Then I turned and walked out like I didn’t have a care in the world, leaving the entire training room in stunned silence behind me.
Let them talk about that instead.
D&Thad just been born.
Chapter Thirteen
ISA
I keptmy head down as I walked through the athletic complex, trying to ignore the whispers that followed me like smoke.
Tristan and Stella were still the buzz everywhere. Their perfect little getaway was all anyone could talk about.
My freshman year was officially in the toilet.
I couldn’t even play.
My leg was finally out of the brace, but I still wasn’t cleared for full contact. I’d spent the last week hiding in my room, scrolling through the transfer portal like a coward, wondering if anywhere else would even take me while I was injured. Going home for the holidays sounded even worse. My mom had been blowing up my phone nonstop.
“I told you to lock it down,” she’d snapped last night, her voice already thick from whatever she was drinking at the country club. “You had one job, Isabella.”
She didn’t care that I actually liked him. She didn’t care that my heart was cracked open. All she cared about was the money.The status. The idea that I could erase generations of nothing by marrying richer than she had.
I was so deep in my own head that I almost didn’t hear Drew when he walked into the training room.
“Hey, what’s up, babe? How’s your leg feeling?”
Before I could even process what was happening, he leaned down and kissed me.
Right there. In front of everyone.
The entire room went silent.
My brain short-circuited. I barely had time to react before he pulled back and looked around like he owned the place.
“Yeah,” he said casually, loud enough for half the training room to hear.“Isa and I had a good laugh about it. We kept our shit under wraps. She was playing Vale while I’ve been hooking up with her this whole time. Why don’t you guys write about that in your campus blogs?”
My face burned.
He reached out and brushed his thumb across my bottom lip, then gave me that cocky half-smile.
“I’ll see you later, babe. Netflix and chill tonight. I’ll grab your favorite Thai on the way.”
And just like that, he walked out.
The second he was gone, my teammates swarmed.
“Seriously, Isa?” one of them whisper-shouted. “You’ve been hooking up with Travers? How did we not know?”
My roommate’s eyes went wide. “Wait… that night you came home wearing that giant shirt and looking like you’d done the walk of shame… that was Travers?”
“Damn, Isa,” another girl laughed. “You go, girl. This whole time we thought you were heartbroken and you already had another big fish on the line.”
“Pro scouts are looking at him too,” someone else added. “His season’s been insane. Hell, trade the NBA dreams for theNFL. You’re locking down a six-four giant with those shoulders. Who cares if he doesn’t have the bank account yet? He will.”
I just sat there, staring at the floor while they kept talking like I wasn’t even there. Like Drew was some prize they were all suddenly proud of.
When I finally looked up, Dante Daniels was standing a few feet away. The starting QB, Drew’s right hand man, His jaw was tight. He’d heard everything and by the way his fingers were tapping out a text—filled Drew in.
