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Page 8 of Running Play (Gods of Campus #1)

Shelby

“Yup, that’s Jasmine,” Travis says as the three of us walk to class the following week.

Letti glances in her direction as I lower my finger and take in the black-haired bombshell.

Letti nods her head. “Yup, head cheerleader, gorgeous, Senior, drives that hot-as-hell black sports car. Remember, we saw her driving it the other day?”

“She’s beautiful,” I exhale, my eyes still watching her from a distance as she walks with her friends in front of us. We’ve been walking behind them for a while now, and the temptation to know more about her continued to build, and the question just slipped out.

The party was epic; Letti, Travis, and I dragged our asses home around 2 AM, and I woke up around lunch time with the room spinning.

We had the best time, and to think it’s just the first of many parties, so really, I have nothing to complain about.

My life is pretty amazing right now, and I’m not just saying that because of how drama-filled it was before.

My family is safe, classes are interesting—challenging but rewarding—and my friends are incredible. Christian who?

“Yes, yes, she is,” Travis agrees, a little too eagerly judging by Letti’s facial expression. Her brows raise from above her sunglasses as she stares up at him in disgust. “I didn’t realize I was third-wheeling my own relationship.”

Ignoring the comment, he asks. “Why do you ask about her?”

“Oh, I just saw her the other night at the party, with, umm, Christian Stone,” I say not being able to lie.

Travis shoots me a look. “Oh, you like Stone? Great guy. You are going to crush Kadel’s heart, though.”

“Don’t say that.” I panic, not wanting to hurt anyone.

Kadel is great, but he’s not my type. Honestly, I shouldn’t even consider dating or having a boyfriend again, but Christian ignites hope that maybe, just maybe I could see myself with someone again.

Not that the life I had planned to live alone with a border collie on a little piece of land back in the middle of Australia is off the cards.

“Don’t worry, Kadel is cool; he won’t care either way. Don’t get me wrong, if you wanted to date the guy, he would say yes in a puck drop.”

“Good to know. I don’t want to hurt anyone…besides, I don’t want to date Christian.” Lie . “I was just curious.”

Travis’s green eyes shine down at me from beneath his hat. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen Christian have a steady girlfriend. Closest thing he has is the oh so gorgeous Jasmine.”

He stirs Letti up, and taking the bait, she playfully slaps his arm with the back of her hand.

“But they are just friends, probably sleep together regularly.” Ouch , painful to hear. “But I don’t think they have ever been an official couple,” he continues. “Many chicks on campus have tried to take him off the most eligible bachelor’s list, and none have succeeded thus far.”

“Well, maybe he needs the allure of an Australian,” Letti says, pulling her eyes away from Travis and smiling over at me from under his jawline.

“He may be just–” he pinches his fingers together. “Maybe good enough for our girl,” he says back.

I feel the warmth of his protection and wonder if this is how it would have felt having an older brother.

In my short time here, Travis and I have really connected.

Hell, he is like the big brother I never had.

I must admit, my trust in the opposite sex did waver.

And I know I shouldn’t group them all together and tarnish them all with the same psychotic brush, but I couldn’t help it.

When you’re pinned to the floor by a screaming male as his erection grinds against your thigh, it’s hard to get the image of any guy being capable of doing that out of your head.

But Travis, Travis has my trust, and that’s huge.

It was this trust I had in both of my friends that compelled me to tell them the reason I came to the USA.

Because holding back the real reason felt like I was lying to them.

In fact, when my medication fell out of my bag one day, I did lie.

Oh, nothing just some mild painkillers. I get bad period pains.

What made it worse was I didn’t think Letti believed me, but she never questioned me either.

The regular check-ins with my doctors, my Skype sessions with my psychiatrist made me feel terrible that I was holding back and not being a true friend, especially after everything she has done for me.

So, a few days ago, after the party on a quiet afternoon while we laid on a blanket in the sun, I told them everything.

They listened intently, asked questions, and showed their support.

The amount of weight it took off my shoulders felt amazing.

He turns his head and looks at me, a smile quirking to one side of his mouth as his eyes shine in the mid-morning sun. “If you want to date someone, trust me, there is a line of guys asking about you.”

“Really?”

“You really think it takes me that long to walk us to class?”

“Well, yeah. Of course I do,” I answer, because I know I never get talked to on my way to class when I walk by myself.

