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I eye him, worried he is going to do something stupid tonight. “You okay, man?”
He takes another swig of his beer, leveling me over the bottle as he tips it back. “You know I’m good, baby.” He is definitely not good.
Choosing to ignore him, I focus on the beautiful brunette who walked up to my side. I hand her a plate and plant a kiss on her cheek. “Hey. What are you in the mood for?”
She looks between the cheeseburgers, hamburgers, and hot dogs, trying to decide. “It all smells amazing. I think I’ll get a cheeseburger.” She reaches for a bun while I use the spatula to get her a patty.
We all sit around the table, talking about practice, classes, jobs, and our upcoming game. Blaire sits beside me, smiling as Mateo tells the girls about how well our practice was this morning. The team has been more in sync this last week and it gives me hope for our first game a week from today.
Reaching over, I rest my hand on her thigh, giving it a squeeze. She looks over and gives me a shy smile.
“You going to come cheer me on at the game, baby?”
Reaching down, she puts her hand on top of mine. “As long as you promise to win. Can’t be walking out of there with shame from cheering on a losing team,” she jokes.
Conrad bursts into laughter across from us. “Oh, we’ll be taking that W. Nobody can beat our defense. Plus, Camden and Maddox are faster than any of the players on the Cornwall team. Those sorry fucks won’t be able to catch them.”
Conrad and Mateo are some of the best defensemen in the state and Levi is a damn good goalie. His height and hand size give him an advantage and he blocks far more balls from entering the net than any goalie I have been on a team with before.
“Well, I know I’ll be there to cheer on my man,” Emree says, wrapping her arm around Conrad and kissing his cheek. He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I can tell this girl is falling for Conrad, but he has never been serious about anyone he’s been with and doesn’t make it clear that what they are is only casual.
Blaire laughs, not noticing Conrad’s uncomfortable expression. “If you’re really that good, then I guess I can make it.”
“I’ll leave you both some tickets. I always get some for my mom and sister, but they rarely make it out,” I tell her.
After the guys and I finish off the last of the food, we start cleaning up the table. Blaire, Emree, and Jules have long since left us after finishing their one serving of burgers and hot dogs. I’m finally full after three burgers and a hot dog. Being an athlete means burning a ridiculous amount of calories and constantly being hungry.
After tossing all the trash out, I make my way over to Blaire. She has been lounging on one of the lawn chairs along with Emree and Jules, chatting away. She has since lost her T-shirt that was covering her black bikini top, and it takes everything in my power not to ogle her tits that are spilling out of the top.
“Hey, Gray Eyes,” I greet her, bending down and kissing the top of her head.
She smiles and tilts her head back, looking up at me through her sunglasses. “Hi,” she says quietly.
“Shots!” someone yells from the other side of the lawn. Maddox is over there, holding a bottle of tequila and a stack of plastic shot glasses.
“Is he okay?” Emree asks as she looks over at him with worry on her face.
Honestly, I don’t know. Since before classes started, Maddox has been on a drinking rampage. He acted funny the weekend my sister and mom came and visited, but I figured something happened with his parents after he spent a week with them. We had a great summer. It was just the two of us at the house and we were working for his uncle’s construction company, me trying to save up as much money as I could to not work this semester. Though he isn’t close with them, his parents requested he join them at a beach house in North Carolina they had bought as a second summer home.
“He’s been weird since school started. I don’t think he’s been sober a single weekend.” Even though we didn’t have a party last weekend, Maddox got trashed at Whiskey Joe’s Friday night and then Saturday he ended up passed out on the lawn at a fraternity house. One of our teammates helped get him home and he spent the night on the couch.
Mateo heads over, grabbing a shot Maddox offered him.
“Oh no, he and tequila don’t mix well,” Jules says, getting up and going toward her best friend.
Maddox’s eyes light up when she gets to them and he grabs her around the waist, lifting her into the air. Mateo’s face goes from laughing to serious as he jerks Jules away from Maddox’s grip, causing him to stumble back in his drunken state.
A hand glides up my arm and grips my bicep. “He’s going to end up hurting himself if he keeps drinking like that,” Blaire says from beside me.
“I know, baby.” I sigh, not wanting to have to deal with this tonight. I was hoping for an enjoyable time with my girl and our friends. “I’m going to grab him a bottle of water and try to pry the bottle of liquor from his hands.”
Before heading inside, I kiss Blaire on the cheek and leave her standing beside the chairs and pool. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge, hoping Maddox doesn’t start shit tonight and decides to sober up. It’s getting late and I know Blaire isn’t staying the night like Emree is, so I want to spend more time with her before she leaves.
A scream comes from the patio and before I register who it was, I’m outside the door. Maddox has Blaire pinned to his front, both his hands shackling her wrists, and there is a look of fear on her face. He swings her body, pretending like he is going to throw her in the pool, and she screams again, trying to get her hands free.
“What the fuck!” I scream, seeing red at the scared look on her face. He laughs, clearly thinking my anger is funny.
Before I can get to them, Maddox stumbles after pretending to throw Blaire into the pool again, causing the both of them to fall into the pool before I can get to her. Maddox’s body fell on top of Blaire’s and he’s the first to break out of the water.
