The Boyfriend Zone by Jillian Quinn
Bex sits across the cafeteria with her teammates, but she acts like I’m not here. She doesn’t want a repeat, or so she says.
After I fill my plate with grilled chicken and vegetables, I pay the cashier for my meal and head over to my table.
Jamie peeks up at me. “About time. Where have you been?”
“I stayed behind to talk to my professor.”
His eyebrows rise. “You in trouble?”
I set my tray down on the other side of the table from Jamie, sitting next to Drake. Trent and Tucker are missing.
“Nah, nothing like that.” I lift the fork from my plate and dig into the broccoli. “He wanted to talk to me about my last paper.”
“Did you fail?”
I shake my head. “No. He wants to use it as an example for future classes and asked me if I was okay with him sharing it.”
“And I’m supposed to be the smart one in the family,” Jamie deadpans.
I roll my eyes at him. “You wish.”
At the end of the table, girls pick at their salads. My teammates must have called them over because I’ve never seen them before.
“Who invited them?” I ask the guys.
Drake follows my line of sight. “They’re with Tucker and Trent.”
“All of them?” There’s at least six girls. “Where is Trent and Tucker?”
“You didn’t see them on your way up here?”
I shake my head, and he continues, “They’re dealing with some chick they were both hooking up with.”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “At the same time?”
“No. They weren’t fucking her like in the same room. She thought Tucker was Trent. I guess she didn’t know they are identical twins.”
I laugh so hard it shakes the table. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How is there a girl left on this campus who doesn’t know the Kane twins by now? They’ve played this game with how many girls?”
Drake shrugs. “I was wondering the same thing. It’s common knowledge at Strick U. Maybe she’s a transfer student.”
“Or a freshman,” I add.
“I’d love to overhear that conversation.” Jamie sips from his water bottle. “But your dicks looked the same. How was I supposed to know you were twins?”
Drake snorts and soda sprays from his nose.
With a disgusted look, I wipe it from my arm and onto my track pants. A girl at the end of the table squeals, stealing my attention. She’s a knockout blonde with long hair past her shoulders. Her clothes are so tight they look like they would be a challenge to remove. She catches me staring in her direction and smiles. I turn away from her, uninterested, because for once, I don’t care about another meaningless hookup.
The only girl I want is across the cafeteria showing off. Bex is out of her seat, dressed in mesh basketball shorts and a fitted Under Armour tee with both hands raised in the air. She pivots her left foot, pretending to fake out an opponent, and then shows a jump shot. Her feet leave the floor, her form perfect as she makes the imaginary shot.
My face hurts from smiling. I’m in awe of her and now considering going over there. But I don’t want a lecture about how Saturday night was a one-time thing. She’s told me so in every text message. I should accept it and heed Coach Bryant’s warning. But I don’t care. I keep telling myself he will understand. That he will make an exception for his favorite player.
“You look like a creeper, Prez.
Drake snaps me back to reality.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
He points at Bex. “You like Coach’s daughter.”
I laugh. “No, I don’t.”
“She slept at the house,” Jamie says. “In your bedroom. Don’t give us that shit about being friends because you don’t have any friends that are girls.”
“I do now,” I challenge.
I hate pretending like we’re friends when all I want to do is rip Bex’s clothes off every time I see her.
“I call bullshit,” Drake says. “Man up and go over there.”
“I’m good right here.” I shovel a forkful of chicken into my mouth, avoiding Drake’s gaze.
“We’ve known you for how long?” Jamie asks. “Oh, wait, your entire life. You don’t think we know you well enough by now to see you’ve got it bad for Bex Bryant.”
“Keep your voice down,” I growl. “Do you want everyone in the cafeteria to hear you? Coach will lose his fucking shit if he finds out.”
“She did more than sleep in your bed,” Jamie smirks. “I share a wall with you, remember?”
“I didn’t think anyone was home.”
“You two were fucking all night and most of the morning. It was hard to miss the show you put on for the house.”
I’ve been denying I had sex with Bex for days, but these guys know me better than anyone. Even if Jamie didn’t hear us, he could read the lies on my lips and see the deception on my face. We’re too close for him to miss the signs.
