The Wrong Quarterback (The Wrong Player #1)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

PARKER

“ L ooks like you need a refill,” I said casually, passing where Andrews was talking to his friends and holding out a red solo cup to him. He immediately took it from me, his eyes glassy from how much he’d already drank. His friends all stared at me eagerly, launching into how great that first game was, and all the bullshit that comes with people wanting to suck up to me.

Andrews had evidently forgotten how threatened he’d been feeling about me and his girlfriend, and I watched as he downed half of the drink in one go. Idiot.

Although, it probably had never crossed his mind—sober or drunk—that I would drug him to get his girl.

I hadn’t ever seen myself doing that either.

But desperate men obviously did desperate things.

Giving the group a few claps on the back so they would feel good about themselves, I told them I would see them later and then left for the other side of the room.

The music pounded, drowning out most conversations, but I spotted the girl I needed—Bethany, or something like that. Matty had once made the mistake of fucking her, and she’d tried to move into the house the next day. She was just what I needed for this next step. A social climbing, stage-five clinger.

She was also a few drinks deep, swaying on her feet. Perfect.

I approached her, offering a charming smile. “Hey, one of my friends over there has been dying to meet you all night.”

She nodded, blinking slowly as she stared up at me, dollar signs practically visible in her eyeballs.

“You should definitely go talk to him. He’s that guy in the orange polo over there,” I continued, pointing out where Gray was standing.

The girl stuck out her lips at me in a weird fish face. “But I’ve been dying to meet you,” she whined, reaching out to touch my chest.

I quickly stepped back so she couldn’t touch me. “Sorry, I’m taken,” I told her. “But my friend over there is a big deal in his fraternity. He’ll be able to get you into all the Beta Omega parties. And the football team goes to those parties all the time.”

“Oh,” she said hopefully, like I’d just offered her a seat on my dick at a future date. “I’ll go over there.”

“He likes aggressive girls,” I called after her, and she grinned over her shoulder, because we both knew aggressive was her particular specialty.

I watched as she walked toward Andrews, all of a sudden adopting a weird swaying motion where it looked like she was trying to push her hips out of socket.

Gray had already been drunk when I’d handed him that drink, but now his eyes were really messed up, his lids heavy, like he was staring through a fog he couldn’t shake. His movements were slower—his coordination dulled to a dazed, clumsy shuffle as he leaned back against the wall, looking almost like he was trying to steady himself but wasn’t quite aware enough to care.

When Bethany, or whatever her name was, approached him, pushing through his fraternity bros to get to him, he barely registered it, his gaze drifting over her like she was just another blur in the crowd. She gave him a sultry smile, trailing her fingers along his arm until she had his full, hazy attention. And then, without hesitation, she latched onto his lips, pulling him into a messy, uncoordinated kiss. His arms moved, half-heartedly, resting awkwardly on her shoulders like he was trying to figure out where they were supposed to go.

He kissed her back, but it was sloppy, his lips moving with no rhythm, no purpose, just a slow, confused response. It was obvious he wasn’t fully processing what he was doing, each move heavy and clumsy, like he was trying to remember what came next and failing. His eyes stayed half-open, his expression distant, almost like he was sleepwalking through the whole thing.

I took a sip of my drink and leaned against the wall with a smile, ready to watch the show.

There was no part of me that wanted Casey to be hurt. But I couldn’t take another day of seeing him with her.

I would make it up to her after this, though, I’d make her life so happy that this would just be a blip in the radar of our long, amazing life together.

Casey came around the corner then, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw them—Gray pressed against the wall, lips locked with another girl. The look on Casey’s face was exactly what I’d been after. Shock. Pain. Betrayal. Their relationship crumbling right in front of her.

She obviously hadn’t noticed that Gray was out of his mind, that he had no idea what he was doing. He probably wouldn’t even remember that this had happened when he woke up in the morning.

But she would.

She stood there for a second, frozen, like she couldn’t process what she was seeing. Then she turned and bolted, rushing past the crowd and out the back door.

I waited, giving her a few moments to fall apart. Then, I followed her.

The door screeched as I pushed it open, and there she was, standing at the edge of the yard, her arms wrapped around herself like she was holding on for dear life. Her shoulders shook, but she wasn’t crying—not yet. I could see it, though. She was breaking.

I approached slowly, making sure my footsteps were quiet, careful. “Casey?”

She flinched but didn’t turn around. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to talk right now, Parker.”

“I saw what happened,” I said, keeping my tone low, soft. “He’s the biggest fucking idiot in the world.”

She stiffened at my words, and I stepped closer, just enough to show I was there, but not enough to push. Not yet.

“I don’t get it,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Why would he do that? After everything…” She glanced up at me, tears gathering in her silver eyes. “What did I do wrong?”

Fuck. That question hit me right in the chest. That she would even think that.

“Are you kidding me? The only person who did anything wrong in this situation was that asshole. If you were my girl…”

She was still staring up at me, vulnerability radiating off her.

I took a step closer.

“If you were my girl, you would be the only thing that I would see. I would spend every day proving to you how fucking perfect you are for me. There would never be a day that you would doubt it,” I murmured, catching one of her tears on my finger.

“Why couldn’t he?” she finally whispered, before she turned and once again…ran away.

CASEY

I turned the corner, pushing through the thick crowd, the noise and heat pressing in on me, a hazy quality to the air.

And then I saw him—Gray, his back against the wall, his arms wrapped around someone who wasn’t me. My heart stopped, a hollow, aching pause that made the air catch in my throat.

He was making out with her, his lips tangled with hers, hands drifting to her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like I didn’t exist. My stomach twisted, an icy, dead feeling spreading through my chest as I stood there, frozen, watching my worst nightmare unfold right in front of me.

