Under Pressure, page 18
Pace shoved her hand off of him. “What? You think doing better is you, Lindsay? It’s not. So, just leave me and my girlfriend alone.”
“But—”
“What? Do you think I care who she was with before I even knew her? Who cares if she fucked half of her daddy’s team? She’s mine now. And, anytime you say a word against her, you’re saying it against me. Just back. The fuck. Off,” he spat. He wrapped an arm around Stacia. “Come on. Let’s go enjoy the party.”
Bryna, Trihn, and Maya followed behind her and Pace, leaving Lindsay and her minions in the dust. They found Eric and Drayton trying to subdue an apparently riled up Boomer outside. He was screaming something at a poor girl who Stacia didn’t recognize.
“What the fuck?” Pace cried. Then, he ran over to help the other two guys. “What is going on?”
“That bitch fucking deserved it.”
Stacia got a good look at the girl and saw she was holding the side of her face. Stacia rushed over to her, but the girl scurried back.
“Hey, I’m just trying to help. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” the girl said. “Just…leave me alone. My sister is on her way to pick me up.”
Stacia nodded. “Okay, that’s good. What’s your name? Did he hit you? Let me see.”
“I said, leave me alone,” she said again. “He didn’t hit me. I just…fell.”
Stacia’s eyes rounded. “You fell and somehow got punched in the face?”
“Leave me alone!” the girl screamed. “I just want to go home.” Then, the girl darted away from all of them and into the crowd.
Stacia’s head was spinning. Boomer had obviously hit her and in front of people. Did she think she could cover his tracks by denying he had ever done it? Stacia was feeling worse that she hadn’t come forward. How many other girls would get hurt for my silence?
God, how had her perfect weekend away turned into this madness? She’d thought that she would just have some fun while hanging out with her friends, seeing Bryna try on wedding dresses, and watching LV State win a football game. She hadn’t anticipated all this other bullshit.
“What did you do to that girl?” Pace yelled at him.
Boomer had stopped fighting them as soon as the other girl had disappeared in the crowd. Apparently, she had just needed the opening to get away.
“I didn’t do shit to my girlfriend,” Boomer said.
Stacia felt sick. Girlfriend?
“You hit your girlfriend?” Eric asked. “That’s disgusting.”
“Yeah, man. That’s no way to treat your woman,” Drayton agreed.
“No way to treat my woman either,” Pace said angrily. His hands were in fists at his sides.
“Fuck your piece-of-shit woman,” Boomer cried, wildly throwing his hands. It was clear he was wasted drunk. “She’s the one who knocked your head off its axis before the game tonight and fucked us all up. And, you know, she did that shit on purpose, so we’d just fucking hand that game to her dad and brother.”
Pace didn’t hesitate. He swung his fist into Boomer’s face. The girls screamed, and Stacia stood, frozen, watching him unleash all his anger and aggression that had been brewing under the surface. She knew that Pace had just been biding his time and looking for an excuse to beat Boomer’s face in. Ever since that day when he had seen her bruised face. Boomer had just given him the opportunity he’d wanted for months to hurt the person responsible.
As soon as the fight started, it seemed to explode.
Bryna grabbed Stacia and pulled her away from the guys.
“Stop,” Stacia cried. She pulled against Bryna, but her friend held her close.
“You’re going to get hurt if you go in there,” Bryna said.
“Stop! What the hell are you doing?” Stacia screamed anyway.
She could feel that everyone else at the party was keyed into the fight. Phones were everywhere, capturing the brawl. And it couldn’t have been better fodder for worthless drunks to witness their star quarterback and running back going at it. But, for Stacia, this was the worst possible outcome. Another thing that was all her fault.
Neither of the guys was holding back, and there was nothing she could do about it. No matter how many times Eric and Drayton tried to get between them, nothing seemed to work. The boys seemed determined to beat the shit out of each other. Pace was on the ground, driving his fist into Boomer’s face. Then, Boomer somehow got the upper hand and knocked Pace off of him. They tousled for a bit, neither of them coming away with a clear shot, when Pace suddenly jumped backward.
