“How do you know that girl is Callahan’s girlfriend?She’s wearing a mask.”I pointed out the obvious.
In a tone that said he was pointing out the obvious too, Dalton said, “Those dark curls give Jamaica away every time.”
I nodded.“Are the other girls with her dating Bax and Finn?”
Dalton laughed again.“Bax and Finn have no game with the ladies.I meanze-ro.I can’t imagine any of those hotties are with them.But judging by the way Danny has his arm wrapped around the girl in the green dress, she’s not available.”Tilting his head, he stared at the pair standing beside Danny Chambers and his date.“Looks like the girl in the wild-colored dress is with Tarvi, so I’d stay clear of that too.”
“Got it.”
The team behind the bar made quick work of serving drinks to the group, who moved off into the crowd, and I lost sight of the hottie in the electric-blue mask.Sidling over in front of the bar, I asked for a beer and was pleasantly surprised when I was handed a can of imported IPA.Good to know they weren’t saving those thirty-racks for a special occasion.
Dalton introduced me to several of his frat brothers, which was decent of him to do, even though with all of us wearing masks, my chances of remembering any of them were next to nil.
“A lot of the women here are Little Rhos,” he said as we watched a pair of girls try not to spill their drinks while they line-danced to Dasha’s “Austin” on the edge of the dance floor.
“Little Rhos?”I asked, sipping from my beer and enjoying the show.
“Little sisters to the house.Most of them are single.”His mask moving up and down with his brows cracked me up.
A few minutes later, one of the dancers grabbed Dalton, calling him by name as she did, and dragged him out onto the dance floor with her and her friend.Guess the two of them were single little sisters to the house.I wondered if that was code for wanting to date SCRs.
Not wanting to look like a creeper, I ambled off around the room, checking out the rather impressive art on the walls—something I didn’t expect in a frat house—and trying not to look too much like the outsider I was.Then I caught sight of Danny’s long mane and wandered over to where he and Tarvi were standing with their dates.
“Cash!Who talked you into representing tonight?”Danny asked as we shook hands.
“Dalton.From what he told me, there are about as many Wildcats at this bash as there are frat boys hosting it.”I tipped back some beer and grinned.
“It’s the biggest frat party of the year.It’s our job to represent,” Tarvi said as he extended his hand to me.“This is my girlfriend, Zoe.”
The girl from the bar who was wearing the wild dress extended her hand.“Nice to meet you.”
“You remember my girlfriend, Taryn,” Danny said.Even behind his mask, his eyes took on a dreaminess when he glanced down at the brunette plastered to his side.
“Nice to see you again, Cash,” Taryn said.
“Aside from Taco and Dalton, who are frat rats, every football player I’ve recognized here—you two included—has a date.Out of curiosity, did Dalton forget to tell me something when he invited me?”
“Nah,” Danny said as he squeezed Taryn tighter to his side.“Some of us happen to be in relationships.Tarvi”—he inclined his head at our teammate—“Callahan.Me.Bax and Finn are trying.”He cleared his throat, and Tarvi cracked a smile.“But I’m not sure how far they’re getting.Bax might be close to convincing the purple-haired woman of his dreams into dating him.But she didn’t come to the party with him tonight.”
“Didn’t I see a purple-haired woman standing in front of Bax at the bar right after I got here?”
“Yeah, she’s here,” Danny said.“But she didn’t come with Bax.Her name is Piper, and she’s friends with Callahan’s girlfriend, Jamaica.None of Jamaica’s friends nor Jamaica herself came with dates.Though my guess is Callahan will be taking Jamaica home at the end of the night.”
“I think I’m missing something here.”
“All my roommates are twitterpated over girls who are buddies with each other.It’s kind of a tight circle,” Danny said.“Even though they met separately.”He shrugged.“Though sixteen thousand people attend MSC, the campus is surprisingly small.”
Tipping my beer to my lips, I was surprised to find it empty.“Huh.Looks like I need a refill.”
Tarvi eyed the empty can in my hand.“Smart man.If I drink another one of these”—he held up an empty Solo cup—“Zoe might have to pour me into an Uber at the end of the night.”
She knocked her hip into his.“Or we could stay here.”Glancing behind her, she said with a sly smile, “They have lots of couches.”
“Zoe!”Tarvi’s scandalized tone cracked all of us up.
“I take it you’re only an exhibitionist on the field,” I said.
“Weren’t you saying you needed another beer?”he grumbled.
