Page 72 of Out of Bounds

I raised an eyebrow.

"It’s a horror movie soundtrack," he said sheepishly. "Zariah got it for me."

"Got it." I paused. "Zariah?"

"Yeah."

"Kassie’s roommate?"

"Yeah."

Wariness hit me. "Adam—I can’t believe I need to say this—don’tfuck Kassie’s roommate."

"Thanks, captain." He rolled his eyes. "I’m not fucking the Contractor sister. You were in a meeting and the girls were grabbing burritos. Zariah asked King and I if we wanted to join."

"You got burritos with Kassie?"

"You wouldn’t like them. They didn’t taste like cardboard bullshit." He grinned. "A basketball player ducked out of line when Kassie kept bumping into him. The off-limits tag is working."

I chuckled for the first time in a long time at something Adam said.

"So…you’re not yelling at me…?" Adam said slowly.

"I’m tired of you fucking around with football," I told him honestly. "The impulsive shit has to stop. I don’t care if you change King’s physio music. As long as the dumb shit you’re doing doesn’t have anything to do with football or our image, I don’t care."

Adam shrugged. "And if it has nothing to do with Kassie."

I knew the linebacker expected me to put up an argument, but there wasn’t an argument to put up. It was true.

"I want to talk to you about something," I said, my voice low. "Something we keep between us."

"Who am I keeping it from?"

"Everybody."

Adam’s eyes widened. "Cleo?" I nodded. "CoachLawson?" I nodded again. He blinked. "Kassie?"

With a grimace, I held up my phone. The messages with Kassie, us talking about her classes earlier, and then me asking her if she was still awake. Twice. Adam’s eyebrows furrowed as he scanned them.

"Okay. You need advice? Stop double texting ladies. You’re the captain of one of the best college football teams in the country." Adam chuckled. "Good to see you getting out there but come on. Why are you double texting girls?"

"I’m not texting girls," I said. "I’m texting Kassie."

For a moment, he frowned, and then the realization sank in. He made a noise at the back of his throat. "Oh…shit."

“Yeah.”

“Man, you suck at this fake relationship thing.”

I passed my phone to his side of the table. "Here’s what I want. I want my phone to ring a bell whenever Kassie posts something on her accounts. I can’t figure out how to do that."

"You want tocyberstalk her."

"I’m not stalking her." I scoffed. "That’s not what I’m asking for. I would like…getting updates about Kassie when she doesn’t text me back fast enough."

"That sounds like stalking."

"It’s not stalking."

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