Page 24 of Fair Catch

The information is surprising, to say the least, but I put that in my back pocket in hopes this leftover swapping ends up with me getting the better end of the deal.

“Anything else?” he asks, clearly all ears as to how he can do his part in making this cohabitation a bit easier on both of us.

As much as I’d love to ask for him to spend less time at the apartment soIcan have some alone time, this is his home too, and I can’t bring myself to bring it up.

So instead, I just shake my head, muttering, “I think we’ve officially come to an agreement.”

Seven

Kason

There’s nothing like kicking off the season with a win on the road, and like the rest of the team, I’m on a complete high as we load the bus back from Milwaukee late that same night. Most of the guys are rowdy and restless to hit the road for the short ride home, apparently some are planning to go to the Kappa Sig party over on Greek Row.

I’m scrolling through my phone in a window seat near the back of the bus, idly waiting for everyone to finish loading up when a shadow appears over me.

“You care if I sit here for the ride back?”

Lifting my gaze, I find it’s one person I certainly wasn’t expecting to ask me that.

Holden Sykes.

After a few dumbfounded seconds of staring, I managed a flustered, “Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”

Holden doesn’t seem put out by my luke-warm welcome and shoves his bag into the upper cubby before sliding into the empty seat beside me.

Besides chatting about football, the two of us haven’t talked much after what happened last year. There’s no bad blood on my end—after all, with the bit of stalking I did on his and Phoenix’s social media this summer, I truly believe they belong together. And while creeping on them is probably something I shouldn’t do, I’m kinda glad I did. I’ve never seen Phoe as happy as he does in the photos they posted right before Holden had to report for training camp with the rest of the team.

I’m about to open my mouth and make an attempt at small talk, but I’m interrupted by Noah, one of ourcornerbacks,when he barrels down the aisle and stops at the seat in front of us. “You two going out tonight to celebrate?”

“The Kappa Sig house, right?” I ask.

“Absolutely,” Noah confirms, nodding enthusiastically. “First victory party of the season, and we can’t do it without our two captains.”

Despite things being a little less awkward around the apartment with Hayes, I’m still tempted to hit the party with the team; something wildly out of character for me. The only real downside would be going alone. I’m not nearly enough of a social butterfly for that.

There’s a good chance I could get Mal and Ivy to hit the party with me too, except Ivy usually works at Page Turners on Sunday mornings.

Weighing my options, I go for as non-committal as possible.

“I’ll think about it.”

Noah snorts and shakes his head. “That’s a no if I’ve ever heard one.” He turns his attention to Holden and nods. “What about you, Sykes? Ready to celebrate kicking off our season with a dub?”

Holden shrugs. “Maybe. Haven’t decided yet.”

That is not the answer Noah wanted or expected before he frowns. “Man, you get tied down and it’s like you never leave the house. What happened to the life-of-the-party guy you’ve been the past three years?”

“I grew up. Fell in love. Realized there’s more to life than getting black-out wasted and having meaningless hookups.” Holden leans back in the seat beside me, a little smirk forming when he looks at Noah. “Maybe you should try it sometime.Lord knows you and Lucabicker enough to be a married couple as it is. Maybe it’s about time he makes an honest man outta you.”

Noah all but blanches at the insinuation before his nose wrinkles up. “That’ll be a hard pass for me.”

Ah, and here I almost forgot about Noah’s slightly homophobic tendencies.

With those parting words of disgust, Noah heads back up the aisle to his seat. Holden and I share a look as he goes, the two of us chuckling under our breath.

“Me thinks thou doth protest too much,” Holden murmurs, and the two of us start laughing some more.

“And he’ll continue to until his dying day.”

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