Page 20 of The Devastation You Reap

"I just ran into him at Paulo's. He demanded we eat together in the park. I dunno, it was weird."

"He wanted to eat with you after you ruined his hook up last night?" Nathan asks, his brow quirked.

"Yeah, see… weird. Then he insisted on driving me home and—" I slam my lips shut before I blurt out about his demand for a date tomorrow night. There's no point telling anyone about that because it's blatantly a joke… right?

There's no way a guy like Leon Dunn would ever want to go out with a girl like me. I'm the epitome of the opposite of his type.

Shy, quiet, book nerds aren't usually the girls the football team—hell, any sports teams—pick out. They all want the loud ones, the party girls, the ones who'll show them a good time. Maybe that's one of the reasons I am the way I am. My need to keep as much distance from any football players as possible has turned me into a girl they'd never look twice at.

I'm okay looking, sure. But most people won't ever spot me to even notice when I'm too busy trying to hide in the shadows. The only thing that makes me stand out is my hair, but now we're at college, no one really cares about teasing the ginger girl anymore so I really can just disappear.

"And what?" Nathan asks, not missing my slip up.

"N-nothing. It's nothing."

With my purse still over my shoulder and my unopened bottle in hand, I start toward my room.

"I've got an assignment that I really need to work on."

He doesn't say anything as I walk down the hall but I know he's hot on my heels and I know he's worried.

Nathan is like the brother I never had, and while I really, really appreciate our easy relationship—the first of any kind I've had with a guy—I really don't need him being totally overbearing. I can handle Leon Dunn. Although I seriously suspect I won't even have to try because the second he drove away tonight, he probably forgot all about me.

I drop onto my bed and look at where I know he's loitering in my doorway.

"Everything's fine, Nate. It was just a lift. He's probably forgotten my name already and gone off hunting jersey chasers."

He narrows his eyes on me as if he knows something I don't.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna…" He thumbs over his shoulder and starts backing away.

"Have a good night," I call out just before he disappears from my sight.

"You too."

I work on my assignment until long after midnight—long after the time I should have stopped—but I was making good progress and when the end was in sight, I knew that I'd regret having to pick it up again the next day to finish, so I kept going.

I might not regret finishing the next morning, but when my eyes refuse to open as my second alarm starts blaring, I already know I regret the late night.

I never usually hear my alarms, they're usually totally unnecessary because I'm always awake before them, but not today.

I groan rolling over and hitting the button to silence the irritating thing.

There's movement outside my door, probably the guys getting ready to go to practice.

As I lay there, trying to find the energy to get out of bed knowing that I've got back to back classes all day, I can't help but think back to yesterday, or last night, to be specific.

Why did Leon want to eat his sandwich with me?

The whole thing was just bizarre.

Nate was right, he should have been pissed at me for ruining his hook up. But he was… weirdly sweet.

My body heats as I remember the way he pinned me to his car, how he so blatantly proved that he has no issues with what he’s packing in his manhood department like I had suggested.

I should have been appalled that he wanted to make his point so clear. But with his scent in my nose and the heat of his body burning my skin, I couldn't find it in me to feel that way.

And I hate myself for it.