Play It Off (Kings of Campus #2)

Chapter One Sienna

Chapter One

Sienna

Freshman year

I can’t believe it—I got into a bar.

The most popular bar in Santa Mira. Charley’s is where all UC Santa Mira students go to hang out. They have great drink specials. Good music—if you can hear it over the constant stream of conversation and yelling that is currently taking place. And bonus: it’s where all the football players hang out.

That’s my favorite part because I’m seeking a specific football player. And no, I’m not referring to my older brother. Coop is around here somewhere. I’m pretty sure he’s in this very bar, and while he’s totally intimidating and convinces any guy who so much as glances in my direction to keep away from me with just a look, we’re close. I adore him.

Though I don’t adore his overprotective ways.

“Looks like the hundred bucks I spent on the fake ID was worth it.” My new roommate, Destiny, smiles, her dark-brown eyes sparkling. “How much did you spend on yours?”

“Seventy-five.” I shrug when she frowns. Feels like she’s always in competition with me, and I don’t like it. I’m here for supportive friendships, not for constantly trying to outdo each other. She’s a little weird, but she’s the only roommate I’ve got and currently one of the only friends I’ve made since I came here. “My brother knows a guy.”

“Speaking of your brother, where is the famous Coop?” she asks, changing the subject, her expression turning eager. She loves the fact that my brother plays for the Dolphins football team. I’m pretty sure it’s the only thing she likes about me.

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’s here somewhere.” Yet again my answer makes her frown, and I’m over it. “I need a drink.”

Without waiting for her answer, I leave her where she stands, pushing my way through the crowd as I head for the bar. I’m tall—almost five ten—and as I pass guys shorter than me, they don’t even bother looking in my direction. Which is fine because I’ve always preferred dating a tall guy. Someone who towers over me and makes me feel small, a feeling I rarely experience. I’ve been the tallest girl in class since kindergarten, and while there are advantages, most of the time it just means I intimidate boys.

Men.

Hmm, guess I’m more like my brother than I realize.

By the time I make it up to the bar, I’m sweating, even though I’m only wearing a pair of extremely short denim shorts and a black tube top. It’s sweltering in here. If Coop saw me, he’d probably freak the hell out and escort me straight out of the bar, giving me a lecture about my clothes.

Glancing to my left, then my right, I make sure the coast is clear before I lean over the counter and give the hot bartender a solid glimpse of my ample cleavage. He notices immediately, because of course he does, and comes right to me, earning an irritated “Hey!” from the guys he was helping before he abandoned them for me.

“What’s up, gorgeous?” Up close, I realize he’s not as good looking as I originally thought. There’s something even a little smarmy about him. Might be that knowing gleam in his pale-blue eyes or the fact that his hair hangs in near-perfect little ringlets over his forehead. He runs his fingers through said hair, pushing it out of his eyes, and I get the sudden feeling that is very much a practiced move for this dude.

“I’d like a rum and Coke, please.” I flash him a smile and stand up straighter so he can’t ogle my tits any longer, and his disappointment is clear.

“Coming right up.” He whips out a glass and turns to grab a bottle of rum off the counter behind him. “You a transfer?”

I frown. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t recognize you—and I’d definitely remember a face like yours. Figured you must’ve just transferred in.” He scoops ice into the glass, then adds Coke before he splashes in some rum. I’d take more, but I don’t want to be a jerk about it.

Oh. Right. I can’t tell him I’m a freshman because I’ll get kicked out of here. “Yeah, I started in the fall.” That’s not a lie.

“Welcome to Santa Mira.” He smiles, his gaze dropping to my chest yet again as he hands over the drink. “On the house.”

“Thank you.” I take the drink, sip it from the narrow red straw, and realize it’s stronger than I thought. All I can taste is rum. “This place is busy.”

“The busiest bar in town.” His gaze lingers on mine, and I can feel the frustration from other bar patrons emanating toward us as he continues to ignore them. “You come here alone tonight? Or with someone?”

“With someone—” I start, but he cuts me off with another question.

“Your boyfriend?” When I shake my head, he actually leers at me like some sort of creeper. “Perfect. I get off at midnight. Wanna go back to my place?”

I stare at him, a lump in my throat making it hard to speak. How am I supposed to turn him down? That is the last thing I want to do.

“Jesus, Sam. Stay away from this one. She’s Coop’s sister .”

My heart sinks into my toes, if that’s possible, because oh my God, I just got cockblocked by the hottest man alive, who only sees me as one thing.

Coop’s little sister.

I can feel his presence looming directly behind me, the heat of his body seeping into mine and making me shiver. He braces one hand on the counter, caging me in on the left side, and I can’t look at him. Staring into his eyes is dangerous, and I’m trying to keep my composure.

“Oh shit.” The bartender’s face actually pales. “Coop’s sister?”

I sip as much of the drink as I possibly can because if Gavin Maddox blows my cover, I’m done for.

