Page 100 of How to Score Off Field

Of course I was going to bond with his sister.

"Oh, you 'care about Tess, a lot'? That's rich." He’s being so sarcastic. "Did you 'care' about her while you were fucking her in my place, behind my back?"

“It wasn’t at your house—it was at hers.” I make the mistake of saying.

“Fuck you.”

"Okay, I deserve that." But I’m frustrated as hell and this conversation is going nowhere productive. “Grady. Brother. I'm being honest with you. It was a mistake, a stupid one, and I take full responsibility for it.”

"You're damn right you take responsibility," he snaps. "But that doesn't change the fact that you betrayed my trust, Drew. I thought we were friends."

"Wearefriends, Grady," I insist. "I never wanted to hurt you or Tess—but with all due respect, this wasn’t about you. This is about her and I.”

“Excuse me?”

“This is about Tess and I.”

Grady laughs. “I swear to god, I always thought Drake was the cocky one between the two of you. Turns out all along, you’re the one we can’t trust.”

“Why are you getting all bent out of shape?” I blurt out. “It’s sex. And we care about each other. It wasn’t a one-night stand. Did she not explain that to you?”

I can literally hear him breathing in and out. “All I know is that she’s been crying a lot lately, and it has something to do with you.”

“That makes no sense,” I utter, almost to myself. “All I’ve been tryin’ to do lately is get ahold of her. She isn’t texting me back. She ghosted me. Check her phone. I’ve sent so many messages.”

He lets out a heavy sigh, the tension in his voice finally giving way to something resembling resignation. "You've got a long way to go to make this right, Drew. Tess is hurt; I have no idea why, but I plan to get to the bottom of it.”

I nod even though he can’t see me. “Fair enough.”

“I don't know if or when she'll be ready to forgive you.”

Swallowing hard, I feel my throat tighten. "I understand. I promise to give her the space she needs.”

He's silent for a moment, and I can almost hear the cogs turning in his head. Finally, he says, "Fine. Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna make it up to Tess, and you're gonna do it without screwing up even more. You hurt her, and if you hurt her again, I will fly to Illinois and beat your ass. Understand.”

“Uh. How did that work out the last time you tried?”

“Screw you, dude.”

I can hear the grin on his face even though he probably wouldn’t admit it.

“Just saying. You’d have to take me by surprise if you were going to get a fair fight.”

He scoffs. “Listen. I hate that you and my sister…you know. Fucking hate it. But I hate that she’s upset even more. I’ve never seen her like this.”

“Like how?”

“Cryin’. Seems miserable. Been sick.”

She’s been sick?

Weird.

“She didn’t say anything to me about being sick. She said she was busy with school, and that night she ran out of gas on the side of the street really stressed her out.”

Grady goes quiet, thinking. “Ran out of gas on the side of the street? When was that?”

I shrug. “Don’t know, two weeks ago maybe?”

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