She whips around, surprise in her eyes when she realizes I chased after her.

  “If I made you uncomfortable, I didn’t mean to,” I say, suddenly sweating. I don’t want to piss her off or offend her. And this has nothing to do with Knox. I know he’ll kick my ass if I did something rude to his sister, but really?

  I respect Blair. I like her. And I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

  Something dawns in her gaze, something I can’t quite figure out, and her lips curve into the tiniest smile. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable, Cam.”

  Thank Christ. “Okay, good.”

  “It was—interesting though, what you said.”

  I’m frowning. “How so?”

  “That we’re having the same thoughts about each other.”

  I blink at her, the meaning behind her words sinking into my brain.

  “I’ve wondered what it would be like with you too.” She blasts me with the full wattage of her smile, before she turns and pushes her way through the double doors, disappearing out of view.

  Leaving me at a complete loss.

  Practice is a bitch. My arm aches from constantly throwing and that son of a bitch Derek tackled my ass out of nowhere, taking me down to the ground. The coaches went apeshit, screaming at him, and Derek apologized over and over again, making me feel bad for being mad at him.

  Still am though, even if it’s unreasonable.

  Once I’m dressed and ready to leave, Coach asks me to come into his office, which I do, settling in the chair across from his desk.

  “Maguire waiting for you?” he asks. He knows our living situation and how we usually go to practice together.

  “He is,” I answer.

  “I’ll make it quick then.” He scoots his creaky old desk chair closer, resting his arms on the edge of the desk. “We need to protect you at all costs.”

  “Protect me?”

  “Your arm. That asshole Derek.” Coach rubs his jaw, his lips firm. “I’m sorry that happened.”

  I’m in shock Coach would apologize. “You had nothing to do with it.”

  “Still. You’re the best fucking QB we’ve had in years. I can’t risk losing you, not this year. You and Maguire are powerhouses. You two keep this up and you’re on your way to the NFL for sure.”

  I refuse to get my hopes up. That is the ultimate dream. But I’m not part of a legacy like my friend. With his retired NFL-playing father and uncle, he’s got an automatic ‘in’ that I will never have, and while I’m not jealous of it, I sure do wish it was me sometimes.

  “Thanks, Coach,” I say when I realize he’s done. “That’s all you wanted to tell me?”

  “That and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you. The entire coaching staff does. Your calm demeanor keeps everyone on an even keel which we appreciate. Those boys listen to you, son. Your quiet leadership is outstanding. You are an asset to this team, Fields.” He nods once, and I leap to my feet, taking that as my dismissal. “Don’t fuck it up.”

  The same words linger in my brain the entire drive home. I give noncommittal answers to Knox, while what Coach said is on repeat.

  Don’t fuck it up.

  Talk about freaking me out. I am bound to fuck it up. I’m not perfect. Not even close. And I have a feeling I will do exactly that at one point or another during the season.

  “What the hell did Coach say to you to put you in such a funk?” Knox demands.

  I send him a look, afraid to repeat anything out loud. “Just tried to pump me up.”

  Knox grins, the cocky bastard. “I take it that it wasn’t a success.”

  “More like freaked me out.”

  “Well, put his words out of your head. Don’t let him get to you.” He pauses, and I know he’s thinking about how this sort of thing always messes with me. “We have a game this weekend. It’s going to be great.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I know so,” Knox says firmly. “Think about something else. Think about…the pretty girl you ran into on campus today.”

  My defenses shoot up. “How do you know I ran into a pretty girl?”

  “Because you always do, asshole. It’s that face of yours.” Knox slaps me on the shoulder, making me flinch.

  The only pretty girl I ran into just so happens to be related to my best friend and roommate. Blair’s face pops into my brain, her tantalizing words now on repeat, replacing Coach’s.

  I’ve wondered what it would be like with you too.

  Seriously, what the fuck is she saying? She had a crush on me a while ago, but was she implying she’s still into me?

  Hard to believe, but I don’t think she was lying when she said that.

