Page 28 of Most Valuable Players
“Yeah, I got that.” I chuckle. Standing, I begin to gather my things. “I can finish studying at home. I’ve taken enough of your time today.”
“Nah, stay. We can go over it again after the movie.”
He must read my hesitation. “It’s cool. It’s just the roommates. We kick everyone else out for movie night.” He pauses. “You don’t talk during movies, do you? Nathan demands silence.”
“And buttered popcorn, apparently.”
“You in?”
I drop my bag. All that awaits me at home is reminders of David and the shitstorm he’s made of my life. “Why not?”
Wes takes me by the movie room while informing me he’s on snack duty for the night. “Popcorn? Soda? Beer?”
“Soda’d be great.”
“Save me a seat. I’ll be back in five.”
Joel arrives as I’m trying to decide where to sit. “Yo, Blair, you met Nathan?”
I shake my head and stretch out my arm to take the elusive fourth roommate’s hand. “Good to meet you.”
“Nice work on the court today. I thought our boy was gonna lose his shit.” Nathan’s hair is longer, hanging about chin length, and he tucks a strand behind his ear as he speaks.
Joel plops down in a one of three seats in the front row and Nathan hovers next to him. There’s one seat left in the front and four in the back. I take a step to the back row and then hesitate.
“Your boy usually sits in the back by himself. Lucky him. I’m thinking this was his plan all along—leaving room for pretty girls to sit beside him.”
My face flushes at Joel’s playful flirting. Z and Wes enter the room, and I sigh a breath of relief. Wes, for all his arrogance, has a presence that puts me at ease. I’m starting to trust him.
Wes cradles three huge bowls of popcorn. He hands one to Nathan, places one on the empty seat that is presumably Zeke’s, and then tucks the other at his side. Z has five sodas stacked up in his large hands and tosses them to the guys and then walks one back to me with a shy smile. The whole thing is so casual and homey that, when we settle into our seats, I grin at the whole charade. Who would have guessed this is how they spend a Sunday night?
I learn the pick rotates each week, and tonight it’s Zeke’s choice. Nothing could have surprised me more than him picking a Tom Cruise romantic comedy,Knight and Day.
“Seriously?”
Joel tosses popcorn in Zeke’s direction. “Z’s working his way through all of Tom Cruise’s movies and taking us along for the ride.”
“I’ve never seen this one,” I admit.
I recline the seat and curl up. I’m sitting next to Wes Reynolds watching a movie. No big deal, just a Sunday night Netflix and . . . well, there’s no chill, but a girl can pretend.
10
WES
Isleep through movie night ninety percent of the time, but there’s a zero percent chance of that tonight.
Cameron Diaz should have my eyes glued to the screen, but she pales in comparison to the intrigue I have for the girl beside me. I don’t know what Blair’s story is. All I’ve been able to determine so far is that she’s a sorority girl, driven, and sexy as hell. So, basically, nothing that every other dude at campus couldn’t have figured out with a cell phone and social media account.
Blair yawns and stretches her hands over her head. The movement lifts the hem of her shirt and exposes the creamy, flat skin of her stomach.
I need to get laid before our next study session or I’m likely to embarrass myself with a boner that has nothing to do with my love of probability.
As Tom and Cameron fill the screen, Blair is riveted. It gives me a chance to study her better. Her dark brown hair is pulled up in a ponytail that falls past her shoulders. I like when she wears her hair this way giving me an unblocked view of her small features and delicate neck. The tank she wears shows off her rack, which is the perfect size for her body. They aren’t so big she looks like she’ll fall over but plenty for me to palm in my large, skilled hands, which is as likely to happen as Tom Cruise somehownotending up with Cameron Diaz at the end of this movie.
I don’t have to ask her to know she isn’t up for a one-night stand. She has complicated and relationship written all over her. And I don’t have time for that. I don’t even have time for the study sessions I now owe her.
I shift in my seat and slam the back of my head into the chair to get my thoughts off sex, catching Blair’s attention in the process.
