3. Kirin #3
Kirin opened up the current week and added his chicken scratch alongside where she wrote his last name and the class name with a simple “project.” He put his name, email, and phone number.
Then, when he noticed she broke down her notes by class, he added the class below his information and drew a little box around it.
“If you want to send me some ideas, I added my email so we can compare notes and send each other articles.” He handed back the planner. “My phone number is also there if you need to adjust our meeting time.”
“Okay.” She tucked it into her backpack and dropped the pen back into the same pencil case with the little soccer balls on it. He smiled at it again. “St. James Sweets, tomorrow at nine thirty. I’ll send you some options before.”
She looked up at him and nodded as if this was some planned business meeting before she left.
And much like the fool he’d proven he was around this woman, he watched her go without a word.
He needed to make Laurel okay with this.
Not that she had an option, but her opinions could be loud and annoying.
There was a way to keep her mouth shut about it, and preventing her from making Rose’s life hell would be a bonus. He just had to figure out what it was.
“You could have told me Nadae was obsessed with interpersonal relationships,” Kirin said through clenched teeth as he worked out in the weight room. Leon stood by his head acting as spotter, his hands ready and waiting if the need arose.
They’d run through about seventy percent of the gauntlet, with a few more presses on the bench and then the leg press waiting for them, before they turned around and hyped everyone up.
But seventy percent meant everyone was in their own bubbles.
It allowed for the safe space he needed to bring up the shit coming his way with Leon while they were both in a working mindset.
There was a direct correlation between the part of the semester they were in and the energy in the weight room.
By Halloween, a lot of them would suffer fatigue.
The boisterous energy that was pulsing through the training room now would start waning.
Their honeymoon period of the year was upon them.
The freshmen players were still like puppies, bouncing around and excited to prove themselves, while his fellow seniors were more determined than ever to get this season knocked out.
His best friend had the audacity to smirk down at him, pale blue eyes widening. “You didn’t catch on that my project was all about working together for a greater goal?”
“No?” Kirin groaned. Shit, Leon had a point.
Leon chuckled. “You could withdraw.”
Kirin’s choked laugh sounded more like a wheeze and a groan as he pushed through four more press-ups before Leon helped him put the bar back in place.
“You realize we’re seniors, right? I need to pass my humanities to graduate.” Kirin scrubbed a hand over his face. “Besides, this is the one they recommend for athletes. The curriculum is supposed to help prepare us for social media scrutiny by allowing us to analyze what drives people.”
“I doubt that was the previous professor’s goal, but if you stick it out with Nadae, then maybe you’ll learn something.” Leon smacked his shoulder. “How bad could it be?”
“Did you forget that almost thirty percent of the grade hinges on a project with an assigned partner?” Kirin asked as he trudged toward the leg press.
As they moved across the room, Leon clapped his hands, getting the team hyped. Just like every captain did for their groups, Leon was an equal opportunity hype man and liked to focus on the entire team instead of just his offensive line.
The freshmen were wide-eyed, a drastic difference from the veterans who had their heads down, getting to work and grunting their agreement when Leon got close.
They’d all heard the speeches from Leon and from Coach.
The famous “How you start is how you end” speech was one Kirin could probably quote in his sleep.
“You get stuck with a dud?” Leon asked as he took his seat at the leg press, his easygoing smile slipping.
“I know we agreed to finish strong, and you’re all about focusing on the game this semester, but you can’t put all the work in for a project this weighty.
If you think you’ll be doing all the work, you need to withdraw and roll the dice next semester when you have more time. ”
“I doubt this chick is going to be a dud.” Kirin scratched his temple, remembering the insane level of organization in Rose’s backpack. If she let him do ten percent of the work, it would be a surprise. “She had her backpack organized like a fucking filing cabinet.”
“She?” Leon eyed him. “What’s up with us being stuck with overly organized women? She opinionated too, or is that just mine?”
“Maybe it’s the class. What class has you with a type A?”
“One of my marketing electives; she’s more opinionated than should be possible.”
“Should I be asking if she’s going to be a problem for you?” Kirin asked.
Leon looked affronted. “I can handle the pipsqueak.”
That had Kirin’s brows lifting, especially when a wry smile tilted Leon’s lips. But then Leon continued his leg presses, his attention on his feet. “Anyway, how big of a pain in the ass is your partner going to be?”
“You remember the girl I mentioned after the party Saturday?” Kirin kept his voice low, but Leon’s gaze snapped up.
He said nothing until he relaxed again, his voice equally low when he asked, “Miss Add-To-Your-Tally?”
“That’s the one.” He grimaced. “You remember the girl who broke Laurel’s nose last year?”
Leon laughed, “Oh, shit.”
“I know,” he sighed.
“So that’s who transferred from Westmont.” Leon laughed again. “No wonder the girls’ team was so bitchy and drunk.”
Leon pointed a finger at him. “That’s going to be an issue.”
They fell into silence as Leon grunted and breathed through his set, moving off the machine so Kirin could take his spot. They worked another few pushes in silence before Leon leaned forward and asked, “Is she hotter in daylight?”
“Unfairly so,” Kirin murmured, and Leon nodded like it made complete sense, letting the silence lapse again until he took a break.
Leon pulled his phone out. “Name?”
“Rose Aldrich-St. James,” Kirin said automatically before he looked over. “Why?”
But his best friend was busy tapping on his phone. The low whistle he let out and raised eyebrows had Kirin tensing. “Damn, Callaghan, this one might be beyond your reach.”
“Watch it,” Kirin grunted out, his body tensing at the thought of Leon looking at Rose.
He shoved it aside, shaking his head when Leon leaned forward with a quirked brow, the silent question hanging between them.
When he didn’t answer, Leon snickered. “But she has tagged posts with that douche, Preston Goodwin, so you might have a chance because she has poor taste in men.”
“Ass,” Kirin grunted out as Leon snickered again.
His mind was already running with this little nugget of information.
Preston Goodwin? He frowned, breathing through another few presses. The Westmont quarterback was the very definition of an entitled asshole. That didn’t bode well for him, especially if she was taken. He wasn’t about to go after another guy’s girl, even if said guy was Goodwin.
Goodwin was the very image of “golden boy” down to the perpetual tan and blond hair.
Though if they weren’t together anymore, maybe that meant lousy wasn’t her type anymore.
He couldn’t imagine Preston Goodwin being on board with his girlfriend transferring to his chief rival.
He certainly wouldn’t be thrilled about her attending Westmont if their roles were reversed.
And he didn’t have Preston’s short temper.
That thought snagged on Rose’s response to being “manhandled.” Had Preston manhandled her?
He’d seen him get physical on the field when he was upset over the smallest things.
He took a long breath, not liking where that train of thought was going.
And liking even less how his whole body tensed with every second he let that train run wild.
“But seriously,” Leon said, derailing his thoughts. “This girl doesn’t do casual.”
“I could do serious,” Kirin objected as he climbed out of the machine and tried not to be offended when Leon laughed.