Jock Blocked

“No, just getting annoyed with everyone texting me about the party coming up.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have any knowledge of that.”

I never got invited to parties, which was probably a good thing because I’d be completely out of place anyways.

I didn’t say anything, but I could feel Cannon watching me. I looked up from my lap and he smiled, pushing his shoulder gently against mine now.

“Well, you’re not missing anything,” he said but I knew he was lying.

“You’re a horrible liar, Cannon.”

His smile widened and he shook his head. “No, I mean it. The parties that I’ve gone to have sucked. You know why?”

I stared into his blue eyes and shook my head.

“They sucked because you weren’t there.”

I felt my cheeks heat. Yeah, he’d asked me to go with him every time, but the truth was, I felt out of place, uncomfortable. Even if I wanted to hang out with him, going to one of those drunken, sloppy high school parties didn’t really seem like something I’d want to do.

Right?

Yeah. Right.

So I declined every time, but I did wonder what he was doing, how many girls had been hitting on him … how many girls he’d been with.

Although that was none of my business. But I couldn’t help the thoughts that came to mind. They played like this uncomfortable movie on repeat, over and over again. I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts.

His cell chimed with a text and we both glanced behind us. I narrowed my eyes when I saw it was from Rachel.

I faced forward just as he went to pick it up. I could hear him texting hear, the little click, click, click that settled in my stomach like this heavy rock.

Maybe I wouldn’t feel this way if he wasn’t hanging out with such a bitch. But a part of me thought that I might still feel like this, that it didn’t matter who it was. If Cannon was hanging out with any girl, I’d probably be sour about it.

I guess I just had expectations of who he should be with, and so far the girls I’d seen him hanging around weren’t good enough.

“It’ll make you happy to know that I told Rachel I wasn’t really into hanging out with her anymore.”

I sat up straight and looked over at him. “You did? Like, right now?” He nodded and tossed the phone back on the bed.

“Yeah, she’s been texting me all night about this party after I told her I was studying with you.”

I placed my hands flat on the mattress behind me and leaned back a little. “I’m glad you finally realized how obnoxious she is.” He stared at me for long moments, this strange expression on his face.

“Well, when she started talking shit about you, I knew that was it. I don’t want that bullshit in my life.”

I wasn’t even fazed that she’d been talking shit about me. The side-eyed glares she gave me daily told me she wasn’t very fond of me. Well, it was mutual.

“Anyone who says anything bad about you is not somebody I want to be associated with.”

I smiled and felt my cheeks become hotter. I really did love how protective he was of me.

“If she’d been a guy saying things about you, I would have kicked their ass.”

I felt so flustered all of a sudden. I straightened again and reached for my bag, needing something to do because the way he watched me made me feel all kinds of things I probably shouldn’t. Clearing my throat as I grabbed several books out of my backpack, I set them between us and shifted on the mattress so I could face him.

“I hope you’re ready to study?”

He stared at me for a prolonged moment before finally falling back on the bed and exhaling. His T-shirt rode up a little bit, showing me a swatch of his golden abdomen, the defined abs underneath the material visible and in stark display.

I licked my lips and looked away, staring at the boring as hell textbooks between us.

“Gonna be honest, I don’t want to study, but I know I need to. No way in hell I’m going to be benched because of failing a fucking class.”

I glanced up again. “Could be worse. You could’ve gotten kicked off the team for flunking.”

He rubbed his hand over his eyes and groaned. “Yeah, but they’re not gonna kick me off the team. They need me too damn much. Coach has been on my ass to bring my grade up, even telling me about all this extra tutoring he wants to set up. I finally told him you’re helping me and that things will be fine.” He pushed himself up and looked at the books.

“Wow, that’s a lot of pressure for a girl like me.” I chuckled awkwardly. “But you’re really smart, Cannon. You’ll pass the class no problem.”