Campus King | 18+

Chapter Twenty-Five

Tristan

I couldn't lie and say I wasn't disappointed.

But I'd get over it. In the meantime, I would continue to torture myself by spending more time with her.

After Hannah told me everything, our conversation shifted to other topics — namely, my family. Somehow, I found myself answering her questions about my childhood, sharing stories about my older siblings, Caleb and Megan, and talking about my mom and dad. I wanted to give her a different perspective on the kind of man my father was. Despite everything, I had nothing but respect and appreciation for him, and for some reason, it felt important that she knew that too.

Her laugh as I recounted my past antics was pure agony to listen to, yet all I wanted was to hear it again. So, I kept talking, saying anything that might coax another laugh out of her. Maybe it was why I couldn't bring myself to take her home yet. Instead, I invited her to Moxie's for dinner, making sure to add that my friends would be there too, so it wouldn't be like a date. It worked, but mostly because Hannah was hungry. I couldn't help but grin at that — I loved how food-driven she was. It was oddly... cute.

Friends. I could be her friend. Yeah.

When we arrived at Moxie's, the place was bustling and full of college students. A live band played on stage, and the place hummed with laughter and conversation. Waiting for Hannah to pass through the door I was holding open, I looked around for the location of my teammates and found them across the bar at an open table. It wasn't difficult to locate them, considering they had crowds of people surrounding their table.

"I see my friends — they're at the biggest table on the right," I said to Hannah, letting go of the door as my hand fell to settle on the small of her back, guiding her in the right direction.

Already, I was getting recognized as I led her through the room. I threw out several quick greetings to those I recognized. My hand never left her back, even when a group of four guys pushed close, blocking our path with excited grins on their faces. Two of them looked vaguely familiar, but the easy smile on my face would have them believing I recognized all of them.

"Hey, Number Thirteen! That seventy-five-yard touchdown you ran against Wyoming was unreal!" The dark-haired man closest to me shouted above the music, raising his hand for a fist bump.

One of his friends nodded, going on to say, "It was the talk of the whole campus today. You ran like the devil himself was on your ass."

I laughed at that. "It certainly felt like it. Did you see that Safety's face when he was chasing me? Stuff of nightmares, I tell you."

A couple of the others rushed to add their own thoughts when suddenly, one of the guys bumped into Hannah after his friend stood on his toes, causing her to stumble back with a startled gasp. Instinctively, my arm shot out, catching her around the waist and pulling her into my side. Her hand pressed against my chest, her nails digging into the hard muscle as she tried to steady herself. I felt her stop breathing as I cast my angry gaze at the man who bumped her. He righted himself, an apologetic expression covering his face as he turned to elbow his friend in the ribs.