deal. I’ll try to go to some of the parties. I won’t sleep there though. But I’ll try to come around more often.”
“You can bring your girl too if you’d like,” I tell him. I’m curious as to what she’s like, this guy seems to be head over heels for her.
He extends his hand to me and I shake it, sealing our new deal. “I’ll let her know. Now, will you stop hating me?”
“I never hated you,” I reply.
He looks at me skeptically.
“Okay fine, I did in the beginning. But that’s old news now!” I add, throwing my hand over his shoulder. “Speaking of, can I get a ride home?” I ask. “One of the new guys gave me a ride here because I wanted to try and sleep a little bit on the way here.”
He laughs. “You’re unbelievable.”
“We’re friends now!” I tell him. “This is a perk of friendship.”
“You’re saying I’m rewarded by becoming your personal driver?” he says.
“At least we don’t haze people here,” I tell him.
The smile leaves his face instantly. “Are you headed to the Football House?” he asks. His voice sounds tense, and the way he ignored my remark about hazing shows me there’s more there than meets the eye. I don’t bother asking though, we officially buried the hatchet seconds ago, we’re not about to start telling each other our secrets.
“Yes, sir!” I reply proudly. Like that House is the greatest thing to ever exist. Maybe it is. To me, it was an instant family when I got to campus. It’s brotherhood. I love it there, even though it smells and is dirtier than it should be, which reminds me, I really need to get the guys to start cleaning up after themselves. I want to punch myself in the face after thinking about cleaning. Who am I turning into? I swear I’ve got Jesse, Colton, and Chase all living in my head now.
We walk the rest of the way to Lincoln’s Jeep. When he doesn’t turn on the radio, I decide I should at least try and get to know him better. “So, what’s your story?” I ask the moment we’re on the road. He looks at me skeptically, wondering why I’m asking him this question, so I explain. “We have to be more connected than ever now that games are starting. Me and the last quarterback were brothers, so we had a connection that took years to build. You and I have to do the quick version,” I joke.
“And for that I have to tell you my story?” he says, looking at me briefly.
“All I know is you’re a great quarterback—”
Lincoln interrupts me. “Great, you say?”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. At least that’s what they said about you before you joined. We’ll see what we think after the game.”
“I know I know. This week is the true test,” he says, repeating what I’ve been telling all the guys in the locker room the last couple days.
“So, are you going to tell me about you or are we going to sit here in silence until you drop me off?” I ask, returning to the original question.
“What do you want to know?” He asks, and I think about what kind of questions he may answer. He doesn’t seem like an over sharer. I mean, I’ve known him for a couple months now and barely know a thing about him—except he has a girlfriend he lives with.
I guess I’ll have to play twenty questions. “Do you have any siblings?”
“I have a little brother,” he says. “Ethan,” he adds, and I can hear the pride in his voice.
“That’s awesome!” I exclaim.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool.”
“Little brothers are the best,” I tell him. I think Colton and Kaitlyn would disagree but they’re not here to say anything.
He shakes his head. “I assume you’re the little brother?”
“Of course,” I reply jokingly but also very seriously. “How long have you been with your girlfriend?” I ask. She’s the one person he’s mentioned since he’s been here and we haven’t met her yet.
“Almost a year,” he tells me.
“That’s not a long time,” I tell him. The guys and I thought he’d been with her his whole life. I mean, why else would he ditch us, right?
“Feels like a lifetime,” he responds but he doesn’t say it in the ‘it feels so long I’m tired of this crap’ way. Instead, he says it like he’s happy about it. Like he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Really?” I ask. The smile on