“So, I’m not making this gross sensation up?” I rubbed my chest, picking up one of the strings and chewing the tip. “I don’t know what I did, but every time I’ve talked to him, I feelsosmall and bad, like I did something.”
“Yeah, I felt secondhand daggers from him.” She shivered. “I’m glad your brother didn’t tell you to piss off. Mine would have for sure.”
Mack’s brother, Jonathon, was a piece of work. Dean might be a playboy and like being the center of attention, but he was kind. Not all siblings were like that, I’d learned, and that kinda sucked. He was my friend and twin, and him not being in my life seemed so strange. I scrunched my nose in a shrug. “Yeah, Dean is better than Jon in that sense.”
“How are you gonna survive this, Lo? They party at that house.”
“Yes, butonlyon weekends. Dean is strict about that.” I didn’t mind a party or two. Plus, it wasn’t like they’d want me going. I’d hide in my room. Listen to music or watch a movie, or hell, I’d stay at the library. “I can handle the parties, and maybe I can even partake in some fun in this post-Eric world.”
She nodded. “And Callum and Oliver’s…flirtations?”
“Are you blushing, my best friend?” I laughed and leaned onto my elbows. “Oh my god you are.”
“I’m… okay, yes. Callum… hell, even your brother makes me blush. They are hot. I don’t know if it’s the jersey or the swagger or Dean’s face, but it makes me stumble on my words.”
I cringed. “You have a thing for Dean? We’ve been friends for three years and you’re mentioning thisnow?”
“Not a thing. Not a thing at all. No, no. I like my guys quiet and soft and gentle.” She blinked a lot and lowered her voice. “You know how you get flustered around firefighters?”
“Okay, don’t throw my weakness in my face. I can’t help it! It’s the uniform, the sexiness, the strength. I—”
“It’s the same for me, but mine is football players.” She blew out a breath, shook her head and stared off into the distance. “Trust me, I would never… consider one in that way. I just get nervous and stutter and think they’re hot.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’re not the one moving in, Mackenzie Marie.” I snorted. “You’d just be a walking horndog living with them.”
She laughed, and her blush crept down her neck. “I really, really would.”
“Good thing I don’t find them attractive at all.” The lie wasn’t untrue for the most part. Guys like Oliver and Callum were like Dean, flirty and charming. It was the players like Luca who got under my skin. But there was no reason to talk that out or bring my unwarranted attraction to him up. I had a living space now, and my goal was to stay as far away from him as I could. Athletes were on my never list, and I had too much to worry about other than my love life. Eric’s abrupt dismissal of me messed with my confidence and taught me that I couldn’t settle for being someone’s third or fourth priority.
“Now, let’s silence notifications for an hour and see how much we can get done, hm?” I turned off all alerts on my laptop. “Then, we can go run.”
* * *
“How am I supposed to move my shit if my teammates can’t come with me?” I asked my idiot brother, hands on my hips and my hair going every possible direction. Instead of running in the cool morning weather, I was moving into the football house. The place that hadpartieson weekends, but I wasn’t allowed to let my teammates help me move.
“This is dumb,” I yelled, annoyed already. “Are you going to help me?”
“Can’t. Gotta head to practice. Coach wants me in to watch film from last night.”
“So, I don’t have a car, and I can’t call my friends, so I have to carry all my shit, by myself, a mile to get here.”
Dean winced, running a hand through his hair, and nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re fucking not. Is this revenge of some sort?”
He glanced at his watch and muttered a curse. “I gotta go now, sorry, Lo.”
That was unhelpful.
The gratitude I had earlier in the week melted into annoyance at the hurdles in my way of moving in. I also had a game the next day and needed to prepare for it. Football wasn’t the be-all and end-all, and seriously, why couldn’t I have someone help me?
“Damnit!” I kicked my bag of workout clothes on the porch. I had a key and a brief description of my room.
Top floor, empty room on the right.
Dean was not gaining any points in my book today. None at all.
I hoisted one bag over each shoulder and went inside. It had been awhile since being here. Parties were not my scene, and the smell of lemon surprised me. It was clean? And nice?