I wanted to look away, to pretend it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t.

This was Gray—my Gray, the boy who had been there through everything, who had promised me a thousand things—wrapped around another girl like I meant nothing.

I couldn’t breathe. All I could think about were his words, the ones that had pulled me in, that had made me feel like we were building something real. He’d said he thought Ben would have understood, that he would have wanted this for us. That he would’ve been okay with us being together. But this? Ben would never have supported this. My brother would never have wanted me to feel this kind of betrayal, this sick, hollow ache that crept through my chest and made it hard to breathe.

Gray had promised me something—something sacred—and he’d thrown it away like it was nothing.

“Casey!”

I woke up with a gasp, tears streaming down my cheeks. Natalie’s concerned face was hovering over me.

“You were crying out in your sleep,” she murmured, sitting down on the edge of my bed. Her lower lip suddenly trembled, and she threw herself on me. “I’m so fucking sorry, babe. He’s the worst. The absolute worst.”

“Who told you?” I croaked out.

She squeezed me for one more second before she pulled away. “Parker came and got me and sent me after you. He was really worried about you,” she said softly.

Parker. I couldn’t think about him right now.

If my heart could be broken by a guy like Gray…I had a feeling that it would be absolutely demolished by someone like Parker.

“I just can’t believe he did that,” I whispered. She scooted back so I could sit up.

Glancing out the window, it was still dark outside. Maybe that was a good thing. Because what was I supposed to do after this, when I inevitably saw Gray? What was I even supposed to say to him?

“Want me to kill him?” Natalie asked, and I stared at her in shock, noticing for the first time she was still in her party clothes, her eyeliner smudged underneath her eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t personally kill him. We could just find a hit man or something. You can find anything online these days.” Her face was completely serious.

“No, that’s alright,” I said slowly, trying to smile, but finding myself incapable of it at the moment. I brought my legs to my chest and laid my cheek on my knees, looking at her. “I just didn’t think he was capable of hurting me like that, you know? Breaking up with me, yes. But to cheat on me, in front of me. I—I feel like everything I knew about him was wrong.” More tears slid down my face and wet my sheets.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” she murmured, rubbing my back. I’d told her about Ben and how he and Gray had been best friends. And how I’d thought I’d been in love with him since the day he’d first walked through our door.

“This won’t make you feel better…but he did seem really out of it. He’d definitely drunk too much.”

“No, it doesn’t make me feel better,” I said, turning to bury my face against my knees for a moment. “He’s been drinking a lot this whole time, but I guess I just assumed there was a line, you know. When he would stop.” A sob slipped from my mouth, and I was mad about it, because it wasn’t a sob he deserved. “When you love someone, you should have a line.”

We sat there in silence for a long time. She would rub my back every time I cried and tell me she was so sorry I’d been hurt.

“Thank you for being here,” I finally told her hoarsely, as the sun was starting to light up the horizon. “It’s nice not to feel so alone.”

She grabbed my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze.

“I’m still feeling good things,” she said quietly, and I let out a quiet huff.

Because I wasn’t, not at all.

I eventually forced myself out of bed, even though Natalie thought I should take the day off. I didn’t want to stay in our room, though, going over everything again and again. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him kissing her.

Hopefully class would distract me…a little.

The ache of last night sat heavy in my chest as I washed my face and threw on clothes. Staring in the mirror, I inwardly groaned. I looked like my heart hadn’t just been ripped out, but stomped on too.

No revenge look was going on here.

Natalie walked with me out into the hallway, her usual bubbly energy dialed down to something softer, more understanding. She didn’t ask any questions, just fell into step beside me, her quiet presence a reminder that I wasn’t completely alone.

We’d made it to my building before he appeared, as if summoned by my worst thoughts.

Gray.

If I thought I looked bad…he looked worse. His face was pale, eyes rimmed with dark circles, and there was a green pallor to his skin, like he was going to be sick at any moment. He looked awful, like he was barely holding it together.

A part of me, the one that had always loved him, felt bad for how horrible he looked. He was clearly suffering, and I had always just wanted him to be happy. I’d always thought that I could do that for him.

But I needed to stop thinking that way.

“Casey,” he said, stumbling off the wall he’d been leaning against, his voice thick, the desperation clear. “I don’t know what happened last night. I don’t remember…any of it. I swear.” He shook his head, his eyes pleading, reaching for something in me. “I’m so sorry. I would never?—”

I stared at him, the sting of tears threatening, my throat burning with everything I wanted to say but couldn’t. Sorry. As if sorry could erase the image of him tangled with someone else, of every promise he’d broken. As if it could take away the betrayal that still clawed at my chest, raw and unhealed.

“No,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I don’t care what happened, Gray. I never want to see you again.”

He fell back a step, like I’d physically struck him, his whole face shocked and disbelieving. “Casey, I don’t even remember anything. I would never have done that to you. Ever. I love you!”

Now I was the one who felt like I’d been slapped, because that word…love.

It couldn’t possibly make me feel like this.

I looked away, refusing to let him see the tears that were already gathering in my eyes.

Natalie touched my arm gently. “Let’s go. You’re going to be late,” she murmured, shooting Gray a dirty look.

Without another word, she looped her arm in mine and led me toward the entrance to where my class was. Thank goodness she knew where we were going, my autopilot wasn’t working at the moment.

“Casey! I’m going to prove it to you. We’re not done!” Gray yelled after us, but I didn’t look back.

I held my head high, even as my heart shattered with every step. And I didn’t let the tears come until we were out of his sight. I may have sobbed after that, but at least I hadn’t done it in front of him.

Because he didn’t deserve my tears.