“Feels good to win that one, yeah?”Callahan asked as they stepped away from each other.
“You have an idea, I bet.”Cash let loose with his megawatt grin.
“Drink up, man.You’re way behind the rest of us,” Dally interrupted as he handed Cash a Solo cup filled to the brim.
Cash tipped back some beer and ran his tongue over his upper lip to catch the foam.I couldn’t help but track that tongue, wanting to kick myself for it—and for the spark of excitement that move generated in my core.I wasn’t convinced that Cash thought of us as only a good time, and I had absolutely no intention of becoming part of a couple before I stepped out into the world to chase my own dreams.
A Solo cup of beer materialized in front of me, and I gave Dally an automatic smile as I took it from him.At least he hadn’t filled mine to overflowing.
“Hey!You made it!”Piper said as she and Bax wandered into the kitchen from the living room.
Pulling her to my side, I said in her ear, “Cash tricked me into meeting his parents.I’ll tell you about it later.”
The speculation in her unusual violet-colored eyes did nothing for my peace of mind.
Word must have spread that the star of the game had finally arrived because only a few minutes after we showed up, the kitchen was full to capacity.People poured in from both the living room and the dining room to congratulate Cash on his stellar play in the big win.The fact the Wildcats had beat our cross-state rivals was more important than winning the conference championship, which was typical of Mountain State football.
Beating the Golden Bears was the Holy Grail of every season for the Wildcats, exactly the same as beating us was for the Bears.The fact that Cash hadn’t folded under the pressure of the biggest game of the year but had actually thrived in it, delivering his best game of the season, was another issue niggling the back of my brain.No way could the pro scouts miss the way he’d handled himself in that pressure-cooker environment.
After a while the crowd thinned out, with people returning to dancing in the living room or playing beer pong in the dining room.Apparently, the basketball team thought they had a better shot at beating the football team at beer pong than flip-cup, so they’d taken visitors’ prerogative and changed the game.From where we were watching in the corner of the room, the basketball team’s gambit wasn’t paying off.The high from winning such a massive game with playoff implications had followed the team into other competitions too, it seemed.
Once the basketball players had finished their obligatory shots of bad whiskey for losing the game, they challenged the football team to a second round.This time, someone decided Cash needed to help his teammates, and just like that, I was commandeered into cheerleader duty “for my man,” as Josh Mitchell so gleefully sang out.I pasted on a smile at his comment and laughed at the antics of players on both teams.As it turned out, Cash was a ringer for his boys, though Enrique Simms of the basketball team forced Cash into downing his fair share of beers.
When the game was over, the football players were the victors once again, but a glassy sheen glazed Cash’s eyes.As he joined me along the wall, he dropped a heavy arm across my shoulders, though he remained upright.His lopsided grin as he watched his teammates demolish the basketball team in yet a third round of beer pong left no doubt he’d drunk himself into tipsy—or maybe further.
By the time the party was starting to break up somewhere after 2 a.m., Cash was “a chocolate mess,” as my SCR brothers liked to call each other when they’d over-imbibed.So many people had wanted to congratulate him, which usually included a toast or a shot.He’d played so well, I wasn’t surprised by all the attention he garnered, but I’d never seen him twist off and party like he did.Dally and Taco basically carried him between them back across the alley to their house, and I called an Uber to take me home.
The night hadn’t ended the way Cash had promised it would after we’d left his parents.As I tossed in my bed until the first blue rays of dawn slipped under my curtains, I wondered if maybe that was a good thing.Maybe it was a sign we needed to take a step back and reassess what we were to each other.
Of course, that was not at all where my friends were when we met for our usual Sunday morning brunch date.
“That was such an incredible game yesterday.”Jamaica brushed a wayward curl from her forehead as she slid into the booth beside me.“For two guys who only started playing together this year, Callahan and Cash sure make a great combo.”
Chessly laughed as she slid into the booth across from us, Piper scooting in beside her.
“You are hilarious, Jamaica.Until you met Callahan, you couldn’t tell an end zone from a T-zone.”Chess ran her finger across her forehead and down her nose for emphasis.“Nowadays you’re a football analyst or something.”
“It’s a game, and games are easy to figure out.”Jamaica sniffed as she picked up her menu.
“What I want to figure out is what’s going on with Saylor and Cash.”Piper’s sly expression made me want to squirm, but I held myself still.
“We’re hanging out, having great sex and a good time.It’s not complicated,” I said as I lifted my water glass to my lips.
“Riiight.”Piper’s sarcasm put me on edge.“From the way he looks at you, I’d say it’s much more complicated.”
“Much more complicated,” Chessly echoed with a speculative gleam in her eyes.
“Huh.I’ve noticed that too.It’s the same way Bax looks at Piper and Finn looks at Chess,” Jamaica chimed in.
“Or how Callahan looks at you,” Chessly added, causing a dreamy little smile to cross Jamaica’s lips.
Shaking my head in the negative, I said, “Just because the three of you are in love with Wildcats doesn’t mean the whole world is in love with them.”Rolling my eyes for additional emphasis, I added, “Some of us are only along for a good time.”
“Does Cash know that?”Piper asked.
Tilting my head, I let go an overdramatic sigh.“Of course he does.It’s what we agreed to from the start.”I put my hand up to stop Piper’s next comment.“Nothing has changed.Trust me.”
Piper narrowed her eyes.“Maybe not for you.”
