“No kidding.” She shuffled toward the nearest aisle, and Jack tagged along. “That was a hard foul,” she said, and then quieter, “Hope he’ll be all right.”
He grinned. Outside the exit of the stands, he met Nessa’s gaze. “I’m glad, you know.”
“Glad of what?”
“That you came here to watch Marcus play.”
“No, I—” She gave up on what they both knew would have been a lie. “Why are you glad?”
“You’re good people. Marcus would be lucky to have you.”
Twisting the end of her hair, she didn’t look convinced. “He doesn’t think so.”
“Yes, he does, believe it or not. He’s just shy around girls. Thinks none of the pretty girls will go out with him.” Had he said too much?
“Did you just slip in you think I’m pretty?”
Jack laughed. Figured that’s what she heard. “For a girl.”
“Why is he always so snippy around me?”
“You know, if you act like you don’t like him, he thinks you don’t, so he won’t ask you out and then you can’t say no.”
“What?”
Jack fixed her a look. “C’mon. You hassle him as much as he needles you. A man can only pine for so long before moving on.”
“And I thought us girls were complicated.”
“Hey, hey.” Winking, he pointed a finger at her. “I’m not arguing against that.”
Nessa had a sweet ring to her laugh when she wasn’t being sarcastic.
“I’m sure the two of you will be seeing each other soon, so be nice.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “Thanks, Jack. You’re sweet to do this.”
“Nah, Marcus can be slow sometimes. I’m just speeding things along.” He winked again and set out to find Brittany. He zigzagged his way across the parking, finally ending up at the Jeep. With the top down, Brittany sat in the back, hand on the roll bar, soaking up the sun.
“Man, I love your car,” she said as he approached and climbed into the front.
“It’s a Jeep, Brit, not a car.”
“Whatever, Jackie boy.” She moved to the front and buckled her seat belt without looking over. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
Jack seated himself and turned the key.
Brittany tuned in the radio. “Your lover boy is a charmer, Jackie. You did good.”
“You’re not going to complain about him not being out?”
She laughed. “The boy sat there like it was hardest thing he’d ever had to do. And he was totally doing it because of you.”
Jack’s chest fluttered. “Really?”
“He might have barely touched you, but his eyes lit up every time he glanced your way.” Brittany opened and closed the glove box. “You know what would make this car perfect? If you had some chocolate.”
Jack’s phone beeped and he pulled it out. A tingle rushed through him when he opened the text message.
Ed: You look so hot in your jeep.
He looked around for Ed’s truck and saw it three cars ahead. Shifting into first gear, he inched along with traffic, trying to stifle his excitement. Half focused on driving, he didn’t realize they were almost out of the lot until he heard Brittany’s voice.
“Isn’t that Marcus’s crush?” Nessa followed the pack who walked back to campus.
Angling over a bit to get closer but not lose his place, Jack shifted to neutral. “Call her.”
Brittany stood up and started waving her over. Then she glared at him. “You don’t seem surprised. You knew she was here.”
“I ran into her when you went to the ladies’ room.”
Brittany shook her head. “Those are the kind of details a girl wants to know.”
Nessa reached the Jeep.
“Hop in. We’ll take you back.” Jack watched her struggle, as if she thought she should say no.
“Get in or he’ll go all caveman on you and throw you in.” Brittany climbed into the back, stepping on the front seat to get there.
Jack dusted off the seat. “No respect for a man’s baby.” He opened the door for Nessa.
“You and this Jeep of yours,” Brittany muttered from the back. “You’d think it was a Rolls or something.”
“It is to me,” he said. Brittany should have known better, but she was clearly putting on her show for Nessa. Glaring at her in the rearview mirror, he hated when she did this. “You know why.”
“Oh, my bad.”
“What?” Nessa looked at him, then Brittany, then back to him. “What’s up with the Jeep?”
“This was the car my dad, my birth dad, promised to buy me when I graduated high school. Mr. Reynolds knew about that promise and let me use my trust fund to buy it. Only time they’ve let me tap into it.”
“Mr. R totally got the better of the salesman too.” Brittany’s comment lightened the mood, and Nessa didn’t press him for more details.
His pocket buzzed just as he turned onto the road. Fortunately there was so much traffic, he had time to check it.
Ed: Already miss you.
Another jolt of excitement raced through him.
“Aw, hell.” In the mirror he caught Brittany shaking her head. “Jack got another message from his boyfriend. Look at him blushing.”
“You’re so dead, Brit.”
Nessa laughed at their exchange. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“He’s got it bad.” Brittany laughed at her joke, and Jack growled.
“Brit, let it go before I start to drop nuggets about you and….” He raised an eyebrow, daring her to tease on.
Finally the congestion broke and he stepped on the gas, making it windy as hell in the back seat.
He had a guy to get to.
Ducking into their room to get some things, Jack bumped into a red-seething Marcus.
“Wasn’t that just a load of crap?” Marcus shut their door and tossed his stuff on the floor. “Gonna have a couple nasty bruises tomorrow.”
“We were all shocked,” Jack said, dropping his bathroom bag on top of the dresser.
Marcus stomped the length of the room. “Man, Coach looked like he was about to blow a fuse.”
“I think he did,” Jack said, stuffing a clean T-shirt into his bag. “I saw him go at it with the refs.”
“Don’t know how I’m supposed to study right now,” Marcus said. “I’m all wound up.”
“Maybe take a walk or something. Get some coffee.”
“Coffee.” Marcus sure perked up quick. “That might be a good idea. Guess I could copy and drop off Loch Ness’s notes while I’m at it.”
Jack suppressed a grin and hitched his overnight bag onto his shoulder. “Didn’t she say you could chuck them?”
“Yeah, but, well you know, these are the originals. She said she wrote all the notes out again, but I can’t believe she did it to the same detail.”
“That’s… good of you.”
Marcus shrugged. “If I’m going to beat her in this test, I want the playing field to be even.”
Jack grabbed his wallet and keys and turned to Marcus. “Do yourself a favor, Marc. Go see her, drop off the notes. Be nice.”