Maverick

I LIMPED UP THE PATH to the Delta Pi house, swallowing my pride and the lingering pain from Vinnie’s fists. I’d spent all weekend holed up in my room after Kyle finally persuaded Lo to head home Saturday morning. She had work at the bar and I didn’t want to ruin that for her. And I definitely didn’t want her around to see me do this.

I didn’t even get a chance to knock. The huge door swung open and Balor’s brows quirked up. “Prince, this is... unexpected.” He scrubbed his jaw.

“Is Zac around?” I held his narrowed gaze. I might have submitted Friday night, but I wasn’t a pussy. 

Far from it.

“Sure, come in.” He pulled the door wider and moved aside, letting me past. “That was a bold move the other night.” His voice was low. Measured. 

I looked him dead in the eye as I said, “We both know it was only going one way.”

Zac had humiliated Kawinski enough—hell, Kawinski had done a bang-up job of that himself. He was just the bait. A pawn in Zac’s game.

“Zac underestimated you,” he replied cryptically, flicking his head to the hallway. “He’s in the basement.”

Anger rippled up my spine, but I tamped it down. If I was going to do this, I had to switch off my fight response. It didn’t come easy though. I’d spent years on the offensive. Fighting was my release. The way I battled my demons. But the game had changed and there was more on the line now. So if I wanted to go head-to-head with Zac, I needed to switch things up.

“Thanks.” I took off, ignoring the other guys milling around, some from the team, others I didn’t recognize.

When I reached the door leading to the basement, I paused, the lingering taste of blood in my mouth washing over me. Friday night was hazy, but I had vague memories of Darnell and Jamie hauling me out of here. My reputation—and pride—left in tatters on the blood splattered floor.

Pushing the door handle, I took the steps down to the dimly lit room. A couple of guys glanced up, and Vinnie elbowed Zac. When he twisted, and his eyes landed on me, I wanted to claw off my skin. The twisted smirk on his mouth and victorious glint in his eye taunted me. Called to me like a red rag to a bull. I wanted to show him exactly how it felt to be powerless. 

But I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

I wasn’t here to lay down threats; I was here to wave my white flag.

“Prince, this is a surprise.” He yawned as if he was completely unaffected by my presence.

“Can we talk?”

“Have at it.” He leaned back casually, crossing one leg over the other. 

“In private.”

“You’re here in my house, and you’re making demands? Do you want a replay of the other night because it can be arranged, right, Vin?”

Vinnie snickered but I ignored him. “I just want to talk. I think I earned it.” I kept my voice level. Trying not to reveal the turmoil knotted in my stomach. Jamie and Darnell didn’t know I was here. They didn’t know that I planned to do this. But the less they knew, the better. In theory, it was a probably a bad idea. No one knew I was here. But sometimes you had to make the hard decisions for the greater good. And whether I wanted it or not, that burden had landed squarely on my shoulders.

Zac regarded me, his contempt for me rolling off him. But after a couple seconds, he looked at his guys and nodded. They hurried out of there like the good little minions they were. “So, you were saying?”

I moved to a black leather cube and dropped down. “You need me.”

“Excuse me?” His eyes danced with an unnerving mix of rage and intrigue. 

“You heard right. You need me. The team needs me. I didn’t come here to outshine you or steal your team out from under you. I came to play basketball; to help take the team all the way.” 

“Good to know.” His expression was blank, giving nothing away. His walls had slammed up as he considered my words. 

“I took Kawinski’s place the other night because I get it. You need to show everyone who’s boss, me included.”

Zac scooted forward, reaching for his beer. He snagged it to him and ran his thumb over the rim. “What game are you playing, Prince?”

I held up my hands. “No game, I swear. I’m here for one thing and one thing only, to play basketball.”

He inclined his head, studying me. His eyes searched my face for any sign of the lies I had locked away so tightly not even Kyle knew what I planned to do. “The other night was only a taster of how bad things can get for anyone who steps out of line.”

“Understood.”

“This doesn’t make us friends. This doesn’t even make us teammates. Not until you prove yourself. But it takes balls to walk in here after getting your ass handed to you.” He took a long pull on his beer. “I gotta say, Prince, I’m impressed. I expected a little more fight from you.”

“I’m not looking for a war.”

“Good because I’m the general around here. People have tried, sure, but it’s always them lying bloody and broken on the battlefield at the end.”

He was deluded.

Zac Lowell had either had one too many bangs to the head or he was narcissistic enough to believe every word coming out of his mouth.  

“Well, I’m here waving my white flag.” The words were like sandpaper in my throat, but this was my only shot at getting Zac off my back.

“Noted,” was all he said. But I saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes. Zac had underestimated me. Maybe I’d even underestimated myself. I had Lo to thank for that. She saw a better me. She always had.

I gave him a tight nod and stood up. “I guess I’ll see you in the gym tomorrow.” Moving to the stairs, his voice stopped me.

“Prince?”

“Yeah?” Blood pounded between my ears. Part of me wanted to run. To get out of here before it was too late. But this was the plan. So when he said, “Stick around, have a beer.” I sat back down and forced a half-smile in his direction.

“Sure, that sounds good.”

~

JAMIE AND DARNELL WERE waiting for me when I left the dorm building the next morning. Darnell’s hard eyes skated over my face. “It’s looking better.”

