Chapter Two
Ares
The weight of the world rested on my shoulders from so many different areas of my life—family, football, classes, my future. The pressure was nothing new, just different. It was my senior year as well as Kylian’s and Liam’s, who were my teammates, roommates, and best friends. Everything was good with that part of my life. I lived in a condo with them and Kylian’s fiancée, Aurora. I never went hungry, as she was an amazing cook and had taken over the kitchen, which only benefited the three of us.
But a sense of despair clouded my mind as I went to Coach Becket’s office before practice in Fall Lake University’s football stadium. Though Coach hadn’t said what the meeting was about, his tone had told me it wouldn’t be good. And for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine why. I’d been killing it as the team’s starting tight end. I’d even scored two of the three touchdowns last Saturday. So I was at a loss for why Coach was pissed. My stats were terrific, especially with Kylian back in the QB1 position following a horrifying injury last year.
After parking in the athletic lot, I made my way to Coach’s office. His secretary sat at her desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard.
“Hey, Mrs. McKenna.” She was a stern middle-aged woman with short curly hair and kind eyes unless a person got on her bad side. I never had and didn’t want to start.
“Ares Bellingham.” She tsked, disapproval pulling her lips down. “You better go in. Coach is waiting for you.”
A chill ran along my spine—I was officially on her bad side. What the hell happened? I knocked on Coach’s door then entered. The room was bare bones aside from a desk cluttered with papers and a whiteboard off in the corner. Most of his time was spent on the field instead of in the office.
The room wasn’t as physically empty as I’d thought it would be. While Coach sat behind his desk, two other men occupied the chairs in front of him with a single empty chair remaining. The hot seat—the one meant for me, I supposed. They turned when I entered. I recognized Jack, one of the scouts who had recruited me to Fall Lake U, and Brad, the assistant coach.
“Ares,” Coach said. “Have a seat.”
I sat between the two men, as it was my only option. I kept my eyes on Coach, whose mustache was getting a workout as he aggressively chewed his nicotine gum. The bushy mustache fading from light brown to white made him look like a walrus. That and his bulk gave him a deceptively mild vibe. He was anything but that.
“We have a problem.”
I waited for Coach to continue, as I had nothing to add. The two men flanking me remained quiet.
“A sex video of you and an unnamed girl has been uploaded behind an OnlyFans paywall. What I want to know is, what the fuck were you thinking?”
“What?” I blinked once, twice, but everything stayed the same. An oily feeling slithered beneath my skin. Goddammit. I couldn’t believe some woman had blown my trust and put me on public display against my will.
Coach looked ready to blow a gasket, and the two guys next to me weren’t making eye contact but staring at Coach instead.
“I never would have thought you were stupid enough to pull a stunt like this. Because of your actions, the university is dealing with a lot of heat. And the boosters are not pleased that one of our star players is involved.”
“I-I’m at a loss for words. I didn’t allow anyone to video me having sex.” And when the fuck was the last time I had sex? I was too busy for women with everything else in my life. It made no sense. Being a college athlete allowed little time outside of sports and academics. And football training was year-round. I didn’t fuck around.
Jack finally made eye contact with me when he handed over his phone, cued to the OnlyFans site. I took it and hit play. The room was shadowed, and the only light came through the window, so it was hard to tell who the two people were. Until he—I—picked up the girl and laid her down on the bed, minus her red bra and matching thong. Fuck, I recognized that. Spring break. I’d finally let Liam talk me into barhopping and letting loose.
How could this happen to me and not Liam? He was the love-’em-and-leave-’em guy, never to sleep with the same girl twice… except for the one time he’d had a go at a relationship. I rarely had one-night stands—other than last spring break. Fuck, I was in so much trouble.
“That’s a complete violation. I never agreed to this. And this is from last year, over spring break. I don’t even know this girl’s last name or where she lives.” We were in my bedroom. She must have set up the phone on the dresser when she’d asked me to grab her a drink. What the hell will my family think? Mom would be horrified, and my nephew… Shit, it was a bad example for a fourteen-year-old who was struggling with the loss of his parents. I was screwed. “What does this mean for me?”
“As I’ve already said,” Coach growled. He hated to repeat himself. “The video’s backlash has put unwanted pressure on the university. What were you thinking?” Coach stood and paced behind his desk. “You’re a senior in your final year before the combine and the NFL draft, for God’s sake. Use your head. Stop thinking with your dick. I would expect this from a first-year athlete, but not you.”
I took the dressing down because I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t put myself into situations like that. Anger and frustration vibrated through my six-foot-four frame with nowhere to go. And on the heels of all that, the gravity of what had happened sank in. Would this jeopardize my scholarship? Anger ripped through me, and I argued against the injustice. “I never gave consent to be filmed like this. Why isn’t the heat on the woman making the quick buck? I met her in a bar near campus. She’s probably a student. Can’t the university go after her? Or OnlyFans, based on lack of consent?”
“She’s not a student, and the university is in contact with OnlyFans working on getting the video down, but it’s on the internet, and you know what that means. Once something is out there…” Jack explained. “Another thing to note is that the university holds our athletes to a higher standard.”
It wasn’t my fault. “Will I be benched? Or lose my scholarship?” I gripped the chair’s armrests until my knuckles turned white. I’d worked my ass off. Would this cost me a spot in the combine? In the draft?
