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Brendon

I ’ve barely made it back to our room after morning workout when there’s a knock on the door. I grumble, wanting nothing more than to take these stupid pants off, but open the door to find Nikki smiling at me expectantly. Fucking Christ.

“Hey, what’s up?” I try to hide my disappointment and lean against the door. She strides in like she owns the place and sits on Paul’s bed.

“Come on in, make yourself comfortable.” I close the door and sit on my bed.

“Where’s Darby Bear?” She looks around the room with a raised eyebrow and suspicion, then turns to me.

“Huh?” What the fuck is a Darby bear? I look around too, like I know what the fuck I’m looking for.

“The bear I left on your bed.” She says it like that’s helpful. When was she in here?

Bear . . . bear . . . bear . . . there was a bear . . . somewhere . . .

“Riiiight . . .” I turn around to look at my bed, running it through my head where the stupid thing could be. I look at my bed but don’t see anything.

“I put it right here.” I turn to look at her, and she’s pointing to a spot on Paul’s bed.

“That’s not my bed.” I point to Paul’s bed where she’s sitting.

“Is it not?” Nikki cocks her head. “Every time I’ve come in here, you’re sitting on it.”

“He has the TV, so I sit over there a lot, but it’s not mine.” So get off my boyfriend’s bed.

She climbs off the bed like it’s disgusting, and I turn back to mine. On the other side of my pillow I see a brown fuzzy leg and reach for it.

“Here it is.” I show her. and she takes it from me, placing it on the bedside table. Am I a child?

Don’t answer that.

“You should make your bed.” She puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head at me, then does just that, straightening out my blanket and fluffing my pillow.

I shrug and scratch the back of my head. “I don’t see the point of making my bed when I’m just going to get back into it.”

“Do you wash your laundry? By that logic, you shouldn’t bother to do that either.”

Okay, she has a point there.

The door opens again, Paul’s voice entering before we can see his face.

“Hey, bay—” He clears his throat, and I smirk at him over Nikki’s head. “Hello, Nikki.”

The smile that was on his face falls into an expressionless mask. He doesn’t like her, and that is hilarious to me. She’s never done anything to warrant that kind of response. I think he’s a little jealous.

“Don’t you have class?” He looks at me with a pointed look. Pulling out my phone, I swear and grab my backpack. I want to kiss him before I head out, but I can’t with Nikki here. Ugh. “Later.”

Nikki, of course, follows me out of the room and into the elevator.

“Is he gay or something?” Nikki’s question catches me off guard, and my head snaps to the side to stare at her.

“What?”

“He looks at you like he either wants to eat you or murder you.” She shrugs.

“He’s my best friend.” I cross my arms and beg this elevator not to stop on every floor so I can get the fuck out of here, but today is not my lucky day.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” She doesn’t lower her voice at all, despite there being more people in the car.

“No, he’s not. Not that it’s any of your business,” I snap a little harsher than I meant to, and the people in front of us turn to look at me.

Nikki turns to watch me, and a smile curls the corner of her lips that makes me uncomfortable.

When we finally reach the main floor, I push my way out and don’t feel all that bad about leaving her behind. I have to protect him.

I find a seat in the back of the lecture hall, and my phone buzzes in my pocket.

P DADDY: That’s a really cute teddy bear. Are you going to cuddle with it tonight instead of with me?

MENACE: Instead of? No. He’s going to join us. He’s part of our throuple now.

P DADDY: If it touches me, I’ll light it on fire. It’s tainted.

MENACE: I’ve got a taint you can play with . . .

I snort to myself and put my phone away as class starts. It vibrates in my pocket, but I try to force myself to focus on taking notes instead of sexting with my very hot boyfriend. I wonder if he would send me a dick pic . . .

It takes all my force of will not to fall asleep in class. I have no idea what he talked about or what our next homework assignment is. I’m totally fucked.

When he excuses us, I stand and stretch, turning my body to get that full-body pull, and jump when Nikki is standing behind me.

“Jesus, dude.” I pull my arms in to protect my chest like she’s going to hit me. The chick is weird, doesn’t blink enough, and I swear has ninja training. I’m going to tie a bell on her shoes or something.

“Yes, Jesus was a man.” She cocks her head, looking at me like she’s confused.

“What?”

“Jesus in Spanish is also a male name.”

Is she having a stroke or something? What the fuck is she talking about?

“Right. Cool. Thanks for that. I gotta go.” I grab my bag and head toward the door, but she follows me.

Outside in the hallway, Paul’s smiling face greets me. He opens his mouth, but I open my eyes as wide as I can and make a slashing motion by my chest where Nikki won’t see it. His smile falls, and he lifts an eyebrow at me.

