her star boy - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Luis
'Things will be so different once you're in the NFL!' they said. 'You have to make sure you're worthy of being taken seriously!' they said. I went to the University of Michigan, I played college football for four years, studied law and got a fucking degree.
Yet, here I am, doing the exact same shit I was doing in high school. But this time, instead of playing for a high school or college league, I play for the California Redwoods. And I can tell you first hand, that jersey chasers are much more serious when you make as much as we make in a year. Which is a lot, if you didn't know.
"I'm excited to watch you play this season, Luis," some girl who hasn't introduced herself, but knows everything about me, bats her eyelashes.
I hate parties. I have ever since I was eighteen, but still I keep finding myself at them. Mainly because they're held in my house. I love my teammates, trust I do, but living with them for four months during the season is close to what I imagine hell to be like. I don't get a moment of peace. Yeah I could move back here a little more permanently, even live with my parents.
But, I left California behind the second I graduated high school. My life and my friends are in Michigan.
"Thanks," I mumble into my red solo cup of water.
The music is so loud I can feel it reverberating through my chest, and I'm packed into a corner like a sardine in a can.
"So, I was thinking you could show me your room," the girl with no name smiles up at me, trails a finger along my forearm.
I'm about to make up some bullshit excuse when my teammate saves my fucking ass.
"Pierce! Get over here!"
I've never been so happy to hear Luca Santiago's voice in my life. I grimace at the girl, raising my hands and throwing her an apology as if I'm devastated that our conversation got cut short, before turning into the crowd and disappearing in the direction of the kitchen.
Santiago, Jenkins, Noah and Chen all cheer me on as I approach, and I smile despite myself. They're idiots, but they're my teammates, and some of my closest friends. Chen shoves a drink in my hand, and I immediately discard it on the kitchen island.
I drank once when I was eighteen, and it led to the worst decision of my life.
"We need a toast from our captain!" Jenkins yells, clearly drunk, and everyone cheers again.
I shake my head, smiling. "You're all losers."
When they begin to chant 'Speech! Speech!' I give in, waving my hands to shut them up. Everyone in the kitchen quiets down.
"Alright, listen up. It about to be our second season together." They cheer again. "Last season? That was just the intro. This year, we show everyone exactly why we're the team to beat." I glance around the group, eyeing more of my teammates that have gathered. "We've got talent, we've got resolve, and we've got each other. So let's show them what a team really looks like."
Everyone in the kitchen is hung on to my every word, even though ninety percent of these people do not play. It makes me smile.
"Enjoy yourselves. Because after tonight? It all about the grind. Let's make it count." I hold up my cup of water. About fifty hands follow. "To us. And kicking ass this season."
The crowd roars louder than the music as they collide their cups into each other, liquid splashing all over the countertops. I smile as I watch them, and then people begin to dissipate and I finally feel like I can breathe again.
I down the contents of my cup and dump it in the trash as I head around the island to Noah, lean against the counter and cross my arms over my chest.
"You know I'm not helping you clean this up tomorrow, right?" I tell him.
Noah Kane just smiles at me. "C'mon, Cap. I thought we were a team."
I narrow my eyes at him, about to chew him out when his attention is taken by something to my right. His grin widens and he waves, and I know from that alone that it's his girlfriend he's spotted. I haven't met her yet, they got together this summer; but boy is my guy whipped.
"Cap, this is my wife, Serena."
I raise my eyebrows, realising he's more whipped than I'd thought. When I turn toward the sound of the girly giggle beside me, my heart drops.
Unfortunately, I can't give my attention to my friend's girlfriend, because of the girl beside her.
My God, has five years changed her. Her hair is shorter now, dark bouncy curls a few inches below her collar bone rather than the waist length she used to have. She's dressed different too, her tomboy style of baggy jeans and shirts replaced with a feminine look that makes her look older, and that her body fills out dangerously; a long sleeve, mini skirt and little black heels.
The same, but different. Everything but her eyes. They're still the same shade of deep brown, but there's something in them that I don't remember—something guarded, like she's seen the world and decided it's not worth trusting.
"Cap?" Someone touches my shoulder.
The sounds of the party rushes back in and I feel like I take my first breath in minutes.
"Devyn Young," is what fall from my lips.
Devyn doesn't say anything, just stares at me with a beautifully blank expression, looking between my eyes but giving away nothing with her own.
"Hi Luis," she says after a moment, and hearing her voice, huskier but still so wholly her, sends heat through my body.
Serena, Noah's girlfriend, looks between the two of us. "You two know each other?"
I force myself to turn, feeling like a dick for completely ignoring her, and hold out a hand.
"It's good to meet you, Serena," I nod towards Noah. "This guy never shuts up about you."
She smiles as she shakes it, her cheeks flushing pink, and she turns to her boyfriend. I glance at Devyn again, but she's looking off somewhere distantly to her right. I open my mouth to say something, anything to grab her attention, but she turns to her friend.
"I'm gonna head to the bathroom." And then she's disappearing into the crowd, walking away from me. Again.
When she's out of sight, Serena snaps her head in my direction, eyes narrowing.
"How do you know Devyn?" I ask, before she gets to kill me with her look.
"She's my best friend of four years and housemate," she places her hands on her hips. "How do you know Devyn?"
"We uh, dated. In high school."
The warm smile she gave me before is completely gone, replaced with a raised eyebrow and an examining look. "Ah. I've heard about you," she tells me.
My eyebrows raise at this, and a sudden wave of anticipation washes over me. "You have?"
"Yeah, one time in our freshman year of college," Serena doesn't break eye contact. "We were drunk, and trauma dumping.
Fuck.
She turns to Noah then, saying she's gonna go find Devyn and planting a kiss on his cheek before heading off into the crowd. Noah turns to me when she's gone, a grin on his face.
"That's the Devyn you've been crying about since we met?" he asks.
I grimace, running a hand through my hair. Breathe out, "Yeah."
"Shit, man," is all he contributes.
"I know."