“Someone might sue you if you’re not careful.” I’d already wrapped two burritos and stared pointedly between him and the table. When he took the hint and went to work, I said, “Tory Miller is bad news, dude. If you get crossways with her, she’ll ruin your life.”
“She pretends to be interested in me, but she’s really after ’Han. Asks me about him all the time.”
“Even though it’s common knowledge he’s dating Jamaica? That’s even worse. You don’t want to get crossways with Callahan.” I wrapped two more to Finn’s one. Yes, I was keeping count. The guy could take out half of an offensive line to sack a quarterback almost before the line could pop up from their stances, but ask him to help with cooking, and glaciers moved faster than he did.
“She has a hard time taking no for an answer.”
“You should say no to her anyway. That girl is bad news, and her little buddies are all jailbait.” I tossed another burrito onto the pile growing in the middle of the table. “Find a woman, old son. Someone who knows what she wants and goes after it.” A picture of Piper dragging my jeans down my thighs when we hooked up last night flashed through my mind. Close on the heels of that image came another one of her turning me down again when I asked for her number.
Okay, so maybe my advice wasn’t all that great.
“Yeah, I met someone on Homecoming, took her back to her dorms after the bonfire because I thought we might want to have a private conversation.”
I cuffed him upside the head. “What is it with you and jailbait? You’re a big boy. You can handle a woman.”
“Ouch! Fuck, Bax,” he said, rubbing his head. “ThewomanI met is one of Jamaica’s friends.” He wrapped another burrito. “And apparently, she also knows your unicorn.”
We were now at twelve for me, six for him. His big meaty fingers fumbled with the foil, but I knew it was an act. After all, I’d seen those fingers fly over a game controller on the regular. Before I could react to his last comment, he continued.
“But when Tory rolled up to the dorms with her crew, she made some comment to Chessly that pissed her off. Chessly glared at me, blew out of my truck, and the only time I’ve seen her since was with your hottie at the Union.” With a sigh, he carefully set his masterpiece of a wrap job on top of the pile and turned toward the sink.
Clearing my throat loudly, I forced him back to the table. With another sigh, he grabbed one of the two remaining burritos while I made short work of wrapping the other one.
“Sounds like another reason to stay the hell away from Tory Miller. Cockblocking you like that was selfish, especially if her real interest is in Callahan.” I started transferring wrapped breakfasts to the fridge. This time I didn’t have to ask Finn to help me. In a minute, breakfast for the week was safely stowed.
“Thing is, she finds me. I don’t want to be rude to her. That’s bad form.”
“You don’t have to be rude.” I pulled a plate from the cupboard and started loading it with sausage-and-veggie goodness. “Choose a smaller study table in the library, change up your schedule and be a few minutes late to avoid being where she expects to see you, smile, and don’t answer her questions. She’ll get the hint.”
Beside me Finn shrugged and sniffed the aroma wafting up from my dinner. “Did you make enough for two?” he asked, his tone hopeful.
“Sorry, dude. Guess you’re going to have to fend for yourself for once.” Carrying the obscene mound of food on my plate from the counter to the table without spilling any was a feat I was willing to attempt. Normally, I would have dished up one helping, eaten it, and gone back for seconds, but I didn’t trust Finn not to help himself even after I told him I hadn’t cooked for him.
His puppy-dog eyes when I sat at the table with my dinner didn’t soften my resolve in the slightest. The guy had a terrible habit of showing up in the kitchen right as whoever was cooking finished the job. Nine times out of ten, he’d manage to snag some food and never make any for anyone else.
“There’s extra sausage and more veggies in the fridge. Plus, the pan is still warm, so it won’t take much to make your own.” I shoved the first heavenly bite of spicy umami deliciousness in my mouth and smiled at him as I chewed.
“A good teammate would share,” he grumbled.
I forked up another bite and held it in front of my mouth. “A good teammate would cook for the rest of his roommates at least half as many times as he steals food from them.”
Crossing his arms over his massive chest, he glared at me. “Asshole.”
A grin stretched my lips. “I can’t help it if the truth hurts.” I took another bite, chewed, swallowed, and said, “You helped wrap breakfast for this week, but I cooked all of it, which means I already spotted you five meals. Just sayin’.”
Grumbling “fucker” under his breath, Finn set the still-warm pan back on the stove and squeezed sausage from the tube into it. Then he chopped up some veggies with astonishing efficiency for a man who professed he didn’t know much about cooking. In a few minutes, his dinner was sizzling away in the pan, giving him time to torture me.
Leaning against the counter, he crossed basketball-size biceps over his barrel chest, his focus zeroing in on me. “So your fantasy girl is real huh? The purple-haired hottie you left Stromboli’s with?”
I stuffed another bite of food into my mouth.
“You were gone a long time—thirty minutes at least—and returned to the bar alone. Did she park her car two miles from the bar or something?”
“Or something,” I said around another mouthful of dinner. “Better check your food. Smells like it’s burning.”
For a blessed second, Finn transferred his attention to his meal, stirring it around in the pan. While he finished cooking, I shoveled food into my mouth like it might try to run away any second. The less time I spent with my roommate in his current inquisitive mood, the better. I didn’t question why I wanted to keep Piper private, just accepted that I did.
He’d barely set his plate on the table opposite me before he resumed the inquisition. “You can’t blame us for thinking you made this girl up. You haven’t talked about her since you told us about her a couple of weeks ago. Did you plan to meet up after the game? Why didn’t she come with you to the party?”
