Page 43 of End Game

“Nothing. I can do nothing. There’s nothing between us and there never will be anything, so there’s no point in trying.”

“So reactive, damn.” Coop throws his hands up in front of him in a defensive gesture. “Guess you won’t care when guys are flirting with her at Charley’s then.”

“I can’t do anything about it. She’s free to talk to whoever she wants.” Just the idea of someone approaching her, flirting with her, makes me see red.

Vicious, angry red.

“If you really like her, Nico, you can do something about it.” Coop’s voice is gentle, as if he knows he needs to change his approach with me.

“Like what? Tell her how I feel? I don’t even know how to explain it to myself, let alone her.” I shake my head. “And if she feels the same way about me, what can I do about it? Try to establish something with her, only for it to blow up in my face, and then I still have to live with her for the rest of the year? That sounds like a nightmare.”

“She’s cool. I don’t think she’d cause you any problems like Portia.”

I hate that Coop even brought up that chick’s name. She’s the absolute worst. “No one is like Portia.”

“Thank God,” Coop mutters.

“There’s nothing I can do.” I’m repeating myself, so I remain quiet. Coop isn’t talking either. It’s bad enough that I feel the need to fill the silence that’s lingering between us. “I’m just going to let my—feelings for her die a hopefully fast death.”

“Best way to get over someone is to get under someone. Isn’t that how the saying goes?” Coop asks.

“I suppose. And there’s no one I need to get over.” I slap Coop on the back a couple of times. “It’s just a harmless ... fixation. I’ll get over it.”

“You don’t get fixated on anything but football,” Coop so kindly reminds me. “But okay. Keep telling yourself that.”

As we move through campus, more and more people show up, swarming all around us. Shouting questions at us and taking photos or videos. It’s a lot, but we’re used to it.

Somewhat. We should probably call the security team and have them escort us around campus.

“Hey, who’s the girl?” someone yells at us at one point, and I know they’re talking about Everleigh. Most everyone knows Sienna is Coop’s sister.

“My friend,” Sienna answers, hooking her arm through Ever’s.

“Oh, come on. I heard she lives with Cooper and Valente,” someone else says.

Shit. This is what I didn’t want to happen.

“She’s our roommate,” Cooper says, sending me a quick look. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

The crowd explodes with chatter, shouting questions at us at a rapid-fire pace. We start walking faster, but it’s impossible to shake any of them, considering we’re surrounded.

“We need security,” I tell Coop.

“Already on it,” Gavin says, glancing over his shoulder at me. “They’ll be here soon.”

Going on pure instinct, I leave Coop and move forward, shoving myself in between Dollar and Everleigh, my attention only for her. “You all right?”

She glances up at me, her eyes wide, her smile fragile. “It’s a little overwhelming.”

“Gavin called security.” We haven’t had to use them this season save for away games, where they always escort us off the bus and into the stadium on game day in case the fans from the opposing teams get a little wild on us. Looks like that’s changing, though.

“I heard him say that.” She glances around, her unease obvious. “Is it always like this?”

“Want me to be real with you?”

She nods.

“Yeah. Most of the time it’s great.” I step closer to her like I can’t help myself, resting my hand on her shoulder. “Right now, not so much.”

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