My alarm clock wasn't the only thing that woke me up the next morning after the great night I spent mostly with Lydia. It would've only been made better if she'd actually spent the entire night with me, but I knew she was nowhere ready for that.

There were some moments where she was incredibly shy and self aware, but then there were those rare times in which she was more brazen than even me, turning that damn 'bet' around on me in an instant.

She was warming up to me at least, and that was all I could ask for. I could tell that she was going through some serious trauma, and I wanted to be there to help her through it but I also knew that she needed time to sort through it all herself.

The incident the night before was jarring for even me, so I could only imagine how she felt as it was all going down.

I didn't know who that man was that came to her parents house, but it was obvious that it was a betrayal how her mother had continued to have a friendly relationship with him when it was clear to anyone how upset that had made Lydia.

I pushed it all to the back of my mind, however, as I prepared mentally for my first day of recruit practice for the Patriots.

It would also be the day that Drayton Merrick would make an absolute fool of himself by walking into a closed, secret practice, hopefully ruining any chances he might have going forward in an NFL career.

I tried not to notice the long glance Lydia threw my way as I passed her in the hallway to the bathroom. I tried not to notice the way her outfit clung to her skin that made me want to rip her clothes completely off.

And lastly, I tried to ignore the magnetic pull that was drawing me in to her presence, the always present atmosphere that was tinged with electricity any time we were near.

It was hard enough to not kiss her the night before, but I respected her boundaries because of what she'd gone through at dinner.

The only thing keeping me from her in that moment was the fact that her brother was staring me down in the kitchen, practically forcing me to keep my distance.

"Alright, I have to go to school to present my project. Reed, can I catch a ride with you?"

Reed stuffed the rest of his bagel in his mouth and nodded, and then it was only Lydia left in the kitchen with me.

"So, I know you said we wouldn't use me as bait at the club for Rafael but..."

"But what? Oh god Lydia, what did you do?"

She put her hands up in defense, that long, dark hair swinging almost as if it was in protest of my tone with her.

"Hey, I didn't do anything...really. How were we to be absolutely sure he would show up at the club this weekend? I just gave us some insurance. He asked me out again, and I said yes."

"Lydia! Now he's gonna be all over you and he probably won't leave your side all night!"

"All guys have to pee! I'll just ply him with a bunch of drinks. I'll pretend that I'm drinking too, I'll just ask for a virgin drink for myself. It'll work, I promise!"

I ran a hand through my hair, desperate to make sure Lydia knew just what she was doing.

"This is not going to be easy. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere near your drink, always watch the bartender make your drink. Don't drink anything he gives you, no matter what he says. This is exactly what happened to Marnie. Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean."

"I know how to be smart about my drinks. I used to go out to parties before Nate with Amalia, she always taught me how to be smart."

I sighed, checking the time on my watch before my eyes bugged out of my head.

"Oh my god I'm going to be late for my first day of practice. Do not text him again, okay? Keep it casual, make it seem like you're not too eager for the date. It sounds so gross that you're going on a date with this creep...okay, I'll talk to you later."

Her eyes were begging me to say something more, but the words were stuck in my throat. I wanted to tell her how much of a good time I had with her the night before, how much I wanted to kiss her...but it would complicate things.

She already saw me as a misogynistic creep before from when I tired to push her away from me, I didn't want to add fuel to that particular fire.

"Okay, see you later."

She turned her head down to the counter where she mindlessly swirled her coffee in her hands, although it looked more like milk and creamer than actual coffee.

My hand started to reach out with a mind of its own, its path on course to lightly graze her cheek, a tender touch that would've unraveled me and put me back together again all at once.

I thought better of it without her ever looking up to realize what was happening and deftly escaped the kitchen, my mind a tumultuous mess where I should have been a focused machine, ready and prepared to face the coaches of the only NFL team I was desperate to become a part of.

I was faced with a lone photographer outside of the house as soon as I shut the door behind me, of course they'd find out where I lived.

"Mr. Scott, is this your house? Do you have roommates?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, this is private property."

The photographer pulled his cell out just as I hopped in my truck, probably to alert his sources where I lived.

Great.

I was going to be more distracted for my first practice than I originally thought.

I sat down at my desk ready to knock out a few pieces of copywriting for a few ads that would score me at least ten thousand which would last me the rest of the month, considering I had quite a few bills I needed to pay off, debts that Nate saddled with me because they were in my name.

I was halfway through my third piece when I checked the time and realized I was going to be late for my second to last class of the semester.

I slung my book bag over my shoulders and tried with all my might not to think about the strange interaction I'd had with Emmett earlier in the morning, his strange mood still rubbing off on me even though he had already left.

I had one foot out the door before the screaming and yelling started.

The flashing lights were blinding, and one of them sent me spiraling down down down into a deep rooted memory that I had tried so desperately to get rid of.

"Miss Montgomery, is it true that you were making up false assault allegations against Mr. Westmore's son, Christian Westmore?"

"Lydia! Lydia, over here! Are you going to plead guilty if they arrest you for falsifying a police report?"

It was all too much, they thought I was making everything up. I couldn't take anymore of it. I had finally had enough.

"No! Christian is the guilty one, not me! And I'm going to prove it!"

The laughter that surrounded me from the paparazzi was humiliating and degrading all at the same time, but I didn't have to deal with it for long as my parents ushered me inside the courtroom, but that was when the real humiliation began.

"Lydia, are you living with Emmett Scott? Are you two dating?"

"How long have you two been together?"

Oh, the paparazzi must've found out that the famous NFL recruit Emmett Scott lived in the same house as me...and two other guys.

"No, we're not together. Excuse me," I said, trying to push past the mob of at least fifteen people to make it to my car.

"That's what they always say. Come on, you're living together, you have to be dating."

A phone was thrust in front of my face to capture my comment, but I wasn't thinking straight in that moment. The only thing in the forefront of my mind was the dark memories embedded in my brain like a splinter under the skin.

Always there, impossibly hard to get rid of, and constantly poking and prodding at my consciousness.

"No, we're not dating. We just live together, leave me alone!"

"Oh, so you're just roommates? I highly doubt that."

The man with the huge camera came forward, almost like he was the cameraman for a reality TV show.

The letters TMZ were painted on the side and I huffed in annoyance. Of course Emmett was this popular. Of course he had to be.

"Miss! Is it true that you accused Senator Berns' son of assault seven years ago?"

My blood ran cold. No one was supposed to know about that- those records were sealed.

"Excuse me! What did you just say?!"

The cameraman looked astonished.

"I asked if it was true that you and Emmett Scott are living together...?"

"Oh. Then yes, that's true."

My brain was making up questions that I knew couldn't have been asked. No one could know, Harvey Berns made sure of that. He wanted his son to have a squeaky clean record, and even the mention of that court case would tarnish that.

I thrust open my car door which shoved some of the more pushy journalists out of the way and turned the engine over, making a few of them scatter.

The last of them jumped in their vans to follow me but I knew a detour to school that they wouldn't.

School...with all those girls who constantly checked their social media and gossip sites.

Well, I knew living with Emmett wasn't going to be easy, I just figured it would be because of our romantic pull to each other.

And in that moment, I wished that our feelings for each other were the only problems that we faced.