“Sure, but just so you know, I hate coffee. Hot chocolate is my drink of choice,” she says, coming back into the room fully clothed.
“Who are you?” I reply, getting off the bed. “How can you not like coffee? How do you even function?”
“I’m Emma, your roommate, friend and avid reader,” she says, extending her hand to me.
I wave it off. “And you say you aren’t weird? Fine, let’s go to the café and get a coffee and a hot chocolate.”
“Okay! Let me fix my hair. I’ll be ready in a jiffy,” Emma says, running into the bathroom once again.
Who says jiffy?
17
Hanging Out
Jesse
Before going to practice, some of the guys and I decide to stop and grab a bite to eat. I haven’t seen Zoe since that one time on the quad a week ago, and it’s not because I haven’t wanted to. It’s just that Coach is running us all into the ground in preparation for the upcoming season.
I’m the last one through the doors of the cafeteria, and I glance around, spotting Zoe sitting at one of the tables with her roommate. None of the guys has noticed her yet, so I don’t draw any attention to her either. I trail behind them, ordering my food last. When I’m sure my teammates have gone to our usual table, I suck in a breath and walk towards her….
Zoe smiles as I reach the table. God, I’ve missed that smile. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she responds.
I turn to look at her roommate, who’s reading on an e-reader. “You must be Emma,” I say.
She looks from me to Zoe, a knowing smile on her lips before saying, “That’s right. And you’re the guy from the quad.”
“Jesse,” I supply, but she’s already looking back down at her book.
“Have a seat,” Zoe says.
I sit down beside her, our shoulders brushing in the process. “How’s everything going so far?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Not bad. It’s different than I remember.”
“Yeah, a lot of things have changed.”
“That they have,” she says, her tone reminiscent.
I look to Emma, waiting to see if she’s going to join the conversation.
“Don’t mind her. She’s always getting lost in one of her romance books,” Zoe says, shaking her head.
I nod. “Got it…hey, so, I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.” The truth is, I really miss seeing her every day.
Zoe waves her hands in the air, dismissing my statement. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had a long line of guys to entertain me.”
I know she’s only teasing me, but I still can’t help but feel my jealousy surge. I tamp it back down before saying, “You’re still going to make some room for me in that busy calendar, right?”
“When you make some room in yours for me.” She picks up an apple and takes a bite. With that one simple action, I’m taken back to the time we spent in the hospital. In the cafeteria. I’m shocked to realize that the memories of being there aren’t at all what they used to be. They don’t fill me with a feeling of hopelessness or pain. Rather, they remind me of meeting her.
“I’m sorry. Football practices and team bonding shit have been all consuming,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “I get it.”
“It still sucks.”
“Does it get better?”
I nod. “Oddly enough, yes. I’ll still have practice, but not as often with all the games. You’re still coming to my games, right?” I ask, and Emma clears her throat noisily, her eyes still scanning the digital page.
Zoe frowns at her roommate before saying, “I’ll think about it.”
She’s baiting me, but I miss this banter—more than I thought I would.
“Hey, Falcon, wanna introduce us?” Zack calls, and I turn to my left, looking directly at him across the room.
I curse under my breath. “Not really,” I whisper loud enough for Zoe to hear. Her expression falls, and I kick myself for saying it out loud. “Sorry, I… I don’t want them to… he…” I stumble over my words, trying to justify to her why I don’t want them to meet her. I guess it’s hard to explain something to someone else when you don’t quite understand it yourself.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says, waving me off, but I can see the hurt in her eyes.
Bringing my hand to the back of my head, I try to think of a way to dig myself out of the hole I’ve made. “It’s not you. They’re sort of… a lot.” That’s the best I can come up with.
“Yeah, Falcon, who are your new friends?” Nick shouts.
I shoot daggers at the guys before turning my attention back to Zoe. “I… I’ll just go… we have practice in a few, and I still need to eat.” I don’t want Nick or Zack coming over here and taking it upon themselves to find out more about her—or worse.
“Is it okay if I text you later, Red?” I ask, feeling like a giant ass.
She looks at me with her beautiful hazel eyes and smiles. “Sure.” Her smile gives me the assurance I need to know I’m not screwing it all up. I get up and head over to the counter, picking up my sandwich and drink, and walking back to the guys, who are watching me with amusement.
“So, that’s the girl you’ve been keeping from us, Falcon?” Chase asks. I stare at him, a little stunned. Generally speaking, he’s the least interested in girls.
Chase, Zack, and Nick look over their shoulders in the direction of Emma and Zoe, then look back at me.
“Wait, are these the same girls from the quad?” Zack asks as I take a seat next to him. He’s fixated on the pair, and I hit him on the shoulder to stop him from staring.
“Damn, Falcon. You work fast,” Nick adds. I shake my head but don’t say anything. I don’t want to explain anything—not yet.
“So, you’re saying you knew who they were and didn’t say anything?” Nick accuses.
I smile, but it doesn’t quite reach my eyes. “Yes.”
Zack looks at me and shakes his head. “That’s cold, man.”
“No wonder they were immune to my charms. You probably told them to ignore me,” Nick says, like that’s the only reason a girl wouldn’t fall at his feet.
