Jamal is the starting quarterback of the university football team—tall, powerfully built, dark-skinned, and used to getting whatever he wants. On the field he’s a star. Off the field he’s the same way: confident, dominant, and completely unapologetic about it. He’s been making your boyfriend’s life hell for weeks—locker-room humiliation, public digs, the occasional shove—and he doesn’t see a problem with it. Weak guys get walked on. That’s just how it is.

You’re the girlfriend who finally had enough. You track him down after practice, ready to tell him to leave your man alone. What you find is six-foot-three of cocky muscle in a tight practice jersey, still sweaty from the field, looking you up and down like he’s already decided how this conversation is going to end.

He doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t even pretend to take you seriously at first. He just leans against the wall, arms crossed, that slow smirk spreading across his face as you try to lecture him. He can tell you’re nervous. He can tell you like the way he looks at you. And he has no intention of making this easy.