“Both should happen.” Coach narrowed his eyes. “But…”
Oh, thank God there was a but. A small stirring of hope lit in me.
“Neither will happen. If you weren’t one of our best players and the reason the boosters and alumni are happy with the team dominating the division this year, you’d be on the bench and possibly out of a scholarship to play here.”
A small amount of tension seeped from my body. I wouldn’t get off scot-free, though. I waited for him to hand down my punishment. When Coach didn’t say more, I asked, “Is there anything else?”
“Isn’t that enough?” Coach snapped.
“Yes, Coach.” I had to work hard not to growl the words through my teeth.
“Do better.”
“Yes, Coach.”
He leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes, his features hardening like he was calling a game-winning play. “I suggest you find a good woman and settle down,” he advised. “I want you to follow Kylian’s lead, not Liam’s.”
I nodded, at a loss for what to say to that. Find someone to date seriously? I had no idea how I would find the time for a girlfriend, nor did I want one.
“Get to practice. And, Ares.”
I paused, halfway standing.
“I expect better.”
“Yes, Coach.” My heart dropped. Coach Becket was someone I looked up to. He’d had my back when my family life had gone to hell and when my mom had needed me most. But I’d disappointed him, and that killed me.
I left the office, too embarrassed to look Mrs. McKenna in the eye, so I mumbled a goodbye instead. My mind raced with what I’d learned. The university IT department should be able to take down the video or lodge a formal complaint with OnlyFans about consent, but the damage had already been done.
I’d put myself in that position. I wanted to blame Liam, but no one was responsible except me. Anger bubbled beneath the surface, and all I could think about was getting on the field and working as much of it out of my system as possible. I pushed Coach’s firm suggestion about a steady relationship like what Kylian had to the back of my mind—for the time being anyway.
Once in the locker room, I dressed in my practice uniform, ignoring my teammates. After that, I got taped up and headed to the field. I didn’t respond to Kylian’s and Liam’s questions, putting them off until later. All I cared about was getting to work. And I did. I became a machine on the field, winning drills, catching passes, breaking tackles, and running the ball into the end zone. I blocked for teammates and kicked ass.
I wouldn’t let anything, even my emotions, detract from the game. If anything, I used them. It wasn’t a foreign place to channel my feelings. I’d done it with my helplessness and grief after my older sister died. I would get through my newest challenge too.
Kylian, Liam, and I made magic happen. Our dynamic was intuitive. And the day’s practice helped alleviate the worst of my stress. We filed off the field and changed, then the three of us headed to dinner at the athletics cafeteria on campus since Aurora was out with Kylian’s mom, Evalyn. We sat at a table in the corner for a semblance of privacy.
“What happened with Coach?” Kylian asked as he set down his tray and joined Liam and me.
I was surprised Kylian and Liam had waited to push me for answers. “Remember that girl I took back to my room during spring break?”
“Which one?” Liam laughed.
“The redhead. And it’s not fucking funny,” I growled.
Liam held up his hands, palms facing us. “Sorry, man. But it was about time you let loose. You hadn’t done that since our first year.”
“It’s pretty tough to live your life”—Kylian shoved Liam—“when we barely have personal time.”
“I still don’t know how you managed to find time to date Aurora before she moved in with us.” It blew my mind. Date? I could barely juggle football, school, and family as it was. And with Coach’s demands, I had to figure out a way to make that happen.
“Probably because he’s a fucking genius and doesn’t need to go to athletic tutoring like the majority of us,” Liam grumbled before taking a bite of his apple.
“Stop exaggerating.” Kylian shook his head. “And if you would make it in time for your business management class, you wouldn’t need tutoring.”
“Whatever.” Liam glared at Kylian before returning his focus to me. “So, what did Coach want?”
“The redhead uploaded a video of us from that night to a paywall on OnlyFans.”
“Fuuuuck.” Liam dropped the apple then grabbed his phone.
“That sucks, but Coach can’t be too angry with you. It wasn’t planned or your fault,” Kylian said.
“Found it.” Liam held up the phone for us to see.
Kylian frowned. “IT should’ve taken that down already. What’s the holdup?”
“I have no idea, but it’s a problem, and Coach is furious with me, as are the boosters and the university. I was told I can’t make any more mistakes and that I should be more like Kylian.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kylian asked.
“I need a serious girlfriend.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Liam put down the phone after closing the video. “About the girlfriend, and you can’t be blamed for this. We’ll just make the girls check their phones at the door next time.”
“There won’t be a next time.” I raked my hand through my hair. “I can’t trust any girl who comes up to me. You were lucky with Aurora, Kyl. The girls Liam and I meet are after us because we’re rumored to be going into the NFL. I hate it. Everyone wants a piece of me, and I’m so tired of it.”
My phone rang. I checked the caller ID and saw it was my mom. My point to the guys about being spread too thin hit home even harder, regardless of wanting to help with my family situation. I was just so exhausted.
I answered, but I already knew it wouldn’t be good news. And I suspected a decent night’s sleep would no longer be in the cards. “Hey, Mom. Everything okay?”
“Hi, Ares. Ah, not really. I hate to ask you this, but I’m at my wit’s end. Preston has been out late again, and I need help finding him.”
“On my way.” I hung up, gave the guys a quick explanation, and headed out to track down my troublemaker nephew. It was only Monday night, which didn’t bode well for Preston’s track record or my sanity for the rest of the week.
