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“Team slut?” I asked.
“Yep, and now she’s your problem.” Steven laughed.
“Great,” I grumbled.
“What are you sissies doing? Kick the damn ball,” Coach Reynolds shouted.
Practice was tough, and not because I had drunk too much. I hadn’t conditioned since senior year, and I felt it in every muscle of my body from yesterday’s practice. Coach yelled at me throughout practice, and the guys gave me shit. I was really going to need to step up my game.
After practice, Lucas caught up with me as I headed back to my apartment.
“You’ve left quite an impression on Casen.”
I glared over my shoulder. “Are you going to give me shit about your girlfriend? Sorry I threw the cigarette at her, but she shouldn’t have thrown it on the ground.”
He stopped walking. “You did what?”
Shit.I shook my head and kept walking.
“Be a dick to whatever girls you want, but not my girl, man,” he yelled after me.
I raised my hand in acknowledgement and then picked up my pace to a jog. My legs were throbbing when I made it back to the apartment. I tossed down some ibuprofen and made a mental note to buy some muscle patches. I scrolled through my emails on my phone and then Baylor’s name popped up as an incoming call. I promised I would call when I got here, but I didn’t. I thought about answering her call, but I declined it and texted her I was good and thank you instead. I ignored her reply and threw my phone onto the couch next to me. I needed to get her out of my head.
I was just falling asleep on the couch when a knock on the door woke me. Groaning, I stumbled to the door. Casen was standing outside with a light bulb in her hand.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Can you change my light bulb? I’m not tall enough, and Lucas isn’t answering his phone. It’s in my bathroom, otherwise I would have waited.”
I was ready to say something rude, but I thought about Lucas’ request and I sighed instead, taking the light bulb from her and heading into her apartment. It was the same one-bedroom as mine, so I headed straight to the bathroom. I reached up, unscrewing the burnt bulb and putting in the new one.
“That’s a nasty scar you got there,” she said from the doorway.
My shirt had inched up when I was changing the bulb. I shifted uncomfortably as I pulled it down and then walked back through her apartment without a word.
“Hey,” she called out.
When I faced her, she adorned a soft apologetic expression. I had been here for less than forty-eight hours and was already getting pitied looks.
“Don’t do that,” I said evenly.
“Do what?” she asked defensively.
“Don’t look at me like that. Ever,” I warned and then slammed her door. Instead of going back to my apartment, I went for a run. I doubt that was what Lucas had in mind.
Tina was sitting on the stairs when I got back.
“Hey.” She smiled sweetly.
“What do you want?” I rolled my eyes and walked past her with the bag of muscle patches I grabbed at the store on the way back.
She jumped up and followed me. “I’m sorry I lost it this morning.”
I sucked in a guilty breath and then turned to her. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice girl, but I’m not interested. Not in a girlfriend, or another hookup.”
Her face dropped. “Oh, okay.”
Dammit. I didn’t owe anybody anything, but I felt bad. “My girlfriend died last year and I’m here for soccer. And that’s it. I’m sorry.”
