Dare You to Hate Me

A slow smirk stretches across my face, and I won’t lie when I say the next words out of my mouth make me cringe a little. “Everybody gets a turn with you, huh?”

Even my teammate winces at that.

Ivy clicks her tongue and turns back around, closing her notebook, then the textbook in front of her. “I think it’s time I left. I have a busy night of fucking the entire campus, so I need to get an early start.”

DJ tries stopping her. “Iv—”

“Bye,” she says, cutting him off, collecting her things and walking out the door without a look in my direction. I hear Caleb tell her goodbye and a muffled response in return.

I drop my head forward between my shoulders and heft out a sigh. “Don’t,” I warn the only other person in the room when the front door slams shut.

“Dude,” he says anyway.

“She pissed me off.”

“So you say that?”

“She was egging me on!”

“And she won,” he points out matter-of-factly, eyebrows raised. “Damn, Griff. Never seen you like that with anyone before. That was…something else. Kinda hurt to watch.”

I shake my head again and angrily finish making my sandwich, even if I’m not hungry anymore. “You don’t know shit about her or me, 81. I suggest you stop butting into my business for once.”

He catches on quickly. “There’s a ‘her and me’ suddenly? Didn’t seem that way to me. It’d make sense why you’ve been in such a mood lately, I guess.” I cut him a look, causing him to raise his hands in surrender. “Fine. All I’m saying is that you owe her an apology. Might get you out of the doghouse if you ever want to act on that little proclamation.”

Do I? I put all the ingredients back into the fridge and pick up my sandwich. “And you’re an expert on pissing women off, I suppose.”

He grins at me. “Voted most likely to get divorced by the time I’m twenty-five. My mom was so proud.”

Sarcastic douche. “I’ll be downstairs. Tell everyone not to bother me.”

He chuckles as I start walking out of the room. “Going to jerk your frustrations out of you? Good luck with that!”

I flip him off and jog down the stairs.

He’s right about one thing.

I need to apologize to Chaos.

Matt Clearwater and DJ horse around in the athletic advisor’s office as she gathers paperwork for them. I smack them both upside the head as I pass by the chairs they occupy before dropping onto the small sofa off to the side. “Quit it. Rach doesn’t need your bullshit today.”

The woman in question is a twenty-something new addition to Lindon’s athletic department. Coach Pearce told HR he didn’t care who was hired as long as they could get the job done. And if for no other reason, the guys show up when Rachel Holloway sets a meeting because she’s petite, got big tits, and doesn’t take any of their crap.

“Thanks, Aiden,” she muses, passing the boys two separate pieces of paper. “But I’m used to it by now.”

DJ looks around Matt at me. “Yeah, lighten up. Not even Cap is this uptight about having a little fun.”

My lips flatten. “That’s because Justin is more focused on getting into med school than dealing with your dumb asses all the time.”

Our adviser stifles a laugh. “Matthew, you’re all set. Pick up that Spanish grade if you want to keep playing. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a wink, standing up and shoving DJ one last time. “And consider that one-on-one tutoring. I’d love all the help I can get.”

I’m trying to hold back from rolling my eyes at his cheesy line when I notice Rachel’s cheeks tinting red. She tries hiding it, but unlike the two idiots who high five over the remark, I’m paying attention. Rachel moves a piece of hair behind her ear and looks at Matt through her lashes like she’s considering it.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Matt and DJ work well together on the field because they’re basically the same person. Dedicated wide receivers, but easily distracted when it comes to women. And the last thing Clearwater needs is to get involved with the damn adviser because he’s got loose lips about his conquests.