  Wild.

  Not like we can act on any urges we might have for each other. Knox would chop my nuts off with a machete and make me wear them around my neck as a reminder of what not to do. Blair is untouchable with a capital U. I’d be an idiot to even consider getting involved with her.

  And when I mean involved, I use the word loosely. I am not the commitment type. I just don’t have the time and most of the women I’ve spent time with aren’t out for a real commitment either. They just want to have a good time. Same as me.

  Relationships aren’t my thing. I’m not ready to have one. I don’t know if I ever will be. I saw the way my parents went at each other’s throats every chance they got through their divorce. My older brother got the hell out of the house the moment he graduated from high school and never looked back. I did pretty much the same. Dad will show up to my football games from time to time, but I don’t talk to him much beyond those encounters. We’re not close. I’m holding on to too many old memories of him yelling at us, drunk off his ass and pissed at the world.

  No thanks. I’m doing my best to make my life positive. I don’t need his negativity to bring me down.

  “You all right?” Knox asks, once I’ve pulled into our assigned spot in the apartment parking lot. “You seem…preoccupied.”

  “Just got a lot on my mind.” Which is the damn truth. I feel like I’m going to cave under the pressure at any moment. From school. Football. A hot girl I shouldn’t fantasize about.

  I need to let loose. I need to get out and forget about my troubles, even for a few hours. “Want to go to Logan’s tonight?”

  “Nah.” He makes a face. “Still not over what happened last time I went.”

  When he saw that one girl and she sat on his lap after he tried to snag the same chair she wanted. I think he’s got a thing for her. The girl who works at the bookstore or whatever. She’s cute. Not necessarily my type, though I try to rile him up by acting like I’m interested.

  Sometimes I’m a prick, but it’s all in fun. Everyone on the team loves to give each other shit.

  “Your loss,” I tell him, envisioning a cold, crisp bottle of beer waiting for me at the bar. Hopefully a cute little blonde will be there too, one who doesn’t have green eyes or the last name Maguire.

  That would be the best scenario. Doesn’t matter how much I’m interested in her, I can’t have her. Blair Maguire may as well have a sign across her face that says…

  Hands off.

  THREE

  BLAIR

  “Girls, we are so going to the bar! Logan’s, watch out, here we come!” Rita starts clapping, her red nails flashing every time her hands fly through the air.

  Cheyenne yells out an extra loud whoop, making me jump. “Yes, girl, YES. I am so sick of sitting in the library studying every night.”

  Please. They don’t sit in the library every night. Every time I’m in there, I never see them, but the building is large and multi-leveled, so maybe they are?

  Huh. Doubtful.

  “Let’s go find some men tonight,” Cheyenne finishes with a big grin.

  “Stat!” Rita adds because she’s been on a Grey’s Anatomy kick and likes to talk as if she works at a hospital every chance she gets.

  I watch them with trepidation in my chest, wondering how I can get out of this. Don’t get me wrong, I like Rita and Cheyenne, but they are so high energy while I’m…

  Not.

  I leave that sort of behavior to my sister Ruby. She’s full of it. Loud and obvious and wanting all the attention, all the time. She would adore Rita and Cheyenne. They’d become fast friends. Maybe I should call her.

  “Blair!” I nearly jump out of my chair when Cheyenne screams in my face. “You’re going with us, right?”

  My gaze goes to Cheyenne, then to Rita, and back to Cheyenne. I can tell from the looks on their faces, they won’t take no for an answer.

  But I gotta try anyway.

  “I don’t know…” I let my voice trail off, grimacing slightly. “I have a test tomorrow.”

  “Oh, please.” Rita rolls her eyes, reaching for me. “You’ll have to take a bazillion tests. That first one of the semester doesn’t count.”

  I back away from her grabby red claws. “It definitely counts.”

  “Come on, Blair. Please?” Cheyenne puts her hands together like she’s begging. Praying. With those big blue eyes and the subtle lash extensions that she’s currently batting at me, she’s hard to resist. “It’ll be so much fun.”

