Campus King | 18+

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Wooo! Go Jared! Move that sexy ass!" Bailey screamed through cupped hands, jumping up and down like an excited little girl as she cheered on her defenceman.

I shook my head, chuckling at Bailey's over-the-top excitement. I preferred to keep a more composed demeanor, smiling, clapping, and occasionally joining in with the crowd's cheers, while Bailey, Jenny, and our other roommate, Tanya, were making a huge ruckus, drawing everyone's attention our way. I would've been a tad more embarrassed by the attention if it weren't for the fact that everyone else was just as crazy about our football team, man or woman.

On the makeshift football field, Tristan led his team against the opposing team made up of volunteer festival goers. Some of them were athletes from our college's various sports teams, while others were just regular students who knew their way around a football. Surprisingly, a few of them actually had some genuine skill, which sometimes put pressure on our football team to step up their game.

Everyone was having a lot of fun, especially Tristan. He wore an ear-to-ear grin, his good mood palpable as he and his team bantered, teased, and joked with the opposing teams. They engaged in playful antics, almost treating their opponents like a bunch of inexperienced rookies, executing feigned plays and expertly dodging tackles. But it wasn't meant to be mean-spirited - their sabotages were more directed at each other, like when Alex threw a mud ball directly at his brother's face. Or when Ryan gave Tai a massive wedgie in front of everyone, almost lifting the poor guy off the ground.

Right at this instant, the crowd erupted into a frenzy when Tristan jumped clean over a shorter guy, playfully tapping him on the head before smoothly landing with the ball in his possession and taking off for the end zone. In a matter of seconds, he was across the field, having gracefully dodged a few opponents on the way. Even I laughed and cheered when he threw the ball into the air and did a pretty good rendition of the running man to celebrate his touchdown. It was freaking adorable.

The games had been shortened to twenty minutes each to ensure everyone who wanted a turn had a chance to play. Still, to attest to our football team's skill and stamina, they won every match, some of them by a landslide. So far, there had only been one close call.

As the match concluded with yet another win for our team, Tristan jogged over in my direction. Anticipating his arrival, I quickly pulled my bag off my shoulder and reached inside to retrieve the bottle of water I'd gotten him. By the time he slowed to a stop in front of me, I was holding the bottle toward him. Bailey was already in Jared's arms, peppering his face with kisses and whispering not-so-sweet nothings in his ear.

"Here. I thought you might need this after all the running," I said, feeling a little awkward as I held it out to him. I wanted to kiss him, but we had a whole bunch of eyes on us, scrutinizing our every move.

His gaze dropped to the blue bottle, and that playful look in his eyes briefly morphed into something else. There was a flicker, a subtle change, before he returned to his familiar playful demeanor, plastering on his signature smirk. It happened so fast that I almost believed I'd imagined it.