Once we had all the necessities, we went back to my place. We could have stayed at his frat house, but a lot of the guys he lives with take evening and online classes, so it was busier than the Kappa Mu house is during the day. And while I want to take my mind off things, I don’t particularly feel like socializing with a bunch of strangers and pretending everything is just a bucket of sunshine and rainbows right now.
“Yes!” Deacon exclaims, having found one of the exterior outlets along the side of the house. After dumping our bags in my room, we decided to set up shop on the side patio where we’d have a bit more privacy than we would if we were in the main part of the backyard. I’m pretty sure only Quinn and Isla are around, and would probably leave us alone if I asked them to, but I don’t know how long we’ll be here or when the rest of the girls get out of their classes, so this is the safer bet.
“Okay. That should do it,” he tells me, taking the gaming box from my hands and hitting the power button on both it and the projector.
“So this is virtual…” I trail off, still not seeing how a black box with a ball somehow translates into—
“Golf. Trust me, it’s fun.” He offers me a toothy grin. “Way better than real golf.”
This isn’t what I had in mind when I said I was down for a distraction, but I’m going to take his word for it. And he did deliver on the chocolate at least. Though for the record, it makes beer taste even more like shit. Never would have guessed it was possible
With the sheet pinned up on the back fence, a virtual field spreads out before us across its surface.
“So, here’s what you do.”
Deacon gives me a quick rundown of how the console works, how points are awarded, and offers a few tips for getting your ball around curves while dealing with virtual wind. It sounds easy enough, only my first few attempts are complete and utter failures. I keep swinging my ball into the sandpits or the lake, and it doesn’t take long before Deacon is absolutely smoking me.
But three beers in and twenty minutes later, I finally start to get the hang of it.
“There you go!” Deacon cheers, giving me a high five when I land my ball in the hole on the third swing. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
I grin, accepting his praise before handing over the console for him to take his next turn. There is zero chance of me beating—let alone catching up to—his score, but despite my competitive nature, I realize I don’t care about winning. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun losing at something.
Deacon misses his mark and drives his ball into a pile of bushes on the screen. The booze seems to have improved my game, but it’s made his worse.
I’ll remember that for next time.
He’s a good sport about the miss, throwing his head back with a laugh as his character fights through the virtual shrubbery to retrieve his ball.
With his head thrown back, my eyes are drawn to the designs that decorate his neck. He has a cross tattooed on the left side. A scroll design filled with script on his right. Most of his skin, or at least what I’ve seen of it, is heavily inked, both forearms decorated with designs. Having seen him during practice, I know both calves are covered in tattoos as well.
“When did you start getting ink?” I ask, tipping my head toward him. Deacon is only a year, maybe two, older than I am, and he has a lot of tats already for somebody so young. I’m no tattoo expert, but some of his pieces I know took multiple sessions, and I can’t imagine he’d have this much ink completed if he bothered to wait until he was eighteen to start.
“Dunno. Sometime in high school, I guess.” He gives me a curious look, his honey-colored eyes meeting mine before his mouth quirks into a mischievous grin that is both devastating and unnerving. “Why? Do you like what you see?” he asks, taking a step closer.
I roll my eyes, giving his chest a light shove when he takes another step, invading my personal space. “Like I’d tell you if I did,” I quip.
I’m not interested in Deacon Hunt. Not in that way. But only an idiot can’t see how attractive he is. Deacon is a Kelly Oubre Jr doppelgänger if ever there is one. Medium brown skin, light golden eyes, and thick black hair. He’s mixed. Half black or better.
He has full lips, a sharp jaw, and a leaner build than Dominique, but he’s just as physically fit. And the look he’s giving me is one I’d bet gets him whatever he wants. It’s a panty dropping smolder. One I’m pleasantly surprised I’m immune to.
“Oh, yeah?” Deacon raises one brow, his expression growing more interested. “Why is that?” He drops his voice a few octaves and intensifies his smoldering look. At least, I think his aim is a smolder. I’m not entirely sure. Deacon is a flirt, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t come with an off switch. But most of the time, his flirting is directed elsewhere. He flirted with me at the start, when we first met, but I made it clear I was only interested in friendship and he seemed on board with that.
Shortly after, Dominique made it a point to inform Deacon, physically and aggressively, that I was off limits. Something I didn’t appreciate. Especially given we weren’t even hooking up at the time, so Dominique had zero justification for being an overprotective dick like that. But he, Roman, and Emilio, Aaron’s other two best friends and my surrogate brothers, opted to join in on Dominique's crusade to scare Deacon away from me and went out of their way to drive their point home every day on the field during practice until Deacon got with the program.
I can’t say I blame him. I might reconsider who I spent my time with too if it was me getting my ass handed to me on the football field everyday just for being friendly. But that doesn’t mean I was happy about it.
It was frustrating, to say the least. I don’t have many friends here and Deacon went from wanting to hangout to ignoring my existence, all to avoid Dominique and the other guys' wrath without ever filling me in on what the hell was behind his cold shoulder.
He ghosted me and it sucked.
But eventually, he came around, realizing that what the guys were pulling was bullshit. Which it was. He showed up at a Kappa Mu party and told me about the whole mess, letting the chips fall where they may. Suffice it to say, I was pissed and what happened next wasn’t pretty.
Dominique and I had a heated exchange. I take issue with people dictating my life and making decisions about what’s best for me, so I put a stop to Dom’s interference.
Tension between Dominique and Deacon is still high. Neither one of them are fans of the other. I doubt they’ll ever come close to becoming friends, but there’s an unsteady truce between them, at least. One that I’m pretty sure survives with the understanding that Dominique won’t make Deacon’s life a living hell so long as Deacon sticks to being friends with me and nothing more.
Which begs the question, what the hell is he doing right now?
