i

failed

aggressively tapping the red exclama

failed

unknown number five times. It rang once and went straight to a dead tone. I had texted them, dema

th

t it, my stomach dropped. Five seconds of me and Ava against the leather booth of tha

get ready for the

e broke thro

o the floor. I quickly locked the scre

He was scrolling through his phone with one hand while using the other to stuff a cold slice of leftover pepperoni pizza into his mo

I said, my voice tight as I leaned aga

. "We have to go. It's tradition for the Grizzlies to show up and pump some life in

row, Chase. The season is startin

bed. Then, his expression softened, a protective glint entering his eyes. "Plus...

up at the me

ter, a cold dread rus

er. If this blackmailer was going to leak it, they would do it when the stakes were highest. And a crowded o

tell her about the video before

ies varsity jacket off the back of my

-

d hit us before we e

could feel it vibrating in my sneakers. The moment the Grizzlies walked onto the lawn

d!" Miller yelled, ra

s the part of the night where I would flash a smile, do the polite captain thing, and

my shoulder and scanned the crowd, my

e is

s elbow. He had a massive grin on his face, totally hyped up on

in climbed up and delivered the speech that set the tone for the entire semester, getting

could think about was the video sitting in my pocket. The black

ammate yelled, shoving a freshly poured

oked panicked, Chase would notice. If I acted weird,

o the nearest wo

, ready to record. I felt a dozen pairs of eyes on my legs, my face, my jacket. I ignored

th

aptain persona wash over me like armor. I raised my cu

speakers. "I know some of you are terrified right now. You're looking at your syllabus, you're loo

ckles rippled thr

just survive at Pembroke. We dominate. You've got the best academics, the best parties, and most importa

ates started barking like wild dogs,

in my chest. "But we can't do it without you loud-mouthed, red-cup-carrying beautiful people packing the s

my hea

en liquid disappeared in seconds. When I slammed the empty cup down onto the table, the cheer that went up was deafening.

st thei

et as Chase clapped me hard on the back. "Brilliant as

naline from the speech was fading fast, leaving

h of the quad, my eyes narrowing as two figures

caught in

wearing a dark top that made her co

ith her arm comfortably looped through Ava's, was

the number 2

rlfriend

were old friends. And right behind them, scanning the crowd with a possessive, search

r

ot to be fucki