“Keep that information to yourself,” I spit back, annoyed. “What happened this weekend doesn’t leave our house, okay?”
Jamie holds up his hands. “No argument here. I don’t want you to lose playing time over a girl.”
“No girl is worth fucking up your career,” Drake adds.
An awkward silence passes between us where we eat our food, too busy chewing to speak. And it’s nice. The interrogation about Bex was getting on my nerves. All it would take is one person to overhear our conversation and tell Coach Bryant I betrayed his trust. I already feel guilty about what I did. But being with Bex felt good. It still does.
Bex spins around, and our eyes meet. She raises her hand and waves, and my mouth goes dry. Why does she do this to me? Before I know what I’m doing, I get up from the table.
“Don’t do it,” Jamie warns.
I ignore him and stroll over to Bex’s table, drawn to her like a magnet. Now that I know how she feels, how she tastes, and the sexy moans she makes when she comes, I need more. I can’t control myself.
“Preston.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “What can I do for you?”
I want to kiss the smug look from her face and then bend her over this fucking table.
“Can we talk?”
Bex nods. “What’s up?”
I grab her elbow and tug hard enough to get her to follow me away from her table. She locks onto me, her eyes burning into mine. I want to kiss her right here in front of the entire cafeteria.
I lead her toward my table. “I need to see you again.”
“We had a deal.” Her voice is low. She’s careful not to speak too loud with everyone watching us. “What part about one-time did you not understand?”
I place my hand on her shoulder. “I meant what I said last week. I don’t want to stay away from you. And now that we—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. Not in public.” She sighs. “I like you, too, but for so many reasons this can’t work.”
“Name one.”
“For starters, my dad will murder you if he finds out.”
“What does it matter if you’re with me or some other guy on campus?”
She turns away from me, and I slide my hand beneath her chin to guide her eyes back to mine.
“You’re making a scene,” she says. “Everyone will know there’s something going on between us.”
“Maybe I want them to know.” I drop my hand to my side when she shakes me off. “If you were my girl, I would never hide you. I’d want everyone to know you are with me.”
“But I can’t be your girl, Preston. You know how this will end. You’ll get drafted into the NHL and leave me behind. I don’t want to be another statistic.”
“You never told me why your dad has these rules to begin with, and why you go along with them?”
She grinds her teeth. “I’m not ready to have that conversation.”
“I want to know you, Bex, but you’re not making it easy for me.”
“Everything comes easy to you,” she counters, and then her tone changes. “We can be friends like we talked about before. Let’s see how that goes.”
“Friends hang out together,” I remind her. “They don’t ignore each other’s texts and calls and run away from them on campus.”
She laughs, most likely getting a kick out of what she’s been doing all week to avoid me. “I’m well aware.”
“Come to a party with me on Saturday.”
She bites the inside of her cheek. “Where?”
“The Delta Sig house.”
Her eyebrows lift. “A frat party? That’s not really my scene.”
“Humor me.”
She sucks in a deep breath and lets it out. “Can I bring Taylor with me since this isn’t a date?”
“Sure, invite whoever you want.” I dip down to whisper in her ear, “I guess I shouldn’t tell you how I can’t stop thinking about the sounds you make when you moan my name.”
She clears her throat. “Um… probably not.”
She takes a step back from me. “You’re too distracting.”
I laugh at her comment. “Touché.”
“I don’t see how we will be friends,” she confesses.
“We can be friends with benefits. No attachments. No breaking your last rule. What do you say?”
Taylor calls Bex’s name from the other side of the cafeteria, ending our conversation. She flags Bex down and yells about it being time for practice.
“I have to go,” Bex says. “I’ll see you around, friend.” Her mouth curves up slightly when she says the last part.
“Smartass,” I mouth.
She winks, and then she’s gone.
Bex must enjoy my slow, painful torture. Women are so hard to read, and Bex is like decrypting an unsolvable cipher.
“Dude, you are so fucked,” Drake says when I take a seat at my table.
“Tell me about it,” I mutter.