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I scrambled out of the Pit as fast as I could with my meager winnings.

After Vaughn had left me in the parking lot earlier, I’d waited a few beats and then followed him. It was clear he was going to put a stop to the flu-fighter, but when they announced Vaughn himself was going to take the guy’s place, I couldn’t help but put my money on him, despite the odds already being in his favor.

I knew nothing about the guy he was fighting, but I knew Elliot Vaughn was jacked and full of adrenaline due to his annoyance with me. Those two things alone were enough for me to make the snap decision to put all my money on him.

After bumming a ride back to campus with a classmate, I headed straight to the house on Calhoun Street. Three of my teammates were there, already tucked up in their rooms for the night, but thankfully, Jed Neighbors was still up.

“Hey, man, what’re you doing out at this hour?” he asked from the giant sectional in the TV room. “Don’t you guys have curfew before tomorrow’s game?”

I nodded. “Any way you can get the keg and shit tomorrow if I give you the money? I don’t have a car, and I’m supposed to be at the team bus at 7:00 a.m.”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

When I pulled a wad of cash from my pocket, it surprised him into a bark of laughter. “Cash? You been stripping, McNeely?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just take it. It’s all I have. Sorry there isn’t more.”

He shrugged. “We’ve got some shit left from last week. What’s up with you, though? You’re edgy as hell.”

I threw myself onto the far end of the sofa and kicked off my shoes. “Don’t ask. My dad’s all over my ass this semester, and the game against Belvedere tomorrow is going to be a bitch.”

He nudged my foot with his own. “You’ll get ’em. Always do, man.”

I gave him a weak smile of thanks before closing my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was return to my room. Vaughn probably had more to say about me showing up at the Pit.

Or, worse, he’d want to taunt me about the way I’d acted during the fight. The way my eyes had tracked him like a target. The way they had to have telegraphed every thought in my fucking head. Every filthy, dirty thought that had bombarded me, unbidden, as he’d dominated that man in the cage. Muscles hardening, abs clenching. Jaw tight and eyes narrow.

Seeing Elliot Vaughn fighting in that cage had been…

Fuck.

I shook my head as if that would toss any of those images out of my memory.

“Hey, mind if I crash here tonight?” I asked, trying to be cool. Because I was cool. I was absolutely not overheating despite what my armpits may have thought. Or my palms.

Jed’s eyes widened. “Dude, you have an away game tomorrow. Don’t you need sleep?”

“Trust me, I’ll get better sleep on the sofa than I will in my shitty dorm.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. So long as I can keep playing Madden, I don’t give a shit.”

I snorted softly. Madden was definitely not my favorite, even though I much preferred the low commentary sounds of the football game over the gunshots and reloading clicks from Call of Duty.

Sleep overtook me quickly, and I slept straight through until my phone alarm chirped at six. I got up and stretched before stepping over Jed’s big feet from where he’d fallen asleep with the controller still in his hands.

Thankfully, Vaughn was dead to the world when I snuck into our room and grabbed what I needed, changing quickly into my game-day suit after a shower and shave, then hustling to the team bus. I didn’t even take a single moment to notice or care about the fact that the numbers on his beloved whiteboard hadn’t changed overnight.

The drive to Belvedere was only a couple of hours, and it passed quickly while I did my best to type up notes for my law school application essays while trying not to listen to the wall of noise around me. By the time the game started, I had a headache. Thankfully, the game went smoothly. The only true challenge came from the blistering heat, which was unexpected but not unheard of this early in October.

I tried my best to stay hydrated, but by the time the bus pulled back onto campus full of shrieking celebratory teammates, I’d decided the only way to numb my pounding head was to douse it in alcohol at the house.

Thankfully, Jed had done me a solid and picked up the drinks. The party was in full swing by the time Papi, Marcus, Garrett, and I got there, and there were people pouring out of the front door onto the lawn, along with music thumping out of every open window.

“Let’s hear it for our Blues!” someone shouted when they saw us striding up the walkway. Everyone cheered and called out their congratulations, shoving red Solo cups into our hands and clapping us each on the back.

I felt my shoulders start to come down from my ears and forced myself to unwind. The alcohol I’d paid for was here, and no one seemed to be complaining there wasn’t enough of it. The game was over, and we’d won. The sun had set, which meant the air was finally cooler. And I could relax and have a little fun.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened.