"Dude, yeah you are," Josh's grin is bright and excited. "I got a call from your Dom. He wants you at the game tonight...and afterward, I'll introduce you to the team."
With wide eyes, I scramble to check my phone.
Sir
Josh is taking you out tonight.
Sir
Be a good boy and do as you’re told.
???
The game hasn't even started, but the air is electric with excitement from the crowd...and the possibility of an early summer storm. I shiver at the nip of cold from the wind, grateful to be wearing Josh's sweater underneath a jacket with a hood. It feels extra soft against my skin. And expensive. It must be cashmere or something.
The entire campus has shown up for the game. The stands are a sea of red, white, and black. Our university colors. The team mascot, a big crimson-furred Grizzly bear, is out on the field, playing up the energy from the stands.
Josh puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me down the players tunnel. Mason is there waiting for us. He's built the same as Josh. Tall and broad-shouldered, with a sharp jawline and a smart haircut cut close to his scalp. Mason shoots me a quick smile, but doesn't address me directly.
"Is he wearing the...?" Mason's voice trails off.
"He sure is," Josh answers for me.
Mason looks relieved, and Josh squeezes my shoulder. "We'll meet you here after the game, okay?"
"Okay," I nod. The whole thing isn't really my typical scene, but I have to admit I'm excited to meet the rest of the team. I trudge back through the tunnel and hurry into the grandstands. I only make it one step up before a flurry of waves from a group of young women decked out in our school colors draws me over to them.
They call out my name.
My real name. NotPretty Boy.
It's been so long since somebody called me that. I almost don't know how to respond. I blink, feeling numb as I go to see what they want from me.
"Come sit with us!" She's patting the empty space next to her. I awkwardly join their row, taking the seat she's made for me. "Mason and Josh told us about you. You're all in a study group together, yeah?"
Sure, yeah. If Josh and Mason tag-teaming me in-between their study breaks counts as studying. "Um, yeah."
They know about me, but I have to admit I don't recognize them. Not really. I think I might have seen one or two of them on Josh's social media. He's always posting pictures of the campus parties he goes to.
"Sorry, have we met before" I ask.
"We had a class together last year," she says with a perfect pink smile. I vaguely remember her. I take a moment, but looking at her eventually triggers a fleshed out memory.
"Emma, right?"
"Right," she confirms with another smile and introduces me to the rest of the group. They look like the archetype of every popular girl that used to make fun of me in high school, but they're nice and welcoming. One of them even shares some popcorn with me.
These must be the girls who aren't really Mason and Josh's girlfriends. More like friends they hook up with, I guess.
"Have you really never been to a game before?" Emma asks.
"Never," I admit.
"That's okay," she says with an airy laugh, "just cheer or boo when I do."
As I sit there in the middle of all these pretty faces, I realize the pair of hot pink panties I'm wearing must belong to one of them.
3
