Chapter 4

MASON

I stomp right up to Oliver so our chests are almost touching. Our eyes lock, and neither of us backs down. I can feel his breath on my face, and my fists clench at my sides.

His eyes scan mine, full of cocky amusement, like he’s daring me to make a move.

“Come on, Cooper,” he says with a mocking grin. “Still got that short fuse? Or has Lily finally tamed you?”

Around us, students start to slow down, whispering as they sense a fight about to erupt. A couple of guys from the team linger near the lockers, clearly waiting to see who will throw the first punch.

“You’re about to find out how ‘tame’ I am,” I spit out. I’m ready to punch his stupid, smirking face in.

Oliver tilts his head toward me, his smirk growing. “I’m excited for you to be my backup on the field, just like you were off it. You really love sloppy seconds, don’t you?”

“Don’t talk about her like that, you piece of shit—” I say, pulling back to throw a punch. But Lily steps in between us before I can.

She gives Oliver a glare that could melt steel. “I’ve got a question for you, Olly.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” he asks.

“What do you think is shorter: the amount of time it would take Mason to kick your ass or how long you lasted in bed?”

A few students snort with laughter, and others whisper as they glance at Oliver, causing his smirk to falter. His jaw twitches as his eyes dart around at the growing audience.

“I guess the thing we need to figure out is,” Lily says with a gleam in her eyes, “will this fight last longer than ten seconds?”

That does it. The crowd loses it. A wave of laughter breaks out across the hall. A couple of football players let out low whistles and shake their heads, impressed.

“Damn,” I say to myself, truly amazed.

Oliver’s face turns red, his cocky smirk vanishing completely. He shifts uncomfortably, jaw clenched and fists tight, but he doesn’t say a word, knowing there’s no coming back. He just scoffs and stomps away.

I turn to Lily, still trying to process the epic verbal takedown I just witnessed. “You’re a damn assassin,” I say, half-laughing, half-stunned.

She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “He had it coming. Now, can we please get lunch? I’m starving.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders, grinning. “Lunch with my badass girlfriend? Let’s go.”

***

I lower my stance and take off down the field, my cleats digging into the turf as I dodge through the cones, keeping my eyes ahead while the ball stays tight against my side. Sweat drips down my forehead and into my eyes, but I don’t slow down.

I pivot hard at the last marker, then sprint full speed into the final stretch, diving into the pad at the end.

Coach Moore glances at his stopwatch and lets out a sharp whistle. “Nice work, Cooper! You shaved a full second off your time from yesterday. That’s what I like to see.”

I nod and go to the end of the line to wait for my next rep. The praise feels good, especially after such a hard week. Practices have been going well, but college is a whole other level.

I’ve been playing the best I have ever played.

But so has Oliver, as much as I hate to admit it. I don’t know what he did over the summer, but he’s playing the best I’ve ever seen.

The first day of training, I felt confident that I would easily make second string, but now I’m not one hundred percent sure I’ll get it.

And if he gets it over me, I’ll be absolutely crushed. It’ll feel like all my hard work was for nothing.

And to come in second to Oliver Kingsley would literally be the worst thing to happen to me in my football career.

There’s no way in hell I’m letting that happen.

That’s why I’m pushing myself harder than I’ve ever pushed myself. Every time I get back to the apartment after practice, Liam and I literally eat, then fall asleep.

And because of that, I feel like I’ve hardly seen Lily. I’ve only been able to see her for lunch and the one class we share. But Cameron won’t shut up, and I hardly get to talk to her.

During training, Cam seems like a good guy, a good player. He’s actually quite funny, and I could see us being good friends.

But as soon as he’s around Lily, he acts like a poor country boy who has no friends and is oh-so-lonely. He is constantly making suggestive comments to Lily, but they just go over her head.

What really pisses me off is that he keeps going on about her having a boyfriend but never acknowledges that it’s me. I know it’s a joke, that he’s playing dumb, but it’s getting real old.

Liam, who likes everyone, even has a problem with him. He said something just doesn’t seem right about him.

As practice finishes, Coach Moore calls us all together. “I want to make some things very clear,” he states, frowning. “Absolutely NO fighting. On and off the field. If I catch wind of any of you fighting, you will be kicked off the team,” he barks out as he stares down some of the senior players.

“I don’t care if it’s your last year, if you’re a starter. I don’t tolerate any sort of fight. Are we clear?” he shouts, sending spit flying everywhere, grossing me out.

This reinforces the notion that I can’t punch Cameron in the face. Or Oliver, but I guess I’ve whipped his ass enough that I don’t need to anymore.

“I said, are we clear?” he yells out, and the whole team agrees with him.

“Go hit the showers!” he says, dismissing us.

I run my hand through my sweaty hair, desperate for a shower and some food.

“Hear that, Cooper? No fighting.” Kingsley smirks at me, hitting his shoulder against mine as the team starts heading toward the locker rooms.

