Page 12 of Away Game

Oz signed and moved the strap of his backpack higher up on his shoulder while his friend scribbled his name down with barely a glance at me.

“If you need any help getting your stuff in, let me know. I’ll either be down here or up in my room.” I paused, not wanting to tell them where my room was, but it wasn’t like I could hide where it was for the rest of the year, so I went ahead and told them. “I’m on the top floor, last room on the right. I’ll have my door open until I go to bed.”

“We don’t need your fucking help.” Fin slammed the pen he was using down on the table. He stood up to his full height and glared at me.

If it had been anyone else but Fin, I would have wondered what I’d done to offend them, but I knew it had nothing to do with me. Fin’s attitude toward me and everyone else around him was all on him. I didn’t think he discriminated when it came to being an asshole. The only one he seemed to be even remotely nice to was Oz.

Maybe now that we were all living together, I needed to have a chat with Oz because I couldn’t and wouldn’t hide from Fin in my own house.

“I think we’ve got it, but thanks,” Oz said, looking back and forth between Fin and me.

Placing the paper back in the packet to file away, I was shocked when I only heard one set of footsteps head up the stairs.

Glancing up, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Fin. I couldn’t compel myself to stop my gaze from roving over his body. Fin stood before me, stiff as a board, but it didn’t distract from his tall frame. The way the muscles in his forearm twitched. All of it brought me back to thinking about how it felt when he put his hands on me, his lips on mine, and the way his grip on my cock made me burn hotter for him than anyone before.

“Stop fucking looking at me like that,” Fin growled before his hands crashed into my chest, making me stumble back. His feet pounded up the stairs, and with each step, it felt like a slap to my face.

How the hell was I going to live like this for the next ten months?

7

Fin

It tookeverything in me to not move the dresser in front of my door and barricade myself in my new room. Seriously, what were the odds of West fucking Jackson being at my school and on the football team?

The way his eyes moved over my body had my dick twitching in my pants right in front of Oz. Before, when Oz had asked me why I was an extra asshole to West, I told him to drop it, and he did. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be so lucky now.

Throwing myself on my bed, I stared up at the white popcorn ceiling. With every move I made, the bed squeaked. I was going to need to get some WD-40 or buy a new bed altogether. This one was a little too lumpy for me. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep well on this piece of shit mattress.

My phone pinged from the nightstand. I thought it was Oz telling me he was done unpacking when I hadn’t even touched a box. Imagine my shock when it was my mother texting me to see if I had made it onto campus safely. She’d given me a stiff pat on the back when I left this morning with all my worldly possessions packed and nestled inside my Range Rover with the intention of never coming back. My dad was nowhere in sight, not that I was expecting much from him, but I thought I might receive a goodbye. I wondered how long it would take for them to realize I wasn’t coming back.

I typed out a quick message to my mother, letting her know that I made it to Willow Bay. Setting my phone back down, I felt restless. I knew I should unpack since the coach was having us meet up with a nutritionist tomorrow. Afterward, he was going to give us a tour of the facilities, and then we’d have our first workout. On Monday, we’d start practicing in the mornings since it was blazing hot during the day and then workout in the gym in the afternoon or evenings. My time was going to be occupied after today, but I still couldn’t motivate myself to make my room habitable.

A sharp knock on my door had me sitting upright. Was it West? Did I want it to be him? I didn’t know the answer to that. I’d had so many conflicted feelings since I left the mountain back in January. All I knew was that I didn’t understand the strange attraction I had to West, and I hated the way he made me feel.

Oz opened the door a crack and peeked inside. “I wasn’t sure if I should open the door or not when you didn’t answer. Is everything okay?”

He’d asked me that a lot over the past few months, and I always gave him the same answer. “I’m fine. I guess I was lost in thought thinking about all the unpacking I need to do.” I hated lying to him. Oz was the only person who ever made me feel guilty, but he was my best friend, and up until this year, I’d always told him the truth. Now I wasn’t sure how he’d react to my secret. Would he accept me or call me a freak? I wasn’t sure if I could accept myself, so how could he?

“If you need help, all you have to do is ask. I want to say I can’t believe your parents didn’t notice you literally packing everything up, but it’s not a surprise.”

I shook my head, looked up at the popcorn ceiling, and stared at nothing. The nothingness mirrored how I felt about my parents not giving a shit about me. “It will probably take them until at least spring to realize they haven’t seen me in months, if not longer. Anyway, it’s not like I took the furniture. It’s only clothes, a lamp, and my stereo system. It might have been different if we weren’t living in the football dorm. I probably would have got a place for us to stay, but there was no way I wanted to get on the coach’s bad side right away.”

“Our own house would have been epic, but I have a feeling there will be plenty of parties here at the football house.” Oz’s eyes gleamed with excitement from the doorway. “Our goodie two shoes of a RA better not shut everything down, or we’ll have to kick his ass.”

“Fin,” Oz warned as he leaned against the door frame. “We’re not in Santa Lucia anymore, and your name won’t keep you out of trouble here, so try not to cause too much suffering to the population of Willow Bay.”

“We’ll see.” I sat up and leaned back on my elbows. “Are you done unpacking?”

“I’m not going to put all your shit away while you lie on your bed and treat me like a servant.” Oz laughed as he finally stepped inside the room.

“No, asshole, I wasn’t going to ask you to put my shit away. I’m getting hungry and thought we could go find someplace to eat. Maybe grab some beers.”

“Already wanting to go against Coach’s orders,” he smiled, shaking his head. “I’m down to get food. Do you want to walk or drive?”

Jumping up from the bed, I slipped my tennis shoes on and grabbed my phone and wallet from the bedside table. “Let’s walk. I don’t want to get back in the car again so soon after driving up here.”

“Let me go grab my wallet, and I’ll meet you downstairs.” Oz was gone before I could blink. He was always hungry and never turned down a chance to eat.

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