Against the Rules (Even The Score #4)

18. king

CHAPTER 18

KING

AN ELITE CLASS WITH A CODE

Going to Willow’s show was supposed to be a one-time mistake.

Instead, every night I convinced myself it was the last time, and every morning, I checked to see what the new address was. I couldn’t blame it on alcohol. That required showing my ID, so I couldn’t drink.

It was fucked up.

I couldn’t stop.

Especially when the new song came into rotation. Mean Motherfucker . Only one guess for who the song was about.

I didn’t give a shit if it was the kind of song to slash tires to. Willow wrote a song about me . It was hard, concrete evidence she thought about me at all.

It was the juice I needed to keep going.

Suddenly, the exhaustion was worth it. Mean Motherfucker became my anthem. Two seconds in, I could pinpoint the song. It was the only thing I listened to at the gym, the only thing that played over the radio while I drove my old truck to one of her shows. The only sound in my ear when I watched her walk to the bus stop.

It was the only thing I thought about, standing outside of Coach Lawson’s office.

"King?" Adam nudged me. "Stop zoning out. This is serious."

"I’m not wearing the t-shirt," Ryan said.

"This is Piper’s first paintball trip. She’s goddamn excited about it, and if she’s making us t-shirts, we’re wearing the t-shirts. King, you’re wearing the t-shirt, right?"

I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to think of when I could dip to catch some sleep.

"Dude, what’s up with you?" Adam snapped his fingers to wake me up. "Are you good?"

I shrugged.

"Is it your mom?"

I shook my head. We were on a good streak.

"Just a heads-up, Kassie’s going to confront you," Ryan warned. "She wants to know why you didn’t text the sculpture major."

It was nice that Kassie was trying to set me up with one of her art friends but the moment I met Willow, I deleted all the dating apps. I couldn’t get back in the game again.

How could I?

If someone wanted to catch a movie, I’d have to explain I was busy stalking the coach’s daughter.

"That’s the hot pixie cut girl." Adam gave his nod of approval. "Get it, King."

I rubbed my eyes and scanned the hallway, checking for Coach Lawson to change the conversation.

Adam’s eyes widened. "Don’t tell me."

I raised my eyebrows. Confused.

"Are you still seeing that girl?"

Goddammit.

The real answer was no but it was also not something I wanted to dive into. I swore under my breath. Coach Lawson called the meeting, where the hell was he?

"You’re still fucking around with her and she has a boyfriend? Do you know Ryan and I are both boyfriends? It’s an elite class, with a code, and I don’t appreciate you fucking with one of our members."

Ryan scoffed. "I have a ring, Adam. We’re not the same."

"King, you’re an accomplice to cheating—fuck you, I have a ring."

"Not on the hand. Doesn’t count."

Adam elbowed Ryan and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Tell me you’re not doing this dumb shit."

He didn’t even know how right he was.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. "You don’t understand."

"King, you’re a…?" Ryan stopped himself. "Adam, what’s the classification?"

"Boytoy, fuckboy, scrub, slip 'n slide, hit-em-up Henry, callboy, cum ‘n go, Ol’ Unfaithful, rover, side piece, side dick, side chick," Adam listed them off his fingers, more agitated with each term. "King, you’re the side chick. You’re the guy who hides under the bed!"

"You used to be the Marrs Manwhore," I scoffed. "You fucked brides on their honeymoon. "

"Uh, actually, I was baptized in the springs of Piper and cleansed from all former trespasses."

"Look, I’m trying to quit this girl, okay? It’s harder than I thought. I don’t know how I’m supposed to say goodbye."

"If the boyfriend finds out, can he fight?" Ryan asked.

Willow didn’t have a boyfriend, but she did have a stepfather who was ecstatic to finally see her transfer. I thought about what would happen if Coach Lawson discovered I had a fixation on Willow. Or that I sent her videos of me, jacking myself off, breathing heavily like a psycho because she liked that, all while I muttered that I wanted to make her my pretty, little whore.

Or that I left her naked in a storage closet, in tears.

Or that I stalked her all over the city in the dead of night—every night.

He’d beat me with a shovel and use it to dig a hole where no one could find me.

I nodded, confirming the worst.

"Fuck this." Adam whipped out his phone. "I wasn’t meant to have this conversation—I’m calling Piper. She’ll know what to do."

Hell no. The more people found out, the more likely it’d get back to Willow. I tried to grab the phone.

"Ice princess!" Adam shouted, dodging me. "King’s fucking some pussy he shouldn’t!"

"We haven’t even had sex!"

That was the wrong thing to say. They jerked back, dumbfounded.

