I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 63: Logan

My legs relaxed once I stood up and stretched, but Darrius' entire body tensed and walked stiffly while he exited the bus ahead of me. His shoulders were scrunched high up towards his ears.

Huh. Big guy's acting weird.

Emmitt hadn't traveled with the team today, although Coach Peterson announced while we waited at our Southwest terminal that, as captain, Emmitt joined us for every subsequent game. While he was out for the season, his support role started next week at the University of Michigan away game.

Maybe we can leave him behind in a body bag.

My blood boiled as the memory of what Ellie told me he was involved in a hazing event that involved sleeping with ZTE's pledges. A quick skim around the airport terminal seats had me question how many other guys were in on such an 'arrangement' with their, or any other, sorority house.

At least half the team is in a serious, committed relationship, but the rest... Assholes are assholes.

And Ellie wants to bring Emmitt food to feel better?

I pushed aside these thoughts while I waited in the boarding line, most of which was the team, except for a few unfortunate families and military guys.

"Why aren't you sitting with Charlie?" I asked Wes but directed my eyes to the back of her blonde-haired head who stood thirty people ahead of us.

"Never have," he admitted with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "She has her PT prep stuff, I go into game mode with my bros. Not gonna change just because we're engaged and live together."

"Huh," was the only response I came up with but Wes just turned forward and slipped in his earbuds until we boarded the plane and headed towards the last available seats together.

"Seat's taken, bro." Seth slid right into the seat next to Wes like the snake I'd suspected he was. As I looked down on him with a frown, he just lifted his shoulders slightly. "We uhh, gotta talk about crossing routes."

"Crossing routes, sure Brooks." I whipped my head around and groaned quietly when I saw that the only seat left was next to Darrius, who already looked ridiculously cramped in the window seat. His head, which bumped up the sloped ceiling above him, already faced the window, which was already small but looked tiny as his head blocked most of it.

"Consider it my olive branch over Ellie." I narrowed my eyes at Seth, who nodded and gave me a tight smirk. "Don't give me any more shit and keep away from her."

"Be careful," Wes muttered to me from his seat, then glanced back at Darrius. "We need your right hand in the game."

"What -" I started to ask when an airline attendant who looked like she couldn't have been more irritated with how giant, hulking college guys took up two-thirds of the whole plane.

"Sir, please stow your bag and take your seat," she pointed at the seat next to Darrius, which felt even smaller than it looked when I sat down. Since Darrius' frame half-sat on my seat cushion, I moved to lower the armrest in between us.

"Don't," he warned me with a dark gleam in his eyes. "I... don't like this."

"I get it," I assured him with a grin that hopefully conveyed I meant those words. "I don't fit in any of the lecture hall desks."

"No man..." The string of curse words that followed grabbed my attention to how quickly Darrius' right knee bounced, his knuckles were white from how tightly his fists clutched around his seatbelt strap, and sweat beaded up on his upper lip. "I don't like this."

The realization of what he meant sunk in my stomach faster than how fast Darrius obviously feared the airplane dropped from the sky.

Oh shit.