Agony(Entangled Hearts Duet #1) - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,7
you. I am you,” I tell him.
“No.” He shakes his head, his face void of emotion. “You’re not me, rookie. You’re in the big leagues now, Reeves. This is college. You might have been able to pull that tough guy shit off back in your hometown, but things are different now. She’s not your girl, and you’re no longer the big man on campus.”
He’s right. I fucking hate it, but he’s right. “What did the text say?”
He throws his head back and laughs. “You want me to tell you about my private conversation with a friend?”
“My best friend.”
He shrugs. “Maybe she’s on her way to being my best friend too.”
“You’ve known her a week.”
“So, is there a timeline on these things? I mean, come on. If you weren’t being such a douche right now, I’d say the same for you.” He gives me a pointed look.
“I don’t want to see her get hurt. She deserves someone who knows she’s wife material.”
“Someone like yourself?”
“No. Not like me. But yes, I understand that about her.”
He watches me for a few seconds longer than is comfortable and turns his phone to show me his screen.
Reese: Game Day: It’s all about the penetration.
Her text is followed with a winking face emoji.
Levi: I’m the master at penetration.
This feeling, I know what it is, but I refuse to name it. It shouldn’t bother me that Reese is texting Levi. It shouldn’t bother me that I haven’t received a text message from her.
It shouldn’t, but it does.
I hate feeling this way, and I don’t know how to quell it. I don’t know how to stop feeling as if I have to protect her from everything and everyone. That’s just us. Cooper and Reese. That’s who we are, who I am. My phone vibrates on the bench beside me.
Reese: Good luck today, Coop. I know you’re going to do great.
It’s not a fun, flirty text like the one she sent Levi, but it’s mine. Already I can feel my shoulders relax, and the storm inside me begins to calm. She’s always had that effect on me. She’s the calm to the storm. My best friend. That’s one of the main reasons we can never be anything more. I could never risk losing her if we didn’t work out romantically. We kill it as best friends. It’s what we were meant to be.
“That her?” Levi asks.
Wanting to give him an olive branch, I turn my cell so he can read the screen. He nods, pats me on the back, and stands to walk away. I stare down at my phone, reading her message twice more, letting it calm me.
Me: Thanks, Reese’s Pieces. See you after the game.
Tossing my phone into my bag, I follow my team to the hallway. I’m about to take the field for the first time in my college career. My parents, my second parents, who are Reese’s, and my best friend are all here to watch me. That’s what’s important. Closing my eyes, I listen to the sounds of the stadium flow around me. My teammates are pumped, and the crowd is on fire if the noise is any indication. This is my life for the next four years.
Welcome to Central University.
We won by two touchdowns. The rush of winning my first ever college game is real. I’m floating on cloud nine. My high school team always had a winning season, all four years. This, however, this win is on another level. It’s heightened. Playing at the college level is the best of the best. At high school, almost anyone can make the team. In college, you have to have the skill, the drive, and the talent. I made three of our four touchdowns. The moment I stepped out on that field, the game was my focus, and my stats are evidence of that.
“Good game, rookie,” Levi says, stepping up to his locker that’s beside mine. His hair is wet, and he has a towel hanging around his waist.
“Thanks. It was a team effort.”
He shakes his head. “Modest. I like it. But you were on fire out there.”
“Just love the game.”
“You coming to the house tonight?” he asks.
The house, as he refers to it, is a huge old Victorian just off campus. The house is occupied by the football team. Well, not all of them, but the juniors and seniors who don’t depend on their scholarship to provide them housing. As a freshman, my scholarship states I will live in the dorms for my entire