University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (15 page)

His eyes searched the crowd. When he
noticed me, he pointed a finger at me and winked.

I pointed at his jersey I had on and a
huge smiled covered his face. I smiled back, glad that I had decided to go to
the game. I couldn’t fight my desire to want to be with him. It was strong and
forceful, propelling me toward him once again. I released the breath I was
holding and prayed that I was doing the right thing, even though my head warned
me it was too soon.

Delaney elbowed me. “And you didn’t want
to come.”

With a slight roll of my eyes, I said,
“I know. I know.”

“Did she just wave to Raven?” A voice
dripping with jealously whispered and I cringed. The girl who said the comment
was directly behind us. She either had a thing for Raven or knew someone who
did. I reminded myself of whom Raven was and that there was no way to escape the
world he had created around him. Did I really want to be a part of that world? I
eased into my seat, ignoring the remark.

“Hmm. Whatever,” the girl continued, as
though waiting for me to turn around and say something.

Delaney tucked her phone in the inside
of her boot and leaned close to me. “Did that girl behind us just say something
about you?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I whispered.

“Don’t worry. She ain’t got nothing on
you,” another girl spoke. I inched down in my chair. I didn’t think wearing the
jersey would have drawn attention to me, but apparently it had.

“I shouldn’t have come.” I frowned when I
heard a slew of laughter bellow from their high-pitched voices. It reverberated
through my ears, reminding me of the types of girls he was known for hooking up
with.

“That’s it.” Delaney sat her drink in
the cup holder and flung around.

“No! Don’t.” I grabbed her arm and tried
to stop her, but she pulled away.

“Do y’all have a problem?” Delaney stood
with her hands on her hips, eyeing the three voluptuous girls behind us.

Great.

I stood to get a better view of whom my
new enemies were. A girl with dark, wavy hair and long, tanned legs reclined in
her seat, ignoring Delaney. She wore a tight baby doll T-shirt with Raven’s
number on it.

Perfect. Another one of his hoes.

The two other girls sitting next to her giggled
and then looked away. One of them stared at their fingernails, admiring her
purple and white nail polish, while the other one played with her long, blonde
waves as she stared into the crowd with a clueless expression. They were all so
pitiful looking that I couldn’t help but shake my head.

“Because if you do, you know you can
leave.” Delaney stood her ground, waiting until they caught her gaze. I gripped
the edge of my seat, praying that these girls wouldn’t want to fight. I knew
that Delaney wouldn’t have thought twice about hitting them, but I would’ve been
useless, having never fought a day in my life.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” The long-legged
brunette cocked her head to the side, feigning ignorance. The other girls
continued to ignore Delaney and I was confident they wouldn’t want to mess up
their pretty hair and nails. I took in a deep breath and allowed my shoulders
to relax. Raven was right. I really was an upgrade in comparison to those ditzy
hoes. I had no reason to feel inferior to any of them. They might have had
bigger lips and boobs than me, but I was glad to be silicone free. Even though
I was in the peewee league, I knew that I could learn what I needed to know to
advance me.

If only I had the courage to do it.

“Forget about it, Laney, they’re not
worth wasting our breaths over.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and turned us
around just in time to see Raven score a touchdown. The stadium erupted in to
applause and the train horn blared. Raven high fived his team mates and did a
little dance across the end zone.

“All right, Raven!” I yelled, not afraid
to show those skanks and everyone else whom I supported. After all, he was the
reason I had come to the game.

***

To my relief, the girls sitting behind
us left with a few frat guys during half time and never came back. I assumed
they had lured them into their hoe-trap and went to take care of business. I
was glad they were gone because it made the game more enjoyable, especially
when Raven threw the winning touchdown. We waited until the players cleared the
field and then followed the remaining crowd out of the stadium.

“That really was a good game, despite
those stupid biotches nearly ruining it for us.” Delaney pushed her way through
the herds of people, dragging me along with her. “I thought I was going to have
to plant my boot in their pretty little faces.”

“I know,” I huffed as I dodged a group
of guys painted in purple without shirts.

“Damn! Can’t you wait?” Delaney yelled
as she stumbled to catch her footing.

“They’re probably drunk.”

We wiggled our way through the congested
walkways until we were able to squeeze through the gates that led to the front
of the stadium.

“Whew.” Delaney fanned herself. “I hate
being that close to people. I’m so glad the base—I was thinking we should
probably go to the store and buy some Coke. We can mix our own drinks before
the party tonight.”

I stopped, causing the people walking
behind me to make a trail around me. Delaney looked over her shoulder when she
realized I wasn’t following her.

She tracked back toward me. “What’s
wrong?”

Keeping my eyes trained to the ground, I
said, “I don’t know. After what happened in the stands, I’m not sure I should
go. ”

“Don’t be silly—”

“Hey, Delaney, great game, huh?” A cute
guy with spiky blond hair and a tight Kappa Sigma T-shirt stepped in front of
us. Two of his friends waved at her as they darted across the parking lot to a
huge white tent with their fraternity’s name on it.

Delaney smiled, giving a small wave and
then tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Definitely. We kicked the Bears
right in the ass.”

The guy laughed and then shoved his
hands in his pant pockets. “Why don’t you come on over?” He motioned to the
tailgate party that was happening at the tent. “We’re starting the party
early.”

She pressed her lips together and looked
around as though checking to see if Luke was anywhere around. I could tell that
being around this guy made her really nervous. “Yeah, I don’t know. Um—”

“Delaney! Are you going tonight?” A girl
with curly blonde hair wearing a short purple dress and cowboy boots rushed
toward us. The girls that were with her headed straight for the tailgate party.
It seemed like everyone was going to this pre-party except for us.

“I’ll see ya later?” The guy tilted his
head to the side, trying to get her attention.

