Campus King | 18+

Chapter Sixteen

Hannah

"Would you rather eat from your butt or pee from your nose?"

I scrunched my nose at the visuals both gave me. What was wrong with him?

"That's disgusting. Neither."

"Come on, you have to pick one. That's how the game works."

I gave him some serious side eye. "Option two, clearly. I can just pass it off as a lot of snot or something. Who would ever choose option one?"

Jace shrugged. "I don't know. Eating from your ass sounds kinda funny."

"You need psychological help," I said, shaking my head at him.

We were sitting on a park bench watching dogs and their owners run around while eating massive scoops of ice cream. 

Yesterday, I managed to convince my mom to let him come to the Knights' game with me. It took a lot of begging and emotional blackmail to get her to agree to let us go without her. As it was, I had to have him home before ten. Which was fine; I wasn't planning on taking my sixteen-year-old brother to any parties or clubs, though I'm sure he'd love that.

This morning, when I handed over the two tickets to go and watch the Knights play in Boulder, Jace lost his mind. He ran a celebratory lap around the house, yelling the entire time. Even my mom cracked a reluctant smile at his excitement.

And so, for the whole of the morning before the game, we hung out together. I took him to go have waffles for breakfast, burgers for lunch, and now we were eating ice cream. And you bet we were still going to chow down on a lot more at the game. Our arteries had to be screaming, but we didn't care.

Together we watched as a Dachshund chased a black Labrador around the park, only for the Labrador to turn around and tackle the smaller dog. They rolled, a blur of black and brown.

Jace's eyes were glued to the pair. "When I'm out of the house, I'm gonna get a dog. I don't care what type, I just want a dog."

My heart squeezed in my chest. We both laughed as the smaller dog leaped in the air, yapping like a mad thing as the Labrador ran circles around it.

Our dad had gotten Jace a dog for his tenth birthday, but it didn't take long for chaos to ensue. The puppy chewed through all our shoes, shredded the curtains, tore apart my mom's throw pillows, and even peed on her bed. She had zero tolerance or patience for the dog, despite our promises to train it. I could still hear my brother's heartbroken sobs as the new owners drove away with his best friend. I don't think I could ever forgive my mother for doing that to him.

"They are stinking cute." I grinned when the Labrador ran away from the smaller dog nipping at his heels.

We watched for a couple more minutes, and then I looked down at my phone. The game started soon, and we had a pretty long drive ahead of us.