A few of the upperclassmen snickered, and in that moment I lost it. There was only so much I could take and getting yelled at by 478/890

Liam in front of my enemies was the straw that broke my freaking back.

I spun around on my cleats and pointed directly at Tara. "You know what? I'm so sick of your shit. What kind of captain tries to sabotage their own team? Do you even realize what you're doing? What's the fucking point of it all? So you can snicker about me with your friends after practice? Newsflash, Tara: No one fucking likes you. I bet Sofie and the other seniors are only friends with you because you've blackmailed them as well—"

"Stop," Liam yelled, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me back. I hadn't even realized I was in Tara's face until suddenly I was being dragged away.

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“I would start cleaning out my locker if I was you, Bryant,” she spoke with an eerie calmness, but I could practically see the wheels spinning in her head. I'd just awoken the beast and I was about to pay for it. Her eyes were sharp and her lips were twisted in-to a calculating smile.

Thankfully, Coach Davis was on the other side of the field so as soon as the incident began, it was over. For the moment. Tara and the seniors went over to grab water, and I stood there cooling off and appreciating the fact that I was sitting in the eye of the storm.

Liam and I were completely silent until it was time for him to leave, and for the remainder of practice, Tara and I kept our distance from each other. My heart was beating like a hummingbird’s as I tried to process 480/890

how I could somehow stop the avalanche about to take place.

This was it. The proverbial shit was about to hit the fan and I wasn’t ready. I was a nervous wreck the rest of the day. I couldn't get in touch with Liam after practice, but I couldn't go to Coach Davis before talking to him first. There was no more time to wait though. If Tara was going to go to Coach Davis, we had to beat her there. For all I knew it was already too late; Tara could have gone to her directly after practice.

"What are you going to do?" Becca asked. She was sitting on the edge of my bed and I was standing up, pacing back and forth across my carpet. I felt like a caged animal.

My heart wouldn't stop pounding and my hands were clenched into tights fists. I'd 481/890

realize how tense I was and try to relax, but then Tara's face would materialize in my thoughts and I’d tailspin back into tense anger.

"I have no freaking clue."

"Kinsley, this is serious... if Tara goes to—"

"I know. I know that," I cut her off and reached down to grab my running shoes. It was late, maybe eight or nine, but I needed to run.

"I'll be back in a little bit," I muttered, heading down the stairs and out the front door without a second glance. I jogged down my front lawn and turned right down an empty street. Hearing my feet pound against the asphalt was like waking up from a foggy dream. Until that moment I'd thought I was 482/890

invincible. But in reality, I had put my dreams, my future, and my career on the line for a guy that I only had known for a few weeks. In the big picture of my life, Liam was a dot on the timeline, yet he was capable of wiping away everything that could have come after him.

And to make it worse, I had no one to blame but myself. I'd chosen to take the chance. I'd chosen to live in the moment and test fate. What if Coach Davis called me into her office tomorrow and told me I was off the team? What if she told me she wouldn't be inviting me to the Olympic tryouts? What would I have then? Liam? How could I look at him without seeing my failure?

I kept running until the fear had sunken deep into my bones. This was a wakeup call.

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A wakeup call that I feared was happening too late. Maybe if I explained everything to Coach Davis she'd give me another chance. I had no other option. I wasn’t prepared to give up my dreams.

I was contemplating that fact as I rounded the corner back to my house and saw Liam's SUV sitting out by the curb. It was parked directly outside of the Rookie house rather than hiding around the corner. My stomach sank even lower and I slowed to a walk as I got closer to his car. My heart hammered in my chest, but I couldn't control its rhythm. The run and this surprise were too much for my nerves to handle.

I passed by his SUV and peered inside, but it was empty. The front door opened behind me and I spun around to find Liam 484/890

heading outside. His hair was disheveled.

His eyes were sharp and narrowed on me. A few of the sophomore girls peered through the thin gap before closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, frozen in place.

"Letting the team know that I won’t be coaching them anymore."

My breathing stilled. "What?"

He kept walking closer to me, his expression indiscernible. "I spoke with the LA Stars and Coach Davis today," he explained, running his hand along his jawline.

I felt my world screech to a stop. Holy shit, he’d done it. I reached up to cover my mouth with my hand, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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"Everything is out in the air now. Tara can't blackmail you and Coach Davis will deal with her separately."

He wasn't telling me what really mattered. What actually mattered. Did I have my dreams still or not?

"What happens? What happens now, Liam? Am I still on the team? Are you still on the team? Do you still have your endorsement deals?” Suddenly I felt just as close to exploding as I had before my run. I couldn't handle the stress. It was too much.

Liam came to stand in front of me, taking my hand in his. I let him because it was easier, but I wasn't sure I wanted him to touch me.

"The LA Stars were upset about the potential for bad press, but they wouldn’t kick 486/890

me off the team for something like this. A few of my sponsors were pissed and yeah, my most conservative sponsorship dropped me.

They don’t know how the media will spin the story and they didn’t want to take the chance on me. I’ll be able to talk the others down.

This afternoon, I told Coach Davis a toned down version of the truth— that Tara was interested in me and that I was interested in you. She was hazing you and a few other rookies and threatening to use false facts to get you kicked off the team."

"They weren't really false facts," I whispered.

"Technically, they were. We never had sex," Liam corrected. He was splitting hairs at that point, but I didn't care to argue.

"Coach Davis and I agreed that it'd be best if 487/890

I stopped coaching the team so that the drama could die down.”

“But aren’t you in trouble with the LA Stars?”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t ever in trouble with the LA Stars. That was all just media bullshit. I've been playing better in the last few weeks than I have in my entire career.”

Had I just heard that right? He talked to Coach Davis and the LA Stars. He was telling me everything was okay. He was telling me that the worst of the storm had passed, but my brain wasn't catching up yet. My heart was still pounding and I just needed a few moments to absorb everything.

"Kinsley, it's settled now. We don't have to hide—"

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I shook my head, once and then twice, trying to clear everything out. Five minutes ago my worst fears had been bubbling over.

I’d had a taste of what it would be like if my soccer career was pulled out from under me and it’d been the scariest moment of my life.

I took a small step back from Liam.

"Kinsley?" he asked warily.

After everything he’d just explained, I should have felt relief, but instead I felt like I was hung-over from the day.