Page 31 of Running Play (Gods of Campus #1)

Christian

Wednesday night I sit on the couch nursing a beer while Randy sits cross-legged on the floor in front of me.

It’s his thing when he’s serious about playing the PlayStation, he sits there.

Some games he’ll start on the couch, then slowly work his way down to the ground, the more serious it gets.

But tonight, he is all set up directly in front of the TV.

“Right, let’s see what she’s got,” Randy says, cracking his fingers. “I mean, who can be that smoking hot and good at COD,” he says as he adjusts his headset. “Well, besides me.”

I shake my head at the pompous ass in front of me, taking a swig of my beer.

I haven’t seen Shelby since our breakfast together.

Between studying and my practice schedule, we have both been busy, but have still managed to talk and text every day.

I’m finding myself falling more and more for her, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Every time we message, I can’t control the smile on my face.

My friends give me hell about it, but I don’t even care.

This feeling is like nothing I have experienced before, it’s different, real, and fucking exciting .

“Have they started?” Walsh asks as he walks out of the kitchen with Seth, his drink in hand and plate of nachos in the other.

“Nah, man, Randy is just warming up and bragging about his skills,” I say.

“Well, that’s a process in itself,” Walsh says.

Randy cusps his hand over the microphone hanging by his lips. “I don’t brag. I just happen to be exceptional at most things. It’s a burden and a struggle I live with daily, but I manage!”

Walsh rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m here, what’s your player name?

Okay, mine’s Hot_AF_QB,” he cracks his neck.

“Yeah, I know it suits me,” Randy says in the headset.

“They’re all here, actually. Christian, Walsh, and Seth, yep, they’re my entourage.

They wanted to break out the miniskirts and pom poms, but I told them it wasn’t necessary.

Yeah, I agree, I’m definitely the hottest. Seriously, stop, you’re going to make me blush, but sure, you can touch my abs whenever you want,” he says as I glare at the back of his head. Next to me my phone pings.

Shelby: OMG, I swear I’m not saying anything inappropriate to Randy.

Me: I know, don’t stress, just kick his arrogant ass.

Shelby: Cool. About to start, gotta go.

Me: Good luck.

Shelby: Thank you.

“Shelby just texted; she wanted to make sure I knew you were full of shit.”

“Pfft, you’ve known me since we were kids…who are you going to believe, me or her?”

“Because I have known you since we were kids, I’m going to go with her,” I reply.

“Ouch, man…oh, we’re on,” Randy says as his character dressed in tactical military gear appears and starts running toward a group of buildings. Since we can’t hear Shelby, we sit back and watch Randy and listen to him talk to her.

“Nah, I’m in the tank heading toward you,” I hear him say as his body jars to the left. “Ha, I just got another two.”

After about fifteen minutes of playing and, from what Randy is telling us, they both seem to be relatively even. Although they won’t know until the game is over and the scores come up, ranking them in order and displaying the kill-to-live ratio.

“Only a few minutes left,” Randy says as he stands on the back of a car shooting a machine gun.

“Boom! That’s it. Bring on the scores,” he yells, dropping his remote and falling back to rest on his hands.

“How did you do?” Walsh asks.

“Dude, I owned it, like usual,” he says.

The display changes and a list of names and stats appears on the screen. We all lean forward.

“Shit, man, she did really well, I only just beat her,” Randy says as we all study the screen in front of us.

“What’s her name?” I ask as I read through the list of names on the screen.

“Miss_Cobra27.”

“That’s cool,” Seth says, “Shelby Cobra, like the car. I think I approve of this girl even more.”

“Guess she is born on the 27 th ?” Walsh asks, and I shrug because I have no idea when her birthday is.

“Ha, I got you…just,” Randy says in the headset. “You did really well. I’ll need to practice before our next game.”

“Yep, okay. Yep, I’ll be at the Halloween party, we can figure out the next game then. Cool. Bye,” he says, removing his headset.

“She wants me,” he says, lying back on the floor and stretching.

“Uh-huh,” I respond back.

“Well, I better go get my beauty sleep, it will be a big night tomorrow,” Randy looks toward Seth. “So did you decide what you’re going as?” He taps at his chin. “Was it a ballerina or a leprechaun?”

“No, I’m still going as the natural badass I am, who happens to share a house with a smartass football player.”

“Hey, don’t talk about Christian like that,” Randy says.

“I wasn’t,” Seth retorts.

“Ouch, then you must have meant me because Walsh is just the punter, he’s not really a football player ,’” Randy states.

Walsh throws a nacho at his head. “I would tell you to stop being such a smartass, but then you would have absolutely no personality at all. Besides, you know every game I score more points than you do!”

Randy laughs as he rolls to his stomach, does five pushups, then stands to his feet. He waves, his silent way of saying good night, and jogs upstairs.

After a shower I change into a pair of gym shorts and throw back some painkillers, hoping for a good night’s sleep. I lie down on my bed, place the ice pack on my ribs, and send off a quick text to Shelby.

Me: Hope I didn’t wake u. Just wanted 2 say better luck next game.

Shelby: Just getting into bed now. Thank you, I’ll get him next game.

Me: Yes, u will. See u tomorrow night.

Shelby: Yep, I’ll meet you there. I’ll be walking over with Letti, Travis, and your brother and sister.

Me: Can’t wait 2 see u in that Mavis outfit.

Shelby: You’re still not dressing up?

Me: Nope, not my thing.

Shelby: Bugger. Okay, well, good night. x

Me: Night, gorgeous. x