On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,4
I moved around them, heading down the hall to the bathroom.
This was Joel’s house. He lived here with some other guys from the team. They’d asked me to move in, but I’d drawn the line at that. Instead, I’d opted for a studio apartment just off-campus. It wasn’t much, but it was mine. The one place I didn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances.
I’d also been given a room in the Delta Pi frat house, but I had no desire to live with a bunch of frat brothers either, playing house in my brother’s old stomping ground.
As I moved down the hall, guys called out my name, and girls let their eyes linger too long. I’d never really enjoyed this, the worship and adoration, but I enjoyed it even less since arriving back at SU a couple of weeks ago.
“Hey, Zach,” a cute blonde stepped in my way.
“Hey,” I ground out. “Uh, Steph—”
“Sapphire. We met before the summer, at the party, remember?”
I couldn’t remember much about the weeks leading up to summer vacation.
Everything was hazy. A dark black mist cloaking my memories.
But it was better that way.
“Hmm, not really, sorry.”
“That’s okay.” She wrapped manicured fingers around my arm. “You were going through a lot.”
Understatement of the fucking century.
“Maybe we could get reacquainted?” Sapphire made a show of licking her lips and batting her lashes at me. She was hot, and my dick seemed to like her given the way he was straining against my jeans.
But I wasn’t looking for that tonight. I needed to keep a level head if I was going to survive the party.
“Not tonight.” I pushed her hand away, and dejection glittered in her eyes.
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I’m sure you would, but the answer’s still no. Now I need to go take a piss. I’m sure one of my teammates would be more than happy to take what you’re offering.” My brow lifted as I moved around her and took off toward the bathroom.
Part of me contemplated ducking out early and going back to my apartment. But it wasn’t worth the shit the guys would give me. I was their star transfer, the guy tipped to take the Scorpions all the way. The newly crowned King of SU. That came with certain expectations. Ones you didn’t just walk away from. No matter how much the need to escape burned through me.
After using the bathroom, I found a group of guys in one of the quieter rooms. “What’s up?” I said, approaching them.
“Zach, get over here. We were just talking about the season now we’ve lost some of our more experienced players...”
Silence fell over the five of us.
“Shit, man, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s all good,” I clipped out, my chest tightening with every word.
Of course it was a lie.
Everything was not good; it was a fucking mess. But no one wanted to hear that. They wanted to hear I was strong, that I was ready to carry the team to greatness.
That I was ready to represent the Messiah name.
“Holy shit,” one of the guys whistled, “Is that Joel’s sister?”
I glanced over at where he was looking, my eyes going straight to Josie’s friend.
No.
Fuck no.
“Who’s that girl with her?” I asked because it couldn’t be.
No fucking way.
“Hell, if I know.” He shrugged. “But I wouldn’t say no to a Josie and Josie’s friend sandwich.”
His words were drowned out over the roar of blood between my ears as I watched the girl. She finally lifted her eyes to mine—whiskey eyes that haunted me in my sleep—and shock instantly registered on her face.
My hands curled into tight fists, my nails digging into my palm.
It was three years ago, back when we were just kids, but it didn’t stop hate filling my veins, turning my blood to ice.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
So what the fuck was she doing, standing here, in my teammates’ house?
“Zach, my man, you coming?”
“I, uh, yeah, let’s go.” I needed to get the hell out of there.
I needed to figure out why the hell Calli was there, at SU.
It was the last place I ever expected to find her. Her brother Callum, my teammate—although our relationship was strained at best—went here. And there was one person Calliope hated more than me.
Him.
I followed the guys into the kitchen where a bunch of dudes were taking body shots off a girl I vaguely recognized as one