Page 92 of Quarterback Sneak

Zane-ok

Zane-there's no pressure from me, ever

Me-thanks! When do you want to meet, so I can give you your keys?

We pick a time to meet up, and I head to my next class. I settle in my seat and get my laptop out and my post-it notes. “Hey, Evie.” A tall, muscular guy takes the seat on my right.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen him before. “Hi, uh...”

“Adam,” he fills in, putting out his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Adam.” I shake his hand quickly and then turn to my laptop, hoping he’ll get the point that I don’t want to talk.

“Ex,” he calls out, startling me.

Another tall guy walks over to us and hunkers down in the seat next to mine. He puts out a large hand. “I’m Exavier. My friends call me Ex.”

“Nice to meet you, Exavier.”

“Nah, call me Ex. I can tell we’re going to be friends.”

I do my best to give him a friendly smile, but I’m not sure I succeed. Normally, sitting between two guys in class wouldn’t bother me. But there’s something about these two; something I can’t quite put my finger on. I do my best to tune them out, ready to take notes as soon as our professor starts. I figure as soon as the professor started his lecture, they’ll be quiet.Nope.They talk to each other the entire hour, and not in a quiet whisper. No, they talk in low tones that carry. Several students turned around and gave them dirty looks, but the room’s just too big for the professor to see or care about the disturbance. They ask me ridiculous questions the entire time. I do my best to ignore them, but I miss pretty much everything from this lecture. I’m incredibly irritated by the end of class. I close my laptop and turn to get my bag, only to find it gone.

“Looking for something?” Adam asks, holding my bag high above his head, way out of my reach.

“Why do you have my bag?” I ask in a no-nonsense tone. They have pushed every button I’ve got, and I have no ability to play nice left. I dig deep. “Please give me my bag.”

“Aw, she said please,” Adam says with a grin.

“Catch.” He throws my bag over my head to Ex.

“What are we? In junior high? Give me my bag.”

Adam grins down at me, but it’s losing its playfulness. “What will you give me?”

“Nothing.”

I turn around, hoping Ex might be easier to deal with. “Ex.”

He grins slowly. “Yes, Evie.”

I don’t know why they decided to pick on me, but I’ve had it with this whole thing. “I have a class I’m going to be late for. So, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, we don’t mind at all,” Adam all but whispers in my ear. His body closes in on mine, and I freeze. Ex catches my expression, and his grin widens. But it’s no longer friendly.“What? You put out for the quarterback, but you won’t put out for the basketball guys?”

A sick feeling fills my stomach. “Do you only do football players, Baby?” Adam asks, nuzzling my neck.

I jerk my head away from him, looking desperately for somebody, anybody to help me. I reach my hand into my pocket and snag my phone. I pull it out quickly, but before I can use it, Ex knocks it from my hand. “You don’t need that, Doll.”

Panic builds in my chest, but I try to keep it at bay. “If you guys don’t let me go, I'm going to scream.”

They both laugh. “Do it, Doll. Nobody’s coming for you. Nobody’s in this room for the next hour. The building’s empty.”

I glance towards the closed doors and fear they might be right. Ex takes a step closer, and now I’m stuck between the two of them. My fear ratchets up another notch, and I can barely hear over the pounding in my ears. I watch Adam say something, but it doesn’t register. But whatever it was, they both get a good laugh out of it. A hand slides around my waist, and I try to pull away. “Get off me.”

“If you don’t want to lose that arm, I suggest you remove it from her body. Right. Now.” Relief crashes through me at the sound of Zane’s voice. I whirl around to face him and almost regret it, almost. His face is a mask of pure rage and not something I’ve ever seen on him before. Slate steps into the room behind him and closes the doors. They shut with a thud that echoes through the now-silent room. I glance at Slate and shiver; his expression is even more fierce than Zane’s.

“Come here, Baby.”