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SIDNEY
“Sorry I’m late.”I panted, hurrying to the empty spot beside Mia, and dropped my books on the long table with a loud thump. The cafeteria was packed this time of day, everyone buzzing in and out between classes. The room was painted a stale gray, with row upon row of tables. At least the left wall was lined with windows letting in the morning sun. There was an almost food-truck-like kitchen where they served a bare-minimum menu. At least what they did serve was delicious.
I tried to take my jacket off, but my arm got stuck, leaving me hopping around to release it from the sleeve.
“What’s gotten into you?” Mia snorted, making me pause in my struggle.
“My class is clear across campus. I practically had to run to get here. You know how I feel about running.” I escaped from the torture device that was my coat and huffed, trying to catch my breath.
Mia piled her blonde hair high on top of her head, and her green eyes were bright with laughter. “Good thing I grabbed you breakfast, huh?”
She pointed to a heaping plate of pancakes and an extra-large cup of coffee. I was starved after my morning class, and there was barely time before my next one.
A sigh escaped my lips as I squeezed into the seat to her left. “You know I love you, right?” My voice was muffled as I shoveled pancakes into my mouth. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Probably starve,” she responded and pulled a water bottle from her bag, sliding it my way.
I took a bite of a deliciously syrupy pancake and moaned in approval.
A massive guy sat down directly across from me. He was built like a brick wall, with thick, corded muscles, and his teal-colored T-shirt popped nicely against his deep brown skin.
I snapped my mouth closed, and he gave me a devilish smirk.
“Don’t stop on my account. Nothing wrong with a bit of vocal enjoyment.”
I rolled my eyes.Dear lord, who is this guy…
Another guy sat to the right of him, directly across from Mia. He was equally large and equally gorgeous. His hair was jet-black and styled in a deep undercut, like he was some extra fromPeaky Blinders. He was all sharp lines and had an edge to him I couldn’t pinpoint.
There was a full plate in front of him, but he was too busy staring at Mia to notice. When he saw me watching, he looked away.Puh-lease, you’re totally busted.
“You’re Sidney King, right?” he asked, taking a monster bite of his breakfast sandwich and licking the sauce from the corner of his mouth. The sound of Mia’s quick intake of breath had me glancing in time to see her blush before she turned away.
“Um, yeah?”
Mia elbowed me in the ribs, and I sent a silentI have no idea who they arelook her way. What the hell was happening?
“I’m sorry. Who are you?”
Both guys look at me, confused. Then two matching mischievous grins cross their faces. “We’re friends of Jax.”
“Uh-huh.”
The guy across from me started introducing himself. “I’m Lucas.”
“Um… hey, nice to meet you,” I said, still having no clue what was going on. It was clear these were Jax’s teammates, but I still wasn’t sure why they were here.
Lucas continued his spiel, pointing at the guy across from Mia. Now this guy looked like he was up to no good. “This here is River. He hates to talk. Good luck getting two words out of him.”
“Two words,” River said, voice deep, mouth tipping up at the corner, causing a grin of my own.
“Oh-kay…” Mia’s voice stretched out the word, and she looked at them with curious eyes. “So, what exactly is happening here?”
Lucas turned toward me. “We wanted to meet the infamous hallway girl.”
I blinked. “What?” What did he call me? I looked between them for some kind of clue, but it was Mia who answered.
“He’s talking about Twitter. I’ll show you later.” She smirked, then checked something on her phone.
