Page 59 of Notorious Man on Campus

“Don’t be modest, Brick. You’re a stud and you know it.”

“So they say. Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Willow.” She laughs and waves and smiles for another girl with a camera. I don’t bother smiling as we walk through the gauntlet of partygoers arriving fashionably late per Willow’s desire. I don’t care. I truly don’t. She holds my arm as if she’ll fall down without it as we make slow progress between her preening and the scores of football fans congratulating me. I look for my guys, my teammates, in the crowd.

She pulls on my arm. “Lets sit with my KKG girls over there,” she says.

“No. We’re sitting with my guys.”

“You mean your teammates?” I nod and she smiles. “Of course, whatever you say.” She leans in to kiss my mouth and I turn my head so she gets my cheek. She hisses.

“Play nice, Brick. We’re a couple and we need to act like it. Besides, you didn’t mind kissing me—”

“That was another lifetime ago.” And it truly feels like that now, like my life can be marked in two parts, before Nyla moved into BMOC House and after, because I haven’t been the same since, haven’t felt a moment of calm, haven’t felt cool or in control. She turned my entire life upside down, changed my cool into a cauldron of fire, took me from reserved and protected to constantly exposed and raw.

But I never felt so alive and stimulated, every nerve ending revved and on edge, the way I always feel on the football field. Except for the out of control part. But I’m getting some of that back now, finding my footing and understanding how things are now that my emotions are driving me.

Mainly, what it means is that I can’t hold my emotions in, can’t pretend I don’t have feelings for Nyla, can’t pretend I don’t care about people, namely Nyla and Majik. And I can’t play football to please anyone else but myself. I owe that lesson to Jimmy because he played to please others for too long.

When I make it to the NFL, it’ll be exclusively for me, the thing I do because I want—no need—to do it, to get that sense of accomplishment, to enjoy the competition, to let go of that passion in me, to go all out and to relish the comradery of the team working together for a common goal.

Fulfilling the family legacy would strictly be a side-benefit of playing in the NFL. And playing in the NFL pales in comparison to patching up my relationship with my dad, having a real relationship with him where we talk about whatever we need to talk about. Jimmy says he’s been opening up more now since he’s been sick.

My dad is sick. I’m afraid he’s not going to fight against his illness, that he’ll let himself go down easy, to join mom in the hereafter, to end his mourning of her. Jimmy says once I get drafted he’ll let go because he’ll know I’ll be alright then, that he’s holding out now to see me settled.

I hope to fuck that’s not true.

“Brick, my man.” Dylan finds me through the crowd and thumps me on the back. He avoids looking at Willow.

“Hello Dylan. Where’s Allie?” she says. Shit. He glares at her without answering.

“Willow,” I say, pretending to study her face, squinting my eyes, “is that a smudge under your eye? An eye lash?” I rub my thumb on a spot under her eye. She looks panicked.

“Did you get it?” I shake my head. “Shit. I’m going to run to the lady’s room. There’ll be too many photos being taken tonight for an eyelash to be out of place.” She pecks my face. “Thanks, babe. Be right back.” She hurries off far faster than I could imagine anyone walking in four inch heels to take care of the imaginary out of place eyelash.

“Babe? That was slick.” Dylan chuckles. I smirk and look around for Nyla, Jimmy and Dooley. They said they would be here a half hour after us to get their plan together.

“It had to be done. Jimmy’s coming here tonight.” Dylan raises his brows and grins.

“Nice. That ought to punch up the excitement, take some of the pressure off you.”

“You have no idea.” I don’t tell him there’s a plan, mostly because I don’t even know what the plan is and I’m only hoping Jimmy has something good and that whatever it is, it’ll work. Hope and me don’t mix well, or we didn’t in the past, but I’m all over it right now. I can’t seem to shake it.

While Willow is off grooming her lashes, I join my teammates and realize most of them don’t have dates. Not even Dylan. I know something’s going on with him, but this isn’t the time or place to talk about it. Last week I wouldn’t have thought of asking him about it. Now standing shoulder to shoulder with him, dressed up in suits and ties, I can feel the edge and I know it’s not all about the Willow situation.

“Shit here she comes,” Roman says.

“Isn’t that your brother?” Trey lifts his chin in the direction of the entrance. “And he’s with Nyla.” Shit. I spin around and look. Sure enough he’s in a flawless dark suit with his celebrity-worthy smile flashing and holding Nyla’s hand. Nyla… I gulp down a knot of emotion as I take her in. She looks drop dead and gone to heaven gorgeous, her dark hair swirling around her pearly skin and her golden eyes sparkling. Her smile is unsure until our eyes meet, then it flashes wide and she steers Jimmy in our direction.

Is this his plan? It makes no sense. But then nothing’s making sense any more to me tonight and I have to trust my brother. More importantly, I have to trust Nyla.

“Brick.” Willow touches my arm and surprises me as she joins our group. “Is that your brother? With Nyla?” She barely contains the excitement in her louder than necessary voice as Jimmy and Nyla join us. Dooley appears from behind them, coming around to stand between me and Willow. He gives me a wink. I lean in and whisper for his ears only, “I thought you were Nyla’s date.”

“Change of plans,” he whispers back. “Obvi.” I suppress a smile.

Willow nudges me. “Introduce me to your brother.” She talks under her breath, pushing Dooley out of the way.

“Jimmy, this is Willow,” I say for show, but the show is just beginning because my brother starts performing as if the curtain has been raised on a full scale Broadway production.

“Willow. Beautiful name for a beautiful young woman.” He reaches past Nyla, nudging Trey and Dylan aside and takes Willow’s hand, his eyes not leaving hers as if he’s transfixed. I do a double-take when I realize she’s eating it up, her eyes are legit glazed over like Jimmy has her hypnotized.