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“Why molecular biology?” That was Mark’s major, and I was curious why he chose it.
“I want to be a pathologist. I’ve always wanted to help create vaccines and treatments that could save someone’s life.”
“Very noble.”
“And you? Why sports medicine?”
I shrugged. “I want to help people, too.” I heard a commotion behind us as a new group of people passed through the door.
“Hey, aren’t those the guys on the football team?” Mark directed his head in their direction. “They won the national championship.”
I turned and saw Axel, Nick, Dmitri, and Roman with three girls—one was Kenzie, but I didn’t know the other two. I’d seen them in passing and assumed they were girlfriends of Roman and Dmitri.
“Yeah, they are,” I said, thinking about how Axel had been at the steps outside my dormitory to take me to class every morning this week. How yesterday he’d allowed me to cry in his arms over my father. “I interned as a trainer for the football team this past season.”
Axel was speaking to Nick as they stood in line for their order, but he shifted his attention around the packed coffee shop and happened to scan my table. He paused as his eyes bounced between Mark and me. His mouth moved as he obviously kept up the conversation, but I saw something in his demeanor that reminded me of how he appeared before a game. A glint of determination. The predator before he conquered his prey. Suddenly, his mouth quirked into a half smile, and he slightly nodded his chin at me.
“Do you think you could introduce me to them?” Mark’s voice punctured my thoughts.
Seriously? He was apparently star-struck and wanted me to introduce them. Actually, it wasn’t so surprising he asked, considering people were already approaching them with hats, napkins, and anything they had on hand for them to sign. People also pulled out phones and took pictures with them. It seemed so invasive and somewhat disrespectful, but this wasn’t the first time it’d happened. I was acclimated to how fans treated them after games.
Watching the guys try to be accommodating to crazed fans pulled at my heartstrings. Just watching them interact, it wasn’t difficult to tell Nick and Axel were clearly the ones who were more personable. I’d seen it so many times before, hanging around the team this past season, and tonight was no different. They seemed more at ease with this situation, maintaining pleasant smiles on their faces and interacting with the growing group around them. Dmitri and Roman acted more reserved and were soon moving around the crowd, walking off to plant down at the eight-top, where the rest of their group was already sitting and waiting.
“Come on, Natalie. Could you introduce me to them?” Mark persisted, and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I wanted to tell him no, but before I could, Axel was coming our way.
“Looks like you’ll have your chance,” I said under my breath, feeling a mixture of uneasiness, yet my heart sped up.
Axel parked himself in front of our booth, glancing casually between us as if he were sizing up his competition, but that couldn’t be true. “Hey,” I said over-brightly acting as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
He crossed his arms over his chest, dropping his chin. “You seem to be doing better today.”
Before I could answer, I heard, “I’m Mark.” He shot out his hand like he was trying too hard, while Axel glanced down at him dismissively before setting his sights on me. His look was both annoying and endearing. Yet something else was there I couldn’t place. Something dark.
“I’m a big fan of yours, man. Could I get a picture with you?” Mark’s voice sounded like it was coming from miles away, for all I knew or cared.
Axel kept his intimidating gaze on me. “Sure,” he said softly, studying me as if he knew more about me than anyone else. “You want your girl in the picture, too, because she would definitely brighten up the landscape.”
Dammit, stupid cheeks. I sat mesmerized by his eyes and words like a plant craving sunlight. Then it occurred to me how he was fishing around to see if this was something more than a casual cup of coffee. I ducked my head and pulled a strand of my hair behind my ear, not wanting to say anything one way or another. Mark and I had no interest in each other that way, but there was a vengeful, petty part of me that wanted Axel to think it was something more. Let him stew over it.
But that notion was short-lived. “Oh, no, just me. We’re not dating or anything,” Mark said as an afterthought, putting the kibosh on any ideas of that, too caught up in his “seeing a star” moment, and slid out of the booth with his phone.
Axel was still looking at me, and his front teeth clipped his bottom lip. “That’s too bad. She’s the real star among us all.” My breath caught in my throat. He didn’t break his stare, even when Mark was standing beside him awkwardly with his phone in the air in front of them like a teenage girl who was allowed backstage to take a photo with Harry Styles.
The only time Axel’s attention broke from me was to smile quickly, as if he were trained to take stupid selfies with desperate fans. My lab partner took two pictures and turned to fist-bump Axel, who left him hanging because his focus was back on me.
“Thanks, man. Really appreciate it,” Mark said regardless as he slid back into his seat, checking his phone and clicking around as if he were already posting it on his social media accounts.
Axel didn’t respond; his attention was solely on me. I lifted my cup, struggling to calm my nerves to take a sip of my coffee. “So you do like coffee,” I heard him murmur softly. He watched me as if he was trying to work something out in his head.
What it could possibly be, I didn’t know. “Yeah,” I responded lamely.
“I see.” He rapped his knuckles against the table. “See you around, Hardcore,” he said before strolling back to his table of friends.
Fighting the urge to stare at him, I drew my attention back to Mark, who was still clicking on his phone, and his face lit up. “Dude, my phone is already blowing up.”
“Great,” I replied with zero interest, ready to leave already. I didn’t care about Mark and his popularity status on social media. All I could think about was what was going on in Axel’s head as he casually walked away.
The remaining time I spent with Mark was quiet and somewhat uncomfortable, peppered with lame small talk as we finished our coffee. I only glanced over twice in Axel’s direction, though I tried not to, and each time, he was staring me down.
