It’s good, short and succinct.

Nice, SA. I happen to like poetry.

SA? He sends.

Secret admirer, duh.

“Slut,” a male voice mutters as he jostles past me in the hall and keeps moving. I don’t even try to see who it was. It’s the second time today. Pushing down the singe of pain those words cause in me, I look back down at my phone.

What am I doing texting with someone who could be an enemy?

Besides, it’s my free period and I want to check out the new auditorium upstairs. They started construction last year, and I left before it was finished. Maybe I can think there. Catch my breath. Think about my goals and hope they can sustain me. As long as I pop by to see the librarian who’s in charge of my period and tell her I have some teachers to check in with, she’ll give me a pass to roam a little.

I have to go, I type out.

What class?

Screw that. I stuff my phone back inside my blazer and book it to the library.

After getting my pass, I head to the stairwell that leads to the fourth floor where one of the inside entrances to the new auditorium is. My footsteps are soft as I take the second flight. I’m adjusting my backpack when I hear the first-floor door open and someone comes into the quiet stairwell. A guy’s voice is speaking, and I pause at the familiar cadence I hear, the slow, burly drawl.

Another voice, soft and cajoling and female, hits my ears.

I strain to hear their conversation, getting frustrated when they lower their voices. They don’t seem to be actually moving up the stairs, so I take a few steps back and hunker down next to the concrete barrier, working up the nerve to peep around it. The key to good eavesdropping is not getting caught.

Rising up slowly, I take in Liam and Jolena. With his back to me, he’s leaned down toward her small frame, and she’s taking a step back from him, crossing her arms over her chest.

Oh, drama.

Not able to hear them, I settle back on my heels and maneuver down one more flight, trying to be a ninja.

Jolena’s voice reaches me. “Brooklyn said you were flirting with that Brandy girl in your English class.”

He scoffs. “Come on, I asked her for a pen. A pen. Brooklyn is stirring up trouble.”

“Is she? What about the girl this summer? The one who kept texting you?”

His voice lowers. “I explained that already. Don’t make me repeat it.”

She lets out a frustrated noise.

“Ah, baby…” he murmurs.

She says something with intensity, her voice low and garbled.

A long pause, then, “Don’t preach to me, Jo. Knox will get over it, or if he doesn’t, I don’t care. He hit me—over her. Don’t you take his side because you screwed him once. Yeah, you think I don’t think about that every time I see him?”

She mumbles something. It sounds like I love you.

Liam tilts her chin up. “I know, baby. I love you too.”

Gag.

“He thinks he runs this place, but I’m the star around here, and we never would have won the games we did if it wasn’t for my defense.”

It rankles that I can’t see his expression, and I wish I could see his face, see his black eye.

She puts her hand on her hip, and I start when I hear my name.

His voice tightens. “Can I help it that she was all over me that night? You know how girls are with me. I always tell them no, baby. Always. You’re my number one. I left that party with Dane and we crashed at my house. I never touched her. I had my wingman with me, all night.”

Huh. She can’t get past the video, and I don’t even remember dancing with him!

My eyes shut as dark thoughts seep in. No matter how many times I tell myself it wasn’t my fault, bitterness rears up and I recall that I did dance with football players. I drank a lot of alcohol, some of it mine, some of it someone else’s. I DID. I own that.

But for someone to use me…no, no, no.

They kiss. Full-on tongue. Gross.

No way am I staying for a porno.

I inch away to leave, and a clatter sounds as my phone falls out of my pocket and crashes onto the concrete floor next to me. The make-out noises stop and I cringe, trying to back away while snatching up my phone. I hear the stairwell door bursting open where they are. Relief washes over me.

Still in stealth mode, I risk another peek and see Jolena still there, her shoulders hunched as she pulls a compact out of her purse to fix her lipstick. Her hands shake as she sucks in a deep breath and pats at her auburn hair.

I frown, having a little epiphany as I crouch down. Where’s her pride? Her self-love? She reminds me of Mama, accepting excuses when someone treats her horribly, pretending he isn’t doing her wrong. Money and a pretty face and her queen bee status sure haven’t gotten her much. She left me at that party and I seethe whenever I think about it, but part of me, I realize, pities her.

Forgetting her, I take off again, opening the doors to the third floor. Utter silence meets me until I turn the corner and run smack dab into a broad chest covered by a white button-down shirt, one that smells like pine.

I look up into gray eyes, taking in the manbun and handsome angular jaw.

“Watch where you’re going, sweetheart,” Dane says. “You never know who’s up here.”

The hall is empty, and he’s too close to me, our chests almost touching. It’s the first time I’ve been alone with him with no one around, and I push him away from me, harder than I meant to, making him stumble.

He straightens, tosses his head back, and laughs, running his eyes over my hair and face. “I see why he’s drawn to you.”

My teeth clench. “Who?”

“You know who.”

“Just stay away from me,” I call out, my voice more shrill than I intend.

His eyes narrow. “Don’t hurt him, Ava. Don’t mess with my brother.”

What? “You’re crazy.”

He lets out a gruff sound. “You don’t know the shit he’s been through. He acts like it doesn’t bother him, holds it in so tight I’m afraid he’s going to crack someday, but he’s got a heart. He does, and if you even think for a minute you’re gonna possibly ruin his last chance at playing football—”

I shake my head. “What on earth are you talking about? How can I hurt your brother? He’s the one playing hot and cold with me!”

He clamps his mouth shut. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“Are you in some delusional world where you think I have power over him?”

He taps his hand against his leg, those flinty, dilated eyes on my face.

“You’re high. Back off and leave me alone.” I whip around to go in the opposite direction—

“Ava!” There’s a desperate quality to his voice that forces me to turn around and answer.

My fists curl. “What?”

His face is weird, drawn up and twisted, strangely vulnerable.

“What is it? Say it!”

He closes his eyes briefly as if he’s waiting for me to disappear, but I hold steady, feeling as if I can’t move. He’s got something to say.

“Knox went to every single football player’s house after you went to the police. He raked them over the coals, even the seniors who are gone now. He pissed off the team. We lost games because he pointed his fingers hard at every guy who danced with you, including me.”