Page 123 of Let You Love Me

Tommy raises his hands, eyes wide. “Hey, I didn’t think it was. We’ve been rooming together since the beginning of summer. You think I don’t at least know you well enough by now to know you wouldn’t be caught dead with a bottle of liquor in your locker? Shit.” He shakes his head and scratches the side of his stubble-covered cheek. I exhale, my muscles loosening.

“Can I ask you something?” I say, staring at the courtyard as we pass through it toward the edge of campus.

“Shoot.”

“What are your thoughts on Lockhart?”

Until now, I’ve pretty been tight-lipped about the dude, mostly because everyone and their mother seems to fucking worship the ground he walks on. Unless they’re from a rival team, and even then, they’re begrudgingly in awe of his talent.

“As a quarterback or a person?”

“A person, I guess?” After all, his character off the field isn’t necessarily tied to his character on the field. Unless you take into consideration our last away game against Alabama where he barely gave me the ball.

“I think he’s an arrogant asshole.” Tommy shrugs. “But I guess I figure that comes with the territory of being great.”

I grimace. I don’t trust Lockhart as far as I can throw him, and it bugs the shit out of me a dick like that is so good at what he does.

“I think maybe he stashed the booze.”

Tommy chokes. “For real, dude?”

I nod, saying nothing as we pass the Bowman Center and take the walkway toward the sidewalk that leads into town. “If I tell you something, will you keep it between us?”

“Of course, man. Look, I know most of my free time is spent with Melissa, but I’m here for you if you need me. I just gotta prioritize in my downtime, you know?”

I wave him off. “Dude, I get it. Trust me. That’s actually kind of what this is about.”

Tommy frowns. “I’m not following.”

“I’m . . .” Shit. How do I explain this to him. Technically, I’m not seeing Lane yet, at least not like that, but Iwantto be. I will be.

I run a hand over the scruff on my jaw. “Well, I’ve kind of been talking to Lane Turner and—”

“No fucking way.” Tommy’s eyes bulge and he halts in his tracks. “You have a thing for Lane? But on the bus, you insisted it was nothing, that you just had class together.”

I shrug. “I lied.”

Wasn’t it obvious?

“Wait.” Tommy frowns. “She’s not the chick from the park, is she?”

“The one and only.”

Tommy groans. “Damn, bro. You sure about this?”

“I mean, technically we’re only friends. We haven’t crossed any lines, if you catch my drift, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“You sure about this, dude?”

“Never been surer of anything in my life.”

He stares at me for a moment, then starts to walk again, taking the sidewalk that leads into town. “Does Coach know?”

“He knows we’re friends.”

Tommy whistles. “He doesn’t play around. I bet he wasn’t happy about the booze on top of you and Lane hanging out.”

“You could say that,” I grind out.

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