Page 40 of Offsides

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that. Because I just heard Tomlinson tell her that her sweater would look great on his bedroom floor.

Before Dani can even respond, I push my way between her and Tomlinson. “What did you just say to her?”

Tomlinson stutters and splutters a few unintelligible syllables before drawing himself up to his full height. He has a few inches on me, but I’m not intimidated. “Butt out, Foster. You don’t have a claim on her. She’s not your girlfriend.”

I lean into him, pressing my chest into his. “I don’t care. Don’t talk to my friends that way, either. She’s not some jersey chaser for you to fuck in the back room. She’s not gonna get down on her knees and give you a blowjob either. So get it out of your fucking head before I kick you out of here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dani lays a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, now. There’s no need for that. He was just being nice.”

I spin around to face Dani. “I’m sorry, what? You think that was nice?”

Her face closes down as she jerks her hand away from me and looks me over. Licking her lips, she swallows hard. “Well, I mean …” She grunts softly. “Okay, fine, maybe notnice, per se, but I don’t think you need to ‘break his face’ either. It’s not like he was trying to force me to do anything I didn’t want.”

My eyes bug out of my head. “Are you telling me youwantto go home with him? See how your sweater looks on his floor?”

Her brows pull together, and she falters back a half step in the face of my jealous anger. “No.” She shakes her head. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying he’s not forcing me to do anything. I’m perfectly capable of saying no and moving on with my evening.” Her face hardens. “Or I was, until you came over swinging your dick around like you need to claim your territory.” She crosses her arms, her chin lifting. “Is that what I am to you? Some kind of territory? I mean, it’s not like you want me for yourself. We all know that. But somehow that means it’s not okay for your teammates to hit on me either? What the hell, Eli?”

I feel like one of those cartoon characters that gets so mad their head turns bright red and steam comes out of their ears like a boiling tea kettle, complete with screaming. In fact, there’s a high pitched scream in my ears overlaying all the other noises. I keep my fists clenched at my sides so I don’t manhandle Dani into my room and show herexactlyhow much I want her. “You—I—he—aargh!” Gripping handfuls of my own hair, I tug, hoping the pain will help me get a handle on myself.

“Look, Eli,” Dani starts, trying to sound calm and conciliatory but in that patronizing way when she has to force it. “I know things have been awkward between us lately. But if this is going to work—”

I cut off whatever Dani’s trying to say with a sharp chop of my hand. “My room. Now. We need to talk without an audience.”

Her eyes narrow, and I realize that barking orders isn’t winning me any points. Nostrils flaring, I suck in a few deep breaths, enough to get a handle on my emotions, and force myself to repeat my request softly and as an actual request. “Dani. Please. I would like to speak with you, and I think we’d both like it better if we hashed this all out without everyone here watching. Can we go to my room? Or if you’d prefer, we can go somewhere else. You pick the location, and we can either go together or I’ll meet you there.”

Seconds tick by as she mulls over my words, her shoulders relaxing by fractions until she finally drops her arms. “Fine.” She throws an arm out, gesturing to the hall that leads to the bedrooms. “Lead the way.”

With a tight nod, I do as she says, picking my way through the bodies, ignoring the shocked and titillated looks they’re giving me.

Yeah, we’re giving everyone a show tonight in addition to the games. But not as much of a show as they’d get if we hashed this out in front of everyone. No one here’s so dumb they can’t put two and two together.

Except Dani. She seems to be the only one who doesn’t realize what’s going on. What my end game is. And it’s not because she’s stupid—she’s really smart, actually. Which is one of the main reasons we started studying together. My friendship with her has done more for my GPA than any of the other resources available to me.

But for some reason, she hasn’t caught on to the fact that she’s desirable. Or that my behavior is because I’m jealous and want her for myself.

Once inside my room, I stand with my back to her for several moments even after I hear the latch click, indicating she’s closed the door behind us. She doesn’t say anything either, and I hear her moving around while I take deep breaths with my eyes closed.

The last thing I want is to fuck this up. Which means I need to not act like an asshole. Which means I need to calm down.

“Well?” she finally says, her irritation plain from just that one small syllable. “You’re the one who wanted to come back here. And now you’re not even talking to me? What the fuck, dude?”

Chuckling, I open my eyes, turning to face her—and stopping short. She’s sitting on my bed, her hands behind her propping her up, one leg crossed over the other. She’s somehow managed to class up her usual joggers and comfy outfits so that she’s still comfortable but also fashionable. It’s still totally Dani, just a little more shiny and polished.

I swallow against the sudden dryness in my mouth and ignore my blood rushing south. “God, Dani, you’re so beautiful. Do you really not know that?”

She blinks at my declaration, her brows furrowing again in confusion. “Uhh … thanks?” She looks down at herself and then back at me. “So instead of explaining whatever that nonsense was,” she lifts a hand and gestures at the door, “you’re going to try to distract me with compliments?”

Sighing, I shake my head and rub the back of my neck. “No. That was just an observation.” I sit carefully on the bed next to her, keeping space between us and turning to pull one knee up so I can face her. “Here’s the thing.” I spread my hands. “I like you.”

One brow wings up, a combination of surprise and invitation to explain more.

“Likelike you. When I see other guys hitting on you—and make no mistake, Tomlinson was absolutely hitting on you—”

“Ha. Yeah. I kinda figured that out with the sweater on my bedroom floor comment.”

I nod sharply. “Right. Good. But that drives me crazy with jealousy.”

She holds up a hand. “Wait, so let me get this straight. First you insult me for looking more girly, and now you’re jealous other guys have noticed? Is that what this is? You finally see me as a girl, and you’re pissed other guys have the balls to try to get with me when you never have?”

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