Page 88 of Blitz

Barrett laughs. “She won’t look twice at you.”

Wes and Greg head back to the house. With Amir and Barrett still playfully bickering, we make our way to the ASC. Micah follows in our wake, quiet. I use one of my guest passes to get him in. Who else am I going to save them for, Jamal? My brother has bigger and better things to do than visit a college campus. When my moms visit, we go out to eat in town, we certainly don’t eat at the dining hall.

It’s still early. We grab some food—a light snack, really—and find a big table at the back of the room. Micah is chewing on his cheek again. I don’t know what’s up with him. Normally he’s the life of the party, social and outgoing. Mason’s the same way. She’s never met a stranger she didn’t immediately befriend. It used to drive me crazy: she could simply walk up to a person, start talking, and immediately feel comfortable with them. I’m not like her. It takes me a while before I get comfortable with someone.

The ladies join us after almost an hour. Mason’s smile stretches from ear to ear. She bounds toward us, her freshly washed hair in a long braid down her back.

“My two favorite guys!” She wraps her arm around Micah’s neck and beams across the table at me. “You two getting along okay?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re great, sunshine,” he says, giving her a charming grin.

Behind her, Fred and Melissa giggle. He’s always been good with women, with getting people to feel at ease. He’s charismatic as fuck.

“I’m starving,” Melissa announces.

Dutifully, we follow them across the dining hall. We take plates and wind our way through the different food options on offer. The salmon looks good tonight, the chicken a little dry. The vegan entree looks like it’s been sitting for about three hours—and, considering it’s only five o’clock, is probably not far off. It’s way too early for most people to be eating dinner, but when you’ve just expended an incredible amount of energy on the field, it’s time to eat. And these girls definitely know how to eat.

Mason settles in beside me, Micah on her other side. I set my hand on her thigh, and she beams at me for the easy affection. He coughs.

“Really, dude?”

I refuse to let him get to me. We’re in a safe, committed relationship. We love one another. There’s nothing wrong with an innocent hand on her leg. It’s not like I’m fingering her in the middle of the dining hall. I’m certainly not about to do anything with her overprotective brother sitting two feet away.

She elbows him. “Leave us alone, Mic. I don’t say anything when you hook up with all of my friends. We live our lives differently than you do.”

“I’ll say,” he mutters, taking a bite of his chicken breast.

I lean over and kiss Mason’s temple, just because I can. She smiles at me, her fingers scratching through my beard.

The girls dissect the meet. Coach is pleased with them for the most part. Some of the long-distance runners are under fire for their performance today. The field athletes performed beautifully, earning several first place finishes.

“Okay, so game plan,” Melissa says, pushing away her tray. “Delta?”

“Delta,” Fred confirms.

“Pregame?”

“Not this time,” Mason says with a dark look I don’t understand. Wait—Melissa is the one that always makes a mess of herself. “Let’s reiterate: neither of you are going to sleep with this asshole.” She nudges her brother. “They’re off limits.”

“I get it, I get it,” he says, lifting his hands into the air. “I’m here to spend time with you, not hook up with your friends.”

I snort out a laugh. It’s not the first time I’ve heard that from him.

Micah looks at me, his jaw clenched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Mason sets her hand over mine on her leg. “Let’s not fight. We only have a little bit of time left together.”

I kiss her temple. “Anything for you, babe.”

The Delta house is an enormous monstrosity of wealth and privilege. It’s the kind of place that a guy like me shouldn’t be caught dead in. I’m too big, too tall, too Black to fit in here. I won’t pretend to be someone I’m not. I don’t know why Mason wants to be here, except that it’s the only decent party on any given night in our small, sleepy college town. The fraternity welcomes non-members and underage students alike. They really don’t give a shit who shows up to their parties as long as they’re packed full of scantily clad women and dudes trying to get with them.

Micah is a top-ranked football player at a big party school. He probably has women all over him all the time, trying to get with the elite athlete. It’s a little different at Newton. The frat brothers are the big draw, not the athletes. Or at least I’m not a big draw. I don’t put myself out there; I have no interest in being out there.

If Mason wasn’t Mason, I wouldn’t be with her. I don’t see the need to date. I don’t see the need for casual sex. I’m not searching for that deep, lasting emotional connection with everyone I come across. I’m not ready for the rest of my life to start right now. But Mason is Mason. She’s the one for me. I don’t need to date other people to figure out that nobody else compares to her. She’s perfectly imperfect, and I love her for it.

Sure, we’re having some growing pains, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to figure it out. We love each other. We’re meant to spend the rest of our lives together. We’ll get to the bottom of this blip and get past it.