Fading Out by Trisha Wolfe Read Free Book Online

paint, at least. I’d have offered to pay, of course, if that was the case.
    Or made the team chip in.
    Maybe I should have them wash her car.
    These thoughts continue to cloud my head, but they can’t overpower the main thought I’m trying to ignore. This chick might physically resemble Alyssa, but she doesn’t act like her. Arian reminds me of the snobs from my high school—the girls who wished they were Alyssa. And I really, really wish she didn’t. I wish—from that first moment I saw her, met her gorgeous eyes—I’d have said or done anything different. That I didn’t pull this side out of her.
    My parents about killed themselves working two jobs each to afford the private school tuition, to give me a chance at a good education and scholarship opportunities, so I could follow in my brother’s footsteps. Then , the pride of our family.
    And me, being the poor, skinny kid with a cheap haircut and my brother’s hand-me-downs, didn’t make the cut for any of the elite social groups. Instead, I spent those four long years stuck in thriller novels. Trying to ignore them, to avoid getting my ass kicked, and pretending that I didn’t want to be accepted.
    I slam my Jeep door and crank the engine.
    That’s the past. What suck fest my high school years were, I’ve more than made up for them in college. It’s like thinking about a distant, long forgotten friend. Someone who you can’t help but feel sorry for, but who you don’t care enough to reach out to.
    Ryder the loser is no more.
    The Ryde —quarterback legend—put him out of his misery.
    So I won’t let this snooty girl with daddy issues make me feel—even for a second—like that pathetic guy again.
    I peel out of the parking lot, not giving her or her threat another thought.

7
    Arian
    “ S o , I guess this means you don’t want to sign up for the boosters.”
    I glare at Vee through the misty rainbow above the spray of water. Then I imperiously go back to hosing down my car.
    Her hands fly up. “Understood. Clearly.”
    Nothing could convince me to sign up for a group whose soul mission is to celebrate—no, worship —a football team. The very team who’s responsible for why we’re both here at a carwash soaking ourselves in soapy water. I’ve been drenched twice now. Out in the cold.
    I know her comment is a joke, meant to calm me down and put things into perspective. But I’ve been fuming ever since we left campus.
    I’m not yet ready for jokes.
    Only… “How close do the boosters actually get to the team?”
    Vee pauses, the soppy sponge in her hand drizzling sudsy rivulets down the hood of my car. She looks up at me. “What is your wicked brain concocting?”
    I shrug, then hang the hose on a hook along the cement wall and grab my own sponge.
    “No, A.” The soft lines of her forehead crease. “Let it go. Just let it go.”
    I want to believe she’s worried about my welfare—which I do, ultimately. She’s a very caring person. In the short time I’ve known her, I’ve seen her devote her free time to many small acts of kindness. She affects a tough and feisty demeanor, but she’s also one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. Unselfish and with a huge heart.
    But I also know that if there’s one thing to trigger a girl’s needy, greedy side, it’s a guy. And if I do anything to piss off the team—well, more than I already have by humiliating their starting quarterback—that means pissing off Gavin, too. Maybe even crushing any chance Vee has with him. Because she’s too good a friend to abandon me, she’ll go down right alongside me.
    I don’t want that for her. I may think the football team as a whole is a bunch of misogynistic a-holes, but Vee’s allowed to have her own opinion of Gavin. I won’t allow her to be any part of this. I refuse to tarnish her rep.
    For a minute, while I scrub the dried milk from the silver paint, I weigh the outcome. I should probably listen to her and let this go. Really, it’s just