“Yeah. Stop flirting with her. Coop will murder you with his bare hands if you so much as touch her.” Gavin pauses. “And I’ll help him.”

Despite his ruining my flirtation with the bartender—which I wasn’t taking seriously, anyway, because the only person I want to flirt with is Gavin—I can’t deny it’s kind of exciting that he ran to my rescue like this.

The bartender doesn’t say another word. Just switches his attention to the next customer, pasting on that faintly smarmy smile as he asks her what she wants.

“Um.” I finally dare to look in Gavin’s direction to find he’s already watching me, his blue eyes blazing with anger. “Thanks?”

“That guy is an asshole,” Gavin mutters, his frown deepening. He is so incredibly handsome that the scowl does nothing to mar his male perfection. And just like I knew would happen, I immediately become entranced with every little thing about him. “He hits on girls all the time.”

“He’s harmless.” I say it to provoke Gavin on purpose, and it works.

“He’s a slimeball. You’ll end up crying your eyes out after he fucks you once and leaves you high and dry the next day, never to be heard from again. Next time you come here, he’ll pretend he doesn’t recognize you.” Gavin scoots closer, his big, muscular body bumping into mine. “And what the hell are you doing here, anyway, Sienna? You’re under—”

I rise on tiptoe and slap my hand over his mouth, silencing him. His eyes go wide, and it’s almost comical, how he looks at the moment. Then I remember I’m touching him, my hand covering his beautiful mouth before he could call me out, and I can’t believe I just did that.

“Don’t blow my cover,” I murmur, and when he nods, I reluctantly remove my hand from his face. “And how do you know so much about the sexual habits of the bartender at Charley’s?”

“I might know a girl or two who had an encounter with him.” He shrugs, his hand going for my arm, long fingers curling around my elbow. “Come on.”

He steers me away from the bar, and we make our way through the crowd, which parts like the Red Sea because their hero, their god, is walking among them.

Gavin Maddox is the quarterback for the Santa Mira Dolphins. Halfway through his first season, the starting quarterback had a season-ending injury, and Gavin stepped in.

And he never looked back. He took them all through the playoffs—they lost the final game, never making it to the championships, but that was enough. He’s been deemed the golden-boy QB of the Dolphins football team, and everyone loves him.

Even me.

It’s wild to think he’s only a sophomore and this season he’s going to start. Wait a minute ...

I jerk my arm out of his hold, and he reaches for me at the same time I turn around to face him.

“Hey. You’re not even twenty-one,” I start, and it’s his turn to slap his hand over my mouth, silencing me.

I almost moan from him touching my face, it feels so good. And fills my head with all sorts of dirty fantasies of him having to keep me quiet while he fucks me into oblivion. Oh, my imagination runs wild when it comes to this man, and he doesn’t even know it.

He presses his palm firmly against my lips, still not removing it, and I fleetingly wonder if he’s enjoying it as much as I am. That stern expression on his face is nothing short of pure hotness, and all I can do is helplessly stare at him, getting lost in his deep-blue eyes.

“I have a fake ID,” he murmurs. “Though pretty much everyone who works here knows I’m not twenty-one yet. They just choose to look the other way.”

He drops his hand from my face but doesn’t wait for me to answer. Just grabs hold of my hand and interlocks our fingers together as he leads me toward the edge of the bar where there are a bunch of tables and chairs. Booths line the walls, and one at the very end of the row sits empty with a little folded sign on the table that says Reserved . Without hesitation he slides into the booth and drags me along with him, then lets go of my hand to rest both of his on top of the table.

“That sign says reserved,” I point out, glancing around. I don’t want to steal someone’s table, because they’re a hot commodity here. Every other one in this bar is already full of people.

“Yeah, because it’s reserved for us. The football team.” He lifts his arm and waves, and within seconds, a server appears. She’s blond and tiny and adorable and nothing like me. I don’t like how Gavin looks at her, his expression open and friendly.

I’m jealous and I hate it.

“What can I get you?” the cute server asks, her attention only for him.

“Sierra Nevada on tap.” He sends me a look. “What do you want, Sienna?”

I like how he says my name. Ugh, I like every single thing this man does. “A rum and Coke, please,” I tell the server.

She smiles, jotting down our orders. “Coming right up!”

I watch her bounce away, taking note of the extremely short denim skirt she’s wearing and how it shows off her tanned legs. I am always pale, and anytime I’m in the sun, I burn. Or I get freckles. Lots of them.

I envy her blondness. Her shortness. Her tan skin and easy smile and how I could probably fit her in my pocket.

“Where’s your brother?” Gavin asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“I have no idea. Hopefully not here.” I love Coop, but he will ruin my night by doing Gavin one better and escorting me right out of this place the moment he sees me.

“I don’t think he is. I’ve been here for an hour and haven’t run into him.”

