Page 4 of Cruel Devotion

The second he called me out to see him in his office, I knew exactly what he’d say.

And he had, at first, telling me that my grades were falling.

Blah, blah, blah.I kept them average or above, all that was required to meet my scholarship criteria.

Then he expressed his opinions about my lack of enthusiasm.

Whatever, dude. Beowulfwas too damn boring to excite me.It hardly mattered whether I liked the class. Brit Lit was the last elective I could do to graduate in the spring.

Last, he made sure to tell me that I wouldn’t pass if I turned in one more late paper or assignment.

Better late than never, if you ask me.

I was late now, as a matter of fact, hours after I’d left campus. My dorm room stank like too much cologne after Finn, my best friend and teammate, sprayed damn near a whole bottle on himself to mask the stink of weed. Everyone smoked on campus, and I wasn’t sure why he worried whether someone smelled it on him now. It wasn’t like we were actively playing. Football season was done. Basketball was in. No one, especially a coach, was going to get on his ass for hitting a blunt now.

“Just don’t smoke before going out,” I told him as we left our dorm room to head to a party.

“I’m nervous,” he argued.

I rolled my eyes, finding it funny how insecure he could be. We were almost out of here, ready to go out as college graduates and conquer the world. And he still needed a little weed to chill?

“What the hell is there to be nervous about?” I asked. “We’ve gone to Preston’s place before.” It wasn’t Preston West’s place, but his family home. With his parents out of town and after the basketball team’s big win tonight, that mansion near campus would be lit. Still, this wasn’t our first rodeo. Finn and I had perfected the art of passing our classes, playing football, and partying.

I’d miss it come the summer.

“Because that one girl from my econ class will be there,” Finn said. “I don’t want her to smell weed on me and think I’m some deadbeat loser.”

I laughed, draping my arm around his shoulders. “Dude, you’re worrying about nothing. And if she’s so judgmental that she wouldn’t pay attention to you because you hit a joint, then screw that. You don’t need a judgy woman in your life.”

He smiled, shaking his head. “No, man. Iwantto screw her. She’s not like all the younger classmen here. She’s older. More experienced. More…”

I shoved him away playfully. “You haven’t graduated yet,” I reminded him. “Live a little while you can.”

Because before we knew it, we’d have our diplomas and the party would be over. We’d just be adults. Without going into the pros, we’d have to leave our athletic days behind us too.

Damn, getting old was depressing.

“Yeah, exactly. We haven’t graduated yet. What did Blume want to talk to you about? Your grades again?”

I shrugged, not wanting to let him bring my mood down. Finn knew how much I could struggle with grades. It wasn’t because I was stupid. I just didn’t get it as easily as everyone else—probably because of the partying and my interest in sports instead.

“It’s fucking Brit Lit. It’s an elective. So long as I get a C, it’s fine.”

“You hope,” Finn said, raising his brows. The facial gesture made his glasses slide down his nose, and he pushed them up.

“No hope about it.” As far as I could tell, everything was going as expected. I’d gotten a full ride scholarship from Marsten High for my success as quarterback. I passed all three years of my program. And come May, when I had my diploma in my hands, I’d be able to find a job as a physical therapist technician, done with my studies in sports medicine.

“I’m just saying you’re not in the clear yet,” he warned. “I heard about that one guy who had to pay back his whole damn tuition, dorm fees, everything. He had to pay it all back because he lost his scholarship for bad behavior.”

I scowled, hating how someone like a college dean could ruin someone’s life like that. I’d heard about it, too, that having a full-ride scholarship was a privilege that could be revoked, but that wasn’t happening to me.

“Good thing that I know how to behave,” I said, not caring how cocky I sounded.

Finn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“Everyone loves me.” I flung my arms up as I backpedaled, walking the rest of the way toward the West mansion.

“We love you, Eli!” A couple of girls hollered from across the wide lawn.

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