Chapter 1
Tipnumberone:Ifyou want to be great, do not under any circumstances, throw up at the scene of your attempted crime.
I had at least five shots of tequila before coming to the football stadium. So, I wasn’t exactly destined for current greatness. Do as I say, not as I do.
As I puked on the side of my ex-boyfriend’s Mustang, a few early birds were leaving the stadium. A small group of girls I’d seen hanging around early morning football practices stopped next to me. Before today, they’d been nothing but nice. The group had often invited me out — probably in hopes I’d ask my brother and some of the other players to come along. Now, they were laughing at me in my current chaotic state.
“Was the silly sign not enough for you, hon?” the redhead taunted. When we first met, she’d introduced herself as Raven Black. I joked about her name being ironic, and she seemed annoyed at the observation.
Raven wore an Amber U jersey that had my ex’s numbers on the front. She twisted a lock of hair around her finger as she asked, “You had to ruin his car too?”
“So pathetic,” one of her companions shook her head. Just last week, I seemed to recall her crying in the parking lot after one linebacker gave her a cold shoulder. I opened my mouth to defend myself, but my throat was too raw to talk about the real reason I was “ruining” Tyler’s car.
I’d found his car, not to trash but to grab my lucky bracelet he still kept on his dashboard. The bracelet he thought I’d made for him, and I played along because I didn’t want to break his fragile ego. The fact that I could threaten an ego with a simple ‘I made this for myself’ should have been red flag number one.
The crowd of people leaving the stadium got larger. A few more individuals gathered to watch the train wreck as it was happening. Some pulled out their phones, snapping photos as I tried and failed to stand up straight. I grabbed onto his side-view mirror. The extra weight made the glass crack. The world spun anytime I attempted to move my head.
“Back off.”
A tall guy with shoulder-length black hair and tattoo sleeves moved through the crowd. The piercing on his brow gave him enough edge to frighten Raven and her crew from closing in. The other onlookers didn’t seem afraid, though. They continued to snap their photos of me next to the car.
“Shit.” I wiped my hands over my face as I took in my poor attempt to open Tyler’s car. He usually kept the front doors unlocked, but I guess he finally wised up. Now, it looked like I was trying to break in. Getting kicked out of the stadium in front of thousands wasn’t enough for me. I had to make things worse by trying to get back a piece of jewelry that didn’t mean much in the long run.
“Hey.” The pierced guy was addressing me now. He stood a few feet away, watching me taking shaky breaths. “Do you need some help?”
“I did this,” I confessed, voice cracking when I looked at the side of the car covered in my vomit. “I can’t believe I did this in broad daylight.”
He glanced at the car, taking in my handy work. To his credit, when his gaze fell back on me, he didn’t look like he thought I was some unhinged monster.
“It’ll be fine. Nothing a quick wash can’t fix,” he assured me as he ran his fingers through his hair.
God, he was tall. I was six feet, so it was hard to feel towered over. But he did so with ease. He wore a short sleeved, black tee that hugged his enormous frame. His body reminded me of the linebackers on the team, heavy and one hundred percent muscle. I watched him chew on his bottom lip as he analyzed the situation.
Damn, good-looking and a thinker? And here I was, a complete mess, bumbling from one mistake to another. Odds are, he’d been in the stadium earlier and saw how I got kicked out because of my poor attempt at a takedown of my ex. I covered my face in shame, praying to the heavens today was a nightmare.
It had all the perfect ingredients for one. First, I’d found my boyfriend’s positive STI test in my garbage. Soon after, learned he’d been sleeping with my best friend, Lizzy. I received said information via text from my other nosy ex, Lawrence. Sprinkle in Lizzy calling me an idiot for not knowing and bake at four hundred degrees for a perfect shit show.
In a state of sheer fury, I got drunk and walked to the craft store — as one does. Made a sign and held it up for the whole Amber U campus to see when Tyler ran out on the field.
“It’ll be fine.” The guy noticed the tears on my cheeks as I mentally recounted my day so far. His soothing tone made me cry a little harder. He didn’t look scared, and I really think he should have been. I would have been if I stumbled upon this disaster.
“We should get you out of here,” he suggested and glanced around the parking lot. “It’d be smart to put some distance between us and all this before more people see.”
“I wanted the silly bracelet,” I tried to explain as I wiped away the remaining tears on my cheeks. I’d been holding them in all morning and now, it felt like a dam broke. The guy’s eyes flickered to Tyler’s dash.
“I didn’t mean to…” I shook my head, annoyed that I could barely finish a coherent thought, let alone a sentence. “You should go. I don’t want you getting in trouble. I’m a magnet for it today.”
He shook his head. “Not until someone who cares about you comes. I’ll fill in meanwhile.”
I let out a heavy breath, surprised a stranger would be this kind, “Why?”
“You threw up on a car. It’s safe to say you’re not in the best state to be alone right now.”
The stinging tears were back. In less than five minutes, he showed more compassion to me more than my boyfriend of a year ever had. I nodded numbly and followed his lead through the parking lot. He paused once we were near a campus bus stop, urging me to sit on the bench when he saw me swaying a bit.
He knelt in front of me. “You got anyone we can call?”
I reached for my phone in my back pocket. My vision blurred as I typed in the passcode. The device slipped out of my grip when I tried to open my contacts.
