by K. A. Linde
Stacia looked over in confusion and found Madison holding on to her. “What the fuck, Madison? Leave me alone.”
“We need to talk,” she said, anxiety written on her face.
“No, we don’t. We’ve talked. I don’t want to talk to you again.”
“Not about that.”
“I don’t care. Can’t you hear me? You ratted me out to Lindsay, and then she tried to use those things against me. You have no idea what that’s like, and I don’t need to hear what you have to say. I just had one of the best nights of my life, and I’m going to see my boyfriend. So, leave me alone,” Stacia said.
She yanked her arm away, but Madison held on firmly.
“You have to listen to me. It’s about Pace,” she cried. Then, she nervously glanced around and dropped her voice. “It’s about Pace.”
Stacia sighed in exasperation. “What about Pace?”
“He’s going to break up with you,” Madison said in a rush, as if it were all one word.
Stacia laughed at her. “What? Are you high?”
“No, I’m not. I’m sorry. I didn’t know if I should tell you this, but after what I put you through, I thought you deserved to know the truth.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Pace made a bet with the guys on the team that he could get you to fall in love with him, and then he was going to break your heart in front of everyone at the end of the last game,” Madison gasped out.
Stacia froze. “What?”
Her stomach plummeted, and all the butterflies died. No. No way. He would never…could never do something like that.
Stacia knew he was manipulative and conniving, but that had been years ago. He’d given up that shit, just like Bryna had. He’d already hurt Stacia enough by sleeping with Madison. There was no way he would do something like this. There was no way he’d go out of his way to use her and humiliate her.
“I’m sorry, S. I hated being the one to tell you, but it would have been worse if I’d let it happen. You’ve been through enough.”
“Stop it!” Stacia cried, finally breaking free of Madison. “Just stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Lying!” Stacia said. “Pace would never do that to me.”
“I didn’t want to believe it either.”
“Then, why do you? You don’t think that I see this for what it is? It’s just another ploy by Lindsay to get back at me for being with Pace. Well, it’s not going to work. I give her credit for being creative, but tell her to fuck off for me, will you?”
“Stacia, it’s not Lindsay. I’m dating Brian on the team, and I overheard some of the guys talking about it in the locker room when I was waiting for him,” Madison told her. “I decided to ask him about it. And he said that he’d heard it on good authority from multiple people that Pace said it and was going through with it. That getting you to move in was the first step. And then everything else followed.”
Stacia was shaking now. She just wasn’t sure if it was with fear or anger. This couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t.
“If you don’t believe me, then just ask Pace,” Madison said. “I know you don’t trust me, but I am trying to help.”
Stacia ignored Madison’s last statement and turned her attention back to Pace. She felt sick to her stomach with the possibility. She couldn’t even entertain the thought that it was true, but if it were true…
Fuck. Her heart cracked at the very thought.
She placed her hand over her aching heart and swore to herself that it couldn’t be true. Madison was playing her. It was another ploy. This couldn’t be her life.
Then, her eyes met Pace’s. He was frozen in place, staring at her with fear written all over his face.
And she knew.
Even without talking to him.
She knew it was true.
She gasped for breath. For something to latch on to. But there was nothing. Just pain and regret and torture and humiliation. She had been a fool. She had known it was too soon. She had known that he was being too good to her. She had known that she should have waited longer and made him try harder.
But she had wanted so desperately to forgive him. She had wanted everything to be back to the way it had been. And he was so convincing, such a good little actor, that she never suspected. She never had any fears.
And she should have. She should have known better. Even Bryna and Trihn had warned her that he was conniving and to be careful. Well, she certainly hadn’t been careful with her heart, and now, it was shattering into a million little pieces with one look from him.
Nothing compared to this. Nothing compared to falling hopelessly and recklessly in love and having it ripped apart at the seams. She felt her entire body splinter and fragment as her heart exploded with raw pain.
It was as if Pace knew just from looking at her that she had found out about his little scheme. He pushed past the reporters anxious to speak with him and darted in her direction. But she couldn’t face this. She couldn’t face him. He had done enough, put her heart through the wringer, and nothing he could say would change that.
She turned and walked calmly away from him. He easily reached her, and she’d known that he would. He was much bigger and much faster than her. But she didn’t slow down or stop.
“Stacia,” he said tentatively, “what’s wrong?”
“Is it true?” she asked, her voice dead.
“Is what true?”
“Just tell me if it’s true.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pace said, trying to get her to stop, but she moved out of his way. “What’s wrong?”
“I just want to know if it’s true, Pace. I deserve that much.”
“Stacia,” he said soothingly, “look at me.”
Then, everything seemed to click into place for her. The way everyone had been acting at the game. The way people had always treated their relationship, as if it were set in stone. No one had been surprised that they were together. The way all the pieces had just sort of fit into a perfect puzzle. No one had ever said anything about her having been with Marshall and moving on to Pace. And the time he had freaked out and lost the USC game, it was because he had known she was off. It wasn’t about what Woods had told her. Pace had thought she’d heard about the bet. He had lost the biggest game of the year because of his own stupidity. Not hers. She had put all of that on herself. Taken it on like a load she thought she deserved to carry. Now, finding out the truth, she felt like she could strangle herself for not seeing it earlier.
