Chapter 6 -THE TEAM MEETING

Jules POV

The athletic building's side entrance is always unlocked during evening meetings. I learned that during sophomore year when I used to bring Dad forgotten playbooks and forgotten dinners.

Now I'm using it to sneak into my own father's domain like a criminal.

The hallway stretches before me, dimly lit by emergency lighting. My sneakers make soft squeaking sounds against the polished floor, and I wince at each step.

"I shouldn't be here," I whisper to myself.

If Dad catches me, if security sees me but I need to know what they're saying about Adrian and me. I need to know if there's any chance of salvaging this nightmare.

The team meeting room door comes into view, light spilling from beneath it. I can hear multiple voices, all male voices but familiar.

I press myself against the wall and creep closer.

"complete lack of respect for this program," Dad's voice booms through the door. "For this family."

My heart hammers against my ribs as I inch toward the gap between the door and frame. If I angle myself just right, I can see the room.

"I trusted you both," Ethan's voice cuts through, raw with hurt. "My own sister and my best friend, sneaking around behind my back like I'm some kind of joke."

I can see part of the conference table, several players in their practice gear. Adrian sits with his back partially to me, shoulders rigid as his head is down.

"How long?" Dad asks, using his coaching voice the one that makes grown men tremble. "How long were you laughing at us while you carried on with my daughter?"

"Coach, it wasn't" Adrian starts.

"Don't," Ethan's voice cracks. "Just don't. You looked me in the eye every day for two months and lied."

I catch a glimpse of Tyler shifting in his seat, leaning forward with interest. Several other players watch like spectators.

"She pursued you, didn't she?" Dad's question makes my blood freeze. "My daughter came after you first."

The silence stretches impossibly long. I strain to see Adrian's face, but his head remains bowed.

"Answer him," Ethan demands. "Did my sister seduce you into this?"

My lungs forget how to work. This is Adrian's moment to tell the truth that we pursued each other, that it was mutual, that what we had was real.

"Yes," Adrian says quietly.

The word hits me . I actually stagger backward, catching myself against the wall.

"I figured as much," Dad says with disgust. "She's always been headstrong, always pushed past boundaries. I should have seen this coming."

"She played us both," Ethan adds, his voice thick with betrayal. "Used her access to get close to the team, to you. Made us all look like fools."

I want to burst through that door and scream the truth. Adrian called me first. That he was the one who suggested meeting after practice. That he kissed me first under the stadium bleachers.

But Adrian says nothing.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Cross?" Dad asks.

"I'm sorry, Coach," Adrian replies. "I let you down. I let the team down."

"And my brother," Ethan adds harshly. "You let me down worst of all."

"I know," Adrian's voice is barely audible. "I know I did."

I wait for him to explain. To defend what we had. To tell them it wasn't just some casual hookup or manipulation instead he doesn't.

"Jules has always gotten whatever she wanted," Dad continues. "Every boy she's ever looked at twice. I spoiled her, let her think she could charm her way through life."

The casual way he dismisses me, reduces me to some spoiled princess stereotype, it indeed makes me sick.

"She's not coming back to team functions," Dad announces. "No more sideline privileges, no more booster events, no more access to any of you. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," comes the chorus of voices.

"Cross, you're walking a thin line," Dad continues. "Your scholarship is under review. One more incident, one more lapse in judgment, and you're gone."

"I understand, Coach."

"Good. Because unlike my daughter, you still have a chance to make this right. Prove your loyalty is to this team, not to her."

My vision blurs with unshed tears. He's giving Adrian a choice between his future and me, and Adrian has already chosen.

"I won't let you down again," Adrian says firmly.

"See that you don't," Ethan replies coldly. "Because if you so much as look at my sister again, scholarship or no scholarship, I will personally make sure you regret it."

I can see Tyler nodding in agreement, along with several other players.

"Now, let's talk about Saturday's game plan," Dad says, his voice returning to normal coaching tone. "We can't let this distraction affect our performance."

Distraction. That's what our entire relationship has become a distraction to be managed and eliminated.

I push away from the wall and stumble back down the hallway, no longer caring if my footsteps echo. The exit door feels miles away as I flee from the voices discussing plays and strategies.

The cool night air hits my face as I burst outside, gulping down oxygen like I've been drowning.

They made me the villain. All of them. Even Adrian.

Especially Adrian.

He sat there and let them paint me as some manipulative seductress who used my family connections to prey on him. He let them reduce everything we shared to a calculated game on my part.

My phone buzzes with a text from Maya: "Heard there's a team meeting tonight. Are you okay?"

I stare at the message, then look back at the athletic building where the people I used to call family are rewriting history to make me the sole architect of this disaster.

My fingers shake as I type back: "Can I crash on your couch tonight?"

Her response comes immediately: "Of course. Door's open you can come now."

I pocket my phone and start walking across campus, knowing I can never go home again. Not just because Dad kicked me out, but because home was never really mine to begin with.

It was has always been conditional. Always dependent on being the perfect daughter, the perfect sister, the perfect representation of the Rowan family name.

The worst part isn't losing my family.

The worst part is realizing that Adrian was given the same choice I was choose loyalty to the Rowans or choose us and he didn't even hesitate.

He chose them. Just like everyone else always does.

"And he let them destroy me to save himself," I whisper to the empty night.