Page 3 of The Study Session

From everything I understand, Gerard is a very nice guy. But that's not in my head right now. All I can focus on is the fact that he is the one who tackled me to the ground. It's not the first time, either. When I was at Glendale, I played against him, and he can be brutal.

“Come on, man,” Gerard says, holding his hands up to let me know he's not willing to fight. “It was just a practice play. Calm down!”

“Oh really? And you weren't rougher than you usually are on others?” I ask, stepping forward as he backs away and shoving him again. He falls to the ground, and I drop my knees on top of him, clutching the fabric of his training jersey in my fists.

Coach Emerson's whistle sounds behind me, and I ignore it. I raise my fist to bring it down on Gerard just as a group of other players swarm around me and pull me off him. I fight back against them, freeing myself as I stand up straight and pace back and forth while running my fingers through my hair.

“What is his problem?” everyone murmurs around me.

Coach Emerson storms to my side and holds his hands firmly on his hips with a beet-red face. “That might be how they did things at Glendale, but that's not how we do them here!”

He backs away from me and looks out at the rest of the team, all seemingly distressed after the minor scuffle between me and Gerard. I can't help but think about how they're all just a bunch of cowards. They wouldn't have lasted a day in Glendale.

“Practice is over!” Coach shouts, turning back to me with an icy stare. “If this happens again, I have no choice but to kick you off the team. Consider this your one and only warning.”

He walks away before I can say anything else, not that my words will do anything to help the situation. Silence surrounds the field as everyone in the team watches me alongside all of the band members. I don't care about anyone on the team right now. My eyes search through the crowd for Corinne's until I spot her standing with her flute at her side and her mouth hanging open in surprise.

After a few moments, everybody gets back to normal. The players on the team all gather their things and make their way to the locker room, and I stand in place in the middle of the field.

Corinne looks over her shoulder and sets her flute down carefully in her case before walking across the field to me. My heart beats a little faster seeing her, watching as her petite frame saunters across the green. Even now, in the shorts and T-shirt she's wearing for practice, she's sexy.

My eyes lock on hers when she reaches me, and I see the concern within them. Her soft, pillowy lips are parted slightly,and my mind immediately wanders to a fantasy of me sitting at the table in the study room with her on her knees in front of me.

Yesterday, I could tell she was flustered when I hit on her. She didn't respond how I wanted right away, but at least now I know there's some feeling between us.

“I'm tutoring you for extra credit, and I can't do that if you get kicked out of school,” Corinne says, annoyed.

“Who was that guy you were talking to?” I ask, not caring about the study sessions anymore. I see a flicker of confusion on her face, and she backs up slightly and narrows her eyes in frustration.

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asks, shaking her head in disbelief. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down. I know she knows what I'm talking about. There was only one guy she was talking to during the practice. I saw her with my own eyes.

“Don't play dumb with me,” I say, shaking my head and clenching my fists at my side. “Tell me who he is.”

She shakes her head and opens her mouth like she wants to talk, but no words come out. Her baby-blue eyes squint as she stares at me in absolute confusion. I know what she's thinking. Who the hell am I to be asking her questions like this? I've known her for approximately eighteen hours, and here I am, laying claim to her. I don't know what to tell her. That's just how it is. She'smine.

Her eyes shift to something behind me, and it takes everything in my power to look away from her and see what it is. I toss a glance over my shoulder, immediately turning the rest of my body when I see who it is.

Of course, I should have expected Adrian and some of the other guys from the team in Glendale to be here. Adrian claps his hands slowly as he moves across the field to me. The other isaround him all snigger and smile as they look between me and Corinne.

“Despite what they say, I applaud you,” Adrian says, his voice lithe and filled with amusement. “I was worried you'd lose your killer instinct when you came here. But you're as much of a killer on the field as you are off it.”

Adrian's eyes flutter from mine to Corinne standing behind me, and his lips curl into a smile. I can practically read his thoughts, and I instinctively step between the two of them. That catches Adrian's attention, and he cocks an eyebrow at me.

“I wasn't expecting to see you here,” I say, my voice calm and stoic.

“We're here to support you. Just because you left school doesn't mean you're not one of us anymore,” Adrian says, crossing his arms in front of him as he stares at me.

I know I shouldn't care much about what other people think of me. But since being here, I’ve felt isolated. The only person who has bothered to be a friend to me is Sawyer, and after today, I doubt that’s on the table. I needed this. Adrian, the rest of the team.

“Come on, we're having a party at Greylane Beach later,” Adrian says, nodding to signal me to follow. The others behind him all turn around and begin walking back to the bleachers to grab their things. Adrian follows, knowing I'm going to join.

I hold a finger up to signal I'll be following in a moment, then I turn back around to look at Corinne, who is still staring at me in shock. There's fear in her eyes, and a part of me wants to reach out and comfort her, but I don't.

“I don't want to see you talking to that guy from the band anymore,” I say to her, looking over her shoulder at a few of her friends watching with concern in their eyes. “Understand?”

She doesn't say anything, but she wrinkles her eyebrows and nods. My eyes linger on her for a moment, wishing I could reachmy hand out and grab her face to kiss her. A part of me wants to. I could stake my claim right here in front of everyone, but I hold myself back.

I leave her in the middle of the field and walk away with Adrian and the rest of the Glendale football team.

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