The Perfect First (Fulton U, #1)(28)

“Coach is definitely gunning for you this season. Did you run over his dog?”

I grabbed a pillow from the couch and chucked it at Nix. “I asked the same exact thing.”

LJ picked at the label on his beer. “You have to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

Nix and I both exchanged a look and leaned forward.

He took a deep breath and sank back into the couch. “I didn’t run over his dog, but I did screw him over on a personal level.”

Nix moved his hand in a circle, urging him to go on.

“You know how people get when family’s involved.”

Confusion swirled in my head. Family…what the hell?

“She’s going to kill me if she finds out I told you.” He stared down at his bottle.

“Would you just spill it?” Nix sat on the edge of my bed.

“It’s about Coach and Marisa.”

Nix shot me a look. “Coach is banging your best friend?”

LJ’s head snapped up. “What? No! That’s disgusting.” His face scrunched up in a mask of horror. “She’s his daughter.”

“Whoa. What?! She’s his daughter?” The picture on his desk. I’d known she looked familiar.

He nodded. “Estranged daughter. When she started here, they hadn’t spoken in like five years.”

“Why’s he got it out for you?”

“She’s my best friend.”

“And?”

“And a condition of her being able to use his employment with the school for her tuition is weekly dinners at his house since the beginning of the semester. She didn’t want to go. I didn’t want her to have to leave school, so I offered to go with her. They have been uncomfortable, to say the least.” His lips pinched together.

“You’ve been having weekly dinners with Coach.”

“And Marisa.”

“What the hell do you three talk about?”

“Nothing. It’s literally like two hours of silence. I’d rather have bamboo shoots shoved under my nails.”

“But why’s Coach taking it out on you?”

LJ’s shoulders lifted and dropped back even lower. “I’ve known her since we were six. She won’t talk to him, but she talks to me. He gets two-hour silent treatment dinners once a week. I’m probably lucky he hasn’t tried to kill me during practice. He’s just determined to torpedo my career, is all.”

Talk about being blindsided.

“Damn, this growing up shit is no joke.” Nix leaned back against the wall, resting his head on his interlocked hands.

“Even when you try to keep things simple and easy, shit always finds a way. It’s like Jurassic Park but with way worse special effects.” LJ chuckled at his own joke and tipped back his beer.

“It’s only a few more months and all that goes away for you. Ready to get drafted?” Nix rolled the bottle between his hands, his eyes focusing on the top of the beer like he was a thousand miles away.

“I’ve been ready since freshman year. What about you? Golden boy, finally following in your dad’s footsteps?” I lobbed a sock at his head. Him entering the draft was a foregone conclusion for pretty much the entire population of the Eastern Seaboard.

His mouth twisted and he stared up at the ceiling. “Of course.” Shoving against the arms of the chair, he stood and picked up his empty bottle. “I’ve got a term paper to work on, might as well get started on that. What about you? How are classes going?”

I picked up my bottle and tossed it between my hands, the empty, hollow sound shooting out the top with each toss. “They’re fine. Not like I’ll need them once I get drafted.”

“It’s always good to have a backup plan.”

“Like skipping straight to commentating instead of playing pro? We don’t all have the connections you have.”

Nix chucked a balled-up piece of paper straight at my head. “Get to work, ass hat.” He opened my door and disappeared into the sea of people milling around in the hallway.

I dumped my bottle into my trashcan. LJ stood by my window with his phone pressed against his ear.

“Ris, if you don’t want to go, don’t go. He can’t force you to spend the break with him. You know I’ll back you up no matter what.” He ran his fingers through his hair, his reflection showing all the concern running through his face.

If that was about her dad, LJ was signing his own no-draft agreement, but people did stupid things when it came to people they loved. That was why I was staying so far away from anything that might distract me, I might as well have been in a different solar system.

He left my room. I locked the door and grabbed my noise-canceling headphones to block out Berk’s loud-ass voice carrying over the music and all the commotion downstairs.

Staring at one of my papers, I re-read the same sentence three times. I closed my laptop and drummed my fingers on the warm metal. I picked up my phone and put it down. Hopping up out of my chair, I ran my hands through my hair and paced my room. She said she’s fine. She said she doesn’t want my help. She’s going to have to figure things out on her own anyway. Just let it go.

She’d probably already slept with Graham. Sure, I thought he was a dick, but he didn’t seem like a bad guy. She was smarter than him, and he’d probably be in awe of her massive brain.