I shake my head and take a bite of my sandwich. “I didn’t say anything to them. I didn’t need to. You do know your charms—” I say the last word with air quotes, “—don’t work on everyone, right?” Some girls just aren’t into what he’s selling. Not many girls, but some, and I’m sure Zoe is one of them.
“Are you going to sit with them again?” Zack asks.
“Nope, I talked to them for a while.” Mostly to Zoe, and definitely not for long enough.
“Why don’t we all join them?” Zack, the grinning idiot, asks.
“They’re busy.” My words are clipped, but I can’t help it.
“Too busy for us, but not too busy for you?” Nick asks in disbelief. The asshole knows I don’t want him near them—near her.
“If they’re okay with you joining them, I’m sure it’d be fine if we did too. Which one are you going for? I’d love to get my hands on that pretty redhead,” Zack adds, and I’m on my feet in an instant. My pulse is pounding in my ears, and I take a moment to register the look of shock on everyone’s faces. Clearing my throat, I take my seat before I do something stupid.
Zack lifts his hands in defeat. “The redhead is yours, got it!?”
“I’m still down to get with the other one—for a night,” Nick says, unable to help himself.
I hiss through gritted teeth, “Leave Zoe and Emma alone.”
“Zoe and Emma. I like those names. I bet the redhead is Emma,” Zack says again, deliberately testing my patience.
“No, Zoe is the redhead. I won’t warn you guys again about staying away from them.”
“We’ll let your girl be. The other one though, I may call dibs,” Nick says again, and I give him the coldest stare.
“She’s not even your type.”
“Do I have a type?” Nick shoots back with a devil-may-care smile.
> I sit there wondering why I’m here instead of with Zoe. Man, if I didn’t love these guys, things would be a lot different.
“I don’t think you do,” Chase chimes in, and we all burst out laughing.
Nick shrugs, not at all bothered. “What can I say? I give all girls an equal chance to please me.”
“Please stop talking,” I tell him, hoping the girls don’t notice we’re talking about them.
“When was the last time you got any? Is talking about my active sex life making you feel deprived?”
“Don’t start,” I say in a low voice.
Noting the change in the atmosphere, Zack steps in and says, “Anyway, are you guys ready for the crazy parties we’ll be having this year?”
“Hell yeah!” Nick shouts, causing people to stop their conversations and tune in to ours. Chase doesn’t say anything, and neither do I. The party planning stays in the competent hands of Nick and Zack since they’re the ones that thought it out last year—after every game, we party.
“We have the welcome party this weekend. Remember we need to sort everything out,” I remind them. From the corner of my eye, I spot Zoe and Emma walking towards the trash cans near our table. My eyes are trained on them as they laugh at something Zoe says, and I wish I was part of the conversation too.
As they pass, Zoe gives me a small, reserved smile. In response, I give her what I hope is a sly wink. I don’t know why, it just felt like the right thing to do, and I spend a second analyzing it. She and Emma discard their empty containers and head towards the exit.
“So yes, we have everything we need for the party,” Zack adds in a very ‘end of business’ fashion, which reminds me I’ve tuned out for a part of the conversation. It’s insane how well put together they are when it comes to parties—I wish they did everything else with as much dedication.
The door to the café opens, and I turn in my seat, hoping to see Zoe once again. I’m disappointed when two guys walk in instead.
From the corner of my eye, I see Nick’s shoulders stiffen, his back ramrod straight. On top of the table, his hands ball into fists.
He attempts to get up, but Chase is there, pushing him back down by the shoulders. “Easy,” Chase says.
The guys walk by our table, and one of them mutters something under his breath to the other. All I hear from my seat is Kaitlyn’s name. In the blink of an eye, Chase leaps from his seat, grabs him by the neck and shoves his face into the café table.
I stand up. “Fuck!” I try to pry Chase from the guy before he does some real damage, but Chase shoves me away. “Zack!” I shout, calling in back-up when I notice Nick’s nostrils flare. I head over to him and hold him back, knowing he’s seconds away from joining the fight.
“On it,” Zack replies, locking Chase’s arms down and pinning them to his sides. Zack does his best to haul Chase away, putting himself between him and the guy who had seemingly pissed off the defensive lineman.
The guy who Chase attacked stands up, his eyes wide and his chest heaving. His friend grabs him by the arm and leads him out of the café.
I have no idea what’s just happened. By the look on Zack’s face, he hasn’t got a clue either. I know neither Chase nor Nick is about to explain it to us, so I clear my throat. “We should get to practice.”
ZOE
The moment we step outside the café, Emma exclaims excitedly, “I saw that! He just winked at you!”
“What are you talking about? He was just blinking.” I choose to downplay it—mostly because I think I should. After all, he doesn’t even want me to meet his friends.
Emma gives me an incredulous look. “With one eye? Blinking with one eye? Really? That’s reserved for one-eyed individuals and pirates!”
I laugh. “He may have had something in his eye.”
“Yeah, YOU!” She throws her hands into the air, outraged at my apparent lack of understanding.
“Anyway…” I try to change the topic but fail when I blank on what to follow up with.
