Fallen Fourth Down (Fallen Crest #4)(17)

I grunted. My roommate might talk a big game, but he was in love with this girl in front of him. Drew was watching them too, but he was patient. It was obvious he’d seen this before.

Breaking their little moment, a radiant smile came over her face, and Georgie gazed around to us. “What class do you guys have?”

Drew answered, “We all have poly sci now.”

She flinched, gritting her teeth. “Good luck. Professor Matson is hard core. That’s a mixed class, right?”

Matteo seemed happy just to be holding his woman. Drew nodded. “I put it off till this year. Is that a problem?”

“Not if you don’t mind dealing with a bunch of eager, stressed-out freshman.” Her gaze clicked to mine, and she realized what she had she said.

I grinned. “Like me, you mean?”

Her cheeks grew pink, but she smirked at me. “Something tells me you’re not like most freshman.”

“No way.” Matteo shook his head. His arms tightened around her waist, but he lifted one hand to meet my fist in the air. As they touched, he dropped his arm back. “Kade is stone cold cool. He handled Park like he was a baby. It was awesome.”

“You knew?”

“I saw that smooth move you and your friend did. You snubbed him, but in a smooth way. I bet he didn’t even realize it.”

Georgie studied me again. I felt renewed interest from her. She murmured, “My friends like their house. You have a friend there? I know Matt said something about him before.”

I nodded. “Nate Monson. His dad pledged there.”

“Wait. Kade? James Kade?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Your dad pledged there. He’s a legend. Didn’t he make the Forbes list or something?”

Drew and Matteo grew silent.

I scowled. “My dad’s a dipshit. I try to do the opposite of everything he did.”

Their shoulders dropped.

“Oh. Still. And didn’t he marry into a family who comes from old money too? Like he’s the poor one in the marriage?”

“Yeah,” I flashed her a hard smile. I don’t do personal. “They’re divorced and he’s now engaged to a psychopath. Again, I do everything opposite of my dad. We don’t get along.” Drop it. I wanted her to get the message without saying it.

Matteo cleared his throat. He gave me an uneasy grin, then patted her on the hip. “We should get going. Lunch later?”

She broke eye contact with me and turned to face her man. They moved to the side as they said their farewells, leaving Drew and I alone. I felt his perusal and sighed. “Yeah?”

He was grinning. It widened at my question and he shook his head. “You really hate your old man, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He banged three of my girlfriends from my first two years here. The last one was the worst because I actually loved her.”

“Shit.” I grimaced.

“And he likes to act like he and I are the best of buddies. Your old man know how much you hate him?”

“Yep.”

He nodded, a tone of respect in his voice, “You got balls, Kade. I knew you had them before, but that’s cool.” He pointed to the couple, who were kissing. Their mouths were opened and tongue was being shared. “If we don’t break them up, he’s going to take her back to the house. He’ll skip class for her. The guy is nuts about her.”

“What do you suggest?”

“A rough extraction.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he moved forward. Grabbing Matteo around the shoulders, he propelled him forward, away from Georgie. They protested, but Drew flashed her a grin. “Sorry, Georgie. You two can bang later. We’ve got a class and your man has to go, or Coach will not be happy with us.”

She started for them, but Drew kept moving Matteo forward. I jetted forward, blocking her with my body. She stopped and her mouth fell open. “Hey.”

“Sorry.” I looked down at her. “Drew’s the boss on the field and off. I gotta do what he says.” Then I heard Drew call out, “Kade.”

I started walking backwards and said again, “Sorry.”

Her hands went to her tiny hips and she rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You two are on my shit list for interrupting, but you’re lucky I have my own stuff to deal with today.” I kept moving after my teammates. She raised a fist in the air, laughing, as she called out, “Do you hear that, Drew? You’re victorious for today, but make no mistake. I will prevail. I will make out with my boyfriend one of these days.”

A girl with almost white blonde hair came up to her and watched us leave. “For real? He didn’t even try to come and talk to me?”

Georgie turned towards her friend, but we were too far away to hear anymore. Matteo didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to mind. We went to our classroom in silence again. Walking up behind them on the steps, I sensed the comfort between the two. It reminded me of Logan and me, except Logan would’ve made a bigger spectacle than those two did back there. At the thought of it, I couldn’t wipe a grin from my face. Then we got in the classroom and it faded.

The room was small, packed with chairs with fold-up desks, and the only three that were open next to each other were in the front row. All the chairs were side by side, separated by one aisle down the middle of the room.