Beg You to Trust Me (Lindon U #2)(106)

I ignore the death glare he gives me because I’m on a roll. “Let’s say he gets drafted and signs with a big team. There will be stories about him. Background checks done. He’ll have report on his file here unless you make that magically disappear too. And what if he decides to make more power plays out there because he thinks he got away with it already? Then it’s not some small-town college news. It’s national. And it’ll link back to the great Coach Pearce who basically told him it was fine to do what he wanted because he knew how to catch a fucking football.”

That is not what Coach wants to hear. He stands up, leaning forward until his hands are pressed against the top of the desk and his face is dangerously close to mine. “Do you know how many reports like this have been filed during my time here, son? Do you know how many times one of my players have been accused of this shit from girls who couldn’t lock down the members of the team? They do it because they’re jealous. They do it to get attention. It’s no goddamn different than them claiming they’re pregnant for their 15 minutes of fame. You don’t know what you’re talking about here.”

I click my tongue, not about to back down because he thinks he knows Wallace. “There’s a big difference between those situations. Ask any of the other guys what they’ve heard your famed second-string spewing since he got too big for his jersey, and you’d know that you’re only saying these things to save your own ass. You don’t want to believe he’s capable of drugging and raping women because that means losing another player that could add to the collection of shiny objects on your shelf. You think I don’t know anything? I know a fuck ton more than you do based on this conversation.”

I stand up, mere inches away from his seething face. Unflinching, I lock eyes with him and say, “I’m glad my season is up. I wouldn’t want to represent this team under its current leadership with an attitude like yours anyway. Not when there are going to be a lot more people stepping forward because of the quarterback.”

“Like I always said,” he spits as I walk toward the door. “Wasted talent.”

My responding chuckle is dark, uncaring of his remark. Once, that used to sting. “Spew your bullshit to somebody who cares because that’s no longer me.”

I walk out of his office, not bothering to close the door behind me. There are a few guys outside it gaping at me who obviously heard. Newbies who are shocked anyone would have the balls to stand up to Coach like that. But what do I have to lose? I’m not going to sit around and watch him coddle Wallace and hold his hand through this. I’m not going to be holding the dustpan while he sweeps up Wallace’s excuses into it. There’s going to be talk one way or another and I want nothing to do with it.

Caleb finds me sometime later, jogging out of the building with freshly washed hair and his sweats on post-practice. “Is it true?”

“That depends on what you’re referring to.”

“Did you quit the team?”

He matches my steps as we walk toward the closest parking lot where our vehicles are. “I plan on supporting you guys, but not him. I won’t be on the sidelines so long as Wallace is playing out there. You know he shouldn’t be. If it were any other player—”

“Hey, man. I’m with you.” He looks over his shoulder at something. “Listen, a few of us were talking and we’d be willing to walk.”

I stop and stare at him.

He nods once. “None of us like Wallace. He’s constantly acting like he’s king shit. It’s going to get him into serious trouble even if that time isn’t now. But you know how he said-she said situations work. We all do. It’s a lot of back and forth unless there’s hard evidence. It sucks, man, but that’s how this is going to go. I think Coach is banking on that to keep him on.”

As much as I want to argue, I know he’s right. There can’t be a lot done unless there’s more that verbal accusations made against him.

“The team would really walk away?”

“We win together and lose together.”

I look away for a second. “This whole thing is fucked,” I murmur, moving hair out of my face.

“It’ll get straightened out one way or another,” he tells me earnestly.

My eyes narrow. “You say that like you know something I don’t.”

“Matt said Rachel was going to look into something for us,” he says quietly. Matt Clearwater is another teammate and Rachel Holloway is the athletic advisor for a lot of us. It’s obvious there’s something going on between them even though she’s older and on staff. Last I knew, she was in grad school to become a professor. Even more reason for Matt to steer clear, not that he will.

“What is she looking into?” She has way more connections than we do in her back pocket since she works for the department. But that also means her job can be at risk. It’s what’s paying for her master’s degree, so I don’t want her getting into any trouble.

“Medical records. Wallace played while the others got benched after testing positive for STDs earlier in the year, remember? But knowing Coach…”

“He probably still let him play,” I finish for him, feeling my eye twitch.

“It’s a theory,” Caleb tells me. “Nothing is proven.”

But if it is proven, then that ties Wallace to Skylar and the night of the party.