“Dude,” Jamie chimed in. “He looks like he was jumped by a group of ninjas.”

We both frowned at that as we made our way toward the student union.

“It feels better than it looks.” I had a deep purple bruise around my eye, making the other bruise from the paintball night look like child’s play. The cut on my lip looked angry still but the majority of the damage was hidden beneath my Laker’s jersey.

“I hear Kawinski is MIA.”

“What?” I grabbed Jamie’s arm and yanked him back. “He left?”

He shrugged. “Just telling you what I heard. We all called it. Sam isn’t cut out for this, man.”

“But it hasn’t even been a month. He didn’t give it a chance.”

“He pissed himself in a fake test. Let Zac and his guys dress him in an overgrown diaper and then watched you get the crap beaten out of you in his place.” Jamie paused. “And I heard he puked all over his roommate.”

“That’s fucking messed up,” Darnell added, casting me a sideways glance. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“He can’t just leave. That’s letting Zac win. It’s letting him—” I don’t know why I cared so much. Kawinski was no one to me. I’d barely said two words to the guy. But I didn’t stand in that basement and let Vinnie drive his fist into me over and over just so he could quit.

“Maybe he’ll come back,” Jamie said, and I didn’t miss the questioning look he threw in Darnell’s direction.

“Yeah, maybe.” I hitched my bag up my shoulder and started moving again.

“Anyway, I heard something interesting last night,” Darnell’s voice was thick with accusation and I grumbled under my breath. “Anything you want to tell us, Maverick?”

“Huh?” Jamie looked to me and I rolled my lips together. “What did you hear, D?”

“I heard that a certain Prince was over at Delta Pi house yesterday hanging out with Zac and his guys.”

“Darnell, come on,” I said, hoping to end the conversation.

“Is it true?”

“I was over there, yeah.”

“Shit, Maverick,” Jamie hissed. “Do you have a death wish? What happened? What did you say?”

Cutting in front of them, I stopped them in their tracks. “Just trust me, okay? Whatever you hear, whatever you see, I’m still me. You know me, you know who I am. Don’t forget that.”

Darnell’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“I’m not bringing you into this, man. It’s my fight. Mine, okay?”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to like it. You just have to promise me you won’t get in the way.” He looked ready to protest but my cell phone started blaring Imagine Dragons. I slid it out my pocket and glanced at the name flashing across the screen. “I need to take this. But I’ll catch you two at lunch? I think I get out of Sports Psych at twelve.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said, not looking pleased that I was running out on them before he had a chance to make me explain myself.

“Maverick?” Mom’s voice came over the line.

“Mom? What’s up?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” she said with a hint of annoyance.

“Hmm, am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

“I overheard Kyle telling Laurie he and Lo came to see you Friday night. They were supposed to be at a party.”

I was going to tear my stepbrother a new one.

“I wanted to see Lo. Kyle drove her up.”

“You need to stop this, Maverick.” Her voice softened. “I know the two of you have a special bond but Lo needs to focus on her senior year and you need to focus on settling in at college. You have classes to think about and the team.”

If only she knew.

But she couldn’t, so I said, “I know, Mom. It’s just been hard is all. But you’re right. In fact, Lo and I talked things over at the weekend.” I lied. But it wasn’t like my mom would call up Lo and ask her. Hell, I was surprised she was calling me now.

“You did? That’s great, sweetheart. A little distance never hurt anyone. It’ll make the time you do spend together all the more special.”

“Okay, Mom, good talk, but I really need to get to class.”

“Of course, I’m sorry. I love you, Maverick. I know it sounds like I’m interfering but that’s not what this is. I just care. About both of you. And you worked too hard to jeopardize this.”

“Yeah, got it. Now I really need to—”

“Okay, sorry. Bye.” She hung up, and I found Kyle’s number.

Me: You need to learn to be discreet. Look it up!

Kyle: What the hell, man?

Me: I just had mom on the phone... she overheard you telling Laurie about Friday night. Luckily just that you brought Lo over.

Kyle: Shit, Rick. I swear, I didn’t know. Although she’s been acting extra interested. In all our shit. I think she misses you.

Me: Just try not to give her any more excuses to worry... yeah?

Kyle: Sure. How’s things anyway?

Me: Just keep an eye on Lo for me, okay?

Kyle: Why does that sound like code for: things are about to go to shit?

Me: Just promise me.

Kyle: I promise. But don’t forget, Rick... you made promises too.

Silencing my cell, I shoved it back in my pocket and made my way to class. I didn’t want to alienate Kyle, but I didn’t want him to worry unnecessarily either. In some ways, Mom’s phone call, although it bugged the shit out of me, had come at the right time. If she thought me and Lo needed to focus on our stuff more, chances were all the adults did. That could work in my favor over the coming weeks.

Fuck.

What was I doing?

Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Zac was a senior. Next year, he’d be gone. His rule over the team no more. I could lay low, avoid his bullshit as much as possible, and turn a blind eye to his treatment of the freshmen players.

Who was I kidding?

There was more chance of hell freezing over.

I might not have wanted to go to war with Zac, but I could fight the good fight. Everyone had an Achilles heel. You just had to find it. And something told me the best place to start was in Zac’s inner circle.