“You gonna get to play Friday night if you miss? I heard that you had scouts watching you all season.”

If my dad found out I’d missed a practice, he’d be furious. The only reason he hadn’t kicked me out was because I could play football. He liked knowing his boy was going to be something.

When I was younger, he had left me with my mom and had barely come to visit me. Then one day in middle school I had begged him to let me play football and he’d been excited about it. When the coaches praised me and I became the star of the team, Dad had taken me away from my mother more and more.

The day I had come home from school to find all my things packed up in the back of his truck, my mother had been standing on the porch with the man she was dating. She explained that she needed a life and it was my dad’s turn to take care of me. Plus, she couldn’t afford it anymore.

The next month she moved to another state, and I hadn’t heard from her since.

So Dad was all I had. A man who only loved what I could do. Not me.

“If you don’t get to play, everyone’s gonna be pissed. We can’t beat the Dolphins without you.”

I would get to play. Coach would be mad and he’d make me pay for it with longer practices. But he’d let me play.

“I’ll play. Tell me how to get to your house.”

Krit pointed to the left. “Take the main street until you’re almost out of town. Then turn right onto Forts Road. Fifth trailer on the left.”

Forts Road was in the bad area of Sea Breeze. I’d been on that road once before with my mother when I was a kid. She’d been buying pot from someone there. We didn’t live in a great part of town, but it wasn’t this bad. And Dad had an apartment that wasn’t so bad. It was better than the house I’d lived in with Mom.

But Forts Road . . . Shit. Trisha shouldn’t be there by herself.

“It ain’t all that bad. Stop looking so damn horrified,” Krit grumbled.

I started to argue with him, but I let it go. No need to make him feel bad.

Chapter Ten

Trisha

From my bed, where I had lain all day, I could hear the school bus pull up by the road. Mommie Dearest came home sometime after noon. She stumbled down the hall, and I heard her door slam. Then nothing else. She was hungover or still high and sleeping it off. The door to my room was closed, so she never thought to look inside.

I waited for the front door to open and Krit to come in, but I never heard it. Once the bus was gone and he still hadn’t come inside, I knew I had to get up. Something was wrong. If he missed the bus, he’d need me. I held my breath and tried not to groan as I sat up and slowly moved my legs off the bed. Once I had them both on the carpet, I stood up and took short breaths.

Today I had babied my side. Tomorrow I couldn’t do that. For starters, the wicked witch was now home. Then, of course, if I missed more school, they’d start calling here. That would be bad. Very bad.

Just as I took a step toward the door, I heard someone pull up outside. I froze and waited. Krit’s voice drifted through the window. I let out a sigh of relief. He’d gotten a ride. I continued to walk to the door, but then I heard another voice.

Once again . . . I froze.

Rock Taylor was here. Oh no. What had Krit done?

“That’s Mom’s car. She’s home,” I heard Krit tell Rock freaking Taylor! What was he doing?

Forgetting the pain, I opened my door and made my way down the hall and into the living room just as the front door opened up and in walked my brother, followed by Rock. Holy crap.

He was so big. Stepping into our trailer, he looked so out of place.

“Krit,” I croaked out, while my eyes were locked on Rock.

His gaze dropped to my ribs, and I remembered what I had on. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I tried to hide the tape we had used on my ribs. I hadn’t wanted my clothes to touch my injured ribs, so I was wearing a sports bra and a pair of cutoff sweatpants.

“I missed the bus. He gave me a ride,” Krit started to explain.

That didn’t make sense. “Why did you miss the bus?” I asked, still trying to figure out why Rock was here. In our trailer.

“He asked about you. When you didn’t show up at school. I told him . . .”

I snapped my gaze off Rock and glared at my brother. Surely he hadn’t told Rock what had happened. “You told him what?”

Krit shuffled his feet nervously. He had told him about Mom. Why would he do that? Rock Taylor wasn’t going to run in and save the day. He was interested in me. Now that he’d seen me like this, I hoped his fascination with getting in my pants would go away. My hair wasn’t washed and I looked awful.

