Chapter 8
eight
Walking across campus, I realize how different my life has become. When Wyatt and I first started this farce, I wasn’t sure I would get used to all the stares, but they have lessened over time. Now I smile at people as I pass. When they smile back, it feels good.
It could also be because my teacher kept me after class to tell me that he really enjoyed my paper. Or the fact that I am on my way to meet up with Wyatt.
I know it’s dangerous to enjoy his company so much, but I can’t help it. Right now, he is my little secret, but also something that brings me joy.
“Lyla, wait up.”
I turn, finding Kyle making his way toward me. I don’t stop. Instead, I start walking faster. What could he want?
“Lyla, damn, you can move.” Kyle jogs until he can grab my shoulder and stop me.
“What do you want, Kyle?” I ask as I step back, making his hand drop.
“Way to be rude. I wanted to see how you are doing. We haven’t seen each other for a while,” he huffs.
“We broke up. Why would we see each other? Why do you even care? Aren’t you with Macy now?”
He lets out a chuckle. “She’s a filler. Sowing oats and all that. Baby, you know when I get drafted, I need a good girl at my side. That’s you. I’m coming back for you, Lyla. Why are you dating that asswipe?”
I damn near choke at his words.
Is he serious right now?
I narrow my eyes. “You’re coming back for me? So you expect me to sit here while you fuck another woman and parade her around campus like she is yours? You then want me to take you back like you didn’t do anything wrong? Seriously?”
He reaches out, grabbing my hand. I try to pull away, but he clamps down to the point it hurts.
“Three years, Lyla. You can’t throw that away.
It will be a sweet story. We broke up because you had to spend all your time with your dad, but then I get drafted and realize that I need my first love by my side.
I come back and get you. I will even use my sign-on bonus to get care for your dad so you have no excuse to stay here.
The news outlets will eat that shit up.”
“Delusional,” I mutter.
“What was that?” he asks.
“Delusional. That’s what you are. Let me go, Kyle. We are over. I want nothing to do with you. I don’t need you or your money.” I scoff, trying to pull away again.
“Lyla, don’t be like this.”
“I think she asked you to let her go, so, uh, you should do that.”
I look over to see Jason standing there. He’s not a small guy, but he does look like he isn’t sure if he should be stepping in.
“Mind your business. This is between me and my girl.” Kyle doesn’t even spare him a glance.
Jason stands a little taller. “Well, you may want to get your eyes checked, Thomson. See, the girl you are so clearly hurting happens to be dating Wyatt Scott. So maybe let her go before I have to make you.”
Kyle releases my hand, but only to turn to Jason. I step between them.
“You guys will get suspended for fighting. Go, Kyle, we’re done.”
I wrap my arm through Jason’s as I pull him along with me.
“I don’t mind the suspension. It’s my freshman year. I can make it up,” Jason tells me.
“Kyle isn’t worth it.”
“He might be. He’s still following us.” He glances over our shoulder.
“It’s fine. Wyatt’s waiting for me. As soon as Kyle realizes where I’m going, he will back off. He doesn’t like being embarrassed.” I keep my tone low.
“He’s got an ego on him. That’s for sure,” Jason mutters.
We walk through the door of the cafeteria on campus.
I don’t see Wyatt right away, but Jason pulls me, seeming to know where to go.
When I spot him, he’s talking with Kellan and Calvin.
He is facing away from me, so he doesn’t see me coming, but Calvin does.
He smiles at me as I drop Jason’s arm and round the chair.
Then I slide right into Wyatt’s lap. It’s a tight fit with him sitting closer to the table, but I make it work.
Wyatt looks surprised.
“Sorry,” I mumble before I lean up and press a kiss to his lips.
Guilt eats at me as I press closer, but all of that melts away the moment he opens his mouth to me.
I let him deepen the kiss, loving the way his tongue feels against my own.
What started as a kiss to make my ex jealous quickly turns into something I know that will live in my head long after Wyatt ends this arrangement.
“Seriously? You’re slutting yourself out now?” Kyle spews from next to us.
“Excuse me?” Wyatt says, pushing back the chair.
He attempts to stand, but I wrap my arms around his neck as I use my leg to hook onto the chair.
He falls back into the chair, but it doesn’t matter. Before I can say anything, Calvin is out of his chair and in Kyle’s face.
“Big man talking about your ex of three years like that. Green doesn’t look good on you, Thomson. Makes you look desperate. Why don’t you get out of here before I break that arm of yours? I’m willing to risk my career. Are you willing to risk yours?”
My eyes widen at his words. Calvin is a junior. He is slated to take over for Kellan next year. I know he is a shoo-in for the PHL when the time comes. Why would he risk that for me? Some girl he doesn’t even know who isn’t even dating his friend for real.
“Whatever, man. Have my sloppy seconds. Hope my dick tastes nice on her tongue,” Kyle spews.
Wyatt smirks. “Her pussy sure does. That’s for sure.”
Kyle looks like he is ready to brawl, but he turns and storms off instead.
“Sorry. That was crude,” Wyatt whispers to me.
“It was worth the look on his face. Calvin, why would you do that? You can’t risk your place here for me,” I tell him.
“I can and I will. Fuck that guy. He is a pussy chicken anyway. We protect our own here.” Calvin sits back down, anger fuming off of him.
“A what? Pussy chicken?” I ask, unable to stop the laughter that spills out.
