If you looked at the sidelines.

“I don’t go to the games,” Ellie tells him.

He doesn’t give up because she’s the hottest, brightest thing in this room. “So you wanna dance?”

“Not with you.”

Because she’s with me, you chode. I keep that to myself.

“Ellie, you want something?” I step in between them, tired of watching the exchange like a bystander.

“Sure, Knox. I’ll take what Riley’s having.”

I don’t miss the emphasis she puts on my first name. I hold up two fingers and the bartender gets to work.

“I didn’t know if you would come.”

She shrugs. “Riley wanted to see what a postgame celebration looked like. I tried to tell her she’d have as much fun as getting magic marker drawn on your face at a slumber party, but she didn’t believe me.”

“I haven’t had this experience at Western before.” Riley grins widely at me. I find myself smiling back.

The bartender delivers two beers and a water. I hand them out.

“Then you need to have a full Western experience.” I look around for Matty, who would be more than happy to introduce Ellie’s roommate to all the benefits of being with a Warrior player—at least for tonight.

Before I can hail anyone, Riley gasps. “Oh, there’s my Facebook crush! I’ll be back.” And she slips through the crowd before Ellie or I can say anything.

A cough at my back reminds me that the dick koozie must still be here. “Hey, Knox. Great game, huh? I was telling Emma here about how she should come watch the Warriors.”

“Yeah…” I pause as if I can't remember the name of the wideout. I know he runs fast, but runs a sloppy route and catches the ball too close to his body despite having baseball-sized mitts. He scowls as I leave him hanging but since he can’t even bother to get her name right, I don’t care. “Greer giving you a bad time?” I say to Ellie.

She does a subtle eye roll that Greer misses. “Took you long enough.”

I’m not sure if she’s talking about how long it took me to get to her side or how long it took me to pretend to remember Greer’s name.

“I’m saving my energy for later.”

Her mouth drops open into a perfect circle that gives me plenty of filthy ideas. And then, because I don’t want to deal with anymore Greers in the world not understanding how the teams are currently set up, with Ellie and me on the one side and the rest of the peckerheads on the other, I grab her around the nape of the neck and plant a deep, wet kiss on her perfect lips. Her mouth opens and I take full advantage of this by sliding my tongue inside. I lick her hot tongue, the roof of her mouth and then the sensitive spot behind her teeth. She trembles beneath my hand and blood rushes to my dick.

Greer gets shoved aside but I’m not sure if me or Ellie did the pushing. She backs away, lips swollen and red as cherries.

I turn to Greer. “Go away.”

He shows his remarkable speed and disappears into the crowd.

“Want to sit down somewhere?” I ask her. Every time the door opens, more people come in, and while I’m grateful to be pressed close to Ellie's hot-ass body, I’d like to be able to apologize to her without screaming.

She arches an eyebrow because there isn’t any seating evident in the room.

“I forget this is your first time.” I plaster her to my side and make my way toward the back. Down at the end of the bar I see Jack watching us with narrowed eyes. Brother, I’m sorry you had to watch me maul your sister, I apologize silently, but it was either kiss her in front of everyone or piss on her leg.

I lead her down a short dark hallway and out into the back that opens onto a tiny patio the size of a postage stamp. There’s a couple of people out here. Telly Green sits with his longtime girlfriend, along with Clifton Knowles, another offensive lineman. Their girlfriends are sorority sisters. I give them a nod of acknowledgement and go to the opposite side of the patio, where there’s a cropping of uncomfortable looking rocks.

“Just think, Ellie, once you graduate you’ll never go to a place this classy again,” I joke and brush my hand over one rock until it’s as clean as I can get it.

She sits. “Rocks are hard to find in other establishments.”

“Right?” I crouch down in front of her. She looks shy, which is not how she’s appeared before. I clear my throat. “I’m glad you’re here. Thought you might not come.”

“I debated. Not really my scene.” We both turn to stare at the back door. The music is loud, but the din of the crowd inside is even louder. It’s a party scene, but I get what she’s talking about. She prefers to stay away from the football players and the baggage they bring. For the hundredth time since last weekend, I curse myself for not being more sensitive about her past.

Picking up her hand, I turn it over and trace one of the creases from one side of the palm to the other. She trembles at the simple touch.

“I’m sorry about last week. I put some pressure on you that you didn’t deserve,” I say slowly. “I guess when I said that you weren’t ready I really meant that I wasn’t.”

She curls her fingers up around my finger and tugs. “I know you’re not the guy I dated in high school. I wanted to believe I didn’t have any baggage from dating, but I guess I do.” She gives a rueful laugh.

“You’re not. We all have stuff going on in our heads. Abstaining hasn’t been easy for me. When I first got here, I didn’t announce my status, but to some of the guys my going home every night alone, not taking the offers handed to me, marked me as strange. Some thought I was in the closet. Others didn’t know what to make of me. They got it out of me after homecoming. The booze flowed pretty heavily. It started a joke. Then it became a contest. Who would get Masters to break? I wasn’t kidding before about the number of girls available at any time—from the recruiting trip forward.”

She grimaces and I skip the details of how they tried to break me. Of how they’d parade girls through the Playground as though shooting RedTube videos. They’d have girls perform in front of me. For guys who share a locker room, having sex in front of each other is nothing. There’d be full-on orgies. Contests on who could hold out on a blow job the longest. They’d run train on a girl—willing—but sex was a contest.

“Is that why you waited? Because women were—or are—a distraction?”

“At first, yes. All the time. You know we’re walking hormones from about age ten and forward.” She covers her face to hide a smile. “And college is worse because there are no parents. Everyone has access to a bed. There’s no rules. The diner is open 24/7.”

She muses, “But the food didn’t appeal to you.”

“It did…until it didn’t. It seemed soulless.” I hesitate and rub her hand a little harder than necessary. Strap on your balls, man, I chide myself. If Ellie can share something painful from her past, she deserves some honesty from me. “My brother and I are identical twins. You seem to be able to tell us apart, but on the cover of SI, not even my mom knew until we confessed. People in high school always got us mixed up.”

“People like girl people?” Her gaze is knowing.

I nod. “Girl people. You don’t really want to be with someone who’s ready and willing to sleep with your brother. Who sees the two of you as interchangeable. One of Ty’s girlfriends told me that we looked the same and she wanted to know if we felt the same.”

I let out a sigh. “Worse thing is that it wasn’t the first time it’d happened in our family either. My cousins are twins. Let’s just say that the divorce lasted longer than the marriage.”

She winces. “That’s pretty awful.”

“Right.” I press her hand to my lips. “So, I get how what happened to us in the past affects how we act now. What decisions we make and shit like that. I’m sorry.”

“Me, too. I’m really, really sorry.” She looks dejected.