Wrong Quarterback | ✓

epilogue

SEPTEMBER

"One of these days I am going to kill you."

Jake's trademark cross of a grin and a smirk fades into a line at Avery's greeting. Leaning against the doorway to her dorm room, he regards her with a frown. "What's wrong with you?"

"Me?" Avery asks incredulously, tying her hair up into a ponytail. "What's wrong with you? You've texted me eighteen times the past five minutes!"

"It did get annoying," Sanaa, her roommate, offers up in agreement from where she's propped up on her elbows on her bed – eyes flickering from the textbook before her to the boy in the doorway. "What's the big deal with this whole lacrosse game anyways?"

Avery's lips twitch up in faint amusement. "Football."

"Right, that's what I said. So, what's the big deal? Why are you both acting like you had Red Bull with your cereal this morning?"

"Are you serious? Is she serious?" Jake looks between Sanaa and Avery in disbelief. "The Carolina-Duke rivalry has only spanned on over the past hundred or something years.

Sanaa shrugs, flipping the page of her textbook. "I'm not really into sports."

Avery leans back against her desk, applying some chapstick to her lips. "And you're sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Not really," Sanaa pulls an apologetic grimace. "I need to get all this reading done anyways."

"Okay."

"Team-wrecker," Jake glances pointedly at the time on his phone. "We have to get moving if you want to catch Ethan before the game."

"Ethan?" Sanaa looks up from her book again, suddenly more intrigued. "As in the boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he's playing today," Avery pushes her phone into the back pocket of her dark denim skirt. "I thought I told you about that."

"No, I would have remembered."

"He's starting his first game as quarterback today," Jake chimes in proudly. "As a freshman – may I add."

"Now, I don't know much about sports," Sanaa turns her gaze to Avery once more, raising a brow. "But that is impressive."

Jake beams. "It is."

"We get it," Avery suppresses a chortled breath. "You're in love with my boyfriend."

"He wishes."

Avery gestures to the neckline of the T-shirt hidden underneath Jake's sweater. "His face is on your shirt."

Jake points at Avery's hoodie, knowing what's underneath it. "You're wearing the same shirt."

Sanaa regards the exchange, lips slightly parted as she straightens up into a seat. She interrupts them by clearing her throat. "When were you going to tell me you're dating some damn superstar?"

"I thought you knew! I swear."

Sanaa's brows knit together, lips pursing ever so slightly. "But... I thought our quarterback was a senior?

"Oh, about that–"

"And gay," She says now, reaching for her phone where it lies on the floor. "Yes, definitely gay."

"Actually, Sanaa. Ethan doesn't–"

"There was this whole feature on him last year – in The Daily Tar Heel," Sanaa unlocks her phone, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her black hair. "Or was that basketball? Are there quarterbacks in basketball?"