It diffuses the situation, making everyone laugh.
“Yeah, he heard this guy Turbo on The Challenge say it once about one of the contestants, and it’s his new thing,” Kellan informs me.
“I like it. I think I’ll start to use it too,” I tell him, making Calvin smile.
Wyatt groans. “Don’t encourage him.”
“Oh, don’t be such a pussy chicken, Wyatt,” I tease, making everyone burst out in laughter again.
This. This is what I have been missing. This sense of belonging.
I only wish it weren’t all fake.
“I should go get lunch,” Lyla whispers to me as she attempts to stand.
I’m not ready to let her go yet. Not only did she kiss me for the first time and rock my world, but my anger is still there for Kyle. I am not sure I won’t get up and hunt the fucker down. He wants to talk shit about Lyla? Fuck that. I’ll teach that fucker a lesson.
I didn’t expect Calvin, though. He has been part of our group for the past two years, but he always seemed like the little brother we were training to take over the reins. Hearing him say we protect our own had pride filling me even if I wanted to throttle him for risking his position on the team.
If anyone is going to lay that fucker out, it will be me, but I don’t think it will come to that.
Kyle is upset someone else is playing with what he perceives as his toy.
While he is busy being a child, I’m taking the mature road.
I’m showing Lyla what a real man does when he loves a woman.
Slowly, I will win her over until she doesn’t see anyone else but me when she thinks of her future.
I’ve always been playing the long game when Kyle wasn’t even on the right board. He won’t win. I refuse to let him.
“Are you going to let me up?” Lyla whispers.
“I’m going to grab food. What do you want, Lyla?” Jason asks her.
“No, it’s okay. I can go if this caveman here will let me.” She gives me a pointed look.
“She wants a chicken Caesar salad with a zero-sugar Vitamin Water. She prefers the passionfruit one, but any will do. I’ll pay you back when we get to the house,” I tell him.
“What? No.” Lyla tries to argue, but Jason nods and heads away.
“What the hell, Wyatt?” she hisses at me.
“Let me take care of you. I like doing it,” I tell her.
“You are going to have to tell me how you know so much about me. I don’t know nearly anything about you.” She frowns, relaxing into me.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. All you need to do is ask.”
She looks over at Kellan and Calvin, who are trying to pretend they can’t hear us, but I know they can. I don’t care, though. I will answer anything she asks.
“Later we will be talking.”
I nod, letting her turn to the others. They all start talking as I only add bits and pieces here and there. When Jason comes back, Lyla attempts to move to another chair, but I refuse to let her. I lost my appetite anyway. I’d much rather spend this time with her in my lap.
By the time lunch is over, she takes off toward her class. I offered to walk her, but she said she wanted to walk alone and get her thoughts together. I respect her enough to not force myself on her.
As soon as she is out of sight, I turn to Jason. “What happened?”
Calvin and Kellan come to a stop to listen in.
“I don’t know. I saw him holding her hand, so I got closer. She didn’t want him touching her, so I stepped in. I didn’t hear what he said before I showed up, but he called her his girl. I wasn’t sure if I should step in or not, but she seemed grateful?” He rubs the back of his head.
“You did good,” I tell him. “This group is a family, which means anyone we call ours is part of that. Always protect the family.”
“I offered to take care of him, but she told me he wasn’t worth it,” Jason tells me.
“He’s not. It would do more harm to our careers than his non-existent one,” I growl.
“He has a scout coming to next week’s game,” Kellan adds.
“How do you even know that?” I ask.
“You’ve got your girl to worry about, which means I get to stalk the dumbass ex. Protect the family, remember.”
“We sound like a mafia,” Calvin jokes.
“Don’t say that too loud. The Mafia is real. Last thing we need is the Catalinis or Westies out for our blood,” Kellan says sternly.
“Back to the issue at hand. Do you know which recruiter will be there?” I ask.
“Not exactly, but they are from Seattle.”
I smirk at them. “That’s good news, boys.”
“Why is that?” Calvin asks.
“I don’t talk much about myself, but I have a cousin who lives in Seattle. Actually, she works for Seattle, and guess what she does?” I look over to Kellan.
“I have no idea, man.”
“She recruits. If it’s not her that’s coming, I’m sure it is someone who works for her. I’ll give her a call. Maybe see if she wants to cancel. After all, they need good people on their team, and Kyle would be a waste.”
The guys all smile big.
“Diabolical. What would you have done if it wasn’t that team?” Jason asks.
“I have more money than sense. I’d have donated money to the team in exchange for them passing by this recruit.”
Calvin snorts while Jason looks at me like I’m a god.
Kellan pats me on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you in love, man. You deserve it. We better get going, though. If we are late for class, Coach will add extra suicides, and that is not on my bingo card today.”
I nod. “Mine either. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
As we disperse, I pull out my phone and look up my cousin.
“Well, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure, little cousin?”
“Hey, Reagan. I heard someone might be coming to scout at Walker.”
She laughs. “Stalking me now?”
“Just thought I should tell you that it would be a waste of time. The quarterback is a piece of shit,” I tell her.
Reagan hums. “Understood. How about I come and have lunch with you? Let the guy think he has a chance before we crush his dreams.”
An idea forms in my head. “Sure. I’ll bring my girlfriend along.”
“I look forward to meeting her. See you next week.”
I hang up the phone feeling like Kyle might just learn to regret the shit he does.