Dominique turns to head out of the room, not even bothering to say bye, not that any of us are surprised. He’s not much of a talker, that one. But before he’s made it far, the call connects and Deacon’s voice chimes out of my phone.
“Hey. What’s up?”
Dominique’s entire body stiffens.
“Hey. The girls and I are heading to Richland to play a prank on some friends. We need a getaway driver. You in?”
He doesn’t even hesitate. “I’m down. My schedule’s clear since Coach is doing some bullshit training exercise with the starting line players today. When are we heading out?”
Before I can answer, Dominique tears the phone from my hand and ends the call. “No.” He barks out.
Silence fills the room.
I glare at him and hold my hand out for my phone.
“Kasey—” there’s a warning in his voice. One I choose to ignore.
“I thought you needed to go to training?” I ask.
His nostrils flare. “Deacon is bad news. Find someone else or fuck, don’t go at all. But you are not spending the day with that asshole.”
He’s funny if he thinks that’s going to stop me. Hasn’t he realized ordering me not to do something just means I’m that much more determined to do it?
ONE HUNDRED THREE
Kasey
Twenty minutes and a good fight with Dominique later and we’re piling into Deacon’s car and heading to Richland to fork the soccer field. Allie is giddy with excitement, but I imagine that’ll fade soon. PacNorth is a two-hour drive away, so I settle in for our mini road trip and play with the stereo until I find a station I like. Sueco’sParalyzedplays over the speakers and I lean back, letting the music shake loose some of my lingering tension. The argument with Dominique would have gone on longer if it wasn’t for the fact he couldn’t be late to practice, but when he finally stormed out of the house, I called Deacon back and he was immediately down.
“You owe me,” Deacon reminds me.
I roll my eyes and turn to look at him. He keeps his eyes on the road but reaches out and gives me a light shove on the shoulder.
“Pretty sure you owe me for getting Dominique off your ass.”
He grunts. “Pretty sure Dominique was only ever on my ass because of you.”
He’s not wrong. But that’s not really my fault either. It’s his.
“How much are we betting that this puts me firmly back on his shit list?” he asks, not sounding at all worried. It’s stupid really. I mean, I’m glad he agreed to take us. Allie was right. Being stuck in the driver's seat would have sucked. But he knew what he was doing when he agreed. Dominique’s gone all big brother over me on his ass before. So have Roman and Emilio, for that matter. And he still agreed to come, so that’s on him.
I release an exaggerated sigh. “Ah, the consequences of our actions. Don’t you just hate when they strike?”
“What’s this about Dominique?” Allie pipes up from the backseat.
“Nothing. Just that he’s an asshole,” I tell her, a smile in my voice.
“Truth,” Deacon mutters and gives me a fist bump in solidarity. Dominique might not be kicking his ass on the field anymore, but those two will never be friends. Dom’s inner circle is tight and given the rocky start these two had, it’ll be a long day in hell before they ever have anything close to a civilized conversation with each other. A fact which Dominique could give two shits about. He’s not looking to make friends. Though Deacon’s a nice, personable guy, I wonder if it bothers him how much Dominique dislikes him?
“Dominique is one of the sweetest guys I know,” Allie argues. “How you manage to pull the worst out of him always surprises me.”
“He really is incredibly sweet. He used to watch Luis for me and Emilio during his non-schedule back at Sun Valley High, remember? That man has a heart of gold,” Bibiana adds.
I snort. “He’s sweet to you two. To us,” I indicate the space between Deacon and I, “he’s an asshole. Always has been. I’m his friend’s annoying little sister—”
“And I’m the guy gunning for his spot on the field,” Deacon finishes.
Allie reaches forward and pats him on the arm. “Hate to break it to you, but until he graduates, you can go after it all you want, but it’s not going to happen. Coach will never replace Dominique as the starting QB, and with the way things are looking, he’s going to land the Heisman. Again.”
