The Wrong Quarterback (The Wrong Player, #1)

by C.R. Jane

“I love you, baby. I love you so much,” he suddenly rasped. I came.

I’d always wanted a love like he was promising. His words were a gift. A scary, terrifying, overwhelming gift that I wanted to live with for the rest of my life.

“You’re fucking amazing, Casey. I love you so much. This is the best moment of my life.”

“I have to go to practice, baby. But I couldn’t help it. I needed more,” he murmured.

“you’re pretty serious about a girl. Real serious.”

“Yeah, Coach. As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Girls can be distracting. You’re a junior in college, with your whole life in front of you…you’ve been behaving out of character lately.” He hesitated...

“She’s my future wife.”

“And, uh, does she know that?” “Not yet,” I replied, smirking. “But she will.”

“Damn kid sounds like a fucking psychopath.”

But no matter what Gray wanted, Parker’s glow was too strong. Gray wanted to pull me back into the past, but I didn’t live there anymore.

I’d learned that what I thought were highlights, sparks of brightness that were all because of Gray…they were actually nothing but shadows.

It was time to talk to Ben.

“What’s the opposite of dickmatized?” Matty asked, leaning his arm on Jace’s shoulder as they both gave me smug smiles. “Pussy-conquered?” Jace offered, cocking his head as he thought about it.

“I don’t like this,” I said, pointing to the two of them. “When you two gang up on me.”

“It’s because you’re a little scary now, QB. You’ve got that crazy look in your eyes. We’ve got to shore up our defenses,” explained Jace.

“I’m pretty sure that your picture is the definition of it in the dictionary,”

LOML: I’m not going to make it to dinner. I’m sorry. I’ll see you later.

“Uh oh, he’s not rosy cheeked anymore,” whispered Jace.

Pulling up my phone, I checked my Find My Friends app and saw that she was in her dorm room—Jace’s stalking tips were actually very useful.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” I demanded. “Let me fix it.”

“I know about grief,” I murmured. “The kind that eats you from the inside out. The kind that you don’t think you can escape from. When I lost my dad, I used to go sit in his office. I’d sit in the same chair that I’d always used when he was working late into the night, and I’d wanted to hang out with him. And I think I was waiting. I think a part of me thought that maybe he’d walk in. And he’d grin when he saw me. And then we’d just talk while he worked, about everything and anything.

“Next time you want to go, I’ll take you,” I murmured against her lips. “I don’t want you to go by yourself anymore. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Don’t go alone. I’m never too busy for you. You don’t get this yet, but you’re my number one priority. There’s nothing more important than making you happy. Nothing.”

when you, a person who literally outshines everything and everyone, tries to tell me that you see me, or that I’m important…or any of the other crazy things that keep coming out of your mouth…it’s hard for me to believe. The sun was never meant to be with the stars.”

“The sun is a star, baby. Not to cut you off. A bunch of those stars are in fact brighter than the sun…they’re just farther away. We’re both stars, Casey.”

“You kind of are a nerd,” she joked. “Are you sure that you actu...

“One day you’re going to wake up, and you’re going to realize you’re safe with me. That out of anyone you’ve met in your life, anyone you’ll ever meet in your life, I’m the person you can trust.”

My baby deserved better than this shitty safety hazard.

When I put my phone on Do Not Disturb, there were only three people that could get through, and they all knew not to try unless it was important.

I closed my eyes, trying to push down the surge of emotions flooding my insides. The sinking dread, the frustration, the helplessness. This wasn’t the first time my mom had landed in the hospital because she refused to eat. But every time it happened, it felt like we were one step closer. Like a countdown to an ending I couldn’t stop.

“Sorry, Parker. We had a game tonight. I just saw your text.”

“How is she?” I knew my brothers felt guilty that I carried the majority of the load of caring for Mom, but it was more of an unspoken thing between us.

“I love you, Casey,” I murmured, not expecting anything back. But to my surprise, she took a deep breath and said, “I love you, too.”

“Thank you for coming with me,” I said quietly, turning to Casey. She gave me a small smile, her eyes soft. “Always,” she answered, repeating my words back to me.

The door opened a crack, and Nat stuck her head out, her eyes narrowing the second she saw him. “Get lost, you fucking asshole,” she snapped, her voice sharp and dismissive.

grinned at that, happy my lady had such a good friend. I hadn’t been too sure of her when I’d met her—if she was being nice to Casey to get in with the football team or something. But so far, there hadn’t been any red flags. Which was good.

You go girl.

“I win,” I said mockingly.

“It was a betrayal and my way in. You’re just going to have to accept that.”

“Casey belongs to me now. You so much as look at her again, and we’re going to have a problem. You don’t get to haunt her. Not anymore.”

Nat opened the door just a crack, relief flooding her features as she opened the door wider and let me in. I immediately went to Casey, pulling her in for a deep kiss because I’d missed her so fucking much. It should be illegal for her to ever be away from me.

handed Casey the card, watching the flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

Before she could finish, Nat snatched the card right out of my hand with a wide grin.

“Don’t mind if we do. Your man just got a deal with Nike, he can definitely afford to treat us to a nice dinner, Case.”

“We’re going to get steak by the way,” she said, tossing me ...

He squinted at me. “Why does that sound so…foreboding? But yes, I’m in.”

“Why aren’t you asking me to help?” said Matty, sounding annoyed.

“Because he needs someone with a big dick, Matthew,” said Jace, sounding completely serious. “Mine is...

Matty blinked at him. “It’s A...