Chapter 52: Don’t Mind

I picked up the phone from the glass coffee table, sliding the green button to answer as Knox closed the bedroom door behind him.

I walked into the suite’s small entryway to get some privacy, pressing the receiver to my ear.

"Hey, Drew," I said softly.

"Nora," Drew’s warm voice came through the speaker, sounding genuinely relieved. "Hey. Sorry to call so late. Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," I replied, leaning my shoulder against the cool entryway wall. "Why wouldn’t I be?"

"I just saw the sports clip on SportsCentral," Drew admitted, letting out a heavy breath. "The Kiss Cam video from the Briar game. It was blowing up on State’s campus group chats."

I pressed a hand over my eyes, suppressing a quiet sigh. "Oh. That."

"Yeah. That," Drew said softly over the line. "I mean... I know you two are dating, but you also told me on Wednesday that he was just an overbearing athlete."

I chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood. "Aren’t you supposed to be busy with important stuff at State instead of worrying about me every second of the day? I’m fine, Drew. Really. It was just a stupid arena camera thing."

"I always have time to worry about you, Nora," Drew said, his tone turning gentle, honest, and quiet over the line.

I paused, a small smile touching my lips. "Your girlfriend shouldn’t hear that, Drew. She might get the wrong idea."

The line went completely quiet for a long second.

"There is no girlfriend, Nora," Drew said softly over the phone. "But I don’t mind you being the one."

My heart did a sudden, hard thud against my ribs. I froze dead in my tracks, my breath catching in my throat as his words echoed in my head.

"Drew..." I stammered, my voice barely a whisper. "I... I have a boyfriend."

"A complicated one," Drew replied gently, repeating the exact words I had used on Wednesday. "Like you said the other day."

I stood in the quiet entryway, completely speechless.

My mind raced in wild, chaotic circles, the memory of Knox’s breathless kiss from two hours ago crashing straight into Drew’s quiet confession.

"Drew, I don’t... I don’t know what to say," I murmured softly into the receiver.

"You don’t need to say anything tonight, Nora," Drew said softly, letting me off the hook without pressing. "Just get some sleep. We can talk better some other time."

"Okay," I whispered. "Goodnight, Drew."

"Goodnight, Nora."

The line went dead. I lowered the phone slowly, staring down at the dark screen in utter disbelief.

When I stepped back into the sitting room, Knox had come back out into the doorway. He didn’t ask what Drew had said, but his dark eyes followed every move I made as I set my phone back on the glass table.

"Everything okay?" Knox asked, his voice quiet in the room.

"Yeah," I said softly, pulling the throw blanket around my shoulders. "Everything’s fine."

—

By seven o’clock on Sunday morning, the team loaded onto the Briar luxury charter bus for the long drive back to campus.

The morning sky was grey and overcast as the charter bus pulled onto the highway.

I settled into my window seat four rows from the front, my duffel bag stowed by my knees. My brain was a chaotic mess, juggling the lingering heat of Knox’s kiss at the arena and the unexpected weight of Drew’s words from last night.

Truth was, Drew and I had always floated in this orbit back in high school. There had been moments... late nights, walking home together where the air between us had felt charged with something more.

He had even admitted to me over the phone last week that he regretted never asking me out before I left for Briar.

Hearing him say I don’t mind you being the one made those old, buried feelings rush right back to the surface.

But now, everything was complicated.

I was bound to a strict contract with Knox Sheridan, and the breathless memory of Knox’s mouth on mine at the glass bench was still burning on my lips...

My train of thought shattered abruptly as a shadow fell over my seat.

I looked up as Knox unceremoniously slid into the aisle seat beside me, his broad shoulder brushing firmly against mine in the narrow space.

He didn’t mention Drew or the kiss or even the call. He just pulled out his tablet, opened his sports playbook, and settled in for the long ride.

The low hum of the charter bus engine vibrated through the floorboards while the highway stretched endlessly beyond the glass. Outside, the cold autumn trees were nothing but a quiet, grey blur beneath the overcast morning sky.

An hour into the trip, Bear leaned over the back of our row, holding a crumpled stack of anatomy flashcards.

"Nora," Bear pleaded, his wide eyes desperate. "Please tell me you still have energy to look at these muscle insertions before my Tuesday quiz."

I let out a soft laugh, relieved for the distraction. "Hand them over, Bear."

For the next two hours, I sat in the narrow bus seat, breaking down Bear’s anatomy flashcards into visual diagrams on my notepad.

Knox sat right beside me the entire time. He pretended to read his playbook, but every time I drew a new muscle map, I could feel his eyes watching my hands.

"Man, Sheridan, you’re a lucky guy," Bear grinned, taking his updated notes back with a massive sigh of relief. "Nora’s actually making muscle insertions make sense."

Knox didn’t even look up from his tablet. "I know," he said dryly.

—

By six-thirty on Sunday evening, the charter bus finally pulled into the Briar University athletic parking lot.

The sun was setting behind the campus buildings, casting long orange shadows across the cold pavement. The players grabbed their heavy gear bags from the luggage compartment and scattered into the cool autumn air.

I pulled my tote bag over my shoulder, stepping off the bus steps.

Knox walked right beside me, matching his long stride to mine as we crossed the quiet, tree-lined quad toward my apartment building. The autumn wind blew through the trees, rustling the fallen leaves along the concrete path.

For the first time all weekend, there were no sharp arguments, no defensive banter, and no heavy silence between us... just a quiet, surprisingly comfortable rhythm.

We reached the front steps of my apartment building.

I stopped on the bottom step, turning around to face him. "Thanks for walking me back, Sheridan."

Knox stopped on the pavement below, looking up at me. He reached out, taking the strap of my tote bag to relieve the weight from my shoulder.

His rough fingers brushed against mine on the bag strap, feeling warm in the chilly evening air.

"I’m picking you up for study tomorrow at four, Bennett," Knox said, his low voice calm and commanding.

I looked down at our hands on the strap, then met his eyes. "Is that part of the contract, Sheridan?"

Knox gave a slow, devastating smirk, his dark eyes gleaming in the amber light of the streetlamp.

"No," Knox murmured softly, leaning in just an inch. "That one’s for me."

He didn’t wait for an answer. Knox unclasped his fingers from the strap, gave me a single, unreadable nod, and turned on his heel, walking away down the quiet, tree-lined street under the glowing streetlamps.

I stood on the bottom step of my apartment building, watching his broad figure disappear into the shadows, my heart pounding against my ribs.