“What the fuck?” Pace yelled. “Are you fucking serious?”
“You’re a piece of shit,” Boomer said. He spat blood into the grass.
“I’m the piece of shit? You’re a fucking maniac. You have a gun on you! Coach should never have given you a chance.”
“I’ve gotten this team everywhere!” Boomer screamed. “You’d be nothing without me!”
“Fuck off,” Pace said. He was panting slightly and favoring his right side. “We don’t need someone on the team who knocks girls around. We’d be better off without you.”
“Cops!” someone screamed, interrupting their argument. “Raid!”
Then, the party exploded.
Bryna released Stacia, and she rushed to Pace’s side. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he told her, drawing her into him.
People were running everywhere, navigating through the crowd. She saw cars zooming away into the distance. Eric led their group toward the nearest exit, but people were scared and chaotic and running into each other. Stacia tightly grasped on to Pace’s hand as they tried to get out the side door. The unfortunate thing was that, if Boomer and Pace hadn’t just fought, none of them would have to be worried about the cops’ arrival. They were all of legal drinking age. But, now, fifty people had evidence of the guys’ actions, and they really needed to get the fuck out.
Stacia had almost made it outside when two cops appeared out of nowhere and latched on to Pace and Boomer.
“Pace Larson and TJ Boomer?” one cop said.
“Yes, sir,” Pace said.
Boomer spat at their feet.
Fucking idiot.
One cop flexed his hand around his baton at the disrespect, but the first guy just continued, “You’re under arrest.”
23
“How long have we been here?” Bryna groaned. She arched back in her seat while they waited for Pace to finish processing.
“I don’t know. A few hours,” Stacia said with a sigh.
Stacia and Bryna had sent the rest of their friends back to the hotel after the raid had gone down. Boomer and Pace had been carted off in a police car, and Stacia had asked where they were going to be held. Eric hadn’t wanted to let them go alone, but Bryna was pretty demanding when she wanted to be. When they had arrived, they had been told that it would be a couple of hours until Pace would be released. Both girls had reluctantly decided to wait it out.
“Why is my dad not here yet?” Bryna asked.
Stacia shrugged. “They have little Zoe to worry about,” Stacia said, referring to Bryna’s and Pace’s half-sister. “I’m sure Celia is frantic and wants to come to the station with him, but they need someone to watch the baby.”
“The twins could watch Zoe,” Bryna said, referring to Pace’s younger sisters, who were both seniors this year.
“Probably.”
“They’re not the most responsible anyway.” Bryna scoffed.
“Anyway, they’ll be here. Just stop fidgeting.”
A half hour later, Celia, Pace’s mom, and Lawrence, her husband and Bryna’s famous director father, strode into the police station. Lawrence was a presence. Stacia had been shocked to find out that he was even in town at the moment and not jetting off to some distant location for filming. But, apparently, he was a bit more present for his youngest daughter’s life than he had been for Bryna’s.
Celia had worked on the set for one of his films, and they had fallen in love after bonding over their divorces. They were an insanely cute couple. She just couldn’t say that to Bryna or Pace.
“Girls!” Celia said, pulling both Stacia and Bryna in for a hug. “I’m so glad that you’re both all right.”
“We’re fine, Celia. It’s your son who’s the troublemaker,” Bryna said with a kind smile that she never would have used three years ago.
“Sorry we took so long. It’s impossible to find a babysitter in this town at this late of an hour. Lawrence was determined to come alone.”
“Bryna. Stacia,” he said. He nodded his head at them and then gave Bryna a hug. “Sorry that you have to be spending your night like this. Never how we liked celebrating back in my day at LV State.”
Celia took Stacia’s arm and moved her away from Bryna and Lawrence, who had immediately reverted into father-daughter mode. Bryna never spent enough time with her dad, and it was clear Celia knew the importance of that.
