He snaps his head up, his cheeks turning red once again as Lamar laughs. “You can forget that, band boy. Ty here is practically married to his girl. Boring as shit.”
Tyler shoves him again, and Lamar throws me another wide grin before turning around on his chair to focus on the front of class.
“So, um, you play?” Tyler asks, a faint blush still lingering on his face.
“Oh, I play all right.”
Cue a deeper blush.
“I play football,” I say with a genuine smile, letting the poor guy off the hook.
He immediately frowns. “No you don’t, I would know you if you were on the roster.”
“I play real football, soccer, not that stupid-ass game that you heathens call football.”
That earns me a deep, rumbling laugh, but before he can reply, the professor walks in and shouts something about starting the class. Fun times. I thank Tyler again for the Gatorade, lean back, and hope like hell that I don’t fall asleep.
“Well hello, hotshot,” Missy smiles at me as I set my tray down and sit down across from her in the bustling cafeteria at dinnertime. “How was your first day in college?”
“It wasn’t my first day in college,” I reply dryly, grabbing my generous serving of fries. I love fries, especially when they come with a mountain of mayonnaise. No ketchup for me. It might not be the healthiest choice, but hey, two meals a day are included in my partial scholarship, I’m making the most of it.
She rolls her heavily lined eyes at me. “You know I meant your first day in collegehere. Not back in Europe, idiot. You also had your first soccer practice, right?”
I nod–my mouth full of fries–and offer a wink and a smile to the girls at the neighboring booth who wave at me. Well, I try to smile, but a fry escapes my mouth.
“You’re absolutely disgusting.”
“Men are pigs,” Ava chimes in as she takes a seat next to Missy.
“What? Do you know how many laps I had to run around the field? I’m starving.” I grab my burger, ignoring both of them and their stupid salads, and moan with satisfaction as I take myfirst bite. I’m beyond thankful American portion sizes are huge. Giggles come from the other table.
“I don't know if I should be offended on behalf of the burger or if I should also be turned on,” Ava remarks, scrunching up her nose.
I respond by giving her the finger, my precious burger still in hand.
“Speaking of being turned on, I met someone interesting today,” I say when I've swallowed the bite, pushing my hair back, still wet from the shower after practice. “Turns out half the football roster is in my early management class.” Licking the salt off my fingers, I glance at Missy and notice her frown. This could be fun. She totally busts my balls on a daily basis, and teases me relentlessly all day long about dirty dishes and stray socks. I’m no slob, but she’s quite the neat freak.
Ava’s green eyes gleam with curiosity. “Ohh, does King attend that class too? Are there still spots left?”
Missy gives Ava a strange look. “And what would Asher think about that? Youarestill seeing him, right?”
“Asher is married to his stupid ass Xbox,” Ava grumbles, picking at her salad. “Said he would see us for practice after we’re finished eating, instead of enjoying a meal with his girlfriend.”
“Hey, you promised it wouldn’t get weird between you two. That’s why I have a ‘do-not-have-sex-with-my-bandmates’ rule.” Missy emphasizes each word with her fork pointed at my face.
“Why are you looking at me?” I toss a french fry in her direction, which she expertly bats away. Impressive. “I'm not the one horizontally mingling with any of you.”
“But wouldn’t you want to?” Ava bats her eyelashes at me, while Missy blows me a kiss. Those two just love to team up against me, and not in the fun way.
“So very tempting, but no. No girls for a while after last weekend. However, there is thisguyI met today, Lamar? Ever heard of him? He's far more intriguing than any of you women folk.” Finishing off my burger, I glance at Missy, and as predicted, she frowns. “Maybe you know him? Big, broad and very flirty. Quite the welcoming type.”
The girls exchange a glance. “I don’t think Lamar is gay,” Ava comments after tucking a pink curl behind her ear. “You could try–”
Missy snaps her head sharply towards Ava, eyes blazing, slender arms crossed tightly. “He shouldn’ttryanything,” she seethes. “He doesn't bat for his team. Not at all.”
“And how would you know that?” Enjoying this a little too much, I push my leftover fries aside and lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “I know I haven’t been fishing in the penis pond for a while now, but I believe I can still recognize when a guy is interested.”
When she all but hisses at me, I press my lips together, trying not to laugh. It’s when her eyes narrow in suspicion that I finally lose my composure, she retaliates by sending my own fries flying my way. I duck, laughing into my arms.