"You’re not even fucking? "

"That’s worse," Ryan said automatically.

"That is so much worse, it’s not even funny." Adam said a quick goodbye to Piper and hung up. "Dude. If someone wants to fuck my girlfriend, I get it. She’s hot. I don’t like it, but I understand. I’ll talk to him—corner him—but I understand."

"On the other hand, if someone is pining—" Ryan warned.

"Exactly. If some chucklefuck is having daydreams about my girlfriend? Etching their initials in a tree and losing sleep over her? I have to put him in the hospital."

Ryan nodded. "It makes sense."

" Boys. "

Coach Lawson’s boom echoed down the hall. Adam and I stopped fighting over his phone and straightened up.

"Do I need to know?"

"No, sir," Ryan and Adam answered while I shook my head. Absolutely not. He did not need to know.

The three of us followed him inside and he motioned towards the two chairs in front of his desk and the couch in the corner. "Take a seat."

Whatever we were discussing, I didn’t need to say much during it. I picked the couch.

Coach Lawson slipped off his Romans cap and thumped it against the desk. He was the most determined man I ever met, but for the first time since I’d known him, he looked a little unsure. Almost nervous.

"Boys, I want to talk to you about Willow."

I resisted the urge to lurch forward.

"This stays between us, but I think it was a mistake bringing her early. She’s not settling in well. I want to see her thriving. At the very least, not out of sorts to be here."

Ryan shifted. "Sir?"

"Well, you have your—" Coach cleared his throat. "Your pack, don’t you? With the girls. And you three. I was thinking…"

Holy shit .

Coach Lawson wanted us to incorporate his stepdaughter into our group. I couldn’t imagine anything worse. What would happen if someone wanted to go to one of her shows and found me, hiding in the dark?

Fuck. No.

"Sir…" Adam hesitated. "Piper asked her to go get dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday. She declined both offers. I don’t mean to make assumptions but—uh—she avoids us."

Willow had shows to get to in Pasadena. Even if she wanted to grab dinner, there was no way she could’ve made it with the bus schedule.

"She had a previous obligation," I retorted.

I didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but it came out that way just the same. All three of them glanced at me, surprised. For a moment, it was silent.

"An obligation?" Coach pressed.

Why did I open my goddamn mouth?

Reluctantly, I nodded.

"I thought she didn’t want the tour? How do you…?"

"We have classes together," I muttered. "Sir."

"She talks to you?"

The way he spoke about her made my jaw clench, but I couldn’t fight it without revealing something.

Willow was a genuinely warm person. At the open mics, she was the only one to walk over to new performers and give them the list of mics with directions. She organized the study groups for our classes, even though she clearly didn’t need them. Not to mention, she somehow found a good side to Elijah Contractor.

They only saw Willow when she was connected to a football team she didn’t want to be, with a coach she blamed for her parent’s divorce, and near the guy who made her cry.

Me .

"What do you two talk about?"

I tried to think of a tame answer to appease my coach. "Music…production?"

"Music? She gave up making music years ago."

Coach Lawson didn’t even know. An entire side of Willow was hidden from him, a side so important to her, she was willing to travel on three buses a day for it. He had no idea about Jade the Architect.

Does her mom know?

I hid my surprise as best as I could, but it wasn’t enough.

"Unless…she didn’t give it up?" he guessed.

I said nothing.

"King, I had no idea you were actually able to talk to her." Coach shook his head in amazement. "This is exactly what I was looking for. I want you to get close to her."

No, you don’t.

"Now, I don’t want you to ride her on this."

Jesus fucking Christ .

"Ease her in. Real gentle."

I stared at the wall. There was nothing he could possibly want less.

Out of the corner of my eye, Adam threw a thumbs-up in my direction while Ryan gave a nod of approval. Both were pleased I’d gotten so close to the coach’s stepdaughter. I ignored them.

"What about paintball?" Ryan suggested.

Adam turned back to Coach Lawson. "We can invite Willow. The whole team will be there, plus the girls, she’ll have a blast."

"That’s a mistake." I said, unable to keep quiet. "Willow won’t like it."

Coach Lawson put his cap back on. "King, I’m asking for your help here. You don’t have to be a miracle worker but you’re the first person who’s given me something . Bring Willow into your pack. Keep an eye on her." He leveled his gaze with mine. "You’re the only one I can trust with this."

What could I say?

Coach, this isn’t a good idea.

I blow my load twice a day thinking about your stepdaughter and that’s before noon.

No matter my objections, Willow would be coming to our annual paintball game in Riltier's Point, a five-acre sprawling field we used to burn off steam and celebrate the beginning of summer.

There was no doubt about it.

Willow was going to hate it.