Page 30 of Pieces

“Uhhh.” I twiddle my bracelet from my sister, running my fingers over the beads that read2ndPlace. Usually looking at this would distract me or make me smile, but not now.

“Hudson?”

I look up but avoid his eyes. “Yeah?”

Jay presses, leaning forward like he already knows the answer but needs to hear me say it.

I wince, my hand instinctively going to the back of my neck. “I maybe...kind of...hid at the back.” Each word drags out painfully. “I didn’t want her to see me, not in front of her dad. If he clocked me, he’d know I know her, and he’d assume the worst.”

Jay collapses back into his chair with a sigh. “Dude.”

“I know.”

“He’d be right to assume the worst,” Jay says flatly. His glasses slip down his nose just enough to add to his disapproving vibe. “You slept with his daughter.”

“Fuuuuck,” I drawl, dragging my hands down my face. “I’m screwed if he finds out.”

Jay lets out a low chuckle, but there’s no real humor in it. “If? Hudson, this is Coach we’re talking about. The man’s like a bloodhound for trouble, and you’re practically waving a neon sign over your head that says ‘guilty.’”

With a rumbling groan, I flop forward, my head in my hands. “What the hell do I do?”

Another moment of silence passes between us, and I really think I might have to transfer if I want a shot at the pros, because this man has the ability to derail my future career before it’s even started. Do I think he’d go that far? I have no intention of finding out, though. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“No, you know what, it’s going to be fine,” Jay says, resolution coating his words as he stands up. “We need to make sure your reputation isn’t soiled any further, and Coach knows you’re a slut, so we need to change that immediately and make sure he sees you being…whatever the opposite of a slut is.”

“A monk?”

Jay laughs, but I don’t find it funny, because if he’s about to say what I think he’s about to say, I might cry. “Don’t say it.”

“You’re gonna have to go without sex.” Well, shit, he said it. “Or, at the very least, be discreet. Don’t give Coach a single reason to dislike you. Keep your grades up, because we both know he checks. Be the perfect student and football player. That way, if he ever finds out, you’ll be ‘reformed.’”

I groan ever louder this time. “This is gonna blow up in my face. What if I see her around campus?”

Jay claps his hands together like a man with a plan, completely ignoring my misery. “Think about it, Hudson. If Coach sees you as a responsible, upstanding team player, he’ll be less likely to assume the worst if this ever blows up. And the campus is huge, so the chances of you seeing her are slim.”

I shoot him a look. “If this blows up? You mean when.”

“Not if you stick to the plan,” Jay counters, grinning as I look over to him. “No hookups, no scandals. Just football, studying, and being a model player.”

“You say that like it’s easy.” My head lolls back against the chair. “Do you know how many people throw themselves at me? It’s not my fault I’m irresistible.” The joke feels sour on my tongue, because at this rate, I’ll never sleep with a single person ever again.

Jay snorts, folding his arms. “Maybe tone down the ego while you’re at it. It’s not part of the reformed monk vibe.”

Like it’ll shield me from this nightmare, I drag a pillow over my face.

Welcome to my sexless life.

Again.

Chapter fourteen

Daphne

October 29

“This is way too much food, Mom,” I say, staring at the table spread for at least twenty people. Mom always goes all out for our birthday, but this year, she’s overcompensating because Finn isn’t back until the spring, so Mom, Dad, and Liv are the only ones celebrating with me this year. Which is weird because, technically, it’s also Finn’s birthday, orwassince he’s in a different time zone.

“Seriously looking forward to that food coma, Mrs. J. I’ll get you to make my birthday spread too,” Liv praises.

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