  “Plus, maybe you can introduce us to your brother’s teammates.” Rita and Cheyenne share a look. “They’re always at Logan’s.”

  My heart sinks. They’re using me to get closer to the guys. Not because they want to hang out with me and get to know me better.

  Ouch.

  “I don’t really talk to them,” I start, but Rita cuts me off.

  “Please. Girl, you talk to them all the time. Knox Maguire is your brother. We want the connection. I’ve been dying to meet that dude since freshman year, but he doesn’t pay any attention to me.”

  “Maybe if you let him feel you up in a bathroom at a frat party he might notice you,” Cheyenne jokes, making me wince.

  I don’t want to think about my brother feeling anyone up in any sort of bathroom, eww.

  “God, Chey! I let one frat boy feel me up in his bathroom and I never hear the end of it!” Rita goes stomping off, leaving Cheyenne and me alone in our tiny living room.

  Cheyenne shrugs, her eyes a little wild. “I didn’t mean to make her mad.”

  Before I can tell her not to worry about it, Cheyenne is bolting down the hallway, banging on Rita’s closed bedroom door. “Come on, Rita! Let me in! I was just kidding!”

  I scoot past her and continue down the hall, locking myself in my room and collapsing on my double bed with a loud sigh. Thank God I have my own bedroom, so I can lock myself away from the chaos that is my roommates.

  They love each other fiercely, but they’re like sisters, which means they fight fiercely too. And witnessing their chaotic relationship makes me miss my sister.

  Grabbing my phone, I FaceTime Ruby. She picks up on the second ring, though her face doesn’t appear. I can tell she’s in her dorm room. I see movement in the background and I assume it’s her roommate, Becca.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, frowning when I hear something crash.

  Ruby’s head pops up, a big smile on her face. My sister is gorgeous. Her sparkling personality makes her even more appealing. Guys have been chasing her since she was twelve.

  Twelve.

  She’s never interested in any of them. Not really. She’s dated guys, here and there, but it never turns into anything, which always makes our dad happy. He thinks we’re all too young to settle down—well, us girls at least.

  Doesn’t matter that he got with Mom when she was only eighteen and they’re still blissfully happy, but whatever.

  “Sorry, I just dropped my pencil box and it spilled everywhere,” Ruby says.

  Ruby likes to draw. She’s always sketching something, though she insists it’s just a hobby and she can’t make a business out of it. I beg to differ, but she doesn’t listen to me ever. I’m just her big sister, always trying to tell her what to do, according to her.

  “How’s it going?” I smile at her, watching as she settles into her desk chair, brushing the wild blonde strands away from her face.

  “Good! Busy.” She glances over her shoulder, waving at her roommate before she turns to face the camera once more. “I hate it here.”

  I frown. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m bored. Campus life is dead. I thought it would have more of a nightlife but nope. The sidewalks roll up at nine and there’s nothing going on, ever. Plus,” she leans her head closer to her phone, “I don’t like my roommate.”

  “Ruby!” I press my lips together, hating how loud I just was. I’m reminding myself of my roommates. “Isn’t she right there?”

  “She already left. And it doesn’t really matter. I don’t think she likes me either.” Ruby leans back, exhaling loudly. “I didn’t think it would feel so good, confessing that. It’s like a weight just lifted off my shoulders.”

  I shake my head. “Is it really that bad there?”

  “Worse than you can imagine. At least for me. You know how I am. But enough about me. I always make it about me.”

  This is not a lie. Ruby used to be one of the most self-centered people I knew, though that might have something to do with the fact that she’s my little sister and was always in my business, in my stuff, in my face, all the damn time when we were younger. But at her core, she cares about others. Her circle is small, just like mine. Just like Knox’s.

  I prefer a smaller group of friends. People I adore and trust. People who don’t care that once upon a time, our dad was famous. My brother and sister feel the same way.

