Page 24 of End Game

And I know she is nowhere even close to being able to process that. Not with her dad… I don’t want to set us up for failure, and if I made a move now, I would be dooming us to failure. She can’t give me what I want, not at this point in our lives.

I want to pull out her hair tie and watch her messy waves fall in a riotous cloud over her shoulders. I want to pull her close and taste her eggplant painted lips. I want to map the curves of her body with my hands and then with my tongue. I want—

I want what I can’t have.

The Delta house is crammed full of people. I hate the way frat houses always stink... like, who wants to smell cheap Axe body spray and secondhand smoke? To me, it smells like the place where hymens are broken and people are trash… okay, that might be a little inflammatory, but with the amount of testosterone surging through me right now, I feel like I can tackle anyone and anything.

As we make our way through the party, Diana’s hand in mine grounds me, anchoring me. I lead her to the living room, where the kegs are set up.

“Want one?” I ask her, and she nods.

As a group, we make an impressive figure, all of us big and wide defensemen cutting through the crowd. People part for us, letting us through.

We assemble Sam, Mack, Mason, and Diana in a corner with Amir to watch over them. The rest of the guys and I push through the crowd to the kegs.

Sullivan, our safety, has a girl on each arm. He’s whispering into one’s ear as the other strokes his face, trying to get his attention. He nods to us and goes back to his girls of the evening.

People move aside to let us through. Being a football player does have its perks sometimes. We fill cups at the keg. They don’t blink an eye when I fill a second cup.

There’s some guy angling close to Diana when I get back. I glare at him, and he scampers away.

She pouts up to me, her hands on her hips. “I was talking to him.”

“He’s a waste of your time,” I tell her, handing her a cup.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. He’s an idiot. You deserve better.”

Me. Pick me. Choose me.

She takes a sip of her beer. “Thank you for deciding that on my behalf.” She rolls her eyes.

“If you want to hook up, I won’t stop you.” I’ll just wish I could. “That’s not my place. You know your own mind.”

She blinks up at me. “So, if I wanted to take someone home with me tonight?”

“I won’t stop you. I’ll just ask you if you’re sure.”

Her eyes are dark, lined with and shadowed, making them look bigger and bolder than usual. Her lashes are impossibly long. I like her like this, all done up, but I also like her fresh-faced and sweaty after a workout, her cheeks pink from exertion.

“And if I wanted to go home with one of your friends?”

A sick feeling punches me in the stomach. Greg has been all over her lately, hugging on her and kissing her cheek. Amir keeps smiling at her like there’s a secret only the two of them share. Even Wes has glanced up from his book to check her out.

“It’s not my place to object,” I finally tell her.

Diana winks at me. “Don’t worry, I know better than to sleep with your best friends.”

I cover my heavy sigh of relief with a sip of my beer.

It’s not like I’ve been a monk all these years. I’ve hooked up. I’ve had flings. I’ve always kept emotions out of it. But ever since the day Diana called me up and said she would be transferring to Newton, I’ve dialed it back to none. It’s been a lonely six months since her visit last spring break.

Especially with Miles and Tucker settling down into relationships. For the first time, I’m well aware of what I’m missing out on. Meaningless sex doesn’t satisfy my soul in the way it used to. I know what’s out there now.

I know she’s not perfect. Nobody is. But she’s perfect for me.

I just wish she knew that.