I gripped the edge of my locker. It squealed, bending in my grasp. I jerked my hand back, checking over my shoulder. Closing it, I rocked my shoulder against it to flatten it back out.

“Bennet’s looking for you.” Knox ducked his head and yanked off his cleats.

I tugged my shirt over my head. My clothes were rank. They could probably play a defensive position all on their own. Grueling workouts were part of the deal, but damn if I wouldn’t soak up as much of the off season as possible, relaxing before the real work started.

“Now is not the time for me to play party host.” I grabbed my towel and soap and walked to the shower. My stomach was beyond growling; it was freaking the fuck out for some damn food.

“Who’s hosting the final party?” Bennet called out rubbing a towel over his head.

Slipping past him, I cranked on the shower and stepped under the spray.

The party place wouldn’t be my house this time, but I had no doubt I’d be forced to host a celebratory party or an everyone’s-getting-shit-faced-to-drown-our-sorrows party before graduation.

* * *

My cruise by Bay’s house was every bit as stalker-y as it felt. There wasn’t a car in the driveway, which meant her mom was at work and she was at home. Or was she? Maybe she was out on a date or hanging with her friend.

I pulled to the end of my street, and the truck parked in my driveway sent my stomach plummeting straight through the floorboards.

He was back early. Why the fuck was he back early? How long had he been back? The case of beer was probably halfway finished now. I could either walk in there now and hope he’d passed out or wait until later and hope he passed out then so I could be in and out before workouts tomorrow. Fuck, I didn’t feel like dealing with this now and the possibility of showing up for a two-hour gym session bruised wasn’t my idea of a good time. I couldn’t even go into my own damn house.

My fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard they ached. Every heartbeat reverberated through my palms. I wanted to burst in there, knock him the hell out. But I had a workout and a practice. I wasn’t going to let him screw it up for me again. I wasn’t going to let him take anything else from me.

Getting arrested or breaking or bruising something before we played would only be a win for him. Something else in my life for him to ruin. I pulled a U-turn and headed to the only other quiet place I had.

I drove the winding back road past the abandoned excavation and construction equipment. In the middle of the week, no one was here, but on the weekend it would be filled with cars, cases of contraband beer, and even worse decisions. My headlights flashed over the dirt mounds until they were lost in the dark expanse of nothingness past the sheer drop.