“It all makes sense,” she whispered, still continuing to walk. “That’s why everyone has been weird at the game. That’s why no one was surprised about us being together. That’s why you freaked out at USC when you thought that I knew, and then you were relieved when I still introduced you to my dad.” She turned to glare at him. “Because you knew, if I found out, I would break up with you before giving you a piece of myself.”
Pace’s face paled, turning sheet white. “Pink—”
“No!” she cut him off. “Don’t ever call me that again. We’re through.”
“WE’RE THROUGH?” Pace exploded. “We can’t be through.”
“Don’t waste your breath. I just broke up with you. So, obviously, we’re through,” Stacia said.
By that time, she had reached the girls. Her friends’ wide eyes said they’d heard her last statement.
“You can’t break up with me!” Pace yelled at her.
“Whoa! What’s going on here?” Bryna asked.
“I broke up with Pace. Can we go get wasted?” Stacia asked, completely ignoring Pace.
“What?” Trihn snapped. “Why?”
“I’m standing right here!” Pace said, trying to get Stacia’s attention. “Talk to me.”
“I asked you if it was true,” she spat at him. “You never answered. Proof enough for me. But if you’d like to answer, then by all means.”
“Stacia,” he groaned.
�
�Fine. Don’t answer. You’re wasting my time. Go talk to your reporters, get ready to sign those papers for Jude fucking Rose, get drafted, and get out of all our lives.”
Pace moved forward again, but Bryna intercepted him. “Stop it. You’re making a scene.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” Pace all but screamed. “That’s my girlfriend, and she’s breaking up with me. I can’t just walk away.”
Stacia rolled her eyes and started to do just that.
She could hear Bryna trying to calm him down. “Let me talk to her and figure out what is going on. Text me when you get out of here.”
“I can’t leave her, Bri!”
“Text me,” she commanded.
Then, Stacia was out of earshot and walking past the cheerleaders and toward the exit.
Lindsay diverted her with the most disturbing giggle she’d ever heard. “So…Pace is on the market again?”
“Yep. He’s all yours, whore,” Stacia said, devoid of emotion.
Lindsay looked taken aback. “I truly thought him breaking up with you would be a bit more eventful.”
Stacia turned and looked Lindsay square in the eyes. Then, she slapped her hard across the face. “Get the fuck out of my life, bitch!”
Trihn and Maya raced to Stacia and dragged her away from Lindsay, who screamed melodramatically. She was holding her face where Stacia hoped and prayed she’d left a mark. The bitch deserved it and more. And she was so tired of everyone getting involved in her life. She just wanted to get the fuck out of all of it.
“What the hell was that?” Trihn asked, finally releasing Stacia.
“Awesome is what it was!” Maya said. “Girl had it coming.”
“Whatever,” Stacia said. “Let’s go straight to Posse.”
“In this?” Trihn asked. She looked down at her outfit and clearly found her tight dark-wash jeans and T-shirt lacking.
“Yes. Who gives a fuck what we wear? I just want to get wasted.”
Bryna appeared that minute. “Let’s get out of here. Stacia, you need to tell us what happened.”
“She slapped Lindsay across the face like a champ,” Maya said.
Bryna’s eyes rounded. “I missed it? Fuck!”
“Posse. Drinks. Now,” Stacia said.
The girls hurried after her, and through her stony silence, they agreed to drive to Posse.
When they showed up to the club, dressed in regular street clothes, the bouncer gave them all a once-over. Maya just smiled at the bouncer who had been here when she used to bartend. Normally, there was a dress code, and they weren’t exactly passing it. But they didn’t care at the present moment.
The girls passed by the bouncer, hurried into the crowded room, and then straight to the bar. Maya flagged down Tuck, who poured them shots before making them drinks. Stacia reached for hers and downed it before anyone could cheers anything. She had nothing to celebrate.
“Okay, okay. What happened?” Trihn asked with wide eyes. “You’re a wreck.”
“Pace bet that he could make me fall in love with him, and then he was going to humiliate me at the end of the last game,” Stacia said in a rush. Then, she reached for the drink Tuck had placed in front of her.
All the girls gasped.
“When did he make this bet?” Bryna asked.
“After I broke up with Marshall.”
“How did you hear about it?” Trihn asked.
“Madison. And, trust me, I didn’t want to believe her, but if you’d seen Pace’s face when I asked him, you’d know it was true, too.”
“How did she know?” Bryna asked with concern.
“She’s fucking a football player. Apparently, everyone knew. That’s the real reason all the guys were acting weird today. They were waiting for my abject humiliation,” she said. She raised her glass into the air and then took a long drink.
No one had anything to say to that. They’d warned her in the first place. And they were right. Of course, they were right. She was the only idiot who had thought it was a risk worth taking to give him another chance.
