Page 19 of The Player

Except the thought of Drew moving on by next weekend—of seeing him cross campus with another girl—bothered her a lot more than it should have.

Toni didn’t say anything right away. “Do you like him?”

“I barely know him.”

“Look,” Toni said, her voice softer now. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time.”

“Could’ve fooled us,” Lauren said.

Toni shot Lauren a glare and ignored her. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. And I don’t want your reputation ruined for messing around with a white guy.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“You honestly think the brothas around here are gonna want anything to do with you after they find out you’ve been banging a white guy?” Toni asked.

“There will be no banging,” Nicole said.

“Mm-hm.” Toni took a sip of her iced tea, watching Nicole over the rim. “That boy looks like sex. And I mean, Lauren’s right. He is fine as hell. I’ll give you that.”

“Told you,” Lauren said.

“But that doesn’t matter. Not in this town. Not around these people,” Toni said. “A guy like Drew will get a slap on the back. Boys will be boys and all that. But it’s different for you.”

Toni was right about that much. Drew could screw whoever he wanted, and hell, people might even think more of him for it. Nicole would be the one everybody talked about.

“Jackie said he’s hooked up with at least four sorority girls she knows and a couple of cheerleaders.” Lauren paused. “Some of them together. At the same time.”

And just like that, Nicole had a picture of Drew in bed with two women stuck in her head. Nope. She did not need that. “So he likes threesomes. Shocking. Next you’re gonna tell me the star quarterback enjoys being the center of attention.”

“See!” Toni threw up both hands. “Not only is he not Black, but he’s a dog. A nasty, dirty dog. I’m sure Dayshawn has stories about him too.”

“We don’t talk about Drew,” Lauren said.

Toni waved a dismissive hand. “Uh-huh. That’s probably ’cause they’re teammates. And Dayshawn talking shit about Drew would break guy code or whatever.”

“Not everybody is as obsessed with racial lines as you are, Toni,” Lauren said.

“Oh, yeah?” Toni turned fully toward Lauren. “So if it wasn’t for football, you think Dayshawn and Drew would be best friends? Have you ever seen them hanging out together, on campus or off, when it didn’t involve football? Because I haven’t.”

Lauren’s gaze dropped to the textbook in front of her.

“Drew can do whatever he wants,” Nicole said. “I don’t care. He’s not my man.”

“Just be smart about it,” Lauren said.

“And discreet. Or maybe just . . . don’t,” Toni added.

“I appreciate the concern,” Nicole said. “But can we get back to studying? I have to finish this book by tonight.”

Toni held her gaze a second longer, then picked up her textbook without a word. Lauren gave her one last look before reaching for hers. Nicole went back to The Grapes of Wrath, but the ambush had ruined her good mood, and she couldn’t focus on a damn thing she was reading.

Chapter Eight

“Lift your arm.”

Drew raised it overhead, slower than usual. The higher it went, the meaner the pull along his right side got. The arm itself felt fine. His ribs, though? They were giving him hell.

Franky, Drayton’s head athletic trainer, pressed two fingers into the sore spot along Drew’s lower right ribs. He wasn’t even pushing that hard, and he didn’t have to. Drew bit down anyway, mostly to keep from cussing him out before nine in the morning.