Page 27 of My Brother's Teammates

Feeling Landon’s eyes on me made my skin heat with shame, but I kept my chin up as I faced my brother. “Someone kneed him in the balls.”

Axel threw back his head and laughed so loud it drew everyone’s attention. His eyes even watered. “Wow. I’m betting you deserved it. Especially after you got the tutoring directions messed up.”

Jason pried Hudson off me and groaned. “Exactly how long ago did you get kneed in the balls, asshole?”

Hudson’s face lit up as he winked at me. “About an hour or so ago.”

Jason gently pulled me away from his best friend and smiled sweetly. “Don’t believe men, kid. Especially ones with money and who look like Hudson DuPont.”

Axel threw his arm over my shoulder, free to touch me since Jason was focused on harassing Hudson, who was walking just fine without my help. “I can’t believe you fell for that shit. Oldest trick in the book.”

I smiled up at him. “He really did get kneed in the balls, though. It wasn’t good.”

“Did he deserve it?” His thumb traced the shell of my ear and his eyes heated when he watched me blush. “I’m kicking his ass for stealing you away from us either way.”

I stopped just before the front of the lecture hall so I wouldn’t have to spend more time with Landon than necessary. “It was an accident. There was a weight issue with a chair and a tumble might’ve been involved.”

He dropped his arm to face me. “So, he made his move? Wait until Ryder hears about this.”

I made a face. “Is someone going to get hit again?”

Laughing, he shook his head. “Nope. That was just me and Ry talking things out.”

I rolled my eyes and reached up to touch the puffy skin that was already dark purple under his eye. “Talking, huh?”

He caught my hand and stepped closer. “Missed you this morning.”

I bit my lip to stop the silly smile from stretching my lips but it couldn’t be helped. “Missed you, too.”

Stepping back, he stroked my wrist before dropping my hand. “Jace apparently spent the morning chasing a girl all over campus. Isn’t that right?”

Jason, who’d just walked up next to us, frowned. “I’m not talking about it.”

“As much as I’m sure everyone cares about your life stories, do me a favor and take your seats, boys.” Landon stood with his hands on his hips, anger showing in his eyes as he looked at Axel.

Axel smirked. “You think everyone cares? That’s super sweet.”

“I think you’d like to think everyone cares and losing that belief would be damaging to your tender ego at such a young age. So, please, Mr. Fitzgerald, take your seat. We both know you can’t afford to miss anything else in class.”

I’d been looking at my feet, but I glared up at Landon then. He was being mean for no reason. I’d never seen him treat another student like that and I wanted to throat punch him for talking to Axel like he was stupid and vapid. My temper rarely came out but seeing someone in a position of power attempt to bully Axel pushed me to speak up. “I’ve actually been working with Axel outside of class and I would say he has a firm grasp on the subject.”

A few snickers from the rest of the lecture hall cued me in on the fact that what I’d said could be taken in a perverse way. Landon glared around the room and then focused on me. “If you’ll focus your attention on grading the last tests, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yep. Fine.” I made a point of looking up at Axel. “You okay?”

He was very clearly trying not to laugh as he nodded. “All good, Kitten.”

I blushed as Jason smacked Axel and pushed him away from me while telling him not to call me nicknames like that. Hudson leaned down and kissed the side of my head on his way to his seat, holding eye contact with Landon as he did.

My stomach sank as I took the seat Landon pointed me to. Right in front of him, by myself. I had the feeling that worlds were going to collide before too long and all I wanted to do was run away from being forced to look at my actions through anyone else’s gaze.

***Jenny***

Afteralongweekof classes, all I wanted to do was hide in my room and read a romance novel or six. Facing Landon multiple times had been hard in a new, unexpected way. I no longer wanted to cry when I saw him. I wanted to scream and throw things. I couldn’t stop thinking of everything I’d lost while being caught up in a relationship with him. He’d also started lashing out more at the guys, like he knew what I was doing with them somehow. It was impossible, but I couldn’t help being paranoid.

The guys had all been busy all week preparing for the game, which was apparently going to be a big one. Even Hudson seemed oddly uptight about it. They’d all slipped into focus mode and even my morning sessions with Axel had stopped since he was getting to his workouts earlier than ever. None of them had time to study, which I worried about, but I wasn’t their mother.

I was well on my way to a weekend mostly alone when they’d found out I’d never attended a game. After hearing them out, I realized that I’d been unfair to Jason. Our own parents had made the three-hour drive to come watch almost all of his games, yet I’d never walked the few minutes it’d take me to watch one. It wasn’t my scene, but it was Jason’s and I owed him that.

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