“I will. Thanks, Mom. It was great talking to you.” And not thinking about Colton for all of five minutes. Fuck, maybe I should head to Malik and Grey’s room. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be fooling around. “Bye, and love you.”
“Love you too. Have a great game. Bye.” The call ended.
The pressure was on for the game tonight.
After textingMalik to be sure he and Grey were decent, I headed to their room. Was it too much to hope they’d distract me from Colton and help me focus on the game to come? I hadn’t had pre-game jitters like this in years. I stopped at their door, just down the hall from mine, and knocked.
“Just a minute.” Malik’s muffled voice came from inside. The door popped open. “Hey, man, come on in.” He stepped to the side.
As I entered their room, my gaze landed on the beds. One held suitcases while the other’s sheets had been tossed down under Grey, who was resting at the headboard in his joggers. “I see you’ve already broken the bed in.”
“Think we wouldn’t?” Malik gave me a sideways grin. “We had some time to kill.”
“If it isn’t the man who’ll be making holes in the Red Raiders defense tonight.” Grey drank from a bottle of green Gatorade.
“I’ll do my best.” I dropped onto their desk chair while Malik sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you two ready for tonight?” I’d start there.
With a shrug, Malik said, “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”
“I don’t know.” I toyed with the edge of my T-shirt. “My dad invited some coworkers to the house to watch me play tonight.” Malik knew about my dad, but I didn’t think I’d told Grey. Withmy attention drawn to Grey, I said, “My dad is the head of recruiting for the University of Texas in Austin. The guys who work for him have connections with agents and shit.”
“Oh, that’s amazing, Tex.” He crawled on the bed toward Malik and then sat behind him, spreading his legs around Malik’s hips and his arms around Malik’s waist. “You’re so lucky your family is supportive of your football.”
“Yeah, I know.” I nodded as tightness worked through my chest. “But it adds extra pressure to tonight’s game.” Not to mention the fact that Colton might watch the game with Evan. I wasn’t sure why I cared so much about that fact, except Evan was becoming a rival inside my head. Someone I had to compete against. A fucking hockey player, no less.
“You look stressed.” Malik touched my knee. “That’s not like you.”
I rubbed my forehead. Should I tell them all of it? Why not? “Remember the tutor I had to get for my business analytics class?” My gaze met Malik’s.
“Yeah?” He furrowed his brows while Grey rested his chin on Malik’s shoulder.
Those two were so fucking close. I ached for that kind of relationship. “He’s been on my mind…a lot. He’ll be watching the game tonight, probably with Evan Crosby from the Phoenix Firebirds. He’s friends with?—”
“Shit, with professional hockey players?” Malik’s eyes widened. “Does your tutor play hockey too?” His brows lowered, and a smirk formed on his lips. “Wait, is he hot?”
Oh my God, the questions. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. But talking about it might ease my nerves. I was such a mess, struggling with how to handle it. After taking a deep inhale, I said, “He’s not a hockey player. He’s a…well, a nerd, like you’d expect. But he’s a damn attractive nerd.” My stomach fluttered with warmth. “He went to high school with Evan, and they’ve been friends ever since. Evan used to live with Lucas Hopkins.”
“Oh, shit.” Grey lifted off Malik’s shoulder. “Lucas, the little brother of Mason, who married Jett Jarvis.” He pulled his lips to the side. “Are all these guys queer?”
“No, well, I don’t know.” I rocked once, debating my next words. “And that’s sort of the problem. I don’t know if he’s queer. The nerd, not Evan Crosby.”
“Does the nerd have a name?” Malik huffed a snicker. “Damn, dude, this is coming out of left field.”
“Yeah, I know.” I combed my fingers through my hair. I was in it now. “My tutor’s name is Colton. I-I don’t know what to think of him. I mean, if he’s open to it, I’d like to explore something with him. But he’s…” Fuck, the date. “He’s going on a date with one of his other students, a woman.” I locked my gaze on Malik’s, driving my point home. “And they’re going to our game next weekend with tickets I gave them.” I was such an idiot getting those tickets. I never considered it would turn into a date.
Malik’s brows snapped into his hairline. “You gave this guy, who you like, tickets to our game so he could go on a date with someone else? Are you crazy?”
“Tex, don’t let this shit affect your game. We need you out there.” Grey wrinkled his forehead.
“Hold on.” Malik held his hand up to me. “Is this Colton queer? Does he like guys?”
“I don’t know. That’s part of the problem. I get a vibe from him.” I glanced at Grey and lifted the corner of my mouth. “Like I did from Grey.”
Grey grinned and nodded slowly. “Then he’s queer.”
Leaning over, Malik placed his hand on mine, resting on my thigh. “If it’s meant to be, then it’ll happen. No use worrying about it. Besides, you’re a catch and Colton’s stupid if he doesn’t see that.” His lips curled into a soft grin. “Isn’t that what you’d tell me in the same situation?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled as my nerves settled. “And Colton isn’t stupid, so…” I glanced at the clock on their nightstand between the beds. “Shit, it’s almost time for our walkthrough and strategy meeting.”