AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nick laughed. “You forget who you’re talking to? I know you, man. You like to mess with people. And she looks like she’s had about enough of you.”
“Fuck off, Nick. I’m not fucking with her.” He always had to point out stupid shit that didn’t pertain to him.
“Didn’t you take the hint when you took her as your date to the formal last spring? She’s not interested.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not interested in her, either. She’s not even on the table. Never was. She’s a virgin nerd who’s not even in the same league as me. As us.” I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. I wanted to shut Nick up. “These assholes on the team would chew her up and spit her out if she fell for their bullshit.” The thought of one of our teammates trying to get in her pants made me want to annihilate everyone on the field.
He side-eyed me with his brows mildly raised. “If you say so.” He pointed to the south entrance of the field, where our players were starting to pass through to the locker room. “We better join the team.” He tilted his head at me again.
“I’m good, Nick. Worry about your game.”
He smirked before he trotted off. I took one last look at Natalie, who was jogging behind some of the players and staff, as well. Her brows furrowed as she caught me watching. I spun and took off toward the entrance, vowing to shove this shit out of sight and out of mind.
“And the MVP game ball goes to… this cagey motherfucker, who rushed for four touchdowns and 150 yards.” Nick held a giant oval blob of crinkled foil that he’d shaped into a football above his head, while the crowd of people cheered around us. We were hosting an after-game party at our house, as usual. He brought the foil football down, holding it out like he was handing it off, and I ran to it with one arm over the other, ready to receive it.
“Speech. Speech. Speech,” someone shouted, and everyone fell in, pumping their fists in the air.
“Don’t encourage this joker because he already has a big fucking head,” Dmitri called out beside me, with his perpetual resting bitch face. “Besides, he’ll never shut up.”
I lifted my lips and nudged Nick. “Somebody’s salty tonight, huh? I wonder why.”
Nick shook his head. “About as salty as you were before the game.”
“I wasn’t salty. I was focused on kicking some Panther ass tonight.”
“Whatever you say.” Nick’s girl, Kenzie, was approaching, and my buddy’s constant teasing was over because he only had eyes for his girl. Pussy-whipped at its finest. But he wasn’t the only one in the house like that. “Stay out of trouble tonight,” Nick added and waved me off as he slung an arm around his girl.
Like I would find trouble. Out of all of us living here, I was clearly the only one with any sense and kept my side of the street clean at all times.Trouble, I inwardly scoffed.
Roman was already MIA with his girl, Theo.
And Dmitri was staring down at his phone, texting with a little side grin. The fucker was probably making plans to see Sorina on the down-low. He thought nobody knew what the hell he was doing, but shit wasn’t too hard to figure out, considering he basically brawled with anyone who got near her.
But Dmitri wanted us to believe he was acting in a protective brother capacity—watching over his father’s ward. It was quite entertaining. Soon, D raised his head from his phone and walked off, ignoring the crowd around him, who was giving him props. Dmitri was about as sociable as a stripper pole. Shiny, with zero personality, but always had girls crawling all over him.
“Say hello to your ward for me,” I called out, which he returned with a middle finger. Man, all my roommates were fucking duds now.
“Yo, MVP, you ready to take me on in Madden?” Trey Lomas, our other running back, was at my side with a red cup in his hand. He was a sophomore and too overconfident for his own good, but he had swagger. I’d give him that. He was clearly in line to take my place after I graduated this year. He wasn’t a threat to me, and I actually liked the guy. I’d pay it forward. Make sure Hillside stayed in the spotlight.
I also couldn’t resist a challenge. “You think you’re ready for the big leagues, young’un?”
He grinned and pulled out a wad of hundreds. “I got a thousand here that says I’ll kick your ass.”
I chuckled and downed my drink. “Careful who you’re talking to, Lomas. You better be able to back that shit up if you’re going to disrespect your elders.”
“You know I’ve got mad respect for you, Thomas, but I’ve played a game or two of Madden in my life, so I’ll take my chances.”
“All right, then. Don’t go crying to your mama when it’s all said and done, and I take your broke ass to the cleaners.”
Trey’s lips twitched, but there was something hard in his eyes. “Are we playing or what?”
I walked over to the sofa crowded with other players and fan girls. Snapping my fingers, I said, “Move.” And like Moses with the Red Sea, the people parted, leaving generous space on the couch. It was good to be the king.
After playing one half against Trey, I was winning by two touchdowns. He was good, but he was delusional if he thought he could beat me. Nick and I could become professional gamers and make bank on this game if we weren’t headed for the NFL.
It was the second half of our game, and Trey’s team had the ball. “I thought you said you were good at this game,” I taunted as usual when I played this game. Any game, for that matter.
“It’s not over yet. Just wait and see.” His QB threw a slant pass to one of his receivers and got a first down. “There we go,” he said coolly. Then added out of the blue, “Hey, do have Natalie’s number?”