“Shelby, when I walk you to class, I get stopped so many times because I’m the middleman.”

I shake my head at him. “You said that at the frat party, and I didn’t know what you meant?”

“The middleman. I’m the man who has the power to introduce all my male friends to the hot new freshman. Trust me, Shelby, I am social, but when I walk you to class, I get stopped a lot more. Guys know what they are doing, they want an introduction, an ‘in’, and I’m the middleman who will allow it.”

“Oh,” I answer in disbelief, thinking back to how many times we’ve been stopped by guys when walking to class.

“Yeah,” he scoffs as I let his words sink in.

“You want me to stop and chat to Christian one day with you?”

I blush at those words, but panic as insecurity sets in. If he doesn’t want to commit to someone like Jasmine, what would he see in me? “Oh no, please don’t do that. I think I just need to forget about him.”

“Shelby has already met him,” Letti says as we near her building.

“You have?”

I try to brush it off, I feel like I am making something out of nothing. “It was nothing, we just bumped into each other, that’s all.”

“That’s still something,” Letti says back to me. We stop outside the auditorium and Letti reaches up, giving Travis a kiss. Waving goodbye to her, I continue with Travis toward my class. I adjust my sunglasses and push some hair from my face as Travis replies to a text message.

After a few moments of staring at my feet, Travis’s voice slices through the quiet. “Christian would be lucky to date you. You know that, right?”

I nod but shrug at the same time. “He’s popular and gets plenty of attention from gorgeous women.

” I look up to Travis and sigh. “I’m just another in the crowd; plus, I’m happy to stay single for the rest of my life.

” I lie. Travis gives me a warm smile knowing I’m referring to my past. He wraps a protective arm around my shoulders and gently squeezes.

I turn toward him as we arrive at the entrance of my building.

“Anyway, are you joining me and Letti for pizza tonight?” he asks.

“Of course.”

“Great, I will be picking my two girls up at seven, so I’ll see you then.”

“See, why do I need a guy when I can just be the permanent third wheel?” I say with a smirk as I walk up the stairs to my building.

He extends his arms wide while walking backward away from my building, a broad smile on his face. “Fine with me…as you said, I’m a social guy and I love beautiful women.”

***

At five to seven, a knock on the door lets us know that Travis has arrived.

“Coming!” Letti yells, taking one last glance in the mirror before turning and opening the door. I borrowed a pair of her skinny black jeans and matched them with a deep red tank top and Letti’s black boots.

“Hey,” Travis says, pulling Letti into his arms for a hug and small make-out session .

“Hey, baby,” she replies, wiping her lips to straighten her lip gloss.

“So, Shelby, after I walked you to class, I had three guys asking about you afterward.”

“Really?” I question in surprise.

“Yep, like I told you, everyone wants to know the gorgeous blonde Aussie on campus,” he points his two thumbs to his chest. “Hello, middleman.”

“I’m not surprised; you had so many guys circling you at the party like a pack of sharks.”

“Shiver,” Travis interjects.

“What? Did I scare you?” Letti asks.

“Shiver…it’s a shiver of sharks, not a pack.”

“That’s not a thing,” Letti says back, her hand resting on her hip.

“Yes, it is. It’s a shiver of sharks,” Travis counters.

I watch the couple go back and forth. “I think you can say school too,” I add.

Letti throws her hands up in the air. “Anyway, it was like a shark feeding frenzy, Shelby. Like someone had thrown chum all around you,” Letti states, reapplying her lip-gloss. “But don’t worry, babe, Travis will look out for you and make sure you pick a good one.”

I smile. “I know.”

“Ready?” Travis motions, holding the door.

“Ready!” Letti says, picking up her handbag.

We make our way out of the dorm building and down the street to the campus pizza hangout.

It’s a short walk and the area is buzzing with people.

As we approach the door, I hear Letti rummaging through her bag.

“Shit, I forgot my phone,” she says. “Go ahead and I’ll quickly run back and get it. My dad might call me.”

“I’ll go with you,” Travis says.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll be five minutes,” Letti says with a wave of her hand as she continues to look through her bag.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’ll even call Dad on my walk back so he doesn’t call through dinner.”

Travis holds the door open for me as we enter the restaurant. The place is packed with all the tables in the center being occupied. The booths that line the outside of the restaurant against the windows are all taken, bar one.

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