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Oh, no. One was filming this while another was backing up, trying to put her phone away quickly.
The clicking sounds. They’d taken pictures of us kissing.
“Ryan,” I said, my voice hoarse.
Gah. I needed to get to him, but I couldn’t leave all of this out in the open. They might swoop in and take pictures of this too. “Ryan, stop.”
“Dude,” a hiss came in from the side as someone was there, getting between Ryan and the girl who was now backed up against a table. She was slightly trembling. “Stop, man.”
I had to blink a few times before accepting what I was seeing.
It was Cameron Cahill, a hand to Ryan’s shoulder, and he was herding him away, blocking Ryan’s view of the girls. He pushed him toward me, looking over my shoulder and seeing I was trying to get all my stuff together and shutting my computer down. His eyes only flicked once to the screen before refocusing on Ryan again.
My chest loosened suddenly. He hadn’t really seen anything on the computer.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He was speaking in a low tone, his eyes flashing. His hand gripped Ryan’s shoulder tighter, and I wasn’t liking seeing how his fingers sank even more into Ryan.
With the last item stuffed in my bag, I zipped it up and swung it onto my back as I stepped in, knocking Cahill’s grip loose. I stood in front of Ryan, glaring. “You don’t have to handle him like that.”
Cahill snorted, sneering at me, shaking his head. “Right. Your boyfriend was about to light into some freshman girls. Like that would’ve been a good look for the team.”
Ryan touched the side of my hip, squeezing me lightly, reassuring me he was okay.
Well, I wasn’t now. I seethed right back. “He wouldn’t have done shit. They were taking pictures of us kissing and a few were filming the entire interaction. Ryan saw that. He wouldn’t have done anything more.”
“Well, that shit’s now out there, and I’m sure he’ll have to convince Coach of this instead of me.”
“You made it worse.”
“Mac.” Ryan fitted himself against my back, his chest lifting in a drawn-out motion before he relaxed again. He was okay, and as he separated, moving to stand in front of me, his hand switching to hold mine behind him, he smirked at Cahill, but his words were for me. “I’m fine. We shouldn’t be here anyways.”
“No,” Cahill said haughty. “You shouldn’t be. You’re not normal, dude. The rest of us, we can get away with being in the library, sharing a kiss with our girlfriend, but you can’t.”
Ryan narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t respond.
He didn’t need to. We all knew what Cahill meant. Even himself, he and Ryan were the two best players on the team, and when Ryan joined, he was forced to share the spotlight, but there were three other players on the court with them. But still, Ryan got the focus. He got the attention. He was an NCAA star player, but even that, he wasn’t a normal NCAA star player. He was more.
I glanced around, seeing the girls were still there. Their phones remained up and pointed at us.
I tugged on Ryan’s hand, stepping away. “Let’s go.” I cast a furtive look in Cahill’s direction. “I have things to tell you.”
The two guys were still engaged in a heated scowling stand-off, but when I tugged a second time, Ryan let out, “Fine. Yeah.” He went with me. When we cut through the small crowd that had formed, I glanced back over my shoulder.
Cahill still stood there, but his head was down and his hands were balled into fists at his side. He stood alone.
Once we got outside, I opened my mouth to tell Ryan everything that happened, my hand letting go of his.
He shook his head at me. “No,” he growled, keeping my hand caught in his, and he switched our direction, taking me in the direction of the food courts. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can tell me over food. You’re going to eat.” His gaze held mine, as if daring me to go against him, but a grin slipped out.
What was a girl to do in this situation? I laughed slightly before saying, “We ran out of time for food this morning, and I was busy during lunch. I’m not starving myself. I’ll happily eat, but I do have things to tell you.”
He studied me for another beat before his jaw relaxed and his head lifted. “Good. Just—good. I’m…” He hesitated. “Just as long as you’re okay.”
That guilt was there again, but it’d take time. He loved me. He cared. He didn’t want me to hurt, or be sad, or be how I used to be. Warmth surged up in me, filling me completely, knocking that guilt away. We’d had talks about this, hours and hours, and we’d both do our part.
I stopped us, standing in front of him. “It goes both ways, you know.”
His eyes fell to my mouth. His hands went to my hips, just holding me there lightly. His thumb moved under my shirt, rubbing over my skin. “I know.”
