Chapter 24 #3
“You looked into it?” I asked, looking over at Ash, remembering the girl saying she had computer wizards when we were here last time.
Ash made a face that said, ‘What do you think?’
“Did you find out more than we have?”
“There’s a history of sexual assault,” Jett said coldly. “You don’t see it until you dig, really dig.”
I nodded. After talking to Mason, I knew there was more than just Tiffany — nothing concrete, rumors, but too many rumors not to hold at least some truth. But the Santos confirming it made me wonder what else they knew.
“Yeah, I’m learning that.” I wasn’t nervous discussing this with them.
I knew Dante would be furious; I didn’t think it mattered.
His weird aversion to the Santo family was his cross to bear, not mine.
“You find something out like that, and you don’t do anything with it? Is that what kind of people you are?”
Jett snorted. “Who says we didn’t?”
I waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I had the urge to punch the smirk off his face. “You either did or didn’t, acting smug isn’t an answer.”
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” he asked me, the smirk gone.
“You.” I didn’t break eye contact. “I don’t like vagueness. Did you tell anyone what you found?”
“We told Onyx,” Gray said, cutting off whatever his brother was about to say to me, which was probably ‘fuck off.’
I looked between the three of them. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”
Jett smiled widely, it wasn’t friendly. “You really should.”
Gray pushed off the door. “This shit needs to be aired. We told our brother. Dust tell you about us?”
I shook my head. “No offense, but never really had any need to talk about you other than the way you play.”
Ash smiled at that. “But you have the need to come here.”
I moved in my seat, not because they made me feel uncomfortable, but because I wanted to stretch my legs out.
“They came here the first time for your girl, Ava. The stats queen.” I gave a tip of my head to Jett, and I saw his look soften from animosity into something calmer, I would never say friendlier. “I’m here now because I want a move. You have the space and I can fill it.”
“Mayhem.”
I looked at Gray as I remembered a conversation with Dustin. “Oh that? Yeah, Dust mentioned it.”
“Good. You need Mayhem.” He didn’t flinch at my obvious confusion. “You need to stir up the shit.”
“I’m working on it.”
“How?” Ash asked, leaning forward.
Did I trust them with this? Not yet. When I hesitated, and saw all three of them shut down, I knew I was done. I stood.
“You’re right, this wasn’t right. I’m having a knee-jerk reaction to a shitty situation. I need to think it through. I was rash.” It wasn’t a lie. This was a panic reaction to a bad situation. I knew better.
Jett said nothing, his gaze flicked to his twin. Gray opened the door, and I didn’t hide my huff of laughter.
“Subtle. See you on the field,” I told them, and I left the room. I knew Gray was behind me, but I didn’t care. He followed me down the stairs to Dustin’s car. “Are you making sure I’m leaving?” I murmured as I unlocked it.
“Nah.” He leaned against the driver’s door, preventing me from opening it, and I met his look.
“What?” I wanted to leave now. I hadn’t made a mistake coming here, but I was still ready to go.
“People who act in desperation make mistakes,” he said softly. “You have a reputation for being a clever bastard on the field, and you are a savage. You seem so nice and mild-mannered in your media, but on the field, you’re ready to tear the opposition apart.”
“It’s called defense.”
“Nah. It’s called feeding the beast.” He smiled coldly. “We all carry it inside ourselves.”
I looked away as I said nothing.
“You’re up to something. Because the mild-tempered, soft-spoken fucker in front of me is an act. You’re ready to tear it all down, and I’m telling you from experience, you want to stick it out to the end.”
I met his flat stare with a curious look.
“Take it from someone who went ‘rogue.’ You’re going to need your boys beside you. We ain’t it, Matthews. Whatever shit is going down, you need Slater, and God forgive me for saying it, probably Spence. He’s a smart bastard, can talk himself out of anything.”
I knew that, but I was also tired of it all. “I just want to play football in a clean environment.”
“Bullshit.” He moved away from the car. “You’re scheming, and you’re doing it without your team. You don’t want the blowback of their reaction.”
“No offense, but you know fuck all about me.”
“No offense taken. And I know you better than you think, because I was you.” His stare didn’t waver. “And I almost burned because of it.”
“What?”
“Don’t burn alone, Noah. When you light the match to burn the world, have your guys beside you. You’ll need them to pull you back from the edge.”
He walked back into the house, and on the drive back to campus, I couldn’t shake the solemnity of his words.
I heard them. Gray meant them, but I’d heard it too late.
Because I knew one thing he didn’t. Dante Spence would never forgive me for going to them and not him.
I’d already stepped over the edge alone.