Then one of them—the leader I think since she talked the most—said, “After your heroics on the field today, the party’s at your place, huh?”
“Actually—”
Before he could finish, Bax took care of it. “We haven’t decided where the party is tonight, except it isn’t our turn to host for another couple of weeks. Guess you’ll have to keep checking social media.”
“Bax, it’s not nice to string us along like this.” Though the girl was smiling, something steely girded her tone.
“Tory, we’re trying to let you down easy, but no matter where the party is, bouncers will be stationed at the door. Those fake IDs you keep using and losing in this place”—he glanced around the bar—“won’t work at all with guys who know exactly who you are.” The expression in his eyes as he watched her over the top of his mug was the exact same expression I’d seen more than once when I’d faced him across the line of scrimmage in practice. Smart people took that on with extreme caution.
From the way she planted her hand on her hip and stared him down, this Tory girl was either cockier than Tarvi or plain ol’ stupid.
“Come on, Bax. You know you don’t want to be like this.”
“I’m sorry, Tory. It’s out of our hands. None of the teams can take a chance on the university suspending players because of something that happened with an underage person at one of our parties. That’s what I keep trying to tell you.” Finn looked genuinely apologetic.
Right then the bouncer from the front door materialized beside the girls. “Huh. Guess you guys sneaked past the temp sitting in for me while I took my break. But you know the drill, ladies. Time to go.”
Zoe and Taryn exchanged wide-eyed looks while the girl argued with the bouncer.
“Do you know who my dad is?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Not the owner of Stromboli’s, and not the cops.” The guy pinched the bridge of his nose. “With the place this packed”—he glanced toward the bar where people were waiting four deep for a drink—“I’d rather not deal with a scene.”
The girl, Tory, gave off a vibe of absolutely wanting to create a scene. Guess the bouncer had her number about that too.
“Whether you leave quietly like the grownup you’re pretending to be or I pick you up and haul you out of here like a toddler, either way you’re leaving. Now.”
Ignoring him, she turned her charm on Tarvi. “Tarvarius, you want us to come to the party, don’t you?” she simpered. After the way she’d talked earlier, her change in tactics came off as fake as her eyelashes.
In one of the few times in our acquaintance I’d ever seen him serious, Tarvi stared her straight in the eye and said, “I love playing football. What I don’t love is the way you try to play my friends. Get lost, Tory.”
Finn choked on the sip of beer he’d just taken, while Bax let loose a feral grin.
The bouncer hid his own smile as he stepped closer to the girls. “Looks like you’ve worn out your welcome with the team too. Easy or hard, doesn’t matter. Time to go, ladies.”
The Tory girl flipped the switch again. Honestly, her mood changes came close to giving me whiplash. “You’ll be sorry. All of you,” she growled as she toured the players at the table with her gaze.
With a flounce of her long blond hair, she spun on her heel and said to the girls with her, “We don’t need these guys. We’ll find a good time with real men over at the Pike house.”
Before the girls, who were obviously jersey chasers, had moved out of earshot, Zoe flashed rounded eyes at Tarvi and Bax. “Whowasthat girl?”
“The epitome of bad news,” Bax answered as he piled another slice onto his plate.
“Her dad’s one of the team’s biggest donors, Bax. Might want to keep that in mind when you’re being an ass to her,” Finn mumbled into his beer.
“She’s an entitled princess.” The disgust in Tarvi’s voice had me doing a double-take.
“I thought you liked all the girls,” I blurted. Then I aimed an apologetic shrug at Zoe, who’d made her interest in the guy crystal clear the second she slid into the booth. Tarvarius Johnson was a monumental flirt. Probably better she found that out from the beginning.
He shot a flirty smile Zoe’s way. “I do like girls, but I have discriminating taste.”
The look Zoe shot me said she was an inch from sticking her tongue out at me, and I had to grin.
“From the way she acted, that girl could be Kaitlyn Frost’s little sister,” Taryn said quietly.
“Without a doubt,” Zoe seconded. “I knew she reminded me of someone awful.”
“Who’s Kaitlyn Frost?” Finn asked.
