“Hey, you hardly saved any for us,” Dalton complained as he reached for one of the last two slices of pizza on the pan.
Cash’s hand flashed out like a bolt of lightning, smacking Dalton’s away from our food.
Dalton rubbed the top of his hand with a pout.“Ouch!Is that any way to treat your favorite roommate?”
“It is, because one, Dally is my favorite roommate, and two, you have no business inviting yourself to steal our dinner.”Cash slid the slice Dalton had reached for onto his plate and shook a liberal layer of parmesan over it before folding it in half and shoving a massive bite into his mouth.
Taco laughed.“He has you there, buddy.How are you, Saylor?Ready to cheer us on in the big game this Saturday?”
“Always.”I smiled.“Though I’m going to ask AJ if we can have hot toddies at the SCR tailgate since it’s supposed to snow.”
“I love playing in the snow, especially against some sissy boys from the southeast conference who’ve never seen it.”Taco’s grin was positively wicked.
Dalton shot him a look.“You’re from Florida.Before you came here, hadyouever seen snow?”
“Nope.But I acclimated like a boss because I’m just that awesome.”He stole a drink of beer from Cash’s mug and set it back on the table with a smirk.“I hope it snows a foot between now and kickoff.”
The other three of us rolled our eyes in unison.When the server came to take their order, Cash paid for our meal, and we left them in the booth.
Back at my apartment, Cash made himself at home on my couch as I busied myself with putting away my coat and my backpack, deliberately avoiding sitting beside him because I sensed certain unspoken currents that had flowed between us at dinner were about to surface.Just as deliberately, he patted the cushion beside him, and at last, I had no choice but to give in to the inevitable.
“We need to talk about it, Saylor,” he said.
Raising my brows in feigned confusion, I said, “What ‘it’?”
“Us.Our relationship.The second I brought up the pro scouts, you went board-stiff.I didn’t need to be sitting next to you to notice.”
As though emphasizing his point, involuntarily, my body went tight all over.
“Uh-huh.Exactly like this.”He feathered his fingertips over the top of my knit leggings, his touch both soothing and arousing.
Marginally, I relaxed.
“We’re more than a good time, babe.I know it, and as importantly,youknow it, even though you try to pretend we’re only casual.”The conviction in his gorgeous voice was almost enough for me to go along with him.
A memory of filming a live Balefire show in Denver last summer flitted through my head, reminding me of how much I wanted to pursue my dream.If we were a thing, yet both on the road all the time for our careers, how did we stay together?That was one scenario I couldn’t picture no matter how hard I tried.
“I’m graduating this semester,” he began.
“I’m aware.”Even though he’d be finished with classes, he was staying on campus to participate in MCAT prep courses for his med school test in the spring.I was thinking we’d be doing what we were doing until I graduated in the spring.
With the pro scouts circling, maybe not.
“Bax’s dad has connections from his days in the pros, so Bax, Callahan, and Finn have a trainer coming here to help them prep for pro scouting camps.”
“At the risk of sounding stupid, so?”
“They don’t have to leave here to go to Denver or LA to prepare for the next level during spring semester.”He leaned back and slid his arm around my shoulders, drawing me close.“They’re staying in town because their girlfriends are here finishing their degrees.”Raising his brows, he silently asked me to finish his thought.When I didn’t, he said, “I can prepare for the next level both for med school and the pros while you’re finishing up your undergrad.We don’t have to be finished now—or ever.”
Though he said that last part under his breath, I heard it loud and clear.
“I’ve always been a monogamous guy.I can count on one hand the number of women I’ve slept with and have a finger left over.”Touching the pad of his index finger beneath my chin, he demanded I look at him.“No one I’ve ever met has done it for me the way you do.From the second I saw you at that party at the SCR house, I’ve wanted to spend time with you.Then we made out in the hallway, and I was all-in.”
I cleared my throat, but he kept talking.
“Yeah, I dated some other girls while I waited for you, but I didn’t sleep with any of them.Wanna know why?”
In spite of myself, I nodded.
