Page 7 of The Wrong Quarterback

Gray raised an eyebrow, his lips curling into a smirk. “Yeah? You too, Case.” His eyes roved up and down my body again. “Very good.”

My face heated, and I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. This wasn’t exactly how I imagined it would go. In my head, or maybe in my wildest dreams, we’d pick up right where we left off. Instead, it was awkward, almost like I was a stranger he was trying to pick up.

I almost brought up Ben then, but I stopped myself. From what Gray had said about why he hadn’t come home, that was probably the opposite of what he wanted to talk about.

As if he could read my mind, he shrugged, his smile dimming a little. “It’s been weird without Ben. I think about him a lot. I imagine that’s only going to happen more with you being here.”

I swallowed hard, the familiar ache of loss settling back into my chest. “Yeah. I get that.”

We stood there in silence for a moment, the weight of Ben’s absence hanging between us like a third person.

Gray sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Listen, I know I—we haven’t really talked much since I left, but I’m glad you’re here, Casey. I really am.”

I looked up at him, my heart beating a little faster. “You are?”

“Yeah,” he said softly, his eyes meeting mine. “I’ve thought about you. About us. That night…”

I felt my breath catch, memories of the kiss flashing in my mind. “I have, too.” My voice came out far too hopeful, but I’d always been shit at hiding how I felt from him.

Gray stepped closer, and for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me again. I tensed in anticipation, my eyes already fluttering closed like I was a heroine in a romance movie.

The kiss never came, though.

Instead, he reached out and squeezed my hand, his thumb brushing over my knuckles. “I’ve got to get to the house right now, but you should join us for dinner later. You’ll like the guys.”

I nodded quickly, maybe a little too eagerly. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

He smiled, his familiar easy grin making my chest flutter. “Cool. I’ll text you the details.”

As he walked out, I stood by the door for a moment, watching him go. It kind of felt like we were back in high school, me hovering around trying to get his attention.

But he said he thought about that night—that kiss. That was good, right?

I closed the door and sighed, leaning back against the cold wood as I stared out the window to the green below. There was a group of students tossing a football around, and I stared out at them for a moment, trying to imagine myself fitting into all of this. It would feel strange for a while, like I was pretending to be someone else—I’d been expecting that. It was like I’d been living in the dark and someone had flipped on a light suddenly—it was normal for it to take a minute to acclimate.

Before I could get too lost in my thoughts, the door burst open, and I went flying forward, stumbling across the floor and barely catching myself before I fell on my face. Turning, I watched as a whirlwind of energy came through the entry in the form of a bubbly blond girl carrying two duffel bags and a stack of hangers.

“Oh my God, hi!” she exclaimed, dropping her bags and rushing over to hug me before I could even stand up. “You must be Casey! I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Nat. I’m your roommate!”

She pulled back, her blue eyes wide with excitement as she looked me up and down. “I’m so glad you’re here! I was hoping I wouldn’t be stuck with some total weirdo, you know? Like, what if you were one of those creepy girls who doesn’t talk or someone who steals my snacks? And what if I woke up and you were like standing over me and breathing heavily?” She shivered like she was picturing it right then.

I blinked, trying to keep up with her rapid-fire talking, a smile sliding across my lips because she was kind of hilarious. “Uh, yeah. I mean, I promise not to steal your snacks…and the other things.”

“Thank fuck!” Nat said, dramatically collapsing onto her bed with a loud sigh. “I’ve been so nervous about this, you have no idea.” She unzipped one of her duffels and pulled out a bag of blue Nerd Gummies, ripping it open and shoveling some into her mouth as I watched.

Thatwasa good snack, though. I made a mental note to get my own.

Nat started pulling clothes out of her duffel bags and throwing them into the piles that were already on her bed from her suitcase, babbling on about how excited she was to decorate the room, what color scheme we should go with, and how she had a Pinterest board full of ideas. I smiled, nodding along as she kept talking, her energy filling the room.

It was very clear that she was the exact opposite of me—loud, talkative, and full of confidence—but maybe that was exactly what I needed.

As I continued to listen to her talk about all the freshman orientation activities we needed to attend and the parties she was going to drag me to, the uncertainty that I’d had started to slip away.

This was what I needed.

This felt like freedom.

CHAPTER 2

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