Page 82 of Hate the Game
“Oh, thank god. I said the thing about dancing and then remembered that I’m hugely pregnant and have swollen feet, ankles, and boobs.” She fell back into her bed and sighed. “You can do it, Vannah. Take your life by the reins and don’t let Dad give you shit. He fucked up with Marla somehow and he needs to make it right. If for no other reason than to help you.”
“Blaire, he thinks I’m a sex worker sent to distract your brother.” I looked around for her hair brush. “I highly doubt he has any interest in doing anything for me.”
“Maybe he’ll surprise you. I hope so. If you see my brother, kick him in the ass for me.” She pointed to her desk. “Hair brush, deodorant, and lip gloss. Do not wear Cole’s shirt across campus. If they see you, they’ll think you’re pining away for them.”
I shot her an eye roll. “I am. I am literally doing that lame thing you just described.”
“They don’t need to know that, though. Take the power back. You are woman, hear you roar. You know, all that stuff.” She yawned. “Maybe don’t listen to me because I’m exhausted and I think I’m going to take a really long nap now.”
I smiled as I watched her eyes drift shut. She could fall asleep in an instant and I was wildly jealous, especially since everything fell apart. I had been sleeping like crap and watching her dream like a sweet baby cherub all night long hadn’t been easy.
I finished getting ready and dressed in my shorts and one of her t-shirts. It was too short and I felt like a busted can of biscuits but I wasn’t trying to impress Coach Carrington. I just needed him to make things right with Marla. Just one part of my life needed to be okay. I wasn’t expecting greatness, just the ability to face my life without wanting to curl up in a ball and sob.
Leaving the dorm felt huge and I kept expecting someone to jump at me and call me stupid for daring to face the student body after I’d tried to take down their football program and their football gods. Holding myself as rigidly as I could I walked across campus feeling like I was walking to my demise. My feet didn’t want to go any farther but I just kept shuffling along.
I stopped outside of the same building I’d first met the guys in and just stared up at it. Funny how it looked the same when I felt so different. It seemed like it should’ve been crumbling right along with me but it wasn’t. It was standing as strong as ever.
“Bullshit.”
***Cole***
“This is absurd. You got me here under false pretenses and I don’t appreciate being jerked around by a bunch of toddlers in football pads. I’ll be filing a complaint with President O’Madden.” Marla Knight was a pain in the ass. She was angry, volatile, hated us with a passion, and just all-around kind of sucked.
Jax scowled at the woman, his perfect facade dropped somewhere along the way with Ryder’s aloofness and my inability to commit. No one could ever say that Savannah hadn’t made an impact on us. She definitely had. Like a fucking meteorite. Before Jax could completely throw caution to the wind and toss Marla out a window, I stepped in.
“Why don’t you file a complaint with Coach first? He’s in his office, waiting on you.” I forced a smile but judging by the way she took a step back, it hadn’t been pretty.
“Did Savannah help you do this? I knew she’d gotten involved with one of you. And after what you did to her brothers. Shame on you and shame on her for emailing me to set this bullshit up. I’m going to make sure she never-”
“Just go into the fucking office, lady! You’ve been inching that way the whole time. It’s clear you want to. Go. Now. For the love of god, just go!” Ryder threw his hands up and walked a few feet down the hallway, away from Coach’s office and Marla Knight.
“And don’t threaten Savannah. She had nothing to do with this. She doesn’t know we emailed you.” I crossed my arms. “If you talk to Coach and still want to throw a tantrum, we’ll be here waiting.”
She jabbed her finger in my direction and growled before spinning around and barging into Coach’s office. We hadn’t warned him, of course. He was sitting in on an athletic department meeting, headphones blocking out the ruckus we were making. He was in for quite the surprise.
I caught a glimpse of his dumbstruck face before it turned to anger and he shot out of his chair, headphones flying off as he went. We followed Marla in, not giving the two of them enough time to fully get into it before we intervened.
“What the fuck is this about?” Coach swung around on us. “What is this?”
Jax stepped closer to his dad’s desk and crossed his arms over his chest, the picture of cool authority. “Marla Knight gave the internship to Savannah. Savannah LaneFord. They planned on trashing the football program in the article at the end of the season but Savannah changed her mind. Marla here has a hard on for you, though, Dad, so she’s pushing Savannah and threatening to ruin her career. Or keep her from ever having one. Whatever happened between the two of you, sort it out. It’s bullshit that Savannah is going to be hurt because of your issues.”
Coach’s mouth dropped open. “Ford? Savannah LaneFord?”
Marla put her hands on her hips. “Yeah.ThatFord. You and your team hurt two of her brothers last year and she wanted revenge. She was going to be brilliant but apparently, she’ssleeping with one of these idiots and has lost sight of her plan. Maybe it’s like father, like son. Maybe your son used his good looks and okay personality to charm her into his bed and once she’s missed her chance to do the job, he’ll leave her to her own devices. Alone and crushed because he promised the world with no intention of delivering it.”
“First of all, no one hurt her brothers on purpose. It’s a goddamn shame that those boys got hurt. Someone should’ve explained to her that sometimes accidents happen in football and that’s the risk these boys take to play the game.Youdamn well know my boys didn’t target her brothers. Yet you let her go on believing that to further your little game?” Coach’s head was so red that I was slightly concerned for his heart but it didn’t slow him down. “Second of all, what the fuck is wrong with you? You have shown up here twice now with a stick up your ass and an attitude problem the size of the fucking state, all in the name of hating me. It’s bullshit and it stops now!”
“Yeah, we’re going to go. We just need you two to sort this out. We care about Savannah, Dad.” Jax softened his tone but stared his dad down, making sure Coach understood how serious he was being. “We care about her a lot and it would be a damn shame if you two let your petty drama hurt her and her future.”
Marla started yelling again like she didn’t give a flying fuck about what Jax was saying. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with me?! You! You act like you’re god’s gift but we both know what you did to me!”
“WhatIdid toyou?!You’rethe one who left, Mar. You left and then you-”
“I had to be closer to my family! You knew that! You told me you’d wait on me and you-”
“Just figure it out! We’ll be outside waiting.” Jax led the three of us out and I slammed the door behind us, frustrated that theywere arguing like a couple of teenagers instead of having the smallest bit of maturity about the whole thing.
Once we were in the hallway the shouting started back up, muffled but very clearly still shouting. We moved a little farther down the hallway and leaned against the wall while we waited. They couldn’t argue forever. We just needed Marla to relax on her vendetta plan, just enough for Savannah to be okay.
