Since he was wearing headphones, I assumed his teammates couldn’t hear a thing I said. So while he had to sound all lovey-dovey, I could speak freely.
Eden didn’t bother to respond or even show any sign of acknowledgment.
I looked away for a solid second, and when my eyes were back on the screen, he was holding a bag of chips in his hands, opening it quietly. “Most of the guys are asleep, so I have to be quiet,” he explained when I looked at him a bit puzzled. “They wouldn’t be mad if I woke them up, but they’d steal my food,” he added before shoving a handful into his mouth.
“Shouldn’t you be eating something healthier before a game?” I asked, genuinely curious.
I always kind of had this image in my head that athletes ate nothing but protein bars and made themselves some protein shakes for almost every meal. And maybe chicken and rice or something like that.Lotsof vegetables.
Though, Eden specifically, I thought he wouldn’t eat anything but great, healthy home-cooked meals. Didn’t he growup with a chef as a dad? And Eden kept insisting on how well he could cook.
I’d been spending so many evenings with this guy, and yet I’d never actually seen him eat anything. Should I have been concerned about that?
“Nah, I’m on a bus, baby. Bus-time means it’s snack-time.” He grinned as he reached his hand back into the bag of chips. “Plus, I already had a healthy breakfast this morning. Eggs, avocado toast, the whole deal.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously? Didn’t you wake up at like… five? Also, stop calling mebaby. I’m not your baby.”
He shook his head at me, smiling brightly. “At three, actually. I wanted to shower before leaving the house and make breakfast.”
Guess he was going to ignore the second half.
Either way, I made a mental note to never ask Eden about his morning habits ever again. 3:00 a.m. was definitely time for sleeping, not showering and making breakfast. Even if he had to leave at six,Iwould’ve slept until five-fifty, then rushed to get ready and skipped breakfast altogether.
Since I wanted to leave the morning talk in the past, and I definitely didn’t want to hear any more cringy words coming out of his mouth, I decided to spin back to my latest question in our chat. “So, will you be back in class on Monday?”
As soon as Eden’s lips pulled into a smug smirk, his eyes twinkling with mischief, I regretted asking. He must’ve thought he was being oh-so hilarious.
“That highly depends on why you’re so eager to want to see me there,” he replied eventually.
“Just answer the question, Eden.” I sighed, already getting tired of his replies. If he couldn’t give me clear answers, why was I even talking to him?
Eden chuckled as if he couldn’t have given any more fucks about my frustration. “Since I’ll be back in New City tomorrow, I’ll attend my classes on Monday. That’s usually how it goes. Sure, I might miss a day or two because of a game, but they’reusuallyon the weekend. Despite my NCAA career, I’m still a student, Ally-Bear. Did that answer satisfy you?”
For whatever reason, relief seemed to instantly flood my body.
This past week was hell for me, and I was almost sure that if he hadn’t been there, it would’ve been a whole lot worse. I already dreaded going in for my classes today because he wasn’t going to be there to shield me from all those eyes that suddenly seemed to be interested in me.
All my life, I had been a wallflower, but ever since Eden made our “relationship” official, people were watching me. Three weeks of constant hell. I’d never get used to the attention.
Eden had warned me about this happening, but a part of me had doubted it until it happened.
Though, unfortunately, Austin hadn’t once glanced my way yet.
Anyway, with Eden there, perhaps Monday was going to suck a lot less than today would.
19
EDEN
“Eden,” Sharma sighed heavily, dragging my name out with no ending in sight as he plopped down beside me in the seat. He laid his head on my shoulder, looking at my phone screen. “You’ve been on that call forhours.”
“It’s been thirty minutes, Sharma,” I replied, chuckling to myself. “Call Louisa, get busy.”
I thought he was asleep anyway. Sharma was always knocked out for theentirebus ride wherever we went because he got really sick each time. That was also why I refused to sit next to him this time.
While I hadn’t learned in the past—three and a half years, mind you—I figured it was a good thing to start today. No more watching my best friend vomit into paper bags right beside me. Besides, sitting all by myself meant I got to annoy Alana for a little while.
I knew she was stressed out about today. It was the first time she’d be all alone at St. Trewery, and I wasn’t even in the same state to come to her rescue if things went wrong.