“Lunch?” Paul asks, still looking very confused, but his soft, worn jeans that cup his thighs so perfectly are damn distracting. He always looks too good, put together even in just jeans and a hoodie and backward ball cap. The dude is sexy as fuck, and it’s rude. Glancing down at myself, I’m in baggy black sweatpants and a purple Darby Hockey hoodie. I run my hand through my hair, feeling a little self-conscious next to him.

My stomach grumbles loudly as I stop in front of him, and Nikki steps up next to me. Once again, Paul slides a blank expression over his face, but this time it bugs me. It’s so abnormal for him. I want his smile.

“Yeah, I think Carpenter said something about a team lunch?” I try to use our best friend mind powers to tell Paul I’m making it up but trying to make an excuse for Nikki to fuck off, but he looks at me like I’ve grown another head. Great.

“Right . . .” He nods slowly and pulls his phone from his pocket and turns on the screen. “We gotta hustle or I’ll be late to my next class.” He puts his phone away and nods at Nikki, then takes my arm and spins me around, marching me down the hallway.

“She just showed up in my class and started talking about Jesus,” I whisper to Paul. “She’s kinda weird.”

“You’re an idiot.” Paul huffs and shakes his head.

Once we get out of the building, he lets go of me, and we walk normally toward the dining hall.

“Well, you’re the one who loves me, so what does that say about you?” I pinch his cheek, and he jabs his fingers into my armpit, making me scream. “Asshole.”

Paul chuckles but grabs my arm and wraps it around his shoulders. I try to hide my smile but fail miserably since he mutters, “Shut up.”

“Aww, does someone need a hug?” I tease him, pinching his ribs and wanting nothing more than to interlace our fingers, kiss him right here in front of everyone. But I won’t. While I don’t care if everyone knows, I know he’s not ready, and I respect that. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point, and with Jeremy and Preston out to the team, I’m more comfortable officially coming out. Will anyone be surprised? Probably not.

As we get to the dining hall, a group of people come out and hold the door for us. Scanning the tables, Carp is sitting with the guy who showed us where to get good cinnamon rolls, Willis, and another guy I don’t know, but if I had to guess, also a jock.

Paul and I grab food and head to the table with our teammates. I drop my tray next to Carppy, and he gives me a nod.

“Hey, guys, how's it going?”

“Brendon has a stalker,” Paul says casually, and everyone turns to look at him.

“What?” Carp asks.

I shake my head and start to argue, but Paul puts his hand over my mouth and continues. No one looks surprised by this.

“Yeah, this little puck bunny pops up in his classes, shows up at our dorm, brings him shit. It’s creepy.”

I lick Paul’s palm, and he jerks his hand away from me with a glare.

“She is not stalking me.” I shove a bite of my chicken into my mouth. “She’s a little intense, I’ll give you that. But she’s not dangerous or anything.”

“The girl is weird,” Paul argues.

I pat his cheek condescendingly. “Don’t worry, buddy, she won’t take best friend status.”

“She’s following you?” Willis asks.

“I think she has classes near mine.” I shrug, shoving another bite into my mouth.

“Listen, if you’re jealous of my teddy bear, you can snuggle him too,” I tell Paul with a pat on his arm.

“Teddy bear?” the friend of Carp asks. What the hell was his name . . .

“Yeah, I found it on my bed,” Paul tells them. “With a note that said something about cuddling it when she’s not around.”

“I didn’t see a note,” I say around a mouthful of food.

“Why did you let her put it on my bed?” Paul glares at me.

“I didn’t even know about the bear until this morning.”

Everyone at the table freezes and stares at me like I’ve said something really weird.

“What?”

“So, wait,” Carp starts. “Neither of you let her in the room, but the bear was in there?”

Oh.

“How did she get in?” Willis asks.

“Ding ding ding!” the cute dark-haired guy sitting next to Carp says. “What do we have for him, Johnny?”

“Who’s Johnny?” I ask, and he laughs. But seriously, who’s Johnny?

“Does she have a key to your room?” Carp tosses out.

“I don’t think so? How would she have gotten that?” I shove more food in my mouth and groan when the salty, crispy fries hit my tongue. These would be better with cheese and bacon, but fuck, they’re so good.

“Do you guys make sure to lock the door when you leave?” Carp looks at me, and he’s not wrong for the assumption.

“Sometimes I forget,” I mumble around my fries, and he sighs.

“Well, we have to go to Vegas tomorrow, so make sure your door is locked.”

Carp and his friend share a look, and it's so quick I almost missed it, but they are so fucking, and I can’t wait to tell someone, so I pull out my phone and type out a message to Paul.

MENACE: Cap is doing the dude he’s sitting next to.

Paul’s phone vibrates on the table, and he looks at it confused but picks it up.

P DADDY: Nick? How do you know that?

Nick! That’s his name. Paul is so much better with names than me.

MENACE: They had a LOOK.

Paul sighs and shakes his head, then shoves his phone in his pocket. Jerk.