After the third trip back to the archives it was getting harder and harder to convince myself that he was just late. 

Eight o'clock rolled around slowly, like the ticking hand of a broken watch always a few too many minutes behind. 

Maybe it was the naivety mixed with the drunken sheen Kalen had placed on my senses when he reached out and grabbed me across the center console of his car and slipped me onto his lap—or maybe it was temporary insanity for me to actually believe that he was sincere. 

This was clearly some revenge fantasy against the daughter of the woman his father had cheated on his mother with.  He never intended to take me to dinner—he only wanted to humiliate me in the process of making sure I desired him just as much as he craved his revenge. 

Somewhere in the middle of my mother showing back, my father entering back into rehab, filtering through the last remnants of my feelings for Colby and encountering Kalen, I'd let my guard down enough to let him into my mind. 

I'd allowed him to crowd around my emotions and cloud my judgement, to distract me and disarm me.  I'd allowed far too much. 

"Gracie, you're still here?  I appreciate the extra help, but you've definitely got better things to do on a Friday night than help out here in these old archives."

"Thanks Greta, I was just finishing off my list before heading out."

Greta, a thirty-something redhead with that classic librarian vibe was assigned as my direct superior with my internship, and as I reached back to grab my hours sheet for her to sign for my credits, she threw me a quick wink and set to grabbing up the rest of my books I'd been planning to take back into the deep archives. 

"Oh, you don't have to—"

But she was already gone, hips pushing through the swinging double doors with her arms stacked high with books. 

I'd contemplated calling Kalen to see where he might've been, but then decided against it.  If he had an emergency, I was sure I'd hear about it the next day, and if it wasn't an emergency well, then, I wasn't about to text him and look desperate and feed into his delusions. 

Going through the motions of finding a ride share back to campus and trudging up to my dorm room took more of my energy than I would've cared to admit while the majority of my thoughts were focused on someone who didn't deserve a single ounce of my attention after standing me up for a date that he'd insisted on. 

It was only when stumbling into my dorm to find a frantic Franny on the phone pacing back and forth in our room that my scrambled brain screeched to a halt. 

"No, no, just stay there.  I'm sure they'll be fine, you don't need to go to the hospital for a black eye, quit being dramatic.  Well, did they tell you that your nose is broken?  No?  Okay then, like I said—quit being dramatic, Colby.  Okay.  Well, where is he now?  Really?  You really think you can press charges when you're the one who started it?  Yes, Colby, I was there.  You were being an asshole, so yeah, you kind of deserved it.  Make sure you ice it, and I'll see you in the morning.  Yes, I'm hanging up on you now."

Franny turned to me with a manic gleam in her eyes, her hands nervously twisting her phone back and forth in her hands. 

"What was all that about?  Did Colby get in a fight?"

"Um, yeah, you could say that.  More like Colby started a fight that he couldn't finish.  He's an asshole, obviously.  Anyway...Kalen Rush drove you to work?  How...how was that?"

Her voice had developed a delicate quality, almost like she was scared to hear the answer but desperately needed it anyways. 

"It was fine...until he asked me to dinner afterwards then stood me up instead.  I swear, I should've seen it coming.  Anyway, who'd Colby get into a fight with?"

"Hm?  Oh, no one.  No one, really."

My eyes narrowed on her suspiciously.  

She hadn't danced around a topic so heavily since she'd accidentally ruined one of my copies of Pride and Prejudice by spilling her Kombucha on it. 

"Franny, who was it?"

"Okay but you can't take this out on me, alright?  I went over to the team house to yell at Colby some more for how he acted in the dining hall and Kalen had just gotten back from driving you to the museum, and you know how Colby is after a fight—he has to burn all his anger out before he's rational again!"

"Yeah, I know all about Colby's anger issues."

"Exactly!  Anyway, they must've crossed paths before I got there, and all I hear is this shouting.  I walk in on Kalen telling Colby to keep his mother's name out of his mouth and then Colby said some more not-nice things and one thing led to another and then Colby was on the ground, there was a lot of blood, and really you can't blame me for not wanting to stick around for that shit show.  There's a reason I'm a lesbian—I swore off toxic male testosterone drama before I learned long division!"

"So...where is he now?"

"Colby's at the nurse's station in the quad, he's babying his black eye and split lip like they're a trophy or something, it's ridiculous really."

Franny caught my guilty eye and something like recognition sparked there. 

"But you weren't asking about Colby."

"No..."

A slow smile slid across her face. 

