Chapter 18 #3
Jalen lifts both hands.
“We respect distinctions.”
“Smart.”
Noah shifts on the couch.
“You're just in time. Movie night.”
I look toward the television.
“Great. What are we watching?”
Kane turns toward me.
I ignore him.
There’s an open space between Noah and Eli.
I walk straight over.
Sit.
Settle back.
Both men glance at each other over my head.
Then grin.
Kane remains standing near the doorway.
Holding both my bags.
His mouth is slightly open.
I smile sweetly.
“Oh, yeah. You can put my bags away for me, honey.”
Dead silence.
Then—
“YO.”
Jalen slaps the floor.
“She called him honey.”
Noah looks like he might fall off the couch.
“Bro.”
Eli points at Kane.
“Your face.”
Kane’s ears are turning red.
Actually red.
I bite the inside of my cheek.
He stares at me for several seconds.
Then nods.
“Yeah.”
He lifts my bag higher.
“I kind of like it, Snookums.”
“No.”
Laughter explodes.
“Absolutely not.”
I throw another Twizzler.
Kane catches this one.
“Snookums stays.”
“No, it does not.”
“Baby?”
I consider.
“Better than Bookworm.”
His face changes.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“You’ll accept baby?”
“I said it ranks higher than Bookworm. Very low bar.”
He points at me.
“Then don’t call me honey.”
“Okay, boo.”
The room detonates.
Eli folds forward.
Noah pounds one hand against the couch.
Jalen shouts, “SHE CALLED HIM HER BOO.”
“I did not say my boo.”
Kane grins.
“You implied ownership.”
“I implied nothing.”
“Sounds possessive.”
“Take my bags upstairs.”
“Yes, boo.”
I cover my face.
This was a mistake.
A hilarious mistake.
But still.
Kane disappears toward his room while the guys immediately begin interrogating me.
“What did you guys do?”
“Did Haverhill pick the restaurant?”
“Did he talk about basketball?”
“Did he make you watch film?”
“Did she make him watch film?”
I hold up both hands.
“One at a time.”
Noah points at me.
“Did he behave?”
I glance toward the hallway.
“Yes.”
That quiets them more than I expect.
Eli’s grin softens.
“Good.”
Something in the simple response catches me.
These guys tease him relentlessly.
Still, they care.
“He took me to an open mic at a bookstore.”
Every face turns toward the hallway.
Jalen looks stunned.
“Haverhill?”
“Yes.”
“A bookstore?”
“Yes.”
“With books?”
I stare at him.
“No. The other kind.”
Noah starts laughing.
Eli shakes his head.
“Our boy is gone.”
“He is not gone.”
“He voluntarily attended poetry.”
“There was sourdough.”
That only creates more questions.
Kane returns before I can explain Kevin.
No bags.
He stops in front of the couch.
“Move.”
Noah looks up.
“No.”
Kane stares at him.
“You’re in my spot.”
“You don’t have a spot.”
“I do tonight.”
Eli casually stretches one arm behind me along the couch.
Noah sees what he’s doing and copies him from the other side.
Suddenly I’m sitting between two basketball players with an arm behind each shoulder.
Kane’s eyes narrow.
“Both of you.”
“What?” Eli asks.
“Move.”
I lean back.
“No, I mean, I’m just bonding with your roommates, babe.”
Kane’s jaw drops.
The room loses its mind again.
“BABE.”
Noah points wildly.
“She upgraded.”
“First honey, then boo, now babe.”
Kane folds his arms.
“You enjoying yourself?”
“Immensely.”
“Clearly.”
I look at Eli.
Then Noah.
Both are fighting laughter.
“Okay, guys.”
I pat their knees.
“You gotta move.”
Noah sighs dramatically.
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
I look at Kane.
“Make room for my man over here.”
Chaos.
Absolute chaos.
Jalen gets to his feet.
“HER MAN.”
“After one date?”
“Kane Haverhill got locked down at a bookstore.”
“Somebody check on Krista.”
Kane’s grin is so smug now I want to take it back.
I point at all of them.
“Calm yourselves.”
“You said my man,” Eli says.
“It was contextual.”
“Sounded definitive.”
“Fine.”
I scoot sideways as Noah and Eli finally move.
Kane sits beside me.
Immediately.
His thigh presses against mine.
His arm goes along the back of the couch.
Unlike the guys, he doesn’t touch me.
Just leaves the space open.
I settle into it on purpose.
That shuts him up.
Briefly.
He looks down at me.
I look toward the television.
“So what are we watching?”
Noah reaches for the remote.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Why?”
“Jalen picked.”
Jalen looks offended.
“It has a ninety-two percent audience score.”
“That means nothing,” Eli says.
I point at the screen.
“Play it.”
Kane leans close.
“You sure you’re staying for this?”
I look at him.
“At your place?”
“Yes.”
“All weekend?”
His expression changes.
I smile.
“We’re having a date-a-thon.”
The room quiets.
Noah looks over.
“A what?”
“A date-a-thon.”
Eli frowns.
“That a thing?”
“It is now.”
I tuck one leg beneath myself.
“All-weekend date.”
Jalen looks between Kane and me.
“You’ve done this before?”
“Nope.”
I turn toward Kane.
“Have you?”
“No.”
“Perfect.”
I look back at them.
“Neither have we. It’s our first one.”
Kane’s smile starts slowly.
Warm.
Private.
Ridiculously happy.
I point toward the television before my chest does something embarrassing.
“What are we watching?”
Noah presses play.
Kane settles beside me.
His arm finally drops from the couch to my shoulders.
Easy.
Natural.
I lean into him.
Nobody comments.
For approximately four seconds.
Then Eli looks over.
“Yo.”
Kane groans.
“What now?”
“You two are disgustingly cute.”
I reach into the Twizzler bag.
“Want one?”
“Yes.”
I hand him one.
Noah holds out his hand.
Jalen does too.
Within thirty seconds, my emergency supply has become communal property.
Kane looks inside the rapidly emptying bag.
“You're feeding them now?”
“They welcomed me.”
“They stole my seat.”
“They gave it back.”
“After you called me your man.”
I tilt my head.
“Would you prefer Snookums?”
His arm tightens around me.
“Keep talking.”
A little thrill runs through me.
I face the movie before he catches it.
The room dims.
Everybody settles.
And something strange happens.
I relax.
Completely.
Kane’s thumb moves slowly against my shoulder.
Noah throws popcorn at the screen during a bad decision.
Eli argues that the villain’s plan makes no logistical sense.
Jalen keeps insisting everyone wait because the movie explains it later.
I sit in the middle of Stanford basketball’s inner circle wearing Kane’s oversized hoodie, sharing Twizzlers with men half the campus treats like royalty.
And they’re treating me like I’m the interesting one.
Not because I can help Kane’s game.
Not because my father knows coaches.
Not because I can fix anybody’s paper.
They just seem happy I’m here.
I glance up at Kane.
He’s already looking at me.
Again.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Watching me.”
His mouth curves.
“I like seeing you in my world.”
The words land softly.
I look around.
His roommates.
His hoodie.
My hand resting against his thigh.
Then back at him.
For once, being inside an athlete’s world doesn’t feel like disappearing into it.
Maybe because Kane keeps making room for mine.
I settle closer.
“Don’t get sentimental, Haverhill.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
I steal a piece of popcorn from his bowl.
“You're making breakfast tomorrow.”
He looks down at me.
“You staying long enough for breakfast?”
I smile at the television.
“Keep up, babe.”
The room erupts all over again.
The credits start rolling at twelve forty-seven.
Noah is the first to move.
He groans like someone twice his age and stretches both arms over his head.
“Five-thirty lift.”
Eli checks his phone.
“Why would you say that out loud?”
“Because suffering shared is suffering reduced.”
“That isn’t how suffering works.”
Jalen pushes himself off the floor.
“I have treatment at six.”
Noah points toward him. “See? Worse.”
“Not a competition.”
“Everything is a competition.”
One by one, the room begins to break apart.
Bowls carried toward the kitchen.
Blankets tossed over couch backs.
Arguments over who left a protein shaker beneath the coffee table.
Normal.
Easy.
Until Eli disappears down the hall.
Then Noah.
Then Jalen.
And suddenly there’s one fact left sitting in the middle of the room with me.
I’m spending the night.
With Kane.
In his bedroom.
The comfortable warmth I’ve been floating inside develops edges.
Kane collects empty glasses from the coffee table without looking at me.
Maybe he feels it too.
Good.
I refuse to be the only person having a minor internal emergency.
Noah appears again carrying his phone charger.
“Night, Bookworm.”
“Night.”
“Don’t let Haverhill talk in his sleep.”
Kane looks over. “I don’t talk in my sleep.”
Eli calls from somewhere down the hallway.
“You absolutely do.”
“What do I say?”
“No idea. I put headphones on.”
I laugh.
That helps.
A little.
I stand.
Every guy still within hearing distance looks toward me.
Apparently my movement has become an event.
Fine.
Take the bull by the horns.
“Good night, gentlemen.”
Noah stops.
I point toward the hallway.
“And try not to be too loud when you leave in the morning. Some of us are sleeping in.”
His eyebrows climb.
Jalen slowly grins.
“Some of us?”
“Yes.”
I smooth Kane’s oversized hoodie over my pajama pants.
“And if you behave yourselves, I might make waffles.”
Silence.
Eli reappears.
“Waffles?”
“Maybe.”
“With what?”
I lift my chin.
“A waffle maker.”
Kane stares at me.
“You brought a waffle maker?”
“It was under my bed.”
“You packed it tonight?”
“I was planning ahead.”
Noah presses one hand to his chest.
“Chocolate chips?”
I look at him.
“What kind of amateur do you think I am?”
The room erupts.
Eli grabs Kane by both shoulders.
“Bro.”
“Get off me.”
“You upgraded.”
Kane shoves him away.
Eli points dramatically toward me.
“This is the best girl you have ever brought home.”
I smile sweetly.
“I’d like that entered into the official record.”
“Motion carried,” Noah says.
“Unanimous,” Jalen adds.
Kane looks at me.
“You realize they’ll expect waffles now.”
“I said maybe.”
“You don’t understand athletes and carbohydrates.”
“I coach thirteen-year-old boys. I understand food-based manipulation.”
Noah nods solemnly.
“She knows us.”
I grab my toiletry bag.
“I’m brushing my teeth.”
Then I look at Kane.
“Don’t be too long.”
Noise explodes behind me.
Actual hooting.
I turn around.
“Oh, settle down.”
That makes it worse.
“It’s our first date.”