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“These guys still ask about you, so I thought it would be fun to get everyone together again,” Lucy continues as if I’m not about to have a full-blown panic attack in front of everyone.
I try to scan the faces, but they start to blur together. “Fuck it all to hell,” I mutter. Olivia squeezes my hand, momentarily snapping me out of it. “Thanks, Luce. Hey, guys.” Swallowing hard, I barely lift my chin in greeting.
“Corey.” I glance down at the sound of Olivia’s voice. “Show me where the restroom is before everyone starts talking to you.”
Lucy starts to offer to do it for me, I assume, but I quickly begin to drag Olivia through the people and down the hallway. Just outside of the bathroom, I stop, position Olivia against the wall, and rest my forehead against hers for a moment of relief.
But only a moment’s worth.
“What the fuck was she thinking? Inviting all my old teammates?” My voice is low, but the panic is clearly heard. “I can’t do this. We need to leave. We can sneak out the back or something, but we can’t stay here. I can’t do it.”
“Corey,” Olivia lifts her hands to frame my face, “breathe. She didn’t know she shouldn’t do this because you haven’t told them. We’re not leaving. You can do this. Those are not your teammates. Those guys are your friends. That’s how you need to look at it. They are your friends who want to catch up with the guy who abandoned them the moment he wasn’t their teammate. You didn’t have to lose them, so don’t make the same mistake twice. Now, go back out there with a smile on your face and talk to them.”
With a deep breath, I nod. She lowers her hands, so I take one, intending to take her with me, but she stops me.
“I’ll find you. My excuse was valid.” She points back to the bathroom.
Shit. Olivia gives me a reassuring smile before giving me a gentle push away from her and into my worst nightmare. I’m surrounded when I return with lots of hey’s and hard slaps on the shoulder.
“I still can’t believe you transferred to the dark side,” Jamal says with a shake of his head, talking about our rivals.
“Yeah, they’re a bunch of arrogant bastards,” Dean, another teammate, adds.
“From what I hear, they have every right to be since they whooped your asses this season,” I find myself telling them. Football isn’t what I want to talk about, yet here I am.
Jamal laughs. “Well, are ya doing good over there? How’s their school?”
“We know they have hot chicks,” Dean mumbles under his breath, eyes on someone behind me.
I look over my shoulder to see Olivia talking to Lucy. My gaze hardens when I face Dean again. He’s a dog that wants to fuck every “hot chick” he lays his eyes on, regardless of any relationship she might be in. There’s no telling how many relationships he’s helped break up.
“Don’t even go near her, Dean, or so help me, I’ll break both your hands,” I warn, completely serious.
“Corey,” Olivia chides as she appears next to me. I immediately wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her closer to my side. “Hi, I’m Olivia,” she holds her hand out to Jamal, who shakes it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jamal and this is Dean.”
Olivia only smiles at Dean. Good girl.
“I was trying to figure out how our boy is doing at his new school,” Jamal fills her in.
I pause, wondering what I’m going to say as Dean quietly makes his exit to bother someone else. “I’m taking a break from school for a bit. I’m working with a carpentry company for now.” Maybe for forever.
“Really? That’s great, man. You look good, a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
The last time he saw me was during a particularly rough time. I hadn’t shaved in who knows how long, I barely left my room to do anything at all. We got into an argument over something stupid, I don’t remember what exactly, but he pissed me off so much that I hit him. Guilt rises up within me because I was a terrible friend and person in general to him.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I offer.
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. A few other teammates come and drag Olivia and me away to do more talking. I’m offered a drink numerous times, but I always answer with, “No, thanks.” The surprised looks get annoying quick, but I ignore it. Tonight isn’t half bad. Football doesn’t come up as much as I thought it would. It helps that girls and others start showing up to take the focus away from me.
What doesn’t help is that Dean keeps glancing over at Olivia. It wouldn’t bother me nearly as much if I didn’t know what a pig he is. He wouldn’t have any issues trying to get Olivia to sneak away with him for a quickie. I hate that he’s looking at her, but I do my best to ignore it for the simple fact that she’s mine and she wouldn’t sleep with him.
Finally, I make it into the kitchen where my siblings are. I lay an arm around Lucy’s shoulders since Grant has finally left her side.
“How are you feeling, Luce?”
“Good. Should be back to one hundred percent just in time for our trip.” More softly, she asks, “You’re not mad at me about this, are you?” Her blue eyes beg me to say no. Out of the four of us, she’s the only one who got Mom’s eyes.