“It’s so good to see you again, dear. Too bad it’s under these circumstances, but we’ll take what we can get,” Celia said with a wide smile. “Now, tell me what happened. You look like you’re in shock.”
“It’s good to see you, too. We were out after the game, and Boomer, another guy on the team, hit his girlfriend.”
“How disgusting!” Celia cried.
“Some of the guys called him out on it, and it got ugly. Pace ended up hitting him, and then it turned into a brawl. I guess someone posted it online or tipped off the police or something because they showed up so fast. And then the guys were taken here. We’ve just been waiting ever since.”
“Well, I’m glad you were here at least. Always good to know that Pace has someone in his corner, looking out for him. Now, I’m just going to go pay, and then I’ll sic Lawrence on them to try to speed this all up.” Celia gave her a playful laugh. “Part of me wants to leave Pace in there overnight for being such an idiot, but apparently, he was provoked. So, I’ll post the bail, and then we can all put this mess behind us.”
Stacia nodded as Celia disappeared to talk to the officers. Lawrence followed her a few minutes later, and as if switching a light, the officers completely changed their demeanor. The famous Lawrence Turner got things moving at record speed. Money was exchanged, and then Pace was discharged, just like that.
Pace walked out of the back room and stopped in his tracks when he saw everyone waiting for him. “Took you long enough.”
Celia swatted him. “If I ever have to do something like this again, so help me God!”
“Hey, cool it, Mom,” he said, scooping her into a hug. “Just an excuse to see you.”
“Don’t ever use this excuse again. A call every now and again is fine!”
Pace acknowledged his stepdad with a curt nod and then drew Stacia into a hug. “Hey, Pink. You look exhausted.”
“From waiting for your dumb ass to get out of a holding cell all night. You had to fight him, didn’t you?”
Pace shrugged. “Yeah, I did.”
“What is he doing now?”
“Don’t give a shit. I hope he rots in there.”
“I checked,” Bryna said. “He can’t post bail, so he’s in talks with a bondsman.”
“How did you find that out?” Pace asked.
Bryna arched an eyebrow. “I’m very persuasive.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Lawrence said. “Let’s get everyone home. You all go on out to the car. I’ll have the jet set up for tomorrow morning, so we can get you all back to Las Vegas on time.”
“Oh! The private jet, Daddy!” Bryna cried. “My favorite.”
“Let’s go, digger,” Pace said, nudging Bryna toward the entrance.
As Pace stepped forward to talk to his mom, Stacia trailed behind. She glanced over her shoulder as Lawrence approached the officer again. She could just hear him ask about posting bail for another gentleman. Stacia’s head snapped back around, and she frowned.
Was it right that Lawrence should pay Boomer’s bail? Could he possibly be that considerate? Or was he doing it to gain leverage? Did he want to have his stepson’s enemy in his favor? Or did he truly care that someone less fortunate was in a bad situation, had probably been in a bad situation his entire life and needed a leg up?
What would the bond cost Lawrence Turner anyway? A drop in the hat. Bryna could spend more on shoes in one trip. He was going to fly them to Las Vegas on a private jet.
But, to Boomer…it could mean everything.
Stacia’s frown deepened as she considered that maybe Boomer’s circumstances had led him to this life. And though she didn’t like him any more than she had before, she maybe understood him a bit better.
“Fuck!” Pace cried on Monday morning. He threw his helmet down into the back of Stacia’s SUV, which Trihn had agreed to drive back for her.
He had just walked out of the sports complex after his morning meeting with Coach Galloway. Stacia had agreed to go to campus early with him for moral support and to meet up with Whitney to get the notes she’d missed while in LA.
“What happened?”
“I’m out.”
“What?” Stacia shrieked.
“You heard me! I’m out. He’s suspending me for the next game.”
“I can’t believe this! The charges were dropped!”
