fists on a woman, though. Never. You get that, right?”
“Yeah, I know. Tu fait l’amour aux dames ,” I said with a heavy French accent.
“Say what?” Tiberius shot back in heavy Jersey.
“You make love to the ladies,” I translated, and I swear to God, I thought I saw a faint blush creep over Ty’s cheeks. “Hey, I was just kidding. I’m a French major, Italian and Spanish minor. Sometimes I can’t help it. But I can tell you’re gentle, the make love, not war kind of guy,” I joked back, wanting to move away from this discussion.
And clearly so did Tiberius, because he quickly added, “Come on, I’m hungry, and I’m finally getting to take you to eat.”
We talked and joked the entire way to the Union, laughing about different words in French and Spanish, and what few jobs would be available for me as a language major. Tiberius told me he was a business major, and moaned a little over Statistics 200.
When we finally made it to the food line, he made a big deal out of using his student ID to pay for both of our meals, even though we were both on athletic meal plans. “It’s our first date,” he reminded me, his eyes shiny blue again, their lightness matching his wide smile.
I’d just muttered my thanks and reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek when a burst of clapping and whistling broke out. Careful not to drop my salad, I turned slowly to see Trey and Lamar grinning and punching each other in the shoulder like goofballs.
I was surprised to see them both wearing low-slung jeans, Nike T-shirts, and clean basketball shoes—basically what Tiberius was wearing. It was the first time I’d seen all of them without their uniforms or practice clothes on. Well, the night before, I guess Trey had been wearing something else, but I was too frazzled to notice.
They looked good. All of them, especially Tiberius, who finished paying and was ready to sit.
It was impossible not to pass the other guys as we made our way toward a table.
“Hey, Tingly,” Trey said.
“T,” came with a chin lift from Lamar.
Tiberius gave them a frown. “Cool it.”
“Hey.” I smiled at the other guys and flashed a dirty look at Tiberius. I had to admit, I was afraid he was going to go all robo-possessive again and start busting up lips.
“What you two up to?” Trey asked, lifting his chin toward us.
“Eating,” I answered.
“Cool. We’ll sit with ya’ll.” Lamar mugged at us as if he were joking, but then he grabbed a giant Gatorade and a few slices of pizza and made himself comfortable.
We took up a table large enough for ten people, so the guys could make themselves comfortable with their impossibly long tree-trunk legs spread out in front of them. Then they woofed down more calories than I’d ever imagined was possible.
Tiberius was making his way through a meatball hoagie, a side of fries, and a blue drink when he waved a fry at me. “Want one?” he asked.
“Are you sure you can spare one?”
“Yeah,” he said, before adding with a chin nod, “There’s more up there.”
I grabbed the fry and plunged it into the ketchup before popping it in my mouth. Sadly, a small moan escaped my lungs as I had my way with the salty, greasy, crispy piece of potato.
“You know you wish she’d do that for you,” Trey said slyly, taunting Tiberius.
“Here, have another.” Tiberius offered up another one and I lunged for it, nearly falling out of my chair.
“What, you starve yourself? That why you’re so skinny?” Lamar asked with another chin lift. These guys loved their chin lifts as much as their not-so-gentle ribbing and nicknames.
I shook my head. “Nah. Just a bad habit from growing up. We didn’t eat fried food,” I said without thinking, then froze. The differences in our two worlds crashed head-on with my lungs inside my chest, stunting my breath. I was worried I’d offended them, but they continued to surprise me, these basketball boys.
“Shit, girl, we got to get you some
“Yeah, I know. Tu fait l’amour aux dames ,” I said with a heavy French accent.
“Say what?” Tiberius shot back in heavy Jersey.
“You make love to the ladies,” I translated, and I swear to God, I thought I saw a faint blush creep over Ty’s cheeks. “Hey, I was just kidding. I’m a French major, Italian and Spanish minor. Sometimes I can’t help it. But I can tell you’re gentle, the make love, not war kind of guy,” I joked back, wanting to move away from this discussion.
And clearly so did Tiberius, because he quickly added, “Come on, I’m hungry, and I’m finally getting to take you to eat.”
We talked and joked the entire way to the Union, laughing about different words in French and Spanish, and what few jobs would be available for me as a language major. Tiberius told me he was a business major, and moaned a little over Statistics 200.
When we finally made it to the food line, he made a big deal out of using his student ID to pay for both of our meals, even though we were both on athletic meal plans. “It’s our first date,” he reminded me, his eyes shiny blue again, their lightness matching his wide smile.
I’d just muttered my thanks and reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek when a burst of clapping and whistling broke out. Careful not to drop my salad, I turned slowly to see Trey and Lamar grinning and punching each other in the shoulder like goofballs.
I was surprised to see them both wearing low-slung jeans, Nike T-shirts, and clean basketball shoes—basically what Tiberius was wearing. It was the first time I’d seen all of them without their uniforms or practice clothes on. Well, the night before, I guess Trey had been wearing something else, but I was too frazzled to notice.
They looked good. All of them, especially Tiberius, who finished paying and was ready to sit.
It was impossible not to pass the other guys as we made our way toward a table.
“Hey, Tingly,” Trey said.
“T,” came with a chin lift from Lamar.
Tiberius gave them a frown. “Cool it.”
“Hey.” I smiled at the other guys and flashed a dirty look at Tiberius. I had to admit, I was afraid he was going to go all robo-possessive again and start busting up lips.
“What you two up to?” Trey asked, lifting his chin toward us.
“Eating,” I answered.
“Cool. We’ll sit with ya’ll.” Lamar mugged at us as if he were joking, but then he grabbed a giant Gatorade and a few slices of pizza and made himself comfortable.
We took up a table large enough for ten people, so the guys could make themselves comfortable with their impossibly long tree-trunk legs spread out in front of them. Then they woofed down more calories than I’d ever imagined was possible.
Tiberius was making his way through a meatball hoagie, a side of fries, and a blue drink when he waved a fry at me. “Want one?” he asked.
“Are you sure you can spare one?”
“Yeah,” he said, before adding with a chin nod, “There’s more up there.”
I grabbed the fry and plunged it into the ketchup before popping it in my mouth. Sadly, a small moan escaped my lungs as I had my way with the salty, greasy, crispy piece of potato.
“You know you wish she’d do that for you,” Trey said slyly, taunting Tiberius.
“Here, have another.” Tiberius offered up another one and I lunged for it, nearly falling out of my chair.
“What, you starve yourself? That why you’re so skinny?” Lamar asked with another chin lift. These guys loved their chin lifts as much as their not-so-gentle ribbing and nicknames.
I shook my head. “Nah. Just a bad habit from growing up. We didn’t eat fried food,” I said without thinking, then froze. The differences in our two worlds crashed head-on with my lungs inside my chest, stunting my breath. I was worried I’d offended them, but they continued to surprise me, these basketball boys.
“Shit, girl, we got to get you some
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