Page 29 of Falling for the Quarterback

“So, why was I the topic of conversation?” Hayes moves to the table, where he pulls out a chair and plunks down, setting his bag on the floor next to his feet.

“We weren’t, exactly,” I comment, opening the fridge to extract two beer bottles. I hand one to Hayes and sit down at the table next to him. “My sister is going out with a hockey player, and I don’t approve.”

Mac chuckles. “Better he goes out with your sister than the girl I love.”

His eyes search out Kelsie who blows him a kiss. “It was never going to be the hockey player for me, baby. It was only ever you.”

I drop my forehead to the table with a thunk. “Do you guys have to be so fucking sappy? It’s disgusting.”

Kelsie steps up next to my chair and ruffles my hair with her now dry hands. “Aww…what got you into such a pissy mood tonight? Are you not getting any hot loving these days, QB?”

No. Not anymore.

I snort. “As if.”

My head swings toward the back door as it flies open and Journey enters the conversation. She brings with her the bluest cornflower-blue eyes and the brightest white-toothed smile of anyone I know.

“Please don’t tell me you’re talking about my brother’s sex life. I feel like we should all get tested regularly for STIs just for living under the same roof as him.”

I stare, affronted at my baby sister’s audacity. She appears to me now as a college-aged woman, not the little girl in braces from a few years ago. When did she grow up?

“I will let that one pass, only because I’m a nice guy. And I want to know about this date with you and Ben.”

Journey opens the fridge to pull out a juice box, and I’m hit with an image of her at age six. When she turns back around, I get a closer look at the clothes she’s wearing. Or not wearing, it seems. She has on a cropped T-shirt that exposes her midriff and a pair of workout shorts.

I’m about to say something to the effect ofwhat the fuck are you wearingwhen Grace pipes in with a loud exclamation. “That’s weird…come to think of it, I haven’t seen one girl in this house with Hendy this fall. Did you turn into a monk, bro?”

No. Just fucking my professor on the DL.

I flip her off and she laughs that light, airy laugh of hers.

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Very unlike you,” Kelsie says, taking a seat next to me and fixing me with her intense green-eyed stare. “You hiding something we don’t know about?”

Shit, man. Is Kels a mind reader?

I blanch and disconnect my gaze from hers, focusing my attention on my beer bottle.

“No. Of course not. Don’t be dumb.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounds overly exaggerated and fake.

With the reflexes of a lioness in waiting, Kelsie’s hand darts out and she lifts my chin so our eyes meet.

“Are you fucking that new British professor on campus?”

Instead of denying it, the words just tumble out of my mouth, and I give it all up to my witchy friend. I’d never make a good spy.

“How did you know?”

Kelsie slams her palm on the table. “Boom! I fucking knew it!”

She leaps out of her chair and points her index finger at me and everyone else stares at me in complete silence, as if I’ve completely lost my mind.

“I noticed you two walking across campus on my way to the grocery store earlier. Those heart-eyes you were giving her were a dead giveaway! Now, spill the tea, dude. Give us all the details of how she stole your heart.”

For a moment, I sit there completely frazzled, incredulous that she could read me so well. But then I cave and start telling them about how Lottie and I originally met, providing them with the timeline and what went down earlier this semester.

When I finish sharing all the deets and where things left off with Lottie tonight, everyone is speechless.

Kelsie is the first one to speak, her eyes wide with a strange fascination. “OMG. Our boy is in love.”

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