“Yeah. Well, Coach is forcing Boomer and me to sit out the next game. Luckily, it’s a fucking cakewalk game, but god-fucking-damn it, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this! I only have two more regular season games in my college career, and I’m fucking suspended. How will that look to the NFL recruiters?”
“You’re incredible. They’re still going to draft you,” Stacia insisted.
“Yeah? You’d know something about that, wouldn’t you?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Don’t throw that in my face.”
“I’m not. Fuck. I’m just…” He balled his hands into his hair and glared up at the sky, as if it had done something offensive to him. “I’m so fucking pissed. I’m screwing up everything. What the fuck will happen if I don’t get drafted, Stacia?”
“You’re going to get drafted. Stop talking like that,” she said. “Your career is not on the line for one suspended game. People have done worse shit than you, and they are fine.”
“Like Kent Baxter?” Pace threw out.
Stacia took a step back. “Are you seriously just determined to piss me off? I’m trying to console you, and you’re being a dick.”
“I know. Fucking fuck. I’m sorry.” He reached out and brushed her hair back off her face. Then, he dipped down and softly kissed her. “I don’t mean to take this out on you. Apparently, I’m just a dick today. Maybe you should study with Whitney and Simon tonight while I cool down.”
“One, are you asking me to leave? And, two, did you really tell me to go hang out with Simon?”
“I’m not telling you to fuck him,” he said with a gruff laugh. “But I trust you. And the dude has no chance anyway.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Plus, I could never ask you to leave. I’m just going to try to chill the fuck out.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “But don’t break anything.”
He laughed. “I love you.”
Stacia froze with his hands on her face. They’d said it the night when they got back together, but those words hadn’t passed his lips since then. She had thought it was too fast for them to say it in the first place even if she had used it in the past tense, but this was something else. Their relationship had moved beyond the past tense.
“I love you, too—even when you’re a dick.”
Pace bent down and rested his forehead against hers. “That’s good, as I don’t think that’s going to change, nor is how I feel about you.”
Stacia leaned back against her car with a smile, reveling in her boyfriend’s adoration.
But too soon, she had to leave to catch up with Whitney, as promised. Whitney had heard about the fight, and she was sad to hear that Pace had to sit out a game. But they had gotten the prompt for their final assignment while Stacia had been out on Friday.
So, for the next week, Stacia was too busy to even stress about Pace missing the game. She was holed up in the library and the tutor center with Whitney and Simon, who had seemed to finally hit it off in her absence.
The only break Stacia took was to go to the game with Pace. He stood on the sidelines in street clothes next to Boomer to appear in solidarity even though she knew they wanted nothing more than to rip each other’s faces off.
Luckily, the team pulled it off without their two stars, but it wasn’t a pretty game. What should have been an easy game going into the last game of the season had nearly been a disaster. And, with only one loss, they still had a chance to make it to the national title game—something everyone was whispering about, but no one openly spoke about, in fear that their dreams would be crushed again.
With the last game fast approaching and her final paper due shortly afterward, Stacia had been hesitant to go home for Thanksgiving break. It ended up being a relief because Derek forced her to slow down.
“You cannot work on that paper today,” he said, closing her MacBook. “It is my only day off this week. You will make a pumpkin pie with me or else.”
Stacia threw her hands up in surrender. “Fine. Pie, it is.”
She followed him into the kitchen where her dad was hard at work on all of his famous recipes. He’d become an excellent cook, due to being the only parent in the house. For a while there, they’d only had Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and SpaghettiOs. But things had turned around when he got a cook to come in, and instead of leaving it all to her, he’d actually learned most of her recipes. It had been nice on the nights when he wasn’t working.
“Hey, honey,” Curt said. “Will you hand me that spoon?”
Stacia picked it up and passed it to her dad just as his phone rang.
“Come stir. Come stir,” he encouraged. He passed the spoon to her and then took the call out of the room.
“Work on Thanksgiving?” Stacia grumbled.
