Page 21 of Catch
My hands are still trembling. I put the razor down and call out for one of my teammates to take my place. I’m done. I’m out of here.
“This feels strange…” Ethan pauses as he runs a hand over his shorn head.
Then he stands up and faces me, and we’re eye to eye again. Way too fucking close. I can’t figure out his expression. It looks like he’s about to lose his temper, or maybe I’m reading into it.
All I know is, he’s not happy. And he’s got his sights set on me.
“And I don’t know that I like it.”
He’s not talking about his goddamn hair.
“I don’t know that I like it either.”
CHAPTER 6
ETHAN
“I’ve gotta go,” Jett mutters and slips away from me.
I stand there like an idiot and say nothing. I want to stalk after him, but for some reason, I can’t move my legs. I’m lightheaded, shivering, and I’m also sweating like I’ve got a fever, and I wonder if I’m about to pass out. Running an absent hand over my head, my body stills when my palm meets the prickly layer of stubble on my scalp.
Why did no one ever tell me what a fucking rush it is to shave your head?
I’ve pulled all kinds of pranks and tried all kinds of dares, but this? It’s nothing major and yet, there’s a definite shift inside me. I knew it as soon as Jett touched me. My hair is gone, but I’m not as anxious about the loss as I’d imagined. I glance at my reflection in the kitchen window, and I look older, different, and not only that, I feel different. Or maybe it’s that I don’t have anything to hide behind.
Am I hiding? From what?
I don’t have the answer, and that frustrates me. I’m always good at figuring shit out. I can read people, and I know exactly what buttons to push to get what I want. But as tohow I’m feeling right now, I don’t know the why of it. It’s completely unsettling and totally unlike me.
For fuck’s sake, it’s only hair.Get over yourself.
Tell that to my heart, which is pounding so hard it’s about to claw its way out of my chest. I blame it all on Jett and that fucking game today. I’m on edge, and I don’t understand it. I’m still mad that we lost, but I’m jacked up, weirdly excited, and for some reason my cock is too.
Yep, I’m incredibly horny and there’s not a woman in sight. There is, in fact, no one in this room who I’m even remotely attracted to and no one that I’m thinking about either.
Only Jett.
Wait, what?
Time out. Stop the game.
I didnotthink that. Those shots must’ve been spiked with more than alcohol.
“Looking good, Walrus.”
Silas’s comment thankfully interrupts my wayward thoughts, and when I turn to look at him, I start to laugh.
“Too bad the same can’t be said for you,” I tease him.
“Fuck off, I look cool.”
I can’t stop laughing, because I hardly recognize my teammate. With the long hair gone, he looks even more menacing, if that’s possible. Especially with that smirk on his face and all his tattoos. People on campus are going to give him an even wider berth than they normally do.
Silas snaps a selfie and taps on his phone.
“Let’s see what my husband thinks.”
Damien’s going to shit his sweats. Then again, this is Coach Banning we’re talking about. He’s the only one bold enough—crazy enough—to take on our sarcastic D-man. It’s obvious from their chemistry that they’re a powerful duo, but I personally don’t get the whole marriage or monogamything. I guess it works for them. At least, for now. No one can convince me that long-term relationships are a real thing.
