Most Desirable Player (Face-Off Legacy/Campus Kings 7)

After the class ends, I rush out the door and drag him along.

“I could kill you!” I yell, garnering a few stares from people passing by us on the street, which forces me to walk faster and with more purpose. “What were you thinking, Julian? What if someone saw what you were doing?”

Julian reaches for my hand. As he laces his fingers between mine, I fight the urge to scold him further.

“I couldn’t help myself. I had to touch you. So, I did. If you were wearing a skirt, I would have shoved my fingers in your tight pussy and made you come for me in front of everyone.”

“Julian,” I hiss. “Keep talking like that, and we won’t make it to breakfast.”

“I would rather eat you for breakfast,” he says with a wink.

Be still heart.

“While that’s tempting, I need to eat. My stomach has been growling for the last hour.”

Once we reach the SAC, Julian leads me upstairs to the cafeteria with his fingers intertwined with mine. Seconds after my feet hit the top landing, he tightens his grip on my hand and steers me away from incoming traffic.

Julian stops at the entrance of the cafeteria. “What do you want?”

I shrug. “Whatever.”

“No, really, what do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.”

“A burger, I guess.”

I walk alongside Julian as he slides our tray down the metal rail, picking up food from the buffet as we pass. After he pays, we head toward the table by the window crowded by some of his teammates and a few girls I recognize. The busty blonde sitting next to Ryan Nash is the same girl that caused my breakup with Julian years ago—Abby Gale.

My nostrils flare. “What is she doing here?”

He cocks his head at me, confused. “Who?”

“Abby. You can’t expect me to eat with her.”

Julian sighs as we approach the table, and I can see he’s holding his breath the closer we get.

We sit across from a player I don’t know by name and a girl who’s wearing a pink and white sorority shirt. Thankfully, Julian knew better than the force me to sit anywhere near Abby. At this point, hasn’t she been through the entire team? She made tons of passes at Julian when we were together, and she’s remained a staple in the sports community.

Dirty bitch.

I want to leave the cafeteria and never look back. This was a mistake. I knew his friends would be here, but I wasn’t expecting to see her.

We’re greeted with an awkward silence that chills me to the bone. Everyone is staring at us, their conversations coming to a halt as their heads snap in our direction. I feel the urge to run. That’s what I do when I’m scared. It’s my defense mechanism. My caseworker had labeled me a Runner and would tell all of my new foster parents that they had to keep an eye on me.

Julian’s presence alone could silence a room, but this is a whole new level of weird. It took me months to get used to this when we were dating. But now, we’re nothing to each other. Just two exes who happened to make out in the shower and sleep next to each other this weekend. No biggie. It didn’t mean anything.

Two pretty blondes shoot wicked looks in my direction. Even from a distance, I can feel their cold, hardened gazes. They both look me over as if they’re still deciding if they want to physically remove me from their table. I hate dealing with bitchy rich girls. They’re the worst.

Julian sets a tray between us to share. When the girls’ gazes shift to Julian, their faces light up. They ignore me, as expected, their eyes trained on Julian and every move he makes. Always the center of attention, Julian doesn’t seem to notice. He’s used to it, while I hate every second of being in the spotlight again. My nerves could never handle the popularity that came from dating Julian. He’s like a celebrity at Strickland University.

Julian scoots his chair closer to mine, the metal legs scraping against the tiled floor. Our thighs are almost touching, the heat from his body leeching into mine. And now, everyone is staring at us, as if they expect Julian to explain why he would bring me, of all people, to their precious jock table. I wish they would all fuck off and find someone else to bother. If Julian were some nerdy, average looking, middle-class boy, things would be different. But he’s not.

Julian doesn’t just hand me the burger. Nope, he peels back the paper for me and sets it in my hand like I’m incapable of performing a simple task. Not that I’m complaining. But it looks too intimate, too much like we’re together again. Like he’s babying me and singling me out. I try to ignore the heated stares pointed at me. My cheeks flush from all of the unwanted attention we’re getting. But when I look over at Julian, he’s smiling so hard my expression mirrors his. He’s not uncomfortable like me. No, he’s his usual cool, calm and collected self.

His smile must be contagious because I can’t stop myself once the corners of my mouth curl up.

“Eat,” he says under his breath, “you’ll need your strength for later.”

My mouth falls open in shock, and the sexy smirk he wears like a badge of honor returns to his handsome face. Why would he say something like that in public? I want to yell at him for being so forward around all of these onlookers, but he looks too cute to scold him for something so stupid.