  “What are you up to? How’s school? How are your roommates? Met any cute guys yet?” Ruby asks.

  “Nothing much, school is going well, my roommates are okay, and no, I haven’t met any cute guys yet.” Cam doesn’t count. I’ve known him for a while, so I can’t put him in the ‘just met’ category.

  “Why aren’t you hanging out with Knox and all his friends?”

  I roll my eyes. “Because the majority of them are ridiculous. And Knox doesn’t want me hanging around them. He’s afraid I might run off and hook up with one of them, as if I have no control over myself.”

  “Like Cam?”

  Her question hangs heavy in the air, and as always, I regret that I ever told her I was interested in him.

  “That was years ago. I’m over him,” I say, but I sound unconvincing even to myself.

  “Liar.” Ruby laughs when I give her the finger. “It’s okay that you still have a crush on him, Blair.”

  “Not when he doesn’t notice me.” I think about what he said earlier, and what I told him. I then spill my guts to my little sister, giving her an entire replay of the encounter that I had with Cam at the library.

  “So, he actually said he’s thought about having sex with you?” Ruby sounds scandalized.

  “And then I basically admitted the same thing.” I pause, all my insecurities rushing through me. “Was that a mistake?”

  “No, not at all. I’m proud of you. How long have you been lusting after this guy again? And you only just now put it out there?”

  “Stop. It’s not easy for me to say stuff like that.” I’m embarrassed. I feel like a child with a crush on some unattainable teen idol or something. Which is fairly accurate when it comes to my relationship with Cam. He feels completely out of reach. He always has.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I’m trying to lift you up. It’s been a long time that you’ve felt this way about Camden Fields. I feel like you’re finally making progress.”

  “Nothing happened, Ruby. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

  “We all have to start somewhere, and this is your start with Cam. When do you think you’ll see him again?”

  “I don’t know.” I think about the roomies going to Logan’s. “There’s a chance I could run into him tonight if I go out with the girls.”

  “For all you know, you might still be on his mind. Right now is the perfect time to go out and hopefully run into him.”

  “I feel like Rita and Cheyenne only want to drag me along with them because of my connection to Knox.” And I don’t like feeling used. It’s not fun. Not at all.

  “So? Use that to your advantage to get closer to Cam,” Ruby points out.

  “Right, only for Knox to ruin it because he’s so overprotective that he’ll drive Cam away forever.” I sound morose. I am morose. Our brother has this way of ruining everything when it comes to guys.

  Poor Knox. I know he means well, but he’s too much sometimes.

  Okay fine, most of the time.

  “Ugh, forget him. He can say whatever he wants, but ultimately, he doesn’t control our lives, right? I say go for it. Let Cam know you’re interested.”

  “But that’s so…” Scary. Intimidating. Terrifying.

  All the above.

  “It’s what you need to do,” Ruby says firmly. “How else will Cam know you’re interested, if you don’t tell him?”

  I wish I had even an ounce of Ruby’s confidence.

  “Maybe he isn’t interested. Maybe he just said that for…whatever reason. I don’t know what to think. But it’s hard for me to put myself out there like that. I mean, he’s the freaking college quarterback, and he’s gorgeous. Everyone knows who he is. He could have whomever he wants, and I’m just—”

  “You’re Blair fucking Maguire, that’s who you are. Have you taken a good look at yourself lately? You’re smart, you’re kind, you’re gorgeous. Cam would be an idiot not to be interested in you.”

  We may have fought like cats and dogs when we were younger, but Ruby is the best hype woman ever. “I wish you were here right now.”

  “Me too. I’d make you talk to him tonight. I’d probably make you text him right now, if I was with you. In fact, you should totally do that.”

  “I don’t even have his number,” I mutter.

  “One text to our brother and you’d have it.”

  “Along with a ton of questions I don’t want to answer.”

  “True that.” Ruby’s smile is soft and encouraging. “Just go out with your wild roommates to that bar and see what happens. You might run into him.”