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He glanced down at himself. “No. There’s a BDSM club upstairs, and there’s an event tonight. It’s open to the public, if you want to come along. Very vanilla.” He gave my clothing a derisive scowl, and I had to laugh. A big blond came over to glare at me, and I rolled my eyes as I turned away from them. I noticed a few others at the bar wearing similar bondage gear that was on the borderline of what most people would consider acceptable for public consumption. No one was flashing any of the goods, though.
The guys on the team didn’t seem to notice the exciting clothing because their universe revolved around each other. We could be in a full-on dystopian nightmare world, and as long as there was booze and the guys from the team—or really any team from NGU—they would be content. Maybe I didn’t belong with them because I’d never been that way; although, I’d always wanted to be the shiny center of that universe. I sighed.
“Atlas, hi!” Rain came up to stand beside me, and I stared at him. He had his red hair spiked in a style that really didn’t seem to fit him.
“Are you twenty-one?” I asked, baffled. He barely looked eighteen. He flushed and shoved a beer toward me, which I took on autopilot.
“My birthday was last week,” he said with a shrug, then warily glanced around the room that was getting more packed by the minute. “I saw you didn’t have a drink. You’re normally a beer guy at parties.”
“Am I?” I asked, confused that anyone had been paying that much attention to what I’d drunk.
Rain nodded enthusiastically.
“Thanks,” I said, then sipped my beer.
“Would you want to dance?” he asked, gazing up at me with big eyes.
All at once, it was difficult to swallