Chapter 21
Noah
“Coach Hembry said I didn’t need to worry?”
Dante looked between Dustin and me, and he looked pissed off. I knew Dustin was also pissed off, but more so at me because I don’t think he wanted Dante to know.
I wasn’t built for that shit. There was enough backstabbing going on as it was. I didn’t need to add to it.
“That’s what he said.” I ate a slice of pizza.
“Your idea to lift our social media presence is having more and more merit, every day.”
I saw Dustin’s flat stare, and I felt a twinge of regret.
“I think the whole team focusing on it, as well as us, has merit,” I argued.
“Yeah.” Dante looked at Dustin. “Thoughts?”
Dustin cleared his throat. “I asked Hadley to help me with mine. Moore does so well with the relationship angle for his, I thought, why not?”
“And it would have more traction with you,” I said around my next mouthful. “Given your new status.”
He nodded but didn’t make eye contact.
Dante looked down at his chicken salad. “Why are there mangoes in the chicken salad?”
“Same reason there’s pineapple on pizza. It’s an excuse to make you eat fruit.”
Dustin snorted. “Pineapple on pizza is not about fruit. Tomatoes are fruit; they’re on pizza. Pineapple on pizza is just a sin against pizza.”
“I didn’t say I liked it,” I protested. “I don’t know anyone who eats it.”
“Quinn,” Dustin spoke with his mouth full of his dinner. “The mean girl from Cardinal,” he added for clarification. “She likes pineapple on pizza.”
“And I rest my case for the Santos and their fans being weird,” Dante muttered.
I thought about it. “I see her liking it actually.” I looked up at Dustin. “She has a particular taste. It fits.”
“I’ll tell Gray next time I talk to him that you think he’s an acquired taste.”
“Particular taste.”
“Why does anyone need to talk to Gray?” Dante mumbled.
“Next season we’re bound to see him on the field,” Dustin reminded him.
“Yay.”
I hid my grin around my next bite.
“What were we talking about before that?” Dante asked, changing the subject.
“Profiles.”
He sat back in his seat. “Right. I don’t think Hembry is correct. I think after my recent run-in with our coaching staff, I’m the least likely person to be termed ‘safe.’”
“It’s what he said,” Dustin put his fork down. “And let’s face it, it’s always the quarterback who gets the attention.”
“Bullshit.”
I wasn’t getting involved. It was the age-old argument: one man did not make a team. Easy to say it didn’t when you were the man, but I also didn’t believe it. A team made a team.
Dante was frowning at whatever Dustin had just said, and I’d tuned them out, so I’d missed it.
“You weren’t going to tell me where you were?”
“I—”
Dante leaned forward. “You weren’t going to tell me!”
For fuck’s sake.
“Of course he was,” I cut off whatever Dustin was going to say. “We just hadn’t had time.”
“I’ve been with you all day.”
Dustin pushed his plate away. “And we haven’t been alone, until now. Have we?” He challenged.
“Oh.” Dante sat back. “I need something sweet. Who wants anything sweet?” We both said no, and he walked back to the food counter.
Dustin watched him walk away. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“I wasn’t going to tell him.”
“I know.” I finished my pizza.
“Why did you tell him?”
“Because we’ve enough shit to handle without secrets between us.”
Dustin grinned. “You sound like an adult.”
“We are adults.”
“Not yet, I still can’t legally drink.”
“My mistake.” I finished my water and turned to look at him. “You really weren’t going to mention it?”
Dustin rolled his head on his shoulders. “I want to say I was . . .”
“Dust . . . this involves all of us, every man for himself isn’t who we are. Is it?”
He looked down at his plate and back up. “No.” He gave a heavy sigh. “Fuck no. Shit.” He looked over to where Dante was talking to one of the other offensive linemen. “Do I need to confess?”
“Fuck no. Just never mention it.”
“It’s this place,” he grumbled. “It makes your thinking warped.”
“Yeah.”
Dante was walking back to us, and I was done. When he sat down, a chocolate chip cookie in his napkin, I pushed my seat back.
“I’m out. Got a call to make.”
“Tate okay?” Dustin asked, looking up.
Dustin had shown an interest since I’d told him about my brother. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll let you know if I need those miles.”
“Huh?” Dante looked between the two of us.
“You can tell him,” I allowed as I pushed my chair in. “Catch you later.”
I headed out of the cafeteria. Their bromance was suffocating at times, and at other times, I envied them.
I was already dialing her number. She answered on the third ring.
“What now?”
Her greeting made me smile. “Hello to you too. I wanted to know how it went with getting the car. I didn’t see you today on the field.”
There was silence.
“Briar?”
“Fuck.”
“You forgot to go get the car?” I held back my laugh.
“Fuckity fuck.”
“No one called you?” I asked her as I came to a stop. “From the assistance company?”
“I had a missed call from an unknown number . . .”
I waited, and when she didn’t say anything else, I started walking again. “You need to find out if they picked it up and where they took it.”
“Ugh, why didn’t they call Mason?”
“Because it’s your car?”
“Not helpful, Matthews.”
“Do you know the number to call?” I asked hesitantly. Dealing with Briar was a lot like dealing with Tate in some ways. No common sense.
“Yes.” She sniffed. “No?”
I shook my head in despair. “I have half an hour before class, where are you?”
“I’m at work.” I heard her moving. “I can meet you?” She could
“Great. Where?”
“Um . . .”
And there was the issue. Where could either of us go and not have a chance of being seen?
“Library?” I offered.
“God no. I’ve spent enough time in a library.”
Right.
I heard a door closing. “Where are you?”
“Between the athletics building and the quad.”
“Stay there, I’ll come to you.”
“In the open?” I asked her, hearing my own doubt.
“You asked me to help with your social media, but I can’t do that if I’m sitting somewhere else. While I’m there, you can help me find my car.”
Which was perfectly reasonable. There was no reason why she and I couldn’t be seen together outside of the stadium. No one had any reason to doubt that there wasn’t a perfectly reasonable explanation for us being together. I asked her to help me with social media. She said yes.
It was so innocent and reasonable. It was only my own dark thoughts that were making it weird.
“See you soon, then.”
I walked to the quad, and when I got there, I looked around for a good spot to take a picture. I felt stupid. Was this what Moore did? He looked for ‘prime spots.’ What a waste of time.
“You look constipated.”
I turned to her, and she snapped a picture. She looked down at her camera. “If clueless was the look you were going for, you achieved it.” Briar showed me the picture, and I felt a flicker of amusement.
“You’re not a nice person.”
She grinned. “At last, recognition.”
She pointed to one of the steps beside the monument of William Wrighton, founder of the college.
“Go sit on the steps and look at your phone.”
“Why?”
She rolled her eyes. “So we can get ‘pensive Noah.’”
I walked over to the steps. “Why do I need to be pensive?”
“Just shut up and do it.”
“Bossy for someone so small.”
She heard my grumbling. “Not bossy. Leadership skills.”
“Hmm, is that what they call it?”
I pulled out my phone and looked at the blank screen. I felt like an idiot. When I looked up, she was staring at her camera.
I got up and walked over.
“We done?”
Briar looked up at me and then at the step. “Did I say you could move?” She pointed behind me to the steps. “Back. Sit. Look moody.”
“I changed my mind, you’re fired.”
“Too bad, you have me now,” she smiled sweetly and snapped a picture.
“I have you, do I?”
“Shut up.” She hid behind her camera again and took another picture. “Look at the phone. Be pensive!”
“I don’t even know what that’s supposed to look like.”
Five torturous minutes later, I was allowed up. Briar showed me her images, and I had to admit there were some good ones.
“Huh.”
“Now me.” She handed me her phone. “That’s the number that called me. When I called it back, no one answered.”
I ignored the number. “Who are you with?” She stared at me blankly. “You are not doing women the world over any favors with your complete blankness on car knowledge.”
“What?”
“You’re fitting the stereotype well.”
“Screw you.” She took the phone from me, then handed it back. “Them.”
“Why didn’t you call that number?” I asked as I pressed dial. I looked up, and she shrugged. “Ohh-kay.”
They answered on the first ring.
“Hi, I’m calling about my girlfriend’s car. It was supposed to be looked at this morning in Halston, but she didn’t get there in time. Can you tell me if the car got moved?”
“Why am I your girlfriend?” she hissed beside me. “Why not your sister?”
“Shh.” I listened, pushing her away. “I need your registration.”
She told me, and I repeated it to the woman on the phone. I listened, rolled my eyes, winced, then said ‘thanks’ and hung up.
“So the good news is, they took your car to a garage, and it’s going to get fixed. The bad news is, you incurred a fee for not being there — they had to tow your car to the nearest garage. The worse news is, you need to pay the garage for fixing your car.”
“What?”
I nodded in sympathy. “Yeah . . . Not so good.”
“Did they say how much?”
“The roadside assistance company already took the ‘no-show’ payment. I think it was a straight one-fifty.”
She was already on her banking app. “Son of a bitch . . .”
She looked up at me. “How much does the garage cost?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Son of a bitch.” She kicked out at the lower step and flinched. “Ow.”
“The stone didn’t bend?”
“Fuck off.”
I tried not to laugh; she was hot when she was pissed.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Maybe.”
“Screw you.”
“Okay.”
“Ugh. Men.” She looked more pissed off than before. “Did they tell you which garage?”
“Yes. They also emailed you the information.” I decided to poke her some more. “They’re justifying that no-show fee, right?”
“I hate you.” Briar picked up her stuff. “I’m going back to work.”