“I’m not so sure about that.” The rumors were already starting.
“He beat the shit out of Will Tanner. And from what I hear, it was the morning of your fight.”
“How’d you’d find out?”
“Will told his brothers. They were pretty pissed off at Seth. Micah says he’s going to get to the bottom of it before he lets anyone retaliate. But if Seth beat the hell out of a boxer, I’m not sure if anyone should mess with him. Will said he went crazy.”
“He probably took his anger for me out on someone.” I hadn’t told her how he had raised his fist or how I’d slapped his face. I wasn’t proud of myself at that moment, and my heart ached just thinking about it. How had things gone so wrong? The wreck ruined everything.
“Have you talked to him?” she asked, opening the door to the building.
“No. And I’m not going to. I think we’ve said enough. At least, I have. I felt like such a fool for standing up for him. I don’t want to relive that anytime soon.”
“So, I guess you still haven’t told Clara?”
“No, I told her I was staying in bed yesterday and that she didn’t have to come to check on me. I was doing fine. She’s too busy with Dillon to be burdened by my problems anymore.”
“You’re going to have to face her about it. She’s going to hear something, and from what I hear, Will’s face is going to be a dead giveaway. Isn’t he friends with Dillon?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. She was right. I was going to have to face Clara sooner or later. “I’ll call her later and tell her what’s going on. It just bothers me. She was all set to give me an ‘I told you so’ and just when she changed her mind about him, he goes and does this. Fooling me is one thing. Fooling Clara is another. She’s going to have Dillon and the Omegas pound him, I’m sure.”
We stepped inside the elevator. “What do you care?” asked Abi, raising a brow. “I’d think you’d want him to get his ass beat.”
I leaned against the railing. “Not really.”
“Well, good for you, no one knows where he is.”
It took me a moment to process what she was saying. “What do you mean?”
“That’s the part I knew you’d want to hear. Seth’s missing. Supposedly, Micah went to his place to talk to him, but he wasn’t there. I heard my brother talking to him about it over breakfast this morning. He called Thomas to see if he knew where he was. They even called his mother. He’s not at home.”
Of course, he wasn’t at home. He’d never go there. But I knew one place he would go, and if that was where he went, he was fine. “Well, he’s supposed to be at his last practice tonight. They are preparing for the championship game at the end of the week. And lucky me, Coach Simms wants my team to be there for support.”
“Maybe he won’t show?”
“If he doesn’t, we might have something to worry about.” Seth loved the game, but then, he had punched his coach at the last game.
“You care about him.” Abi turned to give me a sad look as the elevator stopped on her floor. “I can tell.”
“Yeah, and maybe I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing or not, but what’s done is done. I just can’t let him hurt me like he did Layla. It’s a pattern, and I thought he broke it.”
She went to her door and found where she had a notice on the door. “Perfect,” she said as she read the note. “Looks like you’ve just got yourself a roommate.”
“What is it?”
“They want me gone. Turns out, you can’t bribe everyone.” She shrugged and unlocked the door. “The offer still stands, doesn’t it? If not, I can always get my parents to rent me a place. They’d be thrilled about that. My mother thinks if I have a place, I’ll let her come sleep over. In truth, I think she just wants to perv on my brother’s friends. She’s having a mid-life crisis.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Sure, the offer stands. And with Seth and me no longer together, there won’t be any awkward booty-call moments.”
“Speak for yourself.” She grinned, but I knew that she didn’t have anyone she was seeing. Her brother would have already beaten the crap out of them.
“So, how long until you have to be out?”
“They gave me a two-week notice. I’ll get my brother and his friends to help me move my stuff. With all of their muscle, it will take a couple of hours.” She walked over and turned her music up.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Abi shrugged. “The damage is already done.”
I wasn’t sure if she was talking about her eardrums or the fact she’d been evicted. Either way, we were going to have to have a long talk about the volume if she was going to live with me.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with her until I had to go by the apartment and get ready for practice.
Coach Simms wanted us to show some support for the guys by being at their practice. When I walked into the locker room to put on my gear, I could hear the whispers at the back of the room. I ignored them and tied my cleats.
Once I was outside away from the chatter, Coach Simms walked over to greet me. “It’s good to see you up and about,” she said. “I went to the hospital, but you were still in your coma. I know you’ve only been back for a few days, so I appreciate you coming, but you don’t have to stay if it’s too much. Technically, you’re not even cleared to play.”
“But we’re not playing, right? We’re just here for support?”
“Right,” she said. “I heard a rumor you and Seth had some problems. I just want you to know that if you feel threatened in any way, you can talk to me.”
By the look in her eyes, she was genuinely concerned for me. “Oh, you heard about Will Tanner, didn’t you?”
“What I heard was that Seth was so upset over your breakup, he beat the shit out of that guy for no reason.”
“That doesn’t sound like Seth honestly. And our fight wasn’t over Will. He must have done something else to upset Seth.” I knew if I told anyone that he had raised his hand to me, they would villainize him forever. As much as I hated how things turned out, I didn’t want that.
“Well, still. He hit the coach, and that boy had deep anger issues. He’s dangerous.”
“Does this mean he’ll be here? I mean, is Coach Carr going to let him play?”
“He said that Seth and him worked it out. He’s going to play the final, but he’s removing his status as team captain.”
I nodded. “That’s fair, I guess. I’m just glad he’s getting to play. The game means a lot to him.”
“Apparently more than people,” she said. She turned her attention to the other girls and blew her whistle. “Five minutes until field time, girls.”
I went ahead and walked out of the locker room, and when I got to the field, I saw Seth talking to the coach, the two shaking hands.
I stopped cold.
Seth looked up at me. He put his head down and walked away to get in his position.
My stomach tightened as Paul, who was one of Seth’s friends, assumed the role of team captain. Seth glanced my way but tried not to stare too long.