She takes a deep breath, preparing to explain things to me. “No, no, not ‘anyway’. You won’t get out of it that easily. He walked into the café, spotted you and then joined our table.”
“He spotted us,” I correct.
“He doesn’t know me. He’s seen me once,” she deadpans. “But you made it seem like you didn’t quite know him when I asked you. The way you two were talking just now makes it seem like you guys have known each other forever.”
“He and I may have met over the summer,” I say, smiling as we start walking back to the dorm.
“When in the summer? Weren’t you in hospital and then confined to your home this summer? Was he in the hospital with you? Oh, my God, does he have cancer? Did he have cancer? Is he—”
I interrupt Emma before she confuses herself. “If you stopped throwing out a million questions a second, I could try answering them.”
She sighs. “Fine, go ahead!”
I laugh. “Thank you. He was an intern at the hospital.”
Her eyes light up. “Oh! I read a book like this. The guy is an intern who meets the girl at a hospital and was immediately attracted to her. Then they get together and steamy stuff happens.” Emma’s face goes red when she sees the look in my eye. She knows she’s just unintentionally confirmed to me that her reading list isn’t so squeaky clean.
“Steamy stuff, huh?” She blushes. “Emma, first, what kind of stories are you reading? Second, this is not that kind of story,” I say.
“But it could be! He seems interested,” she continues, purposefully avoiding my question. I don’t know how interested he seems when the moment his friends are around, he wants the Earth to swallow him whole.
We close the distance to our dorm, and I try and explain to her that there’s nothing between Jesse and me. “We kind of became friends this summer since he was at the hospital a lot for an internship. And I was there for treatment.”
“And then you saw him every day and realized you were meant to be!” Emma cuts in excitedly.
I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Not a book. Not a fairy tale. We’re just friends.” I say friends hesitantly because aside from exchanging messages and seeing him at the café a few minutes ago, I haven’t spent as much time with him as I used to—as much time as we spent together last summer.
“A friendship is a start; it could turn into more. He did wink at you!” For someone so interested in science, math, and facts, my roommate is a bit of a romantic, which I guess I already knew based on all the romance books she’s read in the last week.
“Keep your fairy tales in books, woman! We live in the real world,” I tell her. Someone throws a Frisbee, and it lands near our feet. I grab it and toss it back.
“Thank you,” the group of students yells back, and I nod in response.
“Do you believe in all that football-player-falls-in-love-with-nerd stuff from books?” I ask her. Part of me is trying to make the point that those things don’t happen in real life, but a smaller part of me hopes she does believe in it—because that’s what my story with Jesse, if there ever was one, would be.
“To be honest, it’s easier to believe it in books. I don’t know if I’d buy it in real life,” she says, and I think my expression changes because she adds, “but you never know. It could happen.”
We walk the rest of the way to the dorm, talking about classes and life. It’s insane that this has become my new normal—just having a conversation with my roommate about a guy, school, and life. I never thought I’d ever have the ability to think about my future again. But I can.
18
Welcome Party
Jesse
The weekend comes around faster than I expected, and yet at the same time, it feels like it takes forever. It’s probably because I haven’t seen Zoe again. I still haven’t gotten to hang out with her. All we have is messages going back and forth, and while that’s nice, I need more. Leaving my room and shutting the door behind me, I take the steps down
stairs two at a time to join the guys in the living room.
“Who’s ready to party?” Zack shouts from the top of the stairs. Some of the freshmen moving the couch down to the basement in preparation for our annual welcome party glance up at him and grin.
Nick comes out of the kitchen, beer in hand. “I’m ready!” he shouts back.
“Can either of you help me move this chair?” I ask, upset about being roped into helping in the first place. Each year I say I won’t do it, and each year I end up here. Sometimes I think I’m too nice.
Nick puts his beer down on the nearest counter and finally walks over to me. “Where’s Colton?” he asks.
Coming down the stairs, Zack replies, “Where do you think?”
“He’s fucking whipped.” Nick says the word whipped like it’s the worst thing that could happen to a guy.
Feeling the need to step in, I add, “He’s happy.”
I immediately regret it.
“Oh yeah, happy. He’s happy,” Nick mocks, and Zack and a few others join him. They think being in a relationship is some sort of burden. The sad thing is, none of them knows any better.
“Cut the shit and get this stuff downstairs already,” Chase says from behind us.
Nick salutes him before picking up his end of the couch and helping me move it downstairs.
“Smartass,” Chase mutters, cracking a bit of a smile. Chase Boulder. He’s as intimidating as Colton, but unlike Colton, he hasn’t had a girl soften him up. He may be a hard-ass—a little rough around the edges—but he cares about all of us.
“Do you think Colton is coming tonight?” Nick asks as we descend the stairs.
Coming in right behind us carrying a lamp, Zack says, “He kind of has to—he is the president and all!”
We reach the basement and set the couch on the floor. “He’ll probably show his face for, like, a minute and then leave. He may be president, but he does what he wants,” one of the red shirts on the team, Alex, says as he and another freshman reorganize the furniture. Nick, Zack and I turn to him immediately, the same thought running through all of our minds.
Fighting For You (Bragan University Series Book 2) Page 10
