Page 19 of Call Me Teach

I freeze instantly—as if Reign Kendrix somehow knows that my best friend looked him up and told me that I should try dating him so I canpracticehaving sex.

Reign sees me staring, but I quickly turn away, pretending like I have no idea who he is. In an attempt to disengage, I shout to Aria, “I’m gonna go get another beer. Want one?”

“No, I’m good. I gotta drive. Want me to come with?”

“No, keep rooting our boys on. If they lose, Hayes will throw a hissy.”

As soon as I make it to the steps and turn around, I nearly fall backward from the massive boulder standing in my way. His palm finds my lower back, and his voice is smoother than the glass at my back.

“Careful.”

Reign Kendrix is towering over me, and by the look in his eye, I know the rumors around campus are true. He is full of sex appeal. The warm grin he’s sporting doesn’t fool me one bit.

“Thanks.” I try to move around him, but he meets me halfway. I hitch an eyebrow and try to seem confident, although I’m anything but. “Um, excuse me?”

“Here.” I look down at his hand, and he’s holding a beer out for me. I pull back with surprise. “I heard you say you were goingto go get a beer, but the line is crazy long. I got an extra when I went up a little while ago. I think it’s still cold.”

I’m confused by the gesture but also slightly swayed by his generosity. “Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he chuckles. “I’m always sure.”

I lightly laugh. “Well, thank you?”Why is he handing me a beer?

When I go to turn back to my aisle, he steps in my way and steals my attention. “Who are you?”

I furrow my eyebrows. “Uh…” I laugh softly. “No one, really.”

Reign’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “I beg to differ.”

“That’s Hayes Evans’s sister,” someone says from behind.

My cheeks grow warm.. As soon as I moved into Hayes’s apartment and the hockey team learned who I was, I have been noticed a lot more around campus than before.

Reign nods. “Gotcha. That explains why you’re rooting for him.” He smiles. “I thought he may be your boyfriend.”

I make a face. “Ew.”

He chuckles and I give him a look. “Wait. If you thought I was his girlfriend, why did you give me your beer? Do you have some feud with my brother and want to piss him off?”

“What? No.” He looks appalled. “I’m here to support the hockey team. I don’t have a feud with anyone.” Reign looks past my shoulder at the ice. “I gave you my beer to be kind and maybe because I wanted to see if you were taken.”

“She isn’t!” Aria shouts from our seats.

I send her a scathing look. I swear, if she somehow got ahold of Reign and told him to ask me out, I’m going to end our friendship.

I shake my head. “I’m not taken…”Why is Nolan suddenly in my head?“But I’m not really looking for anything serious right now.”

Reign shrugs. “Me either. But maybe we can sit together at the next game? You can pay me back for the beer.” He winks, and there’s a little tug in my chest.

“Okay,” I finally say. “I’ll sit with you at the next game, but we’ll see about the beer.”

He smiles, and I realize that he is just as handsome up close as he is on the football field. Dark hair, bright-green eyes, thick black eyelashes. Total opposite of Nolan’s sandy hair and golden-boy looks.Wait. Get out of my head, Nolan.

“What’s your number?”

I rattle the digits off to him and feel a text come in a second later, but before I can open my phone, I jump from the loud sound at my back. The beer Reign gave me spills out from the top when I spin to see the commotion.

My chest tightens when I catch Nolan staringrightat me. He has an opposing player pinned to the glass with an arm pressed to his windpipe, but for some reason, his gaze is set directly on me.

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