Campus Player

It takes less than thirty seconds to close the distance between us. When he’s about five feet away, Rowan’s footsteps slow. He glances at Sydney before raising a tentative hand in my direction. Only now do I realize that he stopped because he’s unsure how to greet me in front of my teammates. He’s trying to do as I’ve asked. All of a sudden, I feel like a jerk for forcing him to keep our relationship a secret.

Three strides bring me to him, and I slide my arms around his neck. His brows shoot up when he realizes my intent. From my periphery, I catch Sydney’s reaction. Her mouth drops open, and her eyes pop wide. A choking sound escapes from her. Instead of admitting my attraction for Rowan, I’ve always gone out of my way to insist that I didn’t like him. It was as if by repeating it enough times, I could convince myself it was the truth. Clearly, that plan backfired. Sydney has never been able to understand my intense disdain for the quarterback. Little does she realize that I was lying to both of us.

As soon as his lips collide with mine, I open under the firm pressure. His tongue sweeps inside my mouth and tangles with my own. His arms band around me, pulling me close. I’ve never been one for PDA, but at the moment, I don’t give a damn who sees us together.

“Oh, my freaking god, you’re the dirty bitch!” Sydney screeches at a decibel that hurts my ears. “I think I’m losing my ever-loving mind!”

My lips tremble at the corners as I pull away enough to meet his gaze.

“Well, the cat is definitely out of the bag,” he murmurs with a grin. “There’s no going back now.”

A mixture of relief and giddiness flood through me.

“It’ll spread across campus like wildfire.” He pauses, carefully searching my eyes for remorse. “Are you ready for that?”

“Yeah, let them talk. I don’t care.” I have no idea when that changed, and I started feeling differently. All I know is that the shift has everything to do with Rowan. Instead of pushing me into a relationship I wasn’t ready for, he waited patiently and gave me the time I needed to get there on my own. And now that I have, I couldn’t be happier.

His mouth lingers over mine. “Good. Let them run their mouths. It’s all a bunch of white noise.”

Yes, that’s exactly what it is.

“Looks like it’s Rowan’s turn to take a ride on the coach’s daughter.”

Annica’s obnoxious voice is like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. And yet, it’s still not enough to douse the joy blooming to life inside me.

“Listen here, you little bi—” Sydney growls, taking a menacing step toward our auburn-haired teammate.

I break apart from Rowan in time to grab the back of my friend’s practice jersey and stop her from doing any damage. “Ignore her, Syd. She’s not worth it.”

Annica smirks as if this is yet another battle she’s won. I’m really tired of this girl’s antics. I refuse to let her ruin this for me.

“Actually,” my best friend says with a glower, “it would be entirely worth it.”

She scowls at Annica until the other girl and her buddies move it along. Only then does the rage filling her green eyes dissipate before they bounce speculatively from me to Rowan and then back again.

“Is this really happening?” She shakes her head as if she must be dreaming. “Someone needs to pinch me.” Before I can respond, she throws her arms wide. “How could you keep a juicy morsel like this from me?” She pauses long enough to draw in a sharp breath before firing off another question. “Exactly how long has this been going on for?”

Rowan tilts his head as if giving the question serious consideration. “Two weeks.”

“What!” Her brows skyrocket into her hairline, and I can almost see the wheels spinning in her head. “Wait a minute...last Thursday when I found you in the hallway and thought you were talking to someone...” she straightens to her full height and drills a painful finger into my chest. “I knew it! I knew someone was there! My Spidey senses were tingling like crazy, and you totally lied to me!”

I wince as guilt creeps in at the edges.

Rowan wraps his arm around my shoulders and tugs me close before dropping a light kiss against the top of my head. “Don’t be too hard on her. She needed a little time before we went public with this.”

Unmoved by the comment, Sydney folds her arms and glares. “I’m not one of these loudmouth assholes on campus.” She presses a hand to her chest. “I’m your best friend. I’ve always been there for you.” She stabs a finger toward the locker room. “I have zero problem kicking any of their asses if I have to.”