I have to stop walking and take a deep breath. Actually, he is going to make this hard. I do want to whoop him again.

“Cooper, hang back a minute,” Jeff Smith, the starting quarterback, calls out to me.

I jog over to the bench where he’s standing, chugging a bottle of water.

“What’s up?” I ask, grabbing myself a bottle of water.

“Coach told me you were good,” he begins, “but I thought he was full of shit. I mean, no freshman could be THAT good.”

I nod along, wondering where this is going.

“But he wasn’t kidding. You’re really good. Not quite as good as I was as a freshman, but close.”

I chuckle out of politeness and don’t point out that Jeff was a redshirt freshman and didn’t even play.

“I wanted to be the one to tell you,” he continues, “you’re going to be my backup. You’re second string.”

I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face.

“You’re serious?” I ask excitedly.

“Dead serious.” Jeff smiles widely as a hand falls down onto my shoulder.

Coach Moore walks over to join our conversation and pats me hard on the shoulder pads as he says, “He tell you the good news, Cooper?”

“Yes, sir, he did. I’m stoked.”

“Old Smith here better step up his game if he wants to keep being starter.” Coach laughs as Jeff gives him the finger.

“I got to go tell Kingsley the bad news,” Coach says as he walks off.

Man, I’d love to be there when he does.

“Go shower. We’ve got a party to go to tonight,” Jeff tells me, nodding toward the locker room.

“Party?” I question.

“Football party. You got a girl?”

“Yeah, Lily. We’ve been together—” I start to say, but he cuts me off.

“Great, bring her. Maya will introduce her to the girlfriends. There are like six serious girlfriends that come along to everything.”

“Five! Doug got dumped!” someone calls out.

“Five,” Jeff corrects with a shake of his head.

After showering and changing the fastest I ever have in my whole life, I grab my bag and run straight to Lily’s dorm room. I can’t wait to tell her about making second string over Kingsley.

I knock on the door—it instantly flies open—and I’m greeted by Sophie, who immediately looks pissed off when she sees me.

“Sophie.” I nod, looking around her to see Lily lying on her bed, scrolling her phone.

“It’s Sophia,” she hisses as I catch Lily’s eye.

Her perfect smile spreads across her face as she drops her phone and sits up. I squeeze past Sophie, scoop Lily into my arms, and spin her around.

“Hello to you too,” she giggles.

“Guess what?” I ask, smiling as I gently set her down on her feet.

“What?” she inquires.

“I got second string!”

Her body is instantly thrown against mine, squeezing tightly. “Oh my god, Mason! That’s incredible!” she squeals, pulling back and placing kisses all over my face.

I love how excited she is for me, even though she has no idea what the hell I’m talking about.

“We’ve been invited to a football party too,” I say. Then, looking at Sophia, I add, “And I’ve got good news for you, too.”

“What’s that?” she asks skeptically.

“You get the place to yourself all weekend because Lily is sleeping at mine.”

“Oh, am I?” Lily questions.

“Get your stuff.” I turn around and open her closet. I move the coat hanger, but I have no idea what I’m looking for.

“I’ll get my dress.” She laughs, pushing me out of the way.

I happily step aside and start going through her drawers. I grab my second-favorite lingerie set of hers and stuff it into her duffle bag along with some pajamas.

“You really should leave some stuff at my place,” I suggest, thinking it’ll be a lot easier than packing a bag every time she wants to stay over.

I glance over my shoulder at her, only to see her shaking her head and smiling.

“I’m serious, Princess,” I tell her.

“Is this your way of trying to slowly trick me into moving in with you?” She grins.

“Would that work?” I ask hopefully.

“No,” she giggles, and I drop my shoulders.

Waiting for her to be ready to move in with me is going to be torture. I can already tell.

“Come on. Let’s go,” she says, shoving my duffle bag into my arms and slinging hers over her shoulder.

We head out together.

“Bye, Sophie,” I call out behind me.

“It’s Sophia!” she corrects.

“Sorry!” I yell as Lily and I run down the hall, trying to suppress our giggles.

***

We walk hand in hand through campus, laughing about nothing. There’s a buzzing energy from students all around us—people toss frisbees, others sit chatting on picnic blankets. Everything feels light and perfect.

We round a corner, and we’re alone. I grab Lily and push her against the wall. We stare at each other.

“Yes?” she asks.

“Just need a kiss,” I say.

“I can help with that,” she replies with a smirk.

I take the back of her head and pull her toward me, but just as our lips are about to meet, my phone starts ringing. No one ever calls me—except my sisters.

“Sorry,” I apologize as I pull back and retrieve my phone from my pocket. “But it must be Gemma or Tayla.”

“Of course, take it,” Lily says.

I place my phone to my ear, not even getting a chance to say hello before I hear Tayla sobbing as she tries to talk. The only thing I can make out is that Mom did something.

“Slow down, Tayla. What is it? What did Mom do?”