Offside (Pro-U Book 2) by Ali Parker Page A

enough to leave me in a good mood for the rest of my shift. I owed her a thank you, and wanted to whisper it against her hair as I held her next to me in bed later that night, but it was a pipe dream, and a stupid one at that.
    Not only was she tucked up Brody Jackson's ass, but she was hell-bent on not giving me the time of day. Why would she stick up for me when it counted most? That had to say something that she'd not given words to yet, right?
    "What are you up to, pretty girl?" I mumbled softly as my thoughts faded back to the place they always did. In the dark of my room where the sound of her moans and the smell of her skin left me aching and needy. I needed to let the shit go. Nothing was going to happen between us. She seemed determined to make sure of that.

Chapter 11
    Emily
     
     
    "So help me pull apart the bed." Natasha walked across the vibrantly decorated dorm room and dropped her backpack down on the floor by the door.
    "Are you sure about this? You know I can't pay rent for a while, right?" I felt like shit, but my options were limited. I could stay with Tasha in my old dorm room or take turns sleeping in Aubrey and Layla's beds.
    "Of course. You would help me out if I needed you, right?"
    "Without a doubt." I set my stuff down beside hers. "I'm going to have to move some of my stuff back in here. I don't have much, but your luxurious closet just became half as big." I cringed as she turned around and gave me a silly smile.
    "Since when do you know me as the kind of person that gives a shit about the size of my closet? I could care less. You being taken care of? Yes, I care a lot about that." She moved to the far side of the bed and I gripped the bottom of the side closest to me. "I look like my mother, God help me, but I certainly don't act like her."
    "You guys still not talking?" I groaned and pulled at my old bed until it was halfway across the room where it belonged.
    "No. We don't have anything to say to each other, so it's easier to just avoid one another." She shrugged and worked on fixing the sheets back on her bed. "My dad says that I should be the bigger person and break the silence, but it really isn't a silence like you would think. We're not mad at each other. We just have nothing in common. She wants me to put on a tutu at twenty-one years old, and I want to wear sneakers."
    "I get that." I walked to the closet and was grateful to find sheets still sitting in the top of it. "I'm going to be at Brody's until Monday morning. I'm hoping to get all my stuff together and sneak out of there before I have to see him again."
    "Are you going to break things off?"
    "I think so." I avoided her stare. I knew where everyone stood with that situation, and it wasn't as if I didn't agree. I just had far more skin in the game than anyone else who was touting advice and expecting immediate change.
    "What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon? Surely you're not headed over there just to hang out by yourself, right?" She dropped down on her bed and flopped back.
    "I was thinking about seeing if Aubrey and Layla wanted to get together. You wanna hang out with us?"
    "Yeah, sure, why not." She rolled onto her side. "Or we could play a little b-ball. Layla is pretty athletic and you and Aubrey could pair up with each of us to keep things fair."
    I snorted. "Thanks. Good to know I'm the cannon fodder in the game."
    "I didn't say it was that bad."
    "You didn't have to." I smiled and pulled out my phone to text Aubrey. It dinging right away with her response. "They're heading over now. Seems like everyone is just laying around, looking for something to do."
    "That's summer for you." Natasha got up and walked to the bathroom. "You know you're welcome to stay here until we graduate and not pay another penny. My dad's picking up the bill, so until he cuts me off like my mother has done... we're good."
    "Your mom cut you off? When?" Not that I really knew the details to Natasha and her mother's sordid relationship,