A little thrill runs through me at that.
“See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.” He nods.
I want to ask if he wants me to pick him up, but I have practice early tomorrow and he already woke up way before he normally does for me this morning.
Blake heads inside and I drive back to the football house alone.
With nothing to do for the rest of my night, I end up hanging out with some of the guys and play video games. Around six they ask if I want to go out for some drinks. I decline, because I have no desire to repeat the dreaded hangover morning I had a few weeks ago.
The house is mostly empty now, so I take advantage and decide to watch something in the living room.
“What the hell is this crap?” Mickey’s grating voice makes my spine stiffen.
“It’s a TV show,” I mutter, not bothering to look away from the TV.
“It’s a cartoon. Dude, what are you, five? Who the hell still watches cartoons?”
“It’s an anime.” I sigh. “It’s calledOne Piece."
“One piece of what?” he asks, and I swear to god I feel my brain cells exploding.
“Nevermind.” Grabbing the remote, I turn the TV off and get up to leave.
“Where have you been?” Mickey asks, stepping in front of me.
“Move.” I glare at him, not in the mood for this man's shit right now.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with that little shithead.” He sneers. “What, is he your boyfriend now?” He snorts. “You sneaking off to fuck the little twink?”
“Fuck off, Mickey,” I sneer. “I told you not to talk about him anymore. It’s none of your business what I do in my free time. We’re teammates, that’s it. I don’t owe you anything.”
“Stop bringing him to practice.” He glares at me. “I’m sick of seeing his stupid face.”
“Practice is open to anyone as long as they don’t distract the team,” I point out. “So no, I won’t stop bringing him. He’s welcome as long as he wants to be there.”
“He’s distracting me,” he says.
“That's bullshit.” I scoff. “What is your issue with him? Just because he won’t do your fucking schoolwork? How about you grow the fuck up and do it yourself? You can’t cheat your way through life, Mickey. At some point you’re going to have to take accountability for your life and not expect everyone to do everything for you.”
“That's what money's for, Novak.” Mickey grins. “I can pay people to do things for me. Not that you’d know anything about that.”
“That might be true, but not everyone can be bought. I’d rather know that I have the things I have because I worked hard and earned them. Not by bullying people into doing things for me. And at least I know my friends are friends with me because they like me, not out of fear of me or what they can gain from me.”
Pushing past him, I debate on going up to my room but decide against it and head toward the front door.
I’m in my car and heading to the video game store before I realize what I’m doing.
The bell dings as I push the front door open. The sound of laughter has me smiling. Looking around for Blake, I find him behind the counter.
The smile falls when I see that the person who’s making him laugh is Bailey. I’ve only met her once in passing when meeting up with Blake after he was done tutoring her.
So what is she doing here with him, behind the counter?
And why is he laughing like that? He only smiles and laughs with me and my friends.
Who the hell does she think she is making my Latte Boy laugh!?