“Um, yeah.” She nodded and then turned
to her friend.

“Shelby, what happened to you? I saw you
in the stands and then I couldn’t find you.”

Her long eyelashes fanned across her
painted lids and when she smiled, two little balls formed at the top of her
cheeks. She resembled Anna Sophia Robb from the Carrie Diaries. “Oh, Josh’s
parents have a suite, so I went up there to join them.” She turned toward me.
“Hi, I’m Shelby Scott.”

“Oh, sorry.” Delaney thumped her
forehead with her hand. “This is my roommate, Lexi Thompson.”

“Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand.

“Come on.” Shelby laced her arms through
ours as if we had been life-long friends. “Let’s go see what’s going on with
these Kappa Sigs while I wait for Josh.”

“Shelby’s dating Josh Marshall,” Delaney
shot me quick glare, “you know, the running back.”

I had to be the biggest idiot because
aside from Raven, I really didn’t know all the players. Then, it dawned on me.
That was Raven’s friend, Josh. It was his parent’s suite we were in when he
snuck me into the stadium. “Oh yea, number thirty-seven.”

“Yep, that’s my guy.” She giggled and
her blue eyes sparkled. Without even seeing them interact, I was willing to bet
they were one happy couple. I waited for that familiar pain to return to the
center of my chest, finding myself surprised when it didn’t come. Had my heart
grown that cold? Or was it so broken that it forgot how to feel?

Shelby introduced Delaney and me to her
girlfriends and in turn, they introduced us to their boyfriends that were all
Kappa Sigs. Delaney managed to stay away from the cute blond guy and I made it
a point to ask about him later.

“Drink anyone?” Shelby appeared with two
red Solo cups in hand.

“Sure.” Delaney took the cup and
immediately took a sip.

“Thanks. What is it?” I stared into the orange
Kool-Aid looking liquid.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged as she
picked up her drink from the bed of one of the trucks backed up to the tent.

“Taste like Gatorade mixed with Vodka,
if you ask me.” Delaney swirled her drink around.

I laughed. “Seriously?”

“Yep, I think you’re right.” Shelby
rolled her tongue across her lips. “I see you’re wearing Raven’s number. Do you
know him or are ya just a fan?” Shelby eyed my jersey while sipping on her
drink.

Delaney shot me a quick glance.

“Um…” I bit down on my lip and wondered
what to tell her. There wasn’t anything to hide since I was no longer engaged,
but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share my business, especially with someone I
barely knew. If I planned on going to the party, people would see me talking to
him. What the hell.

“I know him and I’m also a fan,” I
openly admitted.

“Oh.” Her brows lifted as she took a
drink. “Raven and my boyfriend, Josh, are roommates.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” She
probably thought I was hoping to get a chance with him, like every other girl.
Sadly, that description kind of fit me in a twisted sort of way. The more I
tried to convince myself that I had no business getting involved with him, the
more I wanted to.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s
just that I’ve never seen you around before.” Her eyes darted to a group of
girls standing in the corner, the
Silicone Triplets that were sitting
behind us in the stands.

Great.

“It’s okay.” I smiled at her, assuring
her that I didn’t take offense to her comment. “We’re just friends.” I
hesitated to tell her too much, but I wanted her to know that I wasn’t one of
them. “Actually, I was his writing tutor,” I leaned forward and whispered, “but
don’t tell anyone.”

“Oh my God!” She pulled her drink away
from her mouth, spilling some in the process. “You’re the girl?”

“What?” Breathless, I looked at Delaney
and she gave me a clueless stare. “What do mean, I’m the girl?”

She pressed her lips together and then
let out a breath. “Josh said that Raven mentioned you a few times. That’s all.”

 “Seriously?” My stomach lifted and released
the nest of butterflies that had been trapped for the past several weeks. Raven
talked about me to his friend? Had he said good things or bad things about me?

“Oh my God.” Delaney drew us in closer.
“You have to tell us.”

“I don’t know much.” She had a dubious expression,
like she was scared to tell us what she knew. It was obvious that she was withholding
some vital information.

Information that I was dying to hear.

Information that I had to have.

“Please?” I clamped my hands tighter
around my cup, making it pop.

I guessed my pleading made her give in
or maybe she felt sorry for me. She quickly traded glances with us and then
said, “Well, okay. All I know is that he told Josh he was working with this
tutor, which is you,” she pointed at me, “that he really liked. He also said
she was very pretty and extremely smart.”

My mouth fell open and I took a step
back. With a hand on my chest, I tried to steady my heavy breathing. “He said
that? About me?”

She nodded. “That’s what Josh said.
Which says a lot because Raven never talks to Josh about girls.” She rolled her
eyes when the head Silicone Triplet laughed loudly. “At least not ones he really
likes, and I mean,
really
likes.”

“Oh, wow. That does say lot.” Delaney
chewed on her nail as though the comments were about her.

“There’s my guy!” Shelby held out her
arms, welcoming Josh. “Excuse me.” She ran to him and jumped into his arms.
With her legs and arms wrapped around him, he swung her around. That proved my
theory was right about them being in love. It was more than obvious. They kind
of reminded me of Forbes and Jordan.

How does one find a guy that doesn’t
even think twice about showing their girl how much they mean to them?

As they moved to the side, lip locked
with each other, I turned and saw Raven stroll into the tent. My body wafted in
the air as the butterflies took flight again. I hadn’t been that close to him
in weeks and my body hummed in delight. I shamelessly took in every inch of his
well-defined body. From his damp hair to the jeans that sat low on his waist. My
eyes traveled up the ripples of muscles that stretched underneath his purple
and white polo style shirt, making my fingers tingle as they remembered what it
felt like to hold on to him. The more I remembered, the more I wanted to touch
him and never let go.