Page 25 of Topping the Jock
“That’s not appropriate either.” His green eyes lifted to mine, momentarily stopping my heart. Fuck. I liked him looking at me. “The messaging has gotten a little out of hand.”
When I had first messaged him earlier that week, I hadn’t expected him to reply. But then he had, and we’d talked every day since. I had sent him funny memes, which he’d replied to calling me an idiot. Then, he’d even sent me a few in return, showing me he wasn’t as irritated by me as he pretended to be. I had thought we were becoming… well, not friends exactly, but maybe something close to it. Yet, now Quinn was throwing up his walls again.
And it bothered me.
“You want me to stop messaging you?” I asked.
He averted his eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me either way.”
His demeanor told me otherwise.
“Fine,” I said, calling his bluff. “I won’t message again.”
“Good.” Quinn avoided my gaze as he moved the contents of his salad with the fork.
I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Hell. Maybe he reallydidwant me to leave him alone from now on.
After scarfing the grilled chicken, I munched on baby carrots. Each time I bit into one, causing a loudsnap, Quinn glanced up from his food with a peeved expression. I met his gaze and bit into another, chewing it as loudly as possible.
He pushed back from the table and went over to rinse out the plastic container he’d brought his lunch in. I grinned at his back. Why was annoying him so fun?
Without a word to me, he left the lounge, closing the door on his way out.
Well damn.I might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but I could take a hint.
Quinn was attracted to me. There was no denying the lust in his eyes and how his breaths quickened when I stood close to him, like when we’d been beside the trophy case earlier that morning. But I wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d magically forgiven me for bullying him.
If he really wanted me to back off, I would.
Later that afternoon, I set up a TV in the weight room and played game footage from the previous year. We looked at our team’s formation, pointed out mistakes made, and talked about ways to improve on them. Then, we studied the opposing team. It wasn’t the first time we’d done so; we’d been preparing for the first game for weeks, along with the scrimmage games.
“Johnson has one heck of an arm,” Gunner said after we watched a play where the quarterback threw a pass which was caught and run in for a thirty-yard touchdown.
“Yeah, but so does Big D,” Trent said, slapping Dean on the back. “Our boy’s gonna wipe the floor with them bitches tomorrow.”
Dean, who wasn’t one to boast, shyly smiled before saying, “We’reallgoing to do our best tomorrow. Make sure you rest tonight.”
“Yes, Captain.” Gunner saluted him.
The rest of the team cracked up and returned their attention to the screen. From experience, I knew those boys were going to have a hard time sleeping that night. The night before a football game had always made me anxious. I’d tossed and turned with both excitement and nerves.
Around six that afternoon, the team left, and I cleaned up the weight room, moving the TV back into the storage closet beside my office. Then, I went into the locker room, picking up discarded towels and random pieces of trash. If those boys continued to be slobs, I was going to kick all their asses.
I shut empty lockers that had been left open and did one last sweep of the area before turning toward the door. Then I faltered in step. Quinn stood in the doorway, an uncertain expression on his face.
“Uh, hey,” he said, moving a hand through the top of his wavy hair. “Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all. I was just cleanin’ a little. What’s up?”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure. Have a seat.” I motioned to a bench.
“I’d rather stand,” Quinn responded, moving closer but still keeping a good distance from me. His gaze flashed to the set of lockers to my left, and if I wasn’t mistaken, his eyes seemed to darken as they focused back on me.
Was he remembering that day ten years ago when I’d fucked Tyler against that very same locker? The real kicker was I didn’t remember that moment because of Tyler… it was only memorable because of Quinn. Having him stare at me, his face flushed with desire and his eyes wide with surprise, had turned me on like crazy.
I had wanted him in that moment.
