Page 57 of Running Play (Gods of Campus #1)
Christian
“Yep, I’m here,” her sweet voice confirms. It’s a sound I will never get sick of hearing, or the cute way she pronounces things.
My head rests content against her headboard, my long legs on either side of her as we sit on her bed.
She stretches her neck side to side as she logs on.
She looks fucking hot with the remote in her hand, headset on, and sheer concentration over her brow.
This will be game four, if she wins this game, she wins the bet.
Watching her play is unbelievably sexy, and she was right…
she does destroy at this game. She misses nothing as her fingers rapidly tap away at the buttons.
“No, I’m near the airfield,” she says into her headset.
I can’t hear Randy, but I can picture him sitting on the floor, headgear on, with Seth and Walsh watching on the couch behind him.
The whole student body wants to know who will win.
Everyone is trying to figure out when the next game will be, so we have kept it strictly between our close friends.
I stayed the night with Shelby, who practically had to sleep on top of me, but we made it work.
But I think from now on we will do sleepovers at my house.
She slumps back into my lap. “Bugger, bugger, bugger. I think he won.”
I rub her arms as the results pop up on the screen. “Damn it!” she says, throwing the remote on the bed.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles into the headphone. “Whatever, Randy… The stage is now set for the decider…Okay, talk later.” She removes her headphones and groans. “Agghh, I can’t lose this!”
“You won’t!”
She sighs. “I need coffee. That was my problem, playing without my morning coffee was a terrible mistake. I can’t do anything without it.”
“I don’t agree with that,” I say, lifting her up and into my lap. “You did me perfectly this morning.” I bury my face in her neck and bite and suck at it as she laughs and tries to free herself from my grasp.
“Oh my God, let go.” She laughs. “Your whiskers tickle.”
“Never! You are stuck with me forever, I’m never letting you go,” I growl into her neck and then nibble at her earlobe, which makes her laugh even harder.
And I mean just that…forever.
***
Around half past nine we slip out of her room and head down to grab coffee before our first class. Holding her hand protectively in mine, we walk across campus.
“Where will I meet you after?” she asks .
“The fountain?” I offer.
She nods, and I lean down mid-walk to press a kiss to her lips. It was meant to be quick, innocent but that’s not how it plays out. We stop, fully consumed by each other.
“We’re in public, people!” a voice beside us calls.
My lips break away from hers as I look over my shoulder and see my fellow Raptor. “Morning, Jason,” I say.
“Morning, guys,” he says back with a mischievous grin.
“Morning,” Shelby replies with a smile and wave.
“Heading this way?” Jason points ahead of him.
“Yeah, man.”
I swing my arm around Shelby’s shoulder and tuck her close to my side as we all start walking toward our next class.
“Damn, Shelby, I just heard the results, I’m bummed you didn’t win. It’s all you next game, babe.”
“Wow, word really does spread fast,” she says, squinting at her watch and noticing thirty minutes have passed since the loss.
“But seriously, way to build suspense. A deadlock with an unknown decider.”
“Yeah, well, it makes me so nervous, I’m about to throw up just thinking about it. The thought of singing in front of so many people, yuk.”
“Well, all the Raptors are rooting for you…except for Randy, obviously.”
“Thanks, Jason. ”
I remove my arm from around her shoulder as we approach her building.
“I’ll meet you at the fountain after. Do you want to stay at my place tonight?”
“Sounds great, and I don’t think you need to drop me off at my room first, I have enough of my crap at your place.”
I smile at her. “I like that your stuff is at my house, don’t ever take it back!” I reply as I brush my thumb down her cheek, planting a kiss on her lips.
As she steps back, Jason slings an arm around Shelby’s neck. “Don’t worry, Stone, I’ll get her safely to class.”
She blows me a kiss as I say goodbye, Jason’s arm dropping from around her neck as they both climb the stairs in front of their building.
I realize in that moment that I actually don’t mind one bit that my friends also protect my girl…the more, the merrier.