder, and says, “There’s a chick here for one of you.” He snaps his gaze back to me. “What’s your name?”

“She’s here for me.” Wyatt appears in the doorway, shoving the man out of the way and reaching for my hand.

He tugs me wordlessly through the apartment and straight into his bedroom. I worry there will be a chorus of teasing, but the entire production is met by awed silence by his roommates, who all seem too tall and too muscular for any of the furniture. I begin to understand why the athletes get their own apartment buildings—everything is bigger in here. They probably have reinforced box springs under their mattresses.

“Fern.” Wyatt’s voice is gravelly, pained. “You came.” He sinks onto the edge of his bed and props his elbows on his knees, cradling his forehead in his palms.

I stand in front of him and rest a hand on his shoulder. “You sounded so upset. Want to tell me what happened?”

He shakes his head and I begin to stroke his shoulder, tracing a fingertip from his ear, down his neck, along the firm swell of muscle. He seems to lean into my touch, so I continue, and eventually, he says, “I feel like I’m putting my entire family at risk, like I’m just some outsider exposing them to trash and scandal.”

I sink next to him on the bed and pull him into my arms, resting his head on my shoulder. His body shakes. My mouth is right by his ear as I whisper, “I know they don’t feel that way about you. I can tell they’d want to fight this guy alongside you, Wyatt.”

His voice is muffled by my shirt. “You haven’t even met all of them. The Stag family is intense.”

I rub my palms along his back and his arms, just holding him close to me. “From everything you’ve said, I think they’d get intensely protective of you.”

He shakes his head. “That’s the problem. They’d drop everything and go wild. And they probablywouldlose endorsements. I can’t be the reason any of them lose an opportunity.” He draws back to look at me, and his eyes are red and watery. “I’d never forgive myself if my parents got pulled from coaching the national team.”

I swallow, looking around for water and not seeing any. I soldier on, voice thick. “What makes you think the team wouldn’t rally around them?”

He sighs and pulls back further, reaching for his aunt’s book on his nightstand . “This is all about corruption in the national office. My cousin Wes? His girlfriend was the woman who got grabbed and kissed on television. Did you read about that?”

I frown. “It sounds familiar … didn’t she start a whole movement? And a clean sweep in the management with a vow to do better by their players?”

Wyatt seems to collapse, like he can’t let himself trust that anyone would possibly be on his side in all of this. “Hey,” I tell him, kicking off my shoes and curling up in the bed beside him. I let my hand rest on his face, and he turns toward my palm like a plant angling for sunlight. “I know it’s hard to trust people when you’re used to going alone. I get it. I was raised by a single mom.”

He nods, cuddling closer to me. I’ve never felt this before, another person relying on me for comfort like this. Let alone a man I find attractive. A man who made me come harder than my expensive (and totally worth the cost) vibrator. I cannot think of Wyatt’s bedroom skills right now. He’s upset. I knock his baseball hat off his head and bury my fingers in his dark hair instead, gently stroking his head. It’s intimate and soothing for both of us. His breath begins to slow, and I can feel him calming down.

“Okay,” I tell him. “If this feels like too much, I’ll shut up. But you know my friend Thora?”

He nods. “You’ve mentioned her.”

I continue to stroke his hair and tell him about Thora’s pre-law adventures and some of the case studies she’s described to me. “There’s a clinic on campus for legal aid. You see a law student, but it might be more confidential than talking to an official person who might know your family.”

Wyatt draws back, frowning up at me. “What good would a student clinic do? I have an agent…”

I nod, bracing myself for him to not want to hear any suggestions. “I just remember Thora talking about petitions for confidential name changes. So, you wouldn’t have to advertise it. I’m thinking a student could at least help with that.”

Wyatt is quiet for a long time. Just as I worry he’s fallen asleep, he curls a little tighter against me and says, “That could be something.”

“It could,” I whisper. “I’ll get the clinic info from Thora. I can go with you if you want or not—whatever you need.”

He looks up at me again, brow furrowed. “Why would you help me like that?”

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