The laughter around us faltered. Even the music seemed quieter, or maybe it was just me hearing the blood rush in my ears.
I froze. “What bet?”
Liam, Gordy, and Foster were all staring at the younger guys with expressions of confusion that had to match mine.
“I play better when I’ve had sex too. Although you’re the one who said you’d bet everything on the fact that you’d never have sex with her.”
“You made a bet about whether I’d sleep with Harper,” I said, my voice deadly quiet.
“You’re the one who first brought it up,” Kyle said with a shrug. “We just decided to hold you to it.”
I was off the bench before I’d even decided to move, and suddenly I had Beau pinned to the wall. The high from ourchampionship win had evaporated completely, replaced by a rage so pure it made my vision blur around the edges.
“First of all, that’s not how bets work, you fucking asswipes. Second, you think Harper’s some fucking game?” I snarled. “Some conquest you can bet on like a horse race?”
“Whoa, whoa,” Foster said, immediately moving between us, his captain instincts kicking in. “Drew, calm down.”
“Calm down?” I shoved Foster’s hands away, my voice getting louder with each word. “These assholes are treating Harper like she’s a piece of meat they can wager on, and you want me to calm the fuck down?”
“We didn’t mean anything by it,” Kyle said, looking a lot less cocky now. “It was just for fun.”
“Fun?” I could hear my voice echoing off the locker room walls, but I didn’t give a shit. “You think making her the punchline of your stupid joke is fun?”
“Since when do you give a shit about Harper Tinsley’s feelings?” Beau asked, confused but also still a bit defiant in a way that made me want to punch him in the face. “Thought she was the enemy.”
“She is—” I started, then stopped. Because that wasn’t true anymore, was it? Somewhere between Rory’s first night with me and Harper singing lullabies in my living room, everything had changed. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated,” Beau repeated, and despite being obviously rattled, he gave me a knowing look. “Right. Bet it is.”
“The bet’s off,” I said, looking around at all of them—not just Beau and Kyle, but the few other freshman guys who were now looking like they wished they could disappear into the floor. “Whatever money you put down, you’re getting it back. This ends now.”
“Can’t really call it off now,” Kyle said, trying to salvagesome bravado. “We already collected from like six guys. Besides, you’re the one who started it.”
“I never started shit,” I snapped.
“You literally said you’d bet everything on it never happening?—”
“I made a comment,” I interrupted, my voice sharp enough to cut glass. “I didn’t ask you to turn it into some fucking side show.”
The locker room was tense as hell now, the championship celebration completely forgotten. The older guys looked pissed and confused, while the younger ones were clearly starting to realize just how badly they’d fucked up.
“Look,” Foster said, his captain voice cutting through the tension like a knife. “Beau, Kyle, whatever money you collected, you give it back. This stops here.”
“But—” Kyle started.
“No buts,” Foster said firmly, stepping closer to them. “Drew’s right. This is fucked up.”
Liam moved to stand beside Foster, his usual easygoing demeanor replaced by something much harder. “You want to explain to me how betting on whether our teammate hooks up with a girl isn’t completely degrading to her?”
“And how it’s not a massive violation of Drew’s privacy?” Gordy added quietly, but his voice carried the kind of menace that made people listen. “His personal life is not your entertainment.”
Beau looked like he wanted to argue, but something in the combined expressions of four older guys shut him up. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll call it off.”
“Good,” I said, grabbing my gear bag. “And if I hear anyone talking about this shit again, we’re going to have a problem.”
The younger guys nodded, looking properly chastised.Foster clapped me on the shoulder as we headed toward the door.
“That was fucked up,” he said quietly. “But you handled it right.”
