I glanced over my shoulder, ready to cede the inside lane when they got close enough.
It was Laird.
Unlike Marco, he was wearing a pack, not pulling any punches on himself just because he was the captain. I peeked again, unable to help myself.
His arm muscles were shiny with sweat, and I couldn’t resist taking a second to appreciate the way his biceps gleamed in the Alabama humidity. He was bulkier than the average drummer. And his shoulders. Damn, I had a weakness for a nice set of shoulders.
When I stole a third look, Smith turned his head too. I was totally caught. It didn’t stop me from noticing, though, where Laird’s focus was. Squarely on me.
My cheeks burned from more than just the exertion, and I became acutely aware of the way my running shorts had worked their way up between my thighs, balling up just below my lady bits. Bits that might have been clenching knowing he was back there watching my ass jiggle with every stride.
“You okay there, Reese?” Smith was all but laughing at me.
“Shut up, okay? Just keep moving.”
He slanted an assessing eye over me. “I don’t think he’s out to get you. At least, not the same way Marco is.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. But he’s been following us the last two laps, and he seems quite happy with the view from there.”
My ears would catch fire if they got any hotter. I hadn’t realized he’d been back there so long. “He has?” I cursed my voice for squeaking.
“Think he’s admiring all this milk chocolate I’ve got going on?” He waved his hand down his body.
“Milk… wait. What?”
“I see you. You’re assuming he’s feasting those gorgeous green eyes of his on you, aren’t you? And you accuse Marco of being sexist.” He lowered his chin for a moment. “You wound me, considering you’re all about being equal opportunity and shit. Because my ass is looking damn good this morning too.”
My eyes widened and I think my jaw dropped a little. I scrabbled for words. “I… no. You’re right. I mean, he could be. I don’t know.” I hesitated. “So you’re—”
“I’d like to believe I’m pretty equal opportunity myself, if you get my meaning.” He winked and then laughed his great laugh at the shock on my face.
“Girl, you should see yourself. And, don’t you worry. His eyes haven’t once bothered to enjoy everything I have to offer. I even tried shaking it a little extra.” He frowned, an exaggerated look of defeat furrowing his brows. “Nah, he seems pretty damn fixated on you. It’s too bad. I bet I could rock his world.”
“Smith, I don’t doubt you could.” My eyes crinkled in amusement.
He nudged me, but not enough to knock me off balance or upset our synchronized rhythm. “Well, if I can’t have him, no reason one of us shouldn’t get a shot at all that. Don’t disappointment me, ya hear?”
I reached for my water bottle, using that as an excuse to look back again. Laird grinned at me, and I whipped my head back around.
Busted.
“So… this equal opportunity stuff? Is it common knowledge? Or… a secret?” I tried to focus on Smith. Not on Laird. Definitely not on Laird, with those shoulders. And those eyes. And those—
“— see what they want to see.” Smith’s voice brought me back to the present. “And most people don’t really look too hard for something like that, ya know? And don’t get me wrong, I got all kinds of thoughts about those legs of yours. But I got the feeling you’ve already got me friend-zoned, so I’m just making the best of it.”
I blinked stupidly. My legs? I tried to give Smith a surreptitious once-over but he was on to me. “Nah, girl. Don’t even try. If I didn’t wow you right off the bat, it ain’t gonna happen for us.” He chuckled. “And it’s all good. I could use a friend here too. You can be my sidekick.”
I huffed. “Excuse me? What happened to equal opportunity? You can be my sidekick.”
“Oh, yeah?” He slanted me a challenging look. “Race you for it. Winner gets to be Batman. The cool Batman, not the Val Kilmer version.”
I shoved his shoulder, just hard enough to make him stumble two lanes to the right when his backpack slipped down his arm. I waited until he shot a glare at me, smiled not-so-apologetically, then hightailed it down the track. “Enjoy the view, Robin!”
Reese
When my phone dinged late that afternoon, I eased up with a wince from my bed, where I’d been laying with ice packs under my shoulder blades. That fucking run. It’d felt good to finish with more than six minutes to spare, edging out Smith in the process, but now, fuck, I was paying for it. I would’ve accused him of letting me win, but Marco had joined him for two laps and from what I could tell from my furtive glimpses, they’d been deep in discussion the whole time. That distraction was probably the real reason I beat him. I punched in the passcode on my phone and squinted at the screen.
Drumline party. Mandatory. 8pm.
The text from an unknown number was immediately followed by another one with an address two blocks from campus.
I groaned, collapsing back on the ice. I wouldn’t lie. I hurt. And the last thing I felt like doing was dressing up and pasting a fake smile on my face.
Laird had been right. They cut a lot of people today. Thirteen out of the thirty NADs were already gone.
But still… I’d already beaten thirteen guys at a game they didn’t think I could play. That was a victory of sorts, right? One worth celebrating at a mandatory party?
Two hours, four ibuprofen, and a hot shower later, I examined myself in the mirror hanging on the back of my dorm room door. I’d given it my best, and tonight, my best was gray skinny jeans, a loose black tank with a strappy watermelon-pink bra peeking out from the racerback, and sexy sandals. Heels were just asking too much. My chestnut hair was slicked back in a high ponytail, and I’d doubled my normal amount of eye makeup, going for a dramatic look without tipping over into caked-on territory. My lip gloss and my toenails matched my bra.
Behind me, the empty twin bed on the other side of the room was littered with my discarded outfits. I hoped whatever poor girl showed up in two weeks to be my roommate wasn’t a stickler for tidiness. Shrugging my shoulder at my reflection, because, really, I had no intention of changing my ways even if she was, I snagged my phone off my desk and headed out the door.
By the time I trudged my way up two flights of stairs to the designated apartment, it was half past eight. I figured attendance was the mandatory part, not punctuality.
But I was wrong.
Before I was allowed entrance into the thumping, crowded space, I had to do three penalty shots of something clear that I highly suspected was bottom-shelf vodka. One for every ten minutes of tardiness. Thank fuck I wasn’t any later than I was.
Trying not to make a face at the lingering burn in my throat, I spotted Smith on the other side of a faded red couch and worked my way over to him.
“I should’ve given you a head’s up not to be late, but, damn, girl, if that’s what you needed the extra time for, it was worth it.” He eyed me up and down, and then leaned back and unapologetically checked out my ass.
Rolling my eyes, I popped it out and gave it a little shake for him. “Yeah? You knew that would happen, Robin? Some sidekick you are.” He acted like he was going to smack it and I whipped back around to face him. “Uh-uh. You left me high and dry and think you have a shot at touching this? Hell, no.”
He handed over a small bowl of Goldfish crackers he had tucked against his abs. “Here, Batman. Peace offering to help soak up some of the alcohol.” He surveyed me again. “For real. Eat some. You don’t have a ton of meat on your bones, and trust me when I say there’s more alcohol to come tonight.”
“You have insider information or something?” I crunched on a trio of fish. Man, I’d forgotten how good these things were. I was probably a kid the last time I had some.
He glanced around before answering, putting his hands on my forearms and leaning close to my ear before speaking. “I got a cousin who was on the line two years ago. He told me some things I’d get in trouble for knowing ahead of time. Hazing shit. But I’ll do my best to look after you.” I pulled back and narrowed my eyes at him, and he bit back a grin. “Not that you need it, of course.”