“Kade!” a coach shouted from the bench. “Finish your sprints and take off. You got class to attend.”

Drew nodded to me, veering to the left, as I crouched back down for another sprint.

SAMANTHA

The smell of coffee woke me up, and I was greeted with the image of Summer coming in the door, dressed to the nines in a flowy, white top that slipped off one of her shoulders and hung past the middle of her thighs. It looked like a dress she could wear to a nightclub. She was wearing skintight jeans underneath with high heels. Her bracelets jingled against each other as she placed a cup of coffee on my nightstand.

“Ruby has a latte machine in her room.” She inhaled a whiff of her latte, and a dreamy smile came over her face. “I’m in love with our RA.” She pointed at me with her cup as she sat at her desk. “She’s in love with you. A little Blaze bird was gushing to her about your stepbrother sometime this morning, and she wants to meet his obsession.”

I cringed. “Really?”

She watched as I climbed out of bed.

I grabbed the latte first. My robe was second. I had priorities. Even before slipping on the robe, I had to take a sip. It was caramel heaven. “Thanks for this.”

“If you can’t find me, don’t be surprised if I’m camped out on Ruby’s floor. She knows the best way to make friends with freshman girls hoping to fight the freshman fifteen—feed our caffeine addiction.”

I grinned, putting the latte on my desk.

“So…” Summer took another sip, her eyes darting to my bed. “I couldn’t help noticing you this morning, right before I almost stepped on you.” She rolled her eyes. “Why I chose the top bunk, I’ll never know. Can I be a nosy roommate who’s hoping to be a good friend and ask about your change of heart last night? I thought you were getting a ride back with Logan?”

“I was.” I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. A little chill swept over me, and I finally pulled on the robe. “I went back with him and crawled in bed with Mason.”

A sigh left Summer’s mouth. “The football legend.”

I stopped. “Uh, yeah. Anyway, Mason brought me back. We’re doing the whole thing where I actually live in the dorm, at least for a month.”

“I don’t mean to sound all creepy, and I’m not lusting after your soul mate because he’s gorgeous, but I’ve had a thing for Mason Kade for years. I know almost all his records and stats since his sophomore year in high school. It’s a football thing for me. For real.” She blinked at me a couple of times. “Most girls would be thinking of eight different ways to kill you, so they could take your spot, but that’s not me. It’s the football. That’s all.”

I narrowed my eyes. She seemed sincere, and she had gotten wistful the night before when Logan and Nate were sharing old football memories. But she was a girl. And Mason was Mason. I frowned. I should’ve heard alarm bells clanging against my skull, but there was none.

I shrugged. “I’ve had girls go nuts and try to hurt me, but if you’re going to try, good luck.” I kept my eyes level as I stared at her.

Things were nice and demure between us. We’d been getting to know each other at a slow pace, but this was different. I let her see the hardness in me. She did, straightening in her chair, but she didn’t look away. That was a good thing.

As she held my gaze, I said, “I’m not being a bitch when I say this, but you’ll lose. If you do want him and you’re trying to lie to me here, trying to deceive me in any way, it won’t work. I’ve had tougher and more ruthless girls try to, and they never won. They never will, so if that’s your agenda, drop it, or move out. You won’t be fighting just me. You’ll be fighting Mason and Logan, too. The three of us are family. No one will get between us.”

A slow grin curved over her face. “There she is.” Her head went down, like she was staring at an approaching lion. There was no fear, no caution. There was just recognition and something similar to excitement. She put her latte on her desk but never broke eye contact with me. “I’ve been wanting to meet the real Samantha since I realized who you were.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It wasn’t just Mason and Logan that I heard about. You lit your dad’s car on fire. You put Budd Broudou in jail, and you got Brett Broudou to protect you. I mean, damn, girl. I get all hot and bothered by a sixty-yard touchdown run, but a lot of other girls get just as hot and bothered about whoever tamed Mason and Logan Kade.”

“Girls?”

Her grin was a full smile now. “I know a few lesbians who’d love to get your number. When I go home, I’ll have to fight ’em off with a baseball bat when they figure out that we’re roommates.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Should I be alarmed that you knew about me and didn’t tell me until now?”

“Okay.” She tucked her hair behind her ears, her eyes eager. “Maybe I should’ve been up-front that I knew about you, but I didn’t want to sound like a creeper. When I found out who my roommate was, I almost pissed my pants. I didn’t know before coming here yesterday. The housing place sent me a letter saying my assigned roommate changed due to complications, and I was supposed to notify them if I was unhappy with my new assignment.” She snorted to herself, picking up her latte again. Her legs crossed at the ankle as she perched on the edge of her chair. She rolled her head back and forth before resting it against the wall, too. “Hell to the no. As long as you can put up with my football obsession and the fact that I think you’re awesome and I’m kinda wondering if I’m a lesbian, too. I think this year will be awesome.”

I shook my head, uncertain of how to take all of that in. Mason would go with his gut. That was what he’d tell me, so it was what I did. My gut was comfortable. It was only uncomfortable that I wasn’t concerned about her, so I shrugged, sipping from my latte.

I said, “Okay.”

She leaned forward. “Okay…as in, we’re good? As in, I didn’t scare you away?”

I nodded slowly. “I guess. Okay then.”

She whooped and thrust a fist in the air before covering her mouth with it. “Sorry. That’s the football nerd in me. You won’t want to sit with me at the first game we go to. Seriously, I’m nuts.”