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As I dragged myself out of bed and into my bathroom, I distantly heard him banging on another door, and then I remembered.
Fucking Noah.
He’d better be good at football. That was the only thing that could redeem him at this point.
Showered and dressed in my football kit in record time, I pulled on a sky-blue LSU hoodie and grabbed my boot bag before heading downstairs to where the others were congregating in the kitchen. Preston handed me a mug of coffee, and I leaned against the kitchen counter as I drank.
“Ready to show us what you’ve got?” Travis glanced between Damon and another new student, Levi, who’d just moved into the house next door, where our teammate Ander lived. “Living with us gets you an automatic advantage—we’ll vouch for you when you apply to join the team, and you’re more or less guaranteed a place.”
“Ifyou’re any good,” I interjected, and Travis rolled his eyes.
“They wouldn’t be living here if they weren’t any good. Perks of having an in with the housing coordinator, remember?”
Travis’ girlfriend’s family owned the rental agency that we used, and her older brother was in charge of the rooms to rent in the Mansions. He vetted the prospective students, and because we had two rooms up for grabs this year after two of the older housemates had moved out to live with their girlfriends, he’d hand-selected students who had a vested interest in football and were more or less guaranteed to get a spot on the team. Number 3 had always been a football house, and that was the way it was going to stay. It was a shame we hadn’t had enough bedrooms for Levi as well, but at least he had Ander in his house.
“What’s going on?” Noah, aka Car Park Wanker, wandered in, yawning and rubbing at his eyes, dressed way too casually in low-slung faded jeans and a grey T-shirt. He turned to Travis. “Sorry, I was half asleep when you knocked.”
“Where’s your football kit? You can’t go out like that.” I spoke up before Travis could reply, and he shot me an annoyed frown.
“What’s your problem today? You’ve been in a pissed-off mood ever since yesterday.”
“I wonder why.” Directing a pointed glare at Noah, which caused him to scratch his chin with his middle finger, I gulped down a huge mouthful of coffee.
“Whatever. I don’t have time to deal with it this morning.” Travis turned his attention back to Noah. “Noah. Sorry, I forgot you weren’t here when I made the announcement yesterday. We’ve booked the football pitch for eight. It’s a chance for you freshers to show us what you can do, see where your strengths lie and all that, and it’ll hopefully give you an advantage when it comes to applying to be on the team.”
Noah’s face paled, and his eyes widened dramatically. “Football pitch?” He whispered the words, his suddenly panicked gaze darting around the room, seemingly realising that everyone present was dressed in some variation of a football kit. “What…why would you want to see me play football?”
“To see where your strengths lie. I just told you.” Now I could see that Travis was starting to get annoyed with him as well as me. I hid my smirk behind my coffee mug.
“But I don’t have—I mean, I don’t play football. I don’t even watch it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I hate it.” His voice was rising, the agitation clear in his tone.
“Wait. You what? You don’t play football? Why—” Travis cut himself off, shaking his head. “’Scuse me a minute. I need to phone Kira.”
There was dead silence in the kitchen after he’d left the room, phone in hand. No one seemed to know what to say. Eventually, Preston headed over to Noah and gave his arm a squeeze. “Hey. I’m sure it’s all a big misunderstanding.” He studied Noah intently, then leaned against the counter next to him, speaking in a soft voice. “Why is it that you don’t like soccer—uh, football? Is it personal?”
Noah chewed on his lip and then finally gave a short nod. “Yeah, I suppose it is, a bit. At school, I, uh…I was the gay kid who wasn’t interested in football, and some of the players took personal offence at that…you know how it is.” His tone was flat, but his gaze dropped to the floor, his long lashes sweeping down to hide his anxious expression. I could see his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he was still worrying at his lip with his teeth. “I’m just not into football. At all. I never have been,” he added in a quieter voice.
“You don’t have to worry about any of that from us. No one here will treat you any differently—not because you don’t share certain interestsorbecause you’re gay.” Preston’s voice hardened as he glanced around the kitchen. “Right?”
“Yep.” Damon gave a shrug, unbothered by the whole conversation, more interested in whatever was happening on his phone.
Levi nodded. “I guess I don’t get a vote, since I’m not a housemate, but for what it’s worth, I’m bi. And I wouldn’t give you shit for not liking football.”
“You’re bi?” Preston stared at him.
“Uh, yeah. The year after you left school, when I became captain… You know our old rivals, Highnam Academy? We started some shit with them, and their team captain didn’t take it too well. One thing led to another, and now…he’s my boyfriend.”
Preston shook his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Shit, man, it sounds like you’ve got a story to tell.”
He grinned widely. “You could say that, yeah. I’ll tell you later, catch you up on all the Alstone High news.”
“Deal. Okay. Liam. You’re up.”
I sighed loudly. “You know I’m not homophobic, mate. But yeah, I do have a problem with him being here if he’s not interested in football. You know this is supposed to be a house for LSU football team players—always has been. Everyone who lives here was hand-selected for their skills, and they’re pretty much guaranteed a place on the team. Now we have one person fucking up that balance.”
“It’s really not a big deal,” Preston insisted.
“Maybe not to you,” I muttered. Slamming my coffee mug down on the countertop, I shot a glance at Noah. Hurt was shining in his eyes, which he quickly masked, giving me a hard glare. His lip curled, and he opened his mouth—but I didn’t get to hear what he wanted to say because Travis came back into the kitchen and clapped his hands for attention.
