Page 116 of Quarterback Sneak

I grin at her. “Sure.”

We dump our trash. When I turn around, I nearly run right into a guy. “Hey, Evie, right?”

I blink at him, because I have no idea who he is. I’ve never seen him before. “Uh, yeah.”

He smiles at me and puts out his hand for me to shake. “You sit next to me for Psych class.”

“Oh.”

“I’m Cal.” It’s about that point that I realize he’s still holding my hand. I try to pull back, but he keeps my hand in his. He tugs me towards him, totally surprising me. “I’m having a party this weekend, Evie.”

And then Reid’s there. “She’s not interested.” He looks down pointedly at Cal’s grip on my hand. Under the weight of Reid’s stare, Cal releases it and puts his hand up.

“Sorry, Man. I didn’t know she was taken. That’s not what she was giving off in class.”

My eyes widen in shock. “Excuse me? I don’t evenknowyou. And after that, I certainly don’t want to.”

I turn and stride away from him, and Tessa hurries to catch up to me. I turn to Reid, who’s walking with us. “Thanks, but I’ve got it.”

“I know.”

I shake my head. “He was a jerk.”

“Yes, he was,” Reid agrees with me.

Tessa clears her throat rather loudly. I turn to her, and she gives me wide eyes. “Oh, Reid, you remember Tessa, right?”He glances over at her and nods. I cringe, wondering if his less than enthusiastic greeting will bother her, but nope. Her eyes are wide.He remembers me,shemouths to me.

“Reid Marshall, everything I’ve heard about you is true. You really are a nice guy onandoff the court. And I’m so happy you found your girl. Riley sounds so amazing; I can’t wait to meet her. Next year, Evie and I can make sure she has a good year and—” I elbow her hard, cutting off her words and face her.

“What in the world, Tessa?”

She stares at me. “Did I just say all that out loud?”

“Yes!” I close my eyes a moment and turn to Reid.

But Tessa beats me to it. “I won’t tell anybody about her.”

“Tessa!”

“Shutting up now,” she says, miming zipping her lips.

I face Reid. “I’m sorry.”

He stares down at me a moment and then looks away. I’m expecting him to rip into me about not keeping my word and telling Tessa, but he doesn’t. “Thanks. She’ll need friends and allies next year.” His words shock me to complete silence. Tessa and I exchange a look, but neither of us say a word.

Reid’s words stay with me for the rest of the day, which ends up dragging on and on. I work until ten in the coffee shop. When I finally finish for the night, I head outside. I’m shocked to see Zane leaning against the railing. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to check on you. I tried to get over here sooner, but I had too much going on.”

I frown. “How do you find time to get any of your class work done?”

“When do you?” he says in return.

“Touchè.”

“You want to head back to my place tonight?”

“I don’t know, Zane.” I look in the direction of my dorm. “Maybe I should just stay in my dorm room.”