“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it. Can we just pretend like this semester never happened? Let’s get drunk and dance with strangers and pretend I’m the old Stacia, who didn’t have a care in the world.”
They exchanged looks with each other, and it was clear they wanted to disagree. But Stacia finished her drink in record speed and then flagged down Tuck for another. She would do it with or without them.
But they all agreed to just let loose for the night. Stacia was sure it was because Bryna was texting Pace to try to figure out how to salvage what had happened. But there was no salvaging anything. It was over.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
She was not going to make the same mistake a third time.
So, she drowned in liquor. Drink after drink and dance after dance, nurturing and coddling her broken heart. She just wanted to get drunk enough to forget and then crash at Bryna’s.
An hour passed and then another before Eric finally showed up at the bar. Stacia knew that couldn’t be good. It meant that the rest of the team would soon be arriving. It meant Pace would be here.
Stacia didn’t want to have to deal with him. Her addled mind figured it would be better to be dancing with someone else at that time. So, she found the first hot guy she could and started dancing like crazy. She knew she was hammered when she attempted to bend over at the waist and shake her ass, and she almost tumbled over. She started laughing hysterically, and the guy just held on to her harder. He clearly did not care about her level of inebriation at all. And, truly, she didn’t either.
Then, Pace’s presence fell over them both. “Get your hands off my girlfriend!” he said menacingly.
The guy’s eyes doubled in size, and he disappeared faster than Stacia had thought was possible. Without someone to hold her up, she floundered through the crowd and nearly tipped over. She started laughing maniacally again even though nothing was funny.
Pace reached out to steady her, but she edged backward, away from him. All she managed to do was run into another person who cussed her out.
“Go away. You’re ruining my good time,” Stacia accused.
“You think a good time is getting so wasted that you can’t even stand up straight?” he demanded.
Stacia blankly stared at him. “Um…yes.”
“Jesus Christ, Stacia, this is not what I wanted to get out of the game to see. We need to talk, and you’re in no condition.”
“Good, because I don’t want to talk to you,” she slurred.
“Fuck!” he groaned. He dug his hand in his hair and glanced away from her.
Stacia saw that Bryna and the rest of her friends were waiting anxiously to find out what was going on.
“Can I just take you home and sober you up? I’ll just take care of you.”
“No. You lost any right you had. I’m staying here and having another drink.”
“You’re at your limit,” Pace said, barring her way.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do! You don’t get to say anything. You don’t speak for me!” she shouted, shoving him backward.
Of course he didn’t move an inch. All six feet four of him was solid as a rock, and he hadn’t had anything to drink.
“Stacia, love, please,” he pleaded.
“Ugh!” she shrieked. “Leave me alone. I’m having a good time without you.” She stuck her finger in his chest. “I’m moving out in the morning, so…fuck off.”
Pace looked wounded, as if she had hit him. “You won’t even be coherent in the morning. With how drunk you are, you’ll still be drunk.”
“I’m done with this,” she said.
Then, she tried to get around him. Of course, he didn’t let her move.
“Stacia, please, just stop—”
Then, Boomer smacked his shoulder into Pace’s as he passed.
Pace went crazy. “Watch where you’re fucking going!�
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Clearly, he had been trying to rein himself in when talking to Stacia, but considering Stacia knew that Boomer was his least favorite person on the team, he couldn’t hope to control his anger around him.
Boomer turned around and walked right up into Pace’s face. “What did you say to me?”
“You heard me. Watch where the fuck you’re walking.”
“You should be glad we have post-season games or else I’d beat your ass right here, right now.”
“Let’s give it a go. I don’t need to wait,” Pace told him.
“Fuck you, man. You think you so much better than me because your daddy has money, can bail you out of jail, and get the charges dropped? Well, you’re nothing but a spoiled bitch. Your dad might think he bought me out, but he’s wrong. You’re still a piece of shit.”
Pace looked stunned, but his anger didn’t dissipate. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. But, trust me, you’re the real piece of work here. Just be glad you stashed that fucking gun you showed me that night or else, no matter what Lawrence did, you’d never have left that jail.”
“What? This gun?” Boomer asked. He pulled back his football jacket and revealed a pistol in his jeans.
Stacia screamed and backed far away. Pace put his arm out to stop her from leaving.
“I’m walking,” Pace said with a sinister glare, “but this isn’t over.”
Boomer laughed. “You’re damn right, this ain’t over.”
Pace turned his back on Boomer but didn’t hesitate for a second before grabbing Stacia around the middle and hauling her over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she screamed.
“Taking you home,” Pace said.
“Put me down!” she yelled.
“Pace!” Bryna cried. “Stop it!”
“Let me be, Bri, or so help me God,” he growled.
And, without any other interference, Pace walked right out of the bar, carrying Stacia like a sack of potatoes. Being upside down made her woozy, and even though she tried to squirm and kick to make him put her down, it didn’t help anything. He was not letting her go, no matter what she said or did.
Pace opened the side of his truck, holding on to her with one arm over the backs of her legs. Then, he plopped her down into the passenger seat. “Don’t move,” he said before slamming the door in her face.