Page 7 of Love, Literature, and the Linebacker

“It was a long game,” I say. “I was tired.”

“Sure you weren’t tired from helping out Library Girl?” Derek asks, eyebrow lifting.

I grab an orange off the counter. “I reconnected her battery. Took two seconds.”

“This dude never talks to women,” Darnell tells the girls, jerking a thumb in my direction.

“Except Library Girl,” Derek adds.

One of them tilts her head. “You mean the girl who’s always in the library?”

“That’s her,” the other one says. “I had an English class with her once. She sat in the back corner and never said a word all semester.”

I don’t like how easily they dismiss her.

“She threatened to pepper spray me,” I say, peeling the orange.

Darnell bursts out laughing. “Library Girl sounds feisty.”

“Not feisty.”

Tough, I think. The quiet kind you only notice if you’re paying attention.

“Why’d you even go over there?” Derek asks, frowning at me like I don’t make sense.

I shrug. “If Gemma were stuck in a parking lot full of college football players, I’d want someone to help her get out safely.”

“Are you saying we’re not safe?” Marcus teases.

“Not you.” My mind flashes to Greg and Clyde—too loud, too drunk, too eager to push boundaries. “Some guys don’t know when to back off.”

The room goes quiet for half a beat.

Then Darnell claps his hands. “Yo, did you hear Greg hooked up with Meredith last night?”

“I thought Meredith had a thing for Dylan,” Derek says, glancing at me again.

“She does,” Marcus replies easily. “But he won’t give her the time of day.”

Meredith—the brunette with a talent for persistent flirting—has been a thorn in my side since freshman year. She’s nice enough. Friendly. Sort of.

And for reasons I can’t quite articulate, she makes my skin itch.

“Football comes first,” I remind them, heading for the hallway. “Why does no one understand that?”

As I retreat, one thought keeps circling, stubborn and unwelcome.

I didn’t step in because Library Girl was a distraction. I stepped in because I was worried about her.

And that feels like something I’m not supposed to ignore.

“We’ve got that banquet dinner next Friday,” Darnell calls after me as I reach my bedroom door. “You should invite her.”

“Who?” Marcus swivels around. “Library Girl or Meredith?”

“He’d have way more fun with Meredith,” one of the girls chimes in. “She’s a blast.”

I stare at all of them.