“I thought you said we were going to show each other some courtesy.” I pouted.
“But also honesty.”
We wandered over to the front desk. Jamaica checked the on-call schedule while I slipped inside the office to check my mailbox for this week’s silly postcard from my dad—a running gag he’d started on my first day at Mountain State.
“No mail deliveries on Sundays, Chessly,” the desk clerk reminded me.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot what day it was.”
“Finn made you forget everything but your own name, huh? Impressive,” Jamaica teased when I rejoined her at the front of the main desk.
My eyes spun in their sockets. “You’re hilarious.”
Her smile softened into something genuine. “It’s okay, Chess. I know how it is.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Finn
“Look at you,all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning,” Bax drawled as he wondered into the kitchen in the Monday-morning darkness. “Heard you were ‘studying’ a certain cute blonde rather closely in your room yesterday afternoon.”
“Wanna know what I think of your air quotes, Bax?” I flipped him the bird and he snorted a laugh.
Shooting me a narrow-eyed stare, he tossed my description of his girlfriend Piper Maxwell back at me. “Seems unicorns really do exist.”
“Fuck off.” I reached into the fridge and pulled out four foil-wrapped breakfast burritos, lining them up on the baking sheet I’d set on top of the stove. Then I slid them into the preheated oven to warm up.
Should have known ignoring him wouldn’t work. “Yep, looks like you found your very own unicorn. I didn’t think there was a woman out there who would put up with a D-end who sucks atMadden.” He laughed at his ridiculous observation.
Facing him, I said, “I kick your ass inMadden, inCOD, in every game we play all the fucking time.”
“Keep believing that, Finnegan.” He smirked. Crossing his arms over his chest, Bax sobered. “About damn time you hooked up with her, man.” My roommate helped himself to the coffee I’d brewed first thing after I came down to the kitchen. Staring at me over the rim of his to-go mug, he said, “Well? Are you and Chessly a thing now?”
I ran a hand through my hair and then nudged him away from the counter to grab my own mug of joe. “Fuck if I know. When I tossed the idea out to her, she didn’t say anything.”
Bax huffed out a glum-sounding breath. “That’s one more difference between defensive and skill players off the field too. ’Han and Danny say one thing or put on one move, and the girls fall all over them. The two of us have to work at it, exactly the same as when we’re in the game.”
I blew on my beverage and swigged some down. “I’m meeting her this afternoon for coffee or whatever.”
Bax waggled his brows. “‘Whatever’ sounds like a good start.”
With a snort, I clarified, “We’re meeting in the Union. Not the most conducive place for ‘whatever.’ Which I think is why she chose it. I’ve scoped out the study carrells in Hillman, and I’m pretty sure the one tucked back in a corner on the third floor no one has ever used, but when I suggested we could meet there, she shot me down.”
“From what Danny said, you showed her an excellent time in your room yesterday. Bet you can remind her.” He popped his fist on my bicep. “I have faith in you, Finnegan.”
“Danny has a big mouth.”
Bax laughed. “This house has thin walls.”
“And you ladies have nothing better to do than gossip.”
“What are we gossiping about?” Callahan asked as he walked through the kitchen door and made a beeline for the coffee pot.
“Wearen’t gossiping.” I stared pointedly between my roommates. “Butyouold hens sure seem to do it often.”
They burst out laughing.
When he’d finally managed to control himself, Callahan said, “You flipped us so much shit, worked your ass off to hook us up with jersey chasers even after we told you they were bad news, and now it’s your turn, you want us to back off?” He coughed into his hand. “Bullshit.”
