Don't Stand So Close To Me // The Police

"Grab some water and hit the showers. Tonight's practice starts at six. Not a minute later." Coach dismisses us, turning to his assistant coaches, checking clipboards and mumbling about their notes from this morning.

The last few weeks have been non-eventful. Coach hasn't acknowledged me in any way other than as a freshman on the team. He certainly isn't giving me preferential treatment, but he's not riding me either. I guess I can't complain. I thought it would be more strained between us, more obvious that something was going on. But nothing.

Maybe we can pull this off. After a month or so, if I make my relationship with Alison public, I can prove that it isn't a big deal because Coach hasn't acted any differently toward me. If I can get to know these guys outside of practice, outside of the team, they'll see that I'm a straight up guy, no bullshit. They'll know I'm really with her because I want to be and not for any player perks by getting in with her dad.

I might be the first guy in college football history to date the coach's daughter without any negative results.

I follow the team into the locker room after we've gulped down our required water. Matt is practically skipping to leave. He must be meeting up with Hannah. We all just moved into the dorms and he's spent all of his free time at hers. Not that I can talk because every spare second I have is spent at Alison's place. It helps that she's in the next town over. No one sees me coming and going from her apartment every chance I get. Easier to keep things from getting out in public when she's so far from school.

"Hey!" I call to Matt as he opens his locker. "Are you grabbing food on campus or heading out?"

"Hannah and I are taking food back to her room." Matt smiles, something he does all the time now. I don't even think he realizes he's doing it.

"Figured." I wish there was enough time for me to go all the way out to Alison's before tonight's practice. Two a days are killing my time with her, but I knew that would happen.

"I'll catch up with you later." Matt rushes to shower, clearly in a hurry to see his girl.

I know the feeling.

Micah and Gio are both already gone. I haven't been hanging out with them either, but that's on me. They invite me out all the time. I say no because I want to give my time to Alison, and there isn't much of it to give.

I take my time to shower and dress, knowing I can't talk to Alison even if I wanted to. She's working all day then meeting up with her mentor for some final touches on their latest project. I won't even be able to talk to her until late tonight. If I haven't passed out from exhaustion.

I'm tying my shoes when the starting quarterback, Reign Benson, sits on the bench next to me. The guy is built like a truck. Red hair to boot, freckles dotting pale skin. His eyelashes are so light they're almost invisible. But he's a scary guy based on muscle alone.

"Jeff, right?" He reaches out to shake my hand.

"Yeah." I grip his a little harder than I intend. I watch him smirk as I do it. Now I feel like a shit.

"Good practice today. I like how you anticipate my arm."

Suddenly I'm nervous. He's been watching me closer than I realized. I also recognize this as an opportunity, not for football, but for him to see what kind of guy I am. That I'm not moving in on Coach to get more time on the field.

"Thanks. Matt and I have been teammates for years. He's really the reason I've got those instincts. Catching for him has drilled it into me." Matt's a hardass on the field. I had to step up or look like an idiot.

"Nah, man. That's all natural skill. You may have honed it with Matt whatever-his-name is, but you had to have been born with it."

Fuck. Now I might throw up. I rub my hands up and down my thighs thinking about what he said.

"If you say so." My voice sounds more secure than I feel inside.

"I do. Listen, a few of us are grabbing pizza before practice. Totally stupid thing to do. Probably going to puke it up ten minutes into sprints, but you're welcome to join us if you want."

"That'd be great." Pizza is always a yes. I just hope I can actually eat it and not freak the fuck out the entire time. "Who all is going?"

"Couple of the other seniors. And a friend of mine from Northern."

"Cool." An awkward silence ensues. I don't know what else to say or what the guy is waiting for. He's a fifth-year senior who red-shirted his freshman year. Probably knowing he wouldn't get much playing time as a freshman, so he wanted to extend his time on the field. I don't understand how he planned for an extra year in college, though. Maybe he'll let those details out eventually.

Reign slaps my shoulder as he stands up. "Ready?"

"Oh, now?" I stand, not realizing he meant this was all happening immediately.

"No time like the present."

I nod, throw my backpack over one arm and shove my hands into my pockets.

"What's your ride?"

"My car?"

Reign nods.

"Camero."

"Year?"

"1985."

Reign stops in his tracks and cranes his neck to look at me. "The fuck? Thought you were a rich boy."

My stomach drops. This was what I've been dreading. Someone figuring out who my family is, what I come from.

"Nope. That would be my dad. I have about fifty bucks in the bank." It's not a lie, but I am deflecting. I don't have a trust fund or a huge allowance. My dad will help me out, but I work for my money. I just don't have much of it at present.

"Damn, bro. What's a little nepotism between a father and son?" He shoves my shoulder and laughs.

I'm not so thrilled to hang with him now but I swallow my irritation and follow him to the lot.

"We'll take my car. I don't drive a piece of shit."

If he wasn't the quarterback, if I wasn't just a freshman scrub, I'd deck him for talking shit about my car. But that's not how things work on a team. I'm not his equal, yet. Not sure I want to be. So far, Reign is everything I don't want to be in a human being. But once again, I tell myself I've only been talking to him for ten minutes. That's not enough time to make a judgement call.