“Any other guys from the team here? Why is no one sitting at this table?”

“Not a lot of us came to Charley’s tonight. We always have two tables reserved. Nico is at the other one.” Gavin inclines his head toward the other side of the bar where another row of booths is lined up, and yep, I spot Nico sitting there with a few other teammates, all of them surrounded by women.

Typical. Nico is popular with women, and with reason. The girls fall at his feet anytime he so much as smiles at them. He’s extraordinarily good looking. Charming. Can talk to a wall if he has to because he will chat up anyone, and within minutes, they feel like he’s their lifelong friend.

My personal opinion? I think Gavin is far better looking. With his light-brown hair and the square chin that I want to bite. That’s probably not a normal urge, wanting to take a chunk out of him. I might have vampire tendencies, but it’s not like I have anyone to talk about it with. I seriously need better friends because I’m afraid Destiny isn’t going to cut it.

Gavin is magnetic. He walks into a room and people are instantly drawn to him, including me. He has this undeniable charisma and a beautiful smile, but he’s also mysterious. Like ... I can’t figure him out. He’s an excellent quarterback. Driven. He’ll talk to people, but it’s always surface level. He doesn’t reveal much personal information, and that just makes me want to know him even more.

“Why aren’t you sitting with the rest of the team?” It’s a valid question. I know Gavin is a bit of a player too. At least, I think he is. He should be, because my God, look at him. He’s six foot four of lean muscle and broad shoulders and long legs. He can outrun just about anyone, and when he can’t find someone to throw the ball to, he does exactly that. He can definitely outthrow everybody on the team too. According to my brother, he already has NFL prospects. He’ll go pro as long as he remains healthy and does well throughout the rest of his college career.

I have no doubt whatsoever he’ll do that.

He’s even turned into a UC Santa Mira celebrity. When I came here for orientation weekend last month, I saw banners promoting the team hanging from the light posts all over campus. The dolphin mascot in the corner and a photo of Gavin grinning with his uniform on, his hands on his hips. Larger than life and devastatingly handsome.

It’s like he pops up everywhere I go, and I don’t mind. Not at all. At least I have an advantage with my brother being on the team with him and one of his close friends. Not that we’re close, but here I sit with him in a bar, and I can feel other women’s eyes on me. On us. Probably wondering who I am and why I am sitting with their precious Gav.

“I get sick of the hangers-on. It’s nice, sitting here with you.” His smile is small. Almost intimate, and like a lovestruck idiot, I mentally swoon at him saying it’s nice sitting with me. “Who did you come here with?”

“My roommate. We wanted to go out.” I smile at him in return, loving how close we’re sitting. Is he into me?

God, I hope so.

“Where is she?” He glances around, sliding his arm around the back of the booth seat at the same time, and it’s almost like he’s got his arm around my shoulders.

“I don’t know. I kind of lost her.” I feel like a jerk saying that, but I barely know her.

He laughs. “Is this the one you don’t really get along with?”

I’m shocked he’d even know. “Did Coop tell you?”

“He might’ve mentioned it.”

“My brother talks about me with you?” I sit up straighter, my shoulders bumping into his arm, and tingles spread over my skin at the contact.

“Sometimes. He’s glad you’re here.” His gaze finds mine. “He missed having his family around last year.”

“We’re pretty close,” I admit. Only one year separates us, and growing up, Coop and I did everything together, save for football. But I went to every game of his with my parents. I was even a cheerleader in youth league for a few years, literally cheering him on from the sidelines, but I gave that up once we got into high school. Our family lives and breathes football, which means we basically live and breathe Coop—which sounds weird, but it’s true. And it was rough on all of us, not having him in the house last year. We missed him terribly. “He hasn’t changed much, though—with the exception of all the tattoos.”

“Pretty sure he was bored one night and somehow he ended up in a tattoo parlor. That’s how it started.” Gavin chuckles, leaning back against the seat, his legs sprawling out and bumping into mine. “Have you seen his latest? The one with the heart?”

“That says Mom in the middle of it? Our mom is going to kill him. I don’t even know where he gets the money to pay for them all.” The tattoos don’t bother me, but my mother freaks out every time she spots a new one on Coop, which is often, considering he’s gotten a bunch of them since he started here.

“He got an on-campus job and was working at a restaurant for a few months over the summer. That’s how he affords them all.” Gavin shrugs, averting his head so he can stare out at the crowd. “You got any?”

“Got any what?”

“Tattoos.” He swings his gaze back to mine. “I don’t notice any.”

I have zero tattoos. “Maybe you just can’t see them.”

Wait. Am I flirting? I’m barely one drink in.

His lips tip up at the corner. “Interesting. Are you telling me you’ve got secrets, Sienna?”

“Plenty of them.” My smile matches his. “How about you, Gavin? Do you have any secrets?”

“Not that I’m willing to share with you.” His smile fades. “Yet.”