“Oh my gosh, did you see it?” Her eyes were wide with excitement, and I was already shaking my head. “You had to haveseenit. They say he’s not shy in that area, is it true?”
“He’s definitelynotshy,” I grumbled. “I didn’t see anything,” I added as I headed to the kitchen to distance myself from her questions. I didn’t add that I could stillfeelhim in my nether regions either.
“How?” Mia followed me, sliding onto the barstool at the breakfast counter. “How didn’t you see anything?”
“I guess he must have put it away when I screamed.”
Mia snorted as she started laughing again. “Oh my!” She gasped between laughs. “You’resucha prude, I wish I’d seen your face!” As she wiped her eyes, I remained silent. Mia had no hang-ups about hooking up with guys, and truthfully, I envied her. I just didn’t feel the need to sleep with the people I went on dates with. Mia always went on about the chemistry. I think my pH level was neutral, as I had never encountered a chemical reaction yet.
You did today when you spoke to Jett.
Yeah, that was an aftereffect of Friday.Nothim. Not after he had . . .parts. . . of him in someone’s mouth in a classroom. Pig.
“He probably needed consoling, poor thing.” As she poured her remaining drink down the sink, I stared in horror at the waste of coffee before her words penetrated.
“Why?”
Looking at me over her shoulder, my best friend shrugged. “I didn’t want any more.”
“No, doofus.” Swiping at her hair playfully, I giggled as she ducked out of the way. “Whywould Mr-I’m-The-Best-Quarterback-Ever need consoling?”
“Oh, he’s injured. Didn’t you hear?”
“Injured?” I was already on my phone, looking at the team news. “He didn’t even take a tackle on Saturday.”
“You’re so weird.” Mia rinsed her cup before putting it in the trash. “He got injured in training.”
“When?”
“Dude, I am not his PA.” Mia crossed her arms as she watched me. “You seemveryinterested in him. You sure you saw nothing?”
Not that I can remember.
“I saw nothing,” I stressed. “I just had to put up with his shit-talking afterward.”
“Hespoketo you?” Mia was excited again.
“Mia, I stopped him getting his finish,” I said, using the appropriate air quotes. “I told him he was disgusting.”
Mia was once again speechless. “Are youkidding me?” she squealed. “You told one of the hottest guys on this campus that he was disgusting?”
“Mia, he was getting ablow jobin class!”
“Ava, Jett Santo could be in a threesome in the middle of a class, and people wouldn’t say a word.”
“Well, that’s a disturbing thought.” I picked up my book bag and headed to my room. “He’s a male chauvinist pig!” I yelled over my shoulder.
“You’re a prude, Ava Bryant. You need to get rid of that V-card and come join the rest of us in the dirt!” Mia’s words carried down the hall, and even though she was laughing and I knew she was only joking, her words still stung.
“I was in the dirt,” I said to my empty room. “I don’t want to go back down there.”
Mia and I had secured a two-bedroom suite with a shared kitchenette. A small living room off the kitchenette and a shared shower room made up the rest of our tiny dorm suite. The college housing actually marketed it as an off-campus apartment, which, even with a very artistic license, I thought, was pushing it. Firstly, there was nooff campus. The entire built-up area in the middle of lush forestry was the campus. There were stores and restaurants, but the entire economy of the town of Cardinal was the college, administration, and student body.
If you drove about two hours from Knoxville and an hour north of Nashville, you’d find us. Being a private college, the student population was smaller than most, but the fan base for the varsity teams was huge. The football stadium sat over sixty thousand spectators, and at every home game, there wasn’t a seat to spare.
The actual town was a few miles west of the college campus, and that’s where some of the students came from. Like the Santo boys. Rumor was they had owned their high school as much as they now owned the student population in college.
In my opinion, they were arrogant boys who thought they were above everyone. I watched them play, and theyweretalented, but they ruined it because theyknewit.
