Our roommates and I had razzed the shit out of Bax about making up a girl he supposedly hooked up with a while back. Then he’d dedicated a sweet pick-six to her a couple of games ago, and we all had to admit she was real. Up close, she dazzled in a punk-style way. But she didn’t make my heart hammer in my chest the way her smart-mouthed friend did. Chessly looked the part of the gorgeous girl next door, but she had an edge to her, a way of focusing on a man that made me feel seen the night we met.
I’d hated it when she dropped that focus the minute Tory Miller showed up.
“Glad you could join us. We left you a couple of slices,” Chess said as Piper stepped around me and slid into the booth beside Saylor.
At about that time Bax, Fitz, and Johnson sidled up beside me. “Time to go, Finn,” Johnson said.
“Not so fast.” Fitz’s eyes were on Saylor, and I let a little air out. “Hello, ladies,” he intoned in his best James Earl Jones voice. “You coming to the game on Saturday?”
“Absolutely,” Saylor answered for all the women at the table.
“And the post-game celebration at our place afterward?” I directed my words to all of them, but my eyes were on Chessly.
“That sounds fun—doesn’t it, girls?” Saylor replied.
“Sure.” The lack of enthusiasm in Chessly’s tone worried me.
“Give me your number, and I’ll text you the address.” Too late, I caught my mistake. Behind my left elbow, Johnson snickered. Bax gave a hopeless shake of his head, and Fitz stared at me as though I’d just whiffed a game-ending tackle.
Somehow from her seat in the booth, Chessly glared down her nose at me. “Everyone knows where you live, Finn. Big old Victorian on Jock Street, right?”
“Yeah. That’s the one.” I coughed into my fist. “So we’ll see you there after the game, yeah?”
“Possibly,” she said while her friend talked over her.
“Can’t wait,” Saylor said with a flirty grin for Fitz.
When I opened my mouth to say goodbye, Johnson nudged me toward the door. We followed Bax and Fitz out to the sidewalk in front of the bar.
“I never thought I’d say this because neither of you two have any moves, but I think Baxter might have scored a touchdown considering the puffy state of Purple-Hair’s lips while you whiffed on every down, Finn.” Fitz’s laughter echoed off the side of the building.
“Seriously amateur move to ask for her number in front of a crowd.” Johnson shoved my shoulder. “Hope you play better than that on Saturday.” Teasing mischief danced in the depths of his dark brown eyes.
“Asshole,” I muttered. “You’re all assholes.”
“Yeah, well, at least we know how to pick up women.” Fitz laughed again. “Here’s a tip: you don’t ask for their numbers in front of their friends—or yours.”
Throwing up my hands, I headed in the direction of my truck. When Bax didn’t immediately fall into step beside me, I half-turned and said, “You comin’? Or is the rest of the peanut gallery giving you a ride home?”
Their laughter followed me all the way down the block to where I’d parked my pickup. When I opened the driver’s door, Bax simultaneously opened the passenger door. Guess he was catching a ride with me.
Before he could keep the joke rolling, I preempted him. “At least I’m classy enough not to do her in the can at the most popular hangout spot on campus. You know, like some people.” I glared at him in case he thought I was talking about someone else.
“Piper ambushed me in the hallway. All I did was kiss her back.”
“Which explains why you were away from our booth for days.”
“What-the-fuck-ever.”
Yeah, it was childish, but both of us sulked all the way back to our place.
When we walked through the front door, we heard Jamaica’s soft laughter coming from the kitchen followed by Callahan’s groan. Right about then, Danny stepped out of the dining room with a load of clean laundry piled in his arms. He nodded toward the kitchen.
“Yeah, don’t go in there unless you’re up for today’s special—mush with a side of more mush.” Danny shook his head. “I detoured through the dining room to grab my clothes from the dryer, but you might want to go all the way around the outside of the house and in through the back door if you have any laundry to do.”
Shouldering past us, he headed upstairs to his room. Without a word Bax and I followed him.
Game day dawned clear and cold, exactly the way I liked it. When I strolled back into my bedroom after my shower, my phone buzzed with a text.
