Page 54 of The Wrong Quarterback

“Have a good day,” I called to her before hustling out of the room, and I felt her eyes on me the entire way…

I walked into Casey’s dorm building, knowing that she was in another class for the next two hours and that her roommate was with her. It had been a minute since I’d been in the dorms. This was a newer building than where I’d lived freshman year. It still sucked, though. I couldn’t wait to move Casey out of here and in with me.

I could faintly hear the low hum of conversation and music filtering in from down the hall. The girl at the front desk barely glanced up at first, too absorbed in whatever TikTok dance was playing on her phone. Perfect. I cleared my throat, leaning against the counter just enough to catch her attention.

“Hey there,” I said, flashing a smile that I knew worked every time to get me what I wanted. Her eyes snapped up, widening a bit as she registered who I was. She practically threw her phone down, leaping up from her chair.

“Oh, hi! Um…can I help you?” she stuttered, straightening up and beginning to play with her hair.

“Yeah, you can,” I said, keeping my voice low, like we were in on some kind of secret. “My buddy, Jace, left something in a girl’s room, and he sent me to pick it up since I was passing by.”

“Jace Thatcher?” she asked breathlessly, and I held in my eye roll. Jace would be eating this shit up right now. He never got tired of the attention we got.

“Yep. Marbella Frank’s room. He left his lucky socks in there, and tomorrow’s a big game. He can’t play without them.”

Lies. All lies. Jace’s lucky thing was his hair, the reason he had long, flowy locks that we gave him shit about all the time. He believed he would have a Sampson moment if his hair was cut. Definitely no lucky socks existed. And although Jacehadhooked up with Marbella, it was last year, and he wouldn’t even remember doing it if you asked him. I just remembered because she’d tried to sleep with me right afterwards by walking into my room naked in the middle of the night.

It was unfortunate that she was the only person I knew that was living in the same dorm as Casey, but at least I could use her name.

Her face shifted from awestruck to conflicted, the rules clearly warring with whatever flustered thoughts were running through her head. “I…I don’t think I’m supposed to give out room numbers. It’s, um, against policy.”

I leaned in a little closer, watching as her pupils widened and her breath hitched. “I get it, really. And I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so important. Could you maybe make an exception? Just this once. It will be our little…secret.” Her eyes lit up at that idea. I glanced at my watch, annoyed that my minutes were ticking down while I was having this conversation.

She hesitated again, biting her lip and then glancing around, as if someone from Admin was lurking in the shadows. “Okay…but just this once,” she whispered, her fingers tapping nervously on the keyboard as she searched for the room number.

While she was focused on the screen, my eyes flicked to the set of three keys on the hook behind the counter. One of those had to be the new universal key the college had added to the dorms over the summer after a few too many “accidental” lockouts.

I reached over casually, fingers brushing the keys while the girl kept typing, completely oblivious. I slipped it into my pocket just as she turned back to me, eyes wide with guilt.

“She’s in room 314,” she said, almost whispering. “Please don’t tell anyone I told you.”

I grinned, giving her a wink that made her blush deepen. “Your secret’s safe with me.” I turned, heading for the stairs, my heart picking up speed as I climbed.

Room 314. Not where I was actually headed.

When I reached Casey’s door, I took a deep breath before sliding the key into the lock, the soft click echoing in the quiet hallway.

And then, I was inside.

I stepped into the room, closing the door behind me and letting the silence settle around me. Taking a deep inhale, I could faintly smell the vanilla and cherry perfume that she wore. My dick began to get hard just from that.

Looking around, it didn’t take long to figure out which side was Casey’s. The sweatshirt she’d been wearing yesterday, now neatly folded at the end of the bed, caught my eye immediately. The rest of the bed was unmade, sheets rumpled like she’d bolted out of bed this morning, probably running late.

I walked over to her desk, glancing at the books stacked haphazardly, some open with sticky notes marking pages. History, music theory, a novel with the spine cracked from too much reading. She didn’t just skim; she dove deep.

There was a framed photo beside the books, slightly askew, like she’d touched it recently. It was her and the guy I recognized from the obituary I’d seen online. Her brother. Dark hair, the same intense eyes, except his smile was broader, more carefree. Her arm was looped around him, and they were leaning into each other. It was obvious that they had been close. My heartached thinking about her losing him. I couldn’t imagine losing my brothers.

I wonder if her heart would hurt for me like this when I inevitably lost my mom.

Don’t think about that.

I set the picture down and moved to her bedside table, noticing the small details. A bracelet, delicate and a little tarnished, half-hidden by a book. It was a romance book, orromantasy…I think that’s what people called it, with a birdcage on it that looked like gold liquid was coming out of it.Gild. I wondered if there was some hidden meaning there, and Casey also felt like she was trapped in a cage.

If so, I couldn’t wait to help free her.

There was a worn-out music sheet sitting next to the journal. The notes were smudged in places, the paper creased as if it had been handled over and over. Obviously I knew she played piano, but judging by this, it looked like she had been writing her own music at some point in time as well.

I really wanted to hear her play it.

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