A couple other players are standing by what looks to be a tricked-out SUV as we approach. A definite upgrade from my car. Looking at the size of these guys next to his car, I'm glad he rejected my ride. No way they'd fit in my back seat. Reign smacks one of them on the head and unlocks the car.

"Climb aboard. Let's go." Reign, who's a big guy even for a quarterback, squeezes into the driver's seat. He's all legs. The other guys are offensive lineman, built. Big. I'm a running back. I'm fast, not massive. They get into the back, so I move to open the front passenger side door.

"Declan gets shotgun." Reign gives me a look and nods his head to the back.

At first, I'm worried I'll get shoved into the middle seat, squeezed between Thing One and Thing Two, otherwise known as Deke and Dave, the two other players with us. They aren't brothers, or so I'm told. Could have fooled me, they look so damn similar. Shaggy blond hair paired with tan skin gives them a surfer look. Although with their size they'd sink like bricks if they ever tried it, I'm positive. Both of them grunt at me to climb over to the third row of the SUV.

Wordlessly, I follow orders. Reign drives away and weaves through the neighborhood surrounding Fallbrook U. The university is in the south part of Fallbrook, close to the industrial section. I'm surprised, however, when he drives into a really sketchy neighborhood. I check my privilege at my reaction. I'm not an asshole, looking my nose down at those less fortunate. However, I do know this area is known for its crimes and drugs, so I'm on edge.

Reign stops in front of an older house, one that's practically dilapidated. He doesn't get out of the car. A full minute later, the door opens and another huge guy thunders out. He's got a smirk on his face a mile wide. Dark hair, similar tan to the Thing brothers.

Shit, I can't connect them to a nickname. If I slipped and said it out loud...not good.

The door pops open and the guy, who must be Declan, slides in. He gives Reign a fist bump then does the same to Deke and Dave. That's when I catch his eye. One eyebrow raised, he addresses me directly.

"New guy, who are you?"

I clear my throat. "Jeff Miller. Running back for the Hawks."

Declan chuckles. "Aw, that's cute. You guys brought the preschooler. Sweet. Who's paying you to babysit him?"

Well, fuck. I can already say I hate this guy. I wipe the glare from my face and stuff the frustration. This is to be expected for a freshman player. This asshole doesn't even go to Fallbrook. I want to ask him why he's defected to our side, no loyalty to his own school? But I keep my mouth shut because I'm sure he'd shut it for me if I didn't.

"Nah, he's got instincts. Caught every pass I launched today."

We've been practicing for a couple of weeks already, but this was the first day Coach was working on mixing up the pairings. He's looking for the combinations that can execute seamlessly. So far, my catching for Reign was as close as it gets.

"Hmmm," Declan mumbles then starts messing with the radio settings.

I was right. This thing is tricked out. Satellite radio and a JB sound system. Declan cranks up some hard rock and my eardrums vibrate to the bass. I didn't realize hearing loss was part of the deal.

"Hey, turn that down. We don't need to announce our presence." Reign barks the orders at Declan who immediately shuts everything off.

"We stopping now?"

"Obviously."

Reign and Declan get into a quiet back and forth, but I can hear everything they say. Although none of it makes any sense to me.

"But we've got..."

"Not important. This is the schedule. This is when I have the time."

"Whatever you say."

Silence follows as Reign makes a few quick turns before pulling down an alley. The homes are not quite as run down as the one Declan emerged from, at least they don't look as bad from the alley. But the neighborhood isn't much better. In fact, I'm not even sure where we are. I've never explored this part of town.

Declan jumps out as soon as Reign stops the car. Deke and Dave follow him.

"Stay put," Reign says, catching my eye in the rearview mirror. "This will only take a second."

Then he hops out and follows the others. If this isn't the sketchiest fucking experience I've ever had...I don't know what is.

I sit in the car for a few minutes scrolling my phone. The guys return after not too long, climbing back into the car with solum faces and stone silence. It's fucking weird as hell but I don't say a word about it.

"Pizza." Reign makes the declaration and resumes the drive back to downtown. We order pizza from the same place I took Alison on our date, scarf it down while talking about music. There seems to be some unspoken rule that we won't talk football. Probably due to the fact that Declan is on a rival team.

Fine by me. I hope my purpose was served in getting to know them. Because fuck if I ever want to hang with these guys again.

Alright, thoughts? I've been thinking about this chapter for a loooooong time. Back when I wrote Matt's book, Reign was the guy in Matt's way to time on the field. That's it. But I realized he'd play a bigger part in Jeff's story when I started getting deeper into plotting it.

I'll probably mention this a few times, but I knew that Jeff's story would overlap the timeline of Matt's. I knew it was going to be a coach's daughter plot. But I also knew there needed to be more. I just didn't know what it was until I was almost done with Matt's story. More about that situation when I finish writing this one! My behind the scenes for this will be very interesting...

A note about the song: it's not exactly the right theme (aka Teacher/Student - inappropriate) BUT Jeff is literally thinking by the end of this chapter - Don't stand so close to me. That's why I picked it. That one line. Plus the melody is perfect, right?!?! I hate the theme (being a teacher? yeah I don't like this theme!!) but I really like the song and have for a long time, so...

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