His question made me pause.I can’t tell him no.“Tanner, you two will figure it out. Guys maintained relationships when I was playing over there. Sure, some were pricks and cheated and slept around but others, nah. They made the choice to stay faithful. You’ll be the same, man.”
“I’ve been looking forward and working so hard for this final season, I’m forgetting to enjoy it with all this fucking worrying. I’m going to get gray hair at twenty-two.”
I barked out a laugh. “We should focus on this final season together and play our assess off. We need to enjoy every second of it. Every dumb joke Allen makes, or life lesson Coach gives us—hell, even all the stupid shit Aaron says during games. That’s the shit I’m gonna miss. The brotherhood on the field.”
“I’ll drink to that.” He held up his mug and we clinked glasses. He spilled a bit and leaned forward to grab napkins and I used the extra seconds to search the crowd again. “Who you looking for?”
“Just checking out the crowd.”
“Need a hook-up? Thought you had enough girls available to you when you wanted.”
“I have options, which makes me sound like a total dick, but they aren’t really holding my interest.”
“I told you the one-and-done shit gets old.”
I laughed.Yeah, if I could finish what I started with Amber... Woah, don’t go there.“The monogamy thing hasn’t worked for me.”
“You and Amber have been hanging out a lot.” He made a stupid face of intrigue and added, “She’s cool.”
Apparently I never got that memo. Why does everyone say that?“She’s writing an article about me for her senior project. We’ve gotten together a couple of times for questions. It’s nothing more than that, really.”
“Is it the same article Brandon was going on about the other day? He’s got it bad for her. Told him there was no way in hell a senior would go for him but the kid’s got balls and asked her out.”
I tightened my grip around the beer bottle. “Brandon asked Amber out?”
“Yeah, he was going on about how she singled him out for an interview and some of the older guys knew who she was and it helped his ego. Damn kid has talent, but these egos… I swear. Were we that bad when we were freshmen?”
“She said yes to him?”
He was about to answer before he stopped and ran his hand over his jaw. “You got a thing for Amber, man?”
“No. I don’t.” I took another drink and ignored the pinching in my throat at my blatant attempt of lying to myself. “She’s…not my type.”
“Didn’t know you had a type, man. No offense.” He smirked and glanced down at his phone with a frown. “My brothers are texting me. Hold on a second.”
I gladly gave him space and used the time to search for Dillon and figure out the best approach to make it clear I did not have a thing for Amber. Yeah, that kiss had blown my goddamn mind and the way her body reacted when I touched her…Shit.I didn’t need to get turned on in a bar. Okay, fine, I was into exploring whatever the fuck was going on between us physically, but that was it. I ran my hand over my face and when I opened my eyes, Dillon stood three stools away from us.Fuck. Think.
Tanner held up his phone and offered a quick apology before heading outside and I couldn’t have been happier. This was it. My time to get some info. I finished my beer and waved at the bartender to order another. Dillon glanced in my direction and I nodded at him. “Hey, you gotta second?”
He looked real confused and glanced at his friends before scooting down one stool. I knew he recognized me. He had the familiar widening eyes and little nod to himself. I wasn’t one to let local fame mess with my head, but I was photographed and on numerous campus billboards. If I was ever going to use my clout beyond getting easy hook-ups, this was it. “Dillon Cage, right?”
“Yeah. What’s up, man?”
“Just ordered a couple beers. One’s for you if you can help me out.” I flicked my gaze to his friends and they all watched us, eager for something. They dressed in a typical frat guy uniform of khakis, polos and a sweater, boat shoes and the same smug and eager expression on their face. “You guys heading out after this?”
“There’s a huge party at Gio’s.”
“Oh shit, that’s right. I forgot they did that in January.” My mind went to the year before, where I’d had a hell of a time doing shots with some international chicks. I’d given the bouncer their names and they’d showed me all night how thankful they were.Shit! The list! An in!I looked at him over my mug, hoping I didn’t come across weirdly excited. “You all on the list?”
“There’s a list?” His face blanched and damn, I had my ticket.Go me!
“Yeah. They broke some codes two years ago and had to limit the number of people and no offense, dude, they are letting chicks in over you.”
“Fuck!” He hit his fist on the bar and I swooped in.
“I need you to answer three questions for me and if you do, I’ll get you in.” I knew the bouncers at Gio’s really well and would promise them whatever I had to get this information. “What do you say?”
Dillon scanned my face, his own expression full of doubt, before he said, “You canreallyget us in?”