"Thank god.  I was wondering when that stupid crush you had on him would finally go away.  I guess it took an even bigger asshole than him to make it happen.  But look, as long as he's not an asshole to you, it's not a problem.  So, I guess I can tell you where he is.  For a price."

She adopted a faux-nonchalant attitude as she traipsed to her side of the room, perching on the edge of the bed while picking over her always perfectly manicured nails. 

"A price is it?  And what price is that?"

"Information."

I groaned into my hands before following her over to her bed and flopping down on it beside her. 

"What do you want to know?"

***

Walking into the house with a smug ass smile on my face after successfully stealing away Colby's girl from him in the middle of the dining hall in front of everyone might not have been my smartest move. 

Although, watching Colby Hart's face redden with anger the moment he saw me was almost worth the split knuckles and bruises. 

Almost. 

Because even though I felt the satisfying crunch of his cheekbones beneath my knuckles, I knew that I wouldn't be able to take Gracie on that date, not once coach caught wind of it. 

"Did you enjoy that?  Taking advantage of Gracie like that—did you like it?  Or are you just fucking with her because of what happened with your parents?"

Hart was up in my face in almost an instant, raging eyes seeing red, and then suddenly his sister was there in the doorway yelling at him for how he acted toward Gracie and soon it was all starting to come into focus. 

"Why do you care?  You don't even want her."

"What—no, I don't want her like that, what the fuck?"

"You don't want her for yourself, you just don't want anyone else wanting her, is that it?"

He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and backed me up into the front door of the entryway, and I allowed it, if only for the fact that there were witnesses and I was not about to get suspended for this asshole's actions. 

If I was going to hit, it was going to be in self-defense.

"You have no idea what you're talking about.  I'm trying to protect her—from people like you!  People that want to use her and take advantage of what she's been through!"

His sister was yelling again in the background but at that moment it was just that—background noise, intermingling with the sounds of some of the other players returning from an extra practice or weight training in the basement.

"People like me?  And what have I done, exactly?"

"You're just messing with her!  You're only after her because of what happened in the past with her mom and your dad.  You're pissed because her mom was better than yours and broke your parents up!"

"Say one more fucking thing about my mother, Hart.  I dare you."

Something wary flashed behind his eyes and he stiffened up but didn't move back, but apparently he at least had some self-serving interest somewhere in him.

"That's what I thought.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date to get ready for."

His fist came sailing through the air at that one, and because he was at a height disadvantage, it would've been so easy to stop it from arcing through the air and landing an impact on my cheek. 

But I didn't stop it. 

I allowed the pain to lance through my face, allowed the shocked gasp from his onlooker of a sister who wasn't nearly as good a friend to Gracie as she was a sister to her brother, even despite the fact that they'd all apparently grew up together as de facto siblings.

My head snapped to the side as a wide smile overtook my face and Hart took a step back, clearly confused by my reaction. 

"Oh, I was really fucking hoping you'd do that."

And then I was on him, fist on his face just as his had been on mine, pinning him to the floor as we rolled, landing another hit on his brow, blow for blow as I recounted the things he'd said about my family, the things he'd said about Gracie. 

Someone grabbed me from behind just as I'd reached my arm back to go one more round but the force of their grip was enough to send me flying across the room and then there were three players holding me back from that asshole, his blood dirtying up our entryway.

"That's enough!  Kalen!  I said that's enough!"

Calvin was swimming in and out of my view as the rage trembled the bones beneath my skin. 

"What the hell is going on here?"

Coach ambled through the doors and we all sucked in a collective breath, a chorus of 'oh shit' ringing through the air. 

"Rush, Hart, with me, now!  Someone, call the fucking nurse's station.  Tell em' we're on our way."

I'd have liked to say that it wasn't worth it, but watching Hart limp through the doorway after coach, blood streaming down his face, it was almost worth it. 

Almost worth it despite getting my phone confiscated. 

Almost worth it despite the physical trainer being a little too rough on my cuts and scrapes on my cheek and my knuckles. 

Almost worth it despite the two-hour long lecture in coach's office. 

Almost worth it despite the one-games suspension. 

But it would never be worth losing that first date with Gracie, and I planned to make it up to her in a way that even she couldn't say no to.

I just had to get her to talk to me again. 

Baby steps, right?

***

Author's Note:

What did you think of this chapter?

What do you think will happen next?

What do you WANT to happen next?

Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen :)

P.S. I'm currently on a cruise, photos for headings will be operational again shortly :)