“Thanks for bringing him home,” I bit out, trying to sound like I meant it. But I had a feeling it was Rock’s fault Krit had missed his bus. “But we got this. You can leave now.”

Krit’s eyes went wide. “Trisha! Seriously, why are you being like this? He isn’t—”

“He’s seen enough, Krit. Mom will wake up any minute, and he needs to be gone.”

“He said—”

“It doesn’t matter what he said. I am telling you that if you care about me at all, you’ll go back to your room and start your homework quietly. I don’t want her waking up, and you don’t either. She’ll be angry we woke her. I’m not up for another round just yet.”

Krit hung his head, then nodded and started walking toward his room. He stopped and gave Rock a nod. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime,” Rock replied.

Krit glanced at me, and I could see the frustration on his face. I knew he thought Rock was here to save us. That little boy inside his big body still held on to the hope of a hero. Finally he went on down the hallway.

I waited until his bedroom door clicked closed before looking back at Rock.

“Don’t talk to him again. He doesn’t need you using him to get to me,” I said in the coldest tone I could muster.

Rock didn’t move. He held my gaze, then looked down at my ribs again.

“You need to see a doctor,” was his reply.

I let out a hard laugh. “Really? Aren’t you brilliant. News flash: If I see a doctor, DHR steps in and I lose my brother. Not gonna happen. Back off, Rock. I’m not up for grabs. I’m so off-limits to all men it’s not even funny. You are wasting your time and playing with my brother’s head. He thinks you can do something to help us. Stop it. Just. Go. Away.”

“She hit you a lot?”

Really? Did he not hear anything I just said?

“I said to go away,” I hissed.

“Let me help you. I know a doctor who can see you. It won’t get back to DHR. I swear.”

“GO. AWAY.” I bit my tongue and closed my eyes. I had yelled. Shit. He was making me so mad. I needed to keep my voice down.

“Can you stay in bed tomorrow? Will she make you go to school?”

Either he was deaf or he thought he was above listening to what others told him. “Rock, I need you to leave. I need you to forget all of this. Go play football and be the star this town loves to talk about. They want you. I don’t.”

He stood there and watched me for a few more seconds. Then, just when I thought he wasn’t going to listen yet again and I started to feel a small twinge of hope that maybe he wanted more than to get in my pants, he turned and walked outside.

His perfect, beautiful body walked down the small steps and back toward his truck. He didn’t look at me when he climbed inside and pulled away. He left. Just like I thought. He wanted something I wasn’t going to give him.

Guess he got the message.

If I admitted it to myself, it hurt. But I wouldn’t admit that. Or think about it. I didn’t have the luxury of fantasizing about anyone. Especially a guy who would be leaving for a college of his choice in two years.

Chapter Eleven

Rock

Friday was finally here. The first game of the season. I was playing tonight, but I wasn’t starting. Coach was benching me for the first five minutes. It was part of my punishment for coming to practice late on Wednesday. He had kept me running the bleachers for three hours. I’d been so damn exhausted that after throwing up twice, I had barely made it to the truck. Dad had been pissed because he had needed his truck back.

All that shit for nothing. Trisha Corbin had made it very clear she didn’t want me near her.

Didn’t stop me from asking Krit about her yesterday when she didn’t show up again. He said his mom had a new boyfriend and had stayed out with him last night so Trisha had taken one more day to heal.

Unable not to watch for her damn bus this morning, I had waited to see if she stepped off it. When she did, her gaze had gone right through me as if I wasn’t there. She walked by me without a glance or a word. I was f**king invisible to her.

That shit hurt. I hadn’t done anything to deserve this from her. I just wanted to help. I wanted to be near her. But she obviously hated me.

So tonight I was going to play like a f**king pro and then go out and celebrate when we won. If I had to drink Trisha Corbin from my head, I would. Letting her consume me like this was ridiculous. Yes, her life was shit, but did that mean she had to hate me?

Dewayne sat down beside me in biology and tossed a Snickers bar on my desk with a grin. “Mom stuck two in my bag this morning. Looked like you needed something to smile about.”

Dewayne had the best mom in the f**king world. We all loved Tabby Falco. I picked up the candy bar and tore the wrapper open with my teeth. “Thanks,” I said before taking a bite.

“Tonight’s the night. Thought you’d be all smiles,” Dewayne pointed out.

Normally, I was. But Trisha Corbin had f**ked with my mood.

“I’m just staying focused.”

Dewayne chuckled. “Bullshit. I’ve seen you staring at the Corbin girl like you want a taste. She not interested?”

He’d better be glad he’d just given me a damn candy bar. I shot him a warning glare. “Moving on from that” was my only reply.

“There’s always Ellie Nova. That piece of ass is the best around here. But I’m working on getting a bite of that.”

Ellie Nova was the high school princess. Not my type. She knew she was gorgeous and she worked it. I didn’t tell Dewayne I had actually already had a taste. She’d come onto me at a party at the end of last year. I’d kissed her, but it didn’t do anything for me.

“She’s all yours,” I assured him, then took another bite of my candy bar.

Dewayne nodded and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Guess if Trisha Corbin worked it, she’d be just as f**king hot. She hides away from everyone and doesn’t say much. Her group of friends is small. But yeah, I can see the attraction. The girl has a body. And her face . . .” He let out a low whistle.

I didn’t realize my hands had curled tightly into fists until Dewayne’s gaze dropped down to them. He smirked. “Yeah, I can see you’ve moved on from that.”

Books dropped onto the desk on the other side of me. “Damn, D. What’d you do to piss him off? And where’d you get the candy?” Preston asked as he slipped into the desk.

“He’s pissy over Trisha Corbin,” Dewayne said, smiling smugly.

Damn ass**le.

Long, tanned legs caught my attention and I let my gaze travel up to see a short little navy skirt that so didn’t meet the dress code. But damn, was it nice. The small waist and perky tits weren’t bad either.

Noah Miller, a senior with dark red hair and big brown eyes, smiled at me just before taking the seat in front of me. “Hey, Rock,” she said in a soft voice as she leaned over and batted her long eyelashes at me.

Sure, she was wearing a lot of makeup, but not everyone could look like Trisha without makeup. Noah’s face wasn’t hard to look at. Never had been.

“Hello, Noah,” I replied.

“You ready for tonight?” she asked. The top three buttons on her white shirt were unbuttoned, showing me her cle**age. Not a bad view.

“Yeah. You coming?” I asked.

She gave me a small shrug, then grinned. “I guess I would if I knew I had plans afterward.”

This was an invitation. Did I want to go there with her? Shit, why not? Trisha wasn’t interested. Hell, Trisha hated me.

“Party at the beach tonight. Bonfire win or lose. But we’re gonna win,” I added.

She bit her bottom lip, then pressed her arms against the sides of her tits to squeeze them together. It was a move I knew and appreciated. “I don’t want to go alone.”

Dewayne cleared his throat to keep from laughing. This was what I was used to. What I knew. Maybe that was the way it was supposed to be. I didn’t need to go after girls who weren’t interested. The ones who wanted me were where I needed to stay.

I leaned forward on the desk and dropped my gaze to her tits she wanted me to look at so badly. “I think I can fix that for you,” I told her boobs. “After the game meet me at the field house.”

She shivered and I was back in territory I knew. “Okay. We can take my new car,” she said. “It’s a Charger and completely badass. I’ll let you drive it.”

I wouldn’t have the truck tonight. Fixed that problem.

Lifting my gaze to meet her brown eyes flashing with attraction and excitement, I grinned. “Sounds good, baby.”

“And he’s back on the horse,” Dewayne drawled.

I ignored him. Instead I reached over and tucked a lock of Noah’s hair behind her ear and winked. She melted just like I knew she would.

This was much easier.

So why didn’t it f**king feel good?