Page 20 of Away Game

Fin scoffed from behind me, but I ignored him.

“If you’re hungry, I can heat up some of my food for you. I was going to make myself something to eat and watch the tournament.” I pulled out a few chicken breasts I’d cooked the other night and a frozen bag of green beans from the freezer.

“I—”

“You’ve got to be hungry,” I interrupted as I threw the green beans in the microwave. “I know you’ve been working out twice a day for the last couple of weeks.”

“Have you been stalking me?” Fin let out a bitter laugh of dismissal.

Turning, I leaned against the counter and rolled my eyes. “Get over yourself. Is it possible for you to be nice for the duration of a meal?”

“To you?” He lifted a brow and started to say something else but stopped when the microwave pinged.

“You don’t have to eat with me. I’m going to watch the tournament, so all you have to do is not be an asshole for the amount of time it takes me to heat up the chicken.”

“Do you do this every day?” Fin moved to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water, and handed one over. I was surprised he thought of me and quickly took the bottle from him without touching him.

“What, cook?” My brows furrowed. Was Fin really that out of touch with reality? Didn’t he realize a large portion of the population didn’t eat out for every meal? “Once a week, I cook enough chicken for the week, and then I heat it up with some vegetable.”

“Why?” he asked as if he was genuinely curious.

I wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking. “Because I don’t have the time or energy to do it every day. This way is easier.”

Taking the chicken breasts out of the microwave, I divvied them up on two separate plates and split up the green beans.

Happy that Fin hadn’t been a complete and total ass, I took my food and started to head into the living room when he stopped me with a strong hand to my bicep. Turning to look at him, I waited to see what he’d do next. With Fin, I never knew.

He looked down at his food for a moment and then trained his eyes on me. “If you had the money to get your meals delivered to you every week, would you do it?”

After years of pinching pennies, it was ingrained in me to not waste money. I didn’t need to spend triple the amount for convenience, but it would be nice. “In that dream world, maybe, but only during the football season when I’m busier,” I amended. “Why?”

Fin didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he brushed past me with his plate in hand and went out to join the guys in the living room.

A sigh of disappointment left me. For one brief second, I thought I’d broken through Fin’s walls, but I should have known it was only wishful thinking.

With my own plate in hand, I ignored Fin, and for the first time since I’d moved in, I enjoyed my new roommates. I was done letting Finley Huntington dictate my life.

11

Fin

Runninga towel over my wet hair, I stopped just inside my room when I spotted Oz sitting on my bed with a bowl full of pasta in his lap.

Eying me at the door, he started to dig his fork through the noodles. “What time are you leaving for the party?” Oz asked before shoveling a large forkful of food in his mouth.

Walking around my bed, I eyed him back. “What are you doing in here?”

“Waiting on your ass. What else?” he asked with exasperation.

Pulling a pair of boxer briefs out of the dresser, I dropped my towel and slid them up my legs.

“Fucking hell, dude, warn a guy before you go flashing your white ass at him.”

He sounded as if it bothered him, but he kept eating, so clearly not. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen me and dozens of other guys in the locker room without their clothes on before.

“Fuck off.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one invading my space.” Facing my closet, I pulled out a pair of jeans and a black button-down shirt, my standard uniform, and started to get dressed. “How did this party get cleared with Coach, anyway?”

“No clue, but who cares?” He shrugged as if we wouldn’t get chewed out in the locker room for an hour after we were tortured during practice if something happened. “We finally get a night out to party like everyone else on campus.”

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