Page 6 of Campus Heat

“It’s okay. I kinda think you have a right to be rude to me, considering that I’ve been such a jerk.”

“Comes with the territory, I suppose. Can’t be a big shot if you don’t need an attitude adjustment.”

He laughed, but it sounded sadder than I was expecting. And I instantly knew that he wasn’t like any of the other guys on the team. There was something about him, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that was.

“Did you see Lucas’s slide show?” I asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could respond, the guys came out, and Jenna was at the lead.

“There you are,” she said. “We’ve been looking all over for you. Listen, the guys offered to walk the cheerleaders back to the dorm because they’re amazing like that. And I’m wasted, so I wanted to come get you before we took off.”

“That’s very kind of them, and I would be delighted by the escort. It’s so unsafe for girls these days, you know,” I said, winking at her.

I got up and took the arm Malik offered. But I was kind of hoping to finish my discussion with Ethan, because I didn’t know when I’d get another chance.

I turned back to him and said, “Want to walk with us?”

He shook his head. “Ehh. Probably not a good idea. I have some studying to do, so I might as well get on that. I’ll catch up with you guys on the field.”

With that, he got up and left. And honestly, I was more than just a little disappointed. I had hoped he would drop that cold attitude of his for once.

“I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about that one if I were you. He’s like that with all of us. It’s like he’s determined to not be part of the team,” Malik said as we started walking.

“Really?” I asked, kind of stunned. “That doesn’t seem like the best way to approach things.”

He chuckled. “No kidding.”

I glanced over my shoulder, catching one final glimpse of Ethan before he disappeared from sight.

3

Ethan

The second I walked into the locker room, I wanted to leave. Everyone else was already there, and the discussion they were having was enough to make me roll my eyes. But I didn’t want them to think I didn’t care, so I grabbed my gear and took a seat in front of my locker.

The entire room buzzed as the guys discussed their so-called locker room strategy. Meanwhile, we were actually supposed to get ready for practice. But it was good to see their excitement. It almost gave me a flicker of hope.

“Okay,” Malik said, standing up like he had just been elected president. “This is what we’ve gotta do. We need to move fast, as in first down fast.”

My brows shot up as I tried to comprehend what he was trying to explain.

“Yeah,” Lucas jumped in. “Remember what Coach said. It’s all about tempo. So we just gotta run more, right? No huddles or anything like that. Just good vibes.”

Harris opened his mouth to speak. “What I meant by tempo—”

“And we gotta establish a run,” one of the offensive linemen said, looking way too confident for his own good. “Even on third and long. No! Especially on third and long. That’s when they’ll least expect it.”

“That’s not—” Coach tried again, but it didn’t look like anyone was paying attention to his presence.

I let out a deep breath and started wrapping my wrists. This conversation was way below my grade, and it made me cringe. If it hadn’t been compulsory for me to be here, I would’ve walked out the moment they started talking. Clueless, all of them.

Dylan nodded and said, “We should also blitz on the offense.”

The group was silent for a moment, but then the guys started nodding in agreement.

“Yeah,” Malik added. “Like a surprise blitz. Ethan can run at them. They’ll never see that coming.”

I slapped my palm against my forehead, wondering how much worse these guys could really get. There was no way they could possibly think any of these plays would work. So they were either making fun of our situation, or they were far less experienced than I’d first thought. But I still didn’t say anything.