Julian snorts, while Rowan just holds his face in his hands and groans.
As the two lovebirds continue going over their post-grad plans, my gaze starts to wander over the field. I finish my drink and pull out a new one from Brian’s backpack before spotting Colten.
He’s further out on the field, doing trick shots with Nico, who made the team during tryouts.
Nico flicks the ball up and tries an around-the-world. He almost pulls it off.
Colten pats Nico on the shoulder before showing him how to properly do it. Strange. He’s not usually this open with strangers. Do they know each other?
I watch them for a second, taking note of which drink Colten is on. So far, it seems like it’s only the one, which is good, given what happened at the last party.
At some point, I realize that I’m still wearing the sweaty shirt from evaluations. Gross.
Without really thinking about it, I pull it off, and the problem is solved.
“Jackson, put your shirt back on,” Brian immediately demands.
“No,” I say. Sure, it’s a bit chilly, but the idea of going all the way back to the locker rooms for a clean shirt is too much effort.
Julian covers Rowan’s eyes and glares at me. “Put those nipples away, they’re going to blind someone.”
“Jules, please let me see. I promise I won’t look at your friend’s nipples,” Rowan says, lightly tugging at Julian’s hand.
“No can do,” Julian replies, holding Rowan closer to him. “You need your eyes for your new job.”
Rowan just sighs deeply, leaning against Julian and accepting his fate.
I laugh and tuck the shirt into my shorts. The breeze, though chilly, still feels nice. I worked very hard for these muscles and don’t get to show them off enough, hard nipples and all.
Too bad there are no cute girls here. Just a bunch of sweaty, half-drunk guys.
I glance back toward the field and freeze.
Colten is glowing.
Which means—
My eyes slide toward Nico, who is in Colten’s direct line of sight. The kid is grinning while trying to bounce the ball with one foot.
My stomach does something weird.
Nope, no, that isnothappening.
Colten may be gay, but he’s never dated a guy, so I have no idea what his type is. Still, if he dates Nico, a young disaster who is going to be expelled when—notif—RA Reyes finds his illegal dorm cat Princess, Colten will be dragged down with him. There’s no way I can let that happen.
I shotgun my nearly full beer and stand up. I stride toward them, ignoring Julian’s questioning sound and Rowan telling him he’s seen much worse, to which Julian makes an even louder and more panicked questioning sound.
Nico looks up as I approach, but Colten still has his eyes on the kid.
“Hey,” I say. Colten is still glowing, but he looks stiff, and his arms are crossed over his chest. Is he upset I ruined their time together?
“Patrick!” Nico exclaims, smiling. “You got any cool tricks?”
“Actually, Colten, can I talk to you?” I ask super casually, stepping closer.
“About what?” Colten asks, finally looking towards me.
I think really hard. What would convince Colten to leave this disaster romance in the making?
