Chapter Four
TRAIN
The water was justthe right temperature to cool my heated body, although the waves sucked. “Not much in the form of waves today.”
Austin straddled his board. “No, but this beats school.”
He had a point. Now that I was dangling my legs in the water, I wasn’t as tense, although a certain girl had my head in the wrong place. I couldn’t stop thinking about how her soft tit had felt in my hand or how she’d leaned over her desk in computer class and all but showed me what she had under her tight-fitting band T-shirt. I was so dumbfounded at her boldness that I couldn’t even remember what her T-shirt had said.
Austin splashed me, bringing me out of my haze. “So are you considering asking Montana out?”
“I told you. No girls this year.”
“Man, you’re going to have blue balls by graduation.”
I chuckled. “You’ve heard of jacking off.”
“Dude, there’s nothing better than being tangled with a sexy naked girl.”
“No shit. But we talked about this. The girls in this town don’t want me. They want to be seen on the arm of a big-time quarterback. Look at Nina. The first chance she had, she ran to the Clemson quarterback and cheated on me with him.”
“I know one girl whose name rhymes with Hannah who probably couldn’t give a shit about you becoming a big-time football player for USC.”
“She’s trouble, and I don’t need more trouble.” I had no idea if she was or not, but I’d gotten an intense vibe that she could give me a run for my money. “My old man is still trying to smooth things over with the USC sports director.”
“Fuck, dude. Your dad has power with USC. He’s an alumnus and pays a lot of dues. Surely, he can do something.”
My fingers were crossed that he could. “Whether he can or can’t, I have to be the model player this year.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t date. Jeez, dude. Have you seen Montana?”
I’d more than seen her. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and the sad part was I’d just met her not three hours ago. “So when are you going to ask Reagan out?”
“Not sure. Maybe I’m like you. Maybe I don’t want to get hurt.”
“Dude, you’ve been salivating over her for a year now. She’s sweet, has a rack that you like, and is feisty—just how you like your women. Hell, she told Montana to all but shut up in computer class.” Reagan was the perfect match for my best friend.
“Enough about girls,” he said.
We checked behind us for a wave. No luck. Not even a faint breeze to stir up the water. Ahead of us on the beach, rows of houses sat up on stilts, and kids from school started to filter in, spreading out their blankets. This area of the beach was normally quiet since it was private property, but my dad owned one of the houses, so we had access at any time.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if I applied to Clemson? My old man would have a coronary.” I chuckled, imagining my dad turning a thousand shades of red if I spilled that news to him.
Austin splashed me. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
I’d been thinking about a backup plan in the event USC didn’t offer me a scholarship. “You said you didn’t want to talk about girls.”
“First, Clemson would never consider you since you broke their quarterback’s collarbone. Second, your old man would never let you wear orange. And third”—he splashed me again—“we agreed that we would go to USC together. They’re the Gamecocks, for fuck’s sake. Girls love Gamecocks.”
I rolled my eyes. “Chill. I’m only thinking.”
He clucked his tongue. “Think about girls and not about Clemson, because if you so much as decide not to go to USC, then I’ll be the one to cut off your head.”
“Ah, you love me.”
“Damn straight. Dude or not, we’ve been best friends since the second grade. Wewilldo college together. It’ll be our last hoorah of freedom before real life hits us.”
I couldn’t argue with him. College wouldn’t be the same without Austin.
