Page 40 of Notorious Man on Campus

Too bad my dick didn’t get the message and now this is totally messed up because I know with absolute certainty that Nyla is going to wake up and think there’s something between us.

But there’s not. There can’t be. I don’t do girlfriends for a very good reason and I’m not changing that not, especially not with my fucking brother’s ex-girl, the one who broke his fucking heart and caused him to quit school and abandon his football career.

I’m not going to be that asshole brother.

On the other hand, I now have no choice but to be the other kind of asshole. The kind who takes an innocent virgin with romantic expectations to bed and then leaves her cold. Shit. I feel lower than a snake as I pull on my pants and get myself into presentable enough shape to walk through the hallway without scaring anyone. Though looking at my black eye and swollen cheek, it could be a lost cause.

Fuck. What a shit-show of a weekend. How many ways can a guy mess up and how big in one fucking weekend?

I’m dressed and I crack the door open to see that she’s sound asleep and facing away, thank fuck. I go to the desk and find paper and pen to write her a note. It’s the best way to handle it even though it sucks. A clean rip of the band-aid is best. And then when I get back to BMOC House, I’ll need to avoid her ruthlessly. No more slip ups like this.

What is Majik going to think of me? Fuck. I blow out a breath. My heart beats like crazy, as if I have two tackles with a clear path bearing down on me. There’s no hep for it. My relationship with Majik was about to expire at the end of the year anyway, right?

I finish the note and leave it on the desk next to her phone and then quietly let myself out of the room. Unfortunately, unlike other one-night stands, I’ll be seeing her soon when we all get back to BMOC House. In the meantime, there’s no fucking way I’m driving back to SPU with Nyla and Majik. I send a text to Dylan telling him to give them a ride back as I hurry to the room I’m sharing with Roman.

I open the door with my key card and rush inside, heading straight to where Roman snores, a giant heap under his covers, and I give him a shove.

“Time to wake up. We’re leaving.” I glance at the clock while he moves and mumbles into wakefulness. Six-fucking o’clock in the fucking morning. That’s good and bad.

“Get up, dickhead, we need to get out of here.” Before anyone else wakes up, most notably, before Majik wakes and I have to face her before I have my shit together, before my heart calms from it’s wild guilty beating against my ribs reminding me what an asshole I am, what a total fuckwit—

“What are you talking about?” Why are you dressed in your tux?” He sits up as I start changing and throwing the tux into my duffel, exchanging it for jeans and a football jersey. My football jersey. Crap. I hope this isn’t going to cause any social media storms because it’s the last thing I can afford.

“Let’s go. We need to leave now. No questions. All you need to know is I’m your ride and I’m leaving now.”

“Fuck.” He mumbles his complaints, but he rolls out of bed and heads to the bathroom as I finish getting my shit together and try not to think. About anything.

“You have five minutes.” I call to him and wait four.

We manage to make it through the lobby and out to my car without encountering anyone and all I’m left with is a mind numbing four hour drive back to campus. Exactly what I need.

But before I pull out of the lot, I check my texts to make sure Dylan got my message.

He did. And he’s, predictably, not too happy about it. I don’t reply, because, yeah, I am that asshole.

“You gonna tell me what this is all about?” Roman says as we stop for coffee before getting on the high way.

“No.” He snorts.

“Doesn’t matter. I have a pretty good idea. You spent the night with Nyla. There was a buzz around the room when you left with her and then didn’t return for the final dance of the night.”

“It’s Kace’s wedding. People should be paying attention to him instead of worrying about me.”

“Seriously, dude? You realize people are always talking about you. Wherever you go. No matter what else is going on, when you’re in the room, people talk about you, point, take pics, you name it. And it’s fucking annoying, but I’ve gotten used to it. I figure you should be used to it to.”

I grunt. Maybe I’m too used to it. So used to it I don’t even notice it anymore.

“This is different. We’re not on campus.” He laughs.

“We could be at the fucking coronation and people would talk about you.”

I give him an eye-roll because he’s ridiculous. People are ridiculous

“I’m a QB, not a superhero and you must still be drunk from last night.”

“Maybe a little. But seriously, I’m only exaggerating a little bit. People were focused on you because you’re the guy who interrupted the wedding. The one with the black eye.” He looks at me examining my face. “Dude that’s a serious shiner. You should have Doc Peters look at it in the morning.”

“OF course he’ll look at it. It’s not like I can hide it. The coach and the entire fucking team will look at it.” Roman tries to cover his snickering, but he doesn’t. I reach out and whack him on the arm. “Shut up.”