think you need to worry. You guys have been glued at the hip,” she says.
I nod, taking a swig of alcohol, appreciating the burn as it hits the back of my throat. “Oh, and did I mention I’ve also been kicked off the team and out of college?”
“What?” I’m not sure who asks the question first—it’s a chorus from all of them.
I nod, taking another pull. “Jade dumped me because I hurt my knee. Imagine how Liv’s going to feel about dating me when I’m a washed-up college nobody.”
“What happened?” Pax asks, his voice authoritative and level, almost like his old self. “Because of the fight?”
I nod again. “Yup.” I take another hit.
“What the actual fuck?” Lincoln spits the words, his anger rolling off him in waves. “My dad is going to have a field day.” He takes several steps, reaching for his phone.
“Dude, I can’t afford to hire your dad.”
Lincoln stops, his anger now directed solely at me. “Do you think I’d expect you to? Jesus, you’re my fucking brother. He’ll do it for free.”
The hem around my neck feels tight as unease stacks on my shoulders.
“What in the hell happened?” Pax asks.
“Which part?”
“All of it,” he says.
I scratch my head, realizing I’m going to have to explain this to Liv soon. What in the hell am I going to tell her? Tell my parents? “Liv and I were downtown, and we were trying to make it back to where we’d parked, and these assholes were ahead of us, grabbing at these two girls who couldn’t have been much older than fifteen. I mean, they didn’t even have their licenses—one of their moms had picked them up. I told the guys to stop and get lost, and one of them charged at me.”
Lincoln nods. “I saw it. He fucking hit you first.”
I nod. “I made sure he did because I knew if I went in there swinging, it would be my ass on the line.” I laugh humorlessly because it didn’t matter. “Coach Harris called and said we needed to meet. He had Craig and a bunch of Brighton staff in there with him, and they told me my scholarship was revoked and I was expelled, effective immediately.”
“Revoked your scholarship? For punching some sense into some shitheads?” Lincoln practically yells the words. “Pax, tell me you’re calling your dad.”
“On it,” Pax says.
Paxton’s dad is the dean of business at Brighton, which gives me very little hope, especially since he just got back to work a few weeks ago after his own scandal and found a loophole. But I don’t mention this because my mom taught me you never look a gift horse in the mouth.
“What about, Liv?” Pax asks, typing away on his phone. “Can she talk to her dad? Did she know?”
I shake my head. “There’s no way she knew.”
Lincoln looks at me, doubt apparent in his gaze. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah. Their relationship’s kind of strained. I don’t think they talk about much, but she definitely would have told me about this.”
Poppy shakes her head. “Maybe you really were cursed. I can’t believe this happened. There’s a video. Everyone saw he hit you first.”
“There’s got to be more going on that we don’t know,” Lincoln says.
Lincoln’s phone buzzes with a text. “My dad’s going to be calling you tomorrow. Until then, just stay here and don’t talk to anyone.”
Pax reaches for my bottle, taking a pull. “We’ve got this.”
I shake my head. “There’s no way Coach is going to give me my scholarship again. He’s been looking for an angle to cut me since I got injured. Think about it. We’re an aging team, and I’m taking up a scholarship, and he knows—he knows—the chances of me being able to play in the fall are so slim that no one would be willing to bet on me. Plus, he made it clear when he recruited me that my leash was short. And I toed the line for three years—leaving every time there was a fight, avoiding any conflict—” Which has been much easier with Theo not being near and being able to start fresh over here. “And the nail in the coffin is that I had his daughter with me when this shit happened.”
Lincoln shakes his head. “That’s bullshit. You worked your ass off for this team. If he wants a war, we’ll bring him a war. I’ll fucking walk if he cuts you. What’s he going to do then?”
“The whole fucking team will walk,” Pax says.