Brooks University: The Complete Collection

contents Brooks University Love, Ally Copyright © 2021 by Hannah Gray prologue one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five twenty-six twenty-seven twenty-eight twenty-nine thirty thirty-one thirty-two thirty-three thirty-four thirty-five thirty-six thirty-seven thirty-eight thirty-nine forty forty-one epilogue playlist acknowledgments Forget Me, Sloane Copyright © 2021 by Hannah Gray prologue one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five twenty-six twenty-seven twenty-eight twenty-nine thirty thirty-one thirty-two thirty-three thirty-four thirty-five thirty-six thirty-seven thirty-eight thirty-nine forty forty-one forty-two forty-three forty-four forty-five forty-six forty-seven forty-eight forty-nine fifty fifty-one fifty-two fifty-three fifty-four fifty-five epilogue playlist acknowledgments Hate You, Henley Copyright © 2022 by Hannah Gray prologue one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty twenty-one twenty-two twenty-three twenty-four twenty-five twenty-six twenty-seven twenty-eight twenty-nine thirty thirty-one thirty-two thirty-three thirty-four thirty-five thirty-six thirty-seven thirty-eight thirty-nine forty epilogue playlist acknowledgments about the author Other Books by Hannah Gray Copyright © 2021 by Hannah GrayAll rights reserved. Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen, Okay CreationsEditor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. prologue Ally Staring at the tear-soaked letter in my hands, I shake my head at the words he will never read and the explanation he will never get. The only person who’s ever understood me, ever loved me, is now hundreds of miles away and getting farther with every second I spend on this smelly, old bus. A bus filled with passengers whose shoulders are slumped and whose eyes are filled with sorrow. All of us likely headed somewhere we don’t want to go. I hope he knows I didn’t abandon him. He’s been abandoned his entire life; I would never leave him the way others did. I had no choice, I tell myself those words over and over again. I just hope, someday he can understand and forgive me. He’s all I have. Or had. I’ll find my way back to him one day even if it means going through hell first. He’s worth it. My storm, my love, my person. My one and only person. He has dreams, and I can’t risk being the reason they don’t come true. Even if it kills me because that’s what losing him feels like—it feels like death. Which is unreasonable. After all, my own mother died, and yet somehow, this hurts worse. So much worse. Our story isn’t a pretty one. There’s been too much tragedy for that. But I’ve found that the most beautiful things fought their way to be that way. And underneath the grit, there can also be a gem. Just because it isn’t pretty, it doesn’t mean it’s any less real. Because trust me, I’ve lived through this fucking shitshow. It’s real. So fucking real. one Cole “It’s so fucking hot out here,” Knox, my teammate and one of my best friends, complains. Sounding like a little bitch. Taking his water bottle, he squirts it over his face. “I’m sweating like a hookah in church,” he says. His Maine accent missing the er sound in hooker. “At least you’re sweating all the liquor from last night out of your system, you big lush,” I joke, shaking my head. “That’ll teach you not to drink the night before an early practice.” He’s not really a lush. But he certainly hit it a little too hard last night. I think he forgot how shitty these practices can be when you show up hungover. “For real.” Weston grins at him. “You were a fucking mess.” There’s a group of us “new guys” on the football team here at Brooks University. The three of us freshman—Knox Carter, Weston Wade, and myself—have already become close friends. “What are you two, my motha?” Knox’s accent drawls again. “Also, if my memory serves me right, you both were drinkin’ too, dicks.” “I had two beers.” Lifting my shirt up, I wipe the sweat from my face and then point to him. “You were shooting whiskey like it was spring fucking break in Cabo and you were about to watch a wet T-shirt contest or some shit.” “Yeah, and I had three and called it a night,” Weston says, walking backward onto the field. “You were so hammered that you actually tried to fight some of the frat guys.” He shakes his head before turning and jogging farther away from us. Knox frowns, and then he turns toward me and shrugs. “Yeah, well, it’s still fucking hot out.” He pauses. “And those frat guys were being complete douche bags.” Throwing my helmet back on, I laugh. “We’re in Georgia, dipshit. And it’s the end of August. The fuck you think it’s going to be, cold out?” A stupid-ass grin spreads across his face as he points at me. “Hey, that would be fucking sweet. At least then I wouldn’t have swamp ass. My fucking nuts are roasting.” He chuckles. “Get it? Roasted nuts?” “Dude, first off, I don’t need to know your fucking ass is sweating or about your nuts. Ever. Second, remember when you first came here, all you talked about was how happy you were to not deal with New England winters? You really want to go back to freezing your sack off?” Literally, all he talked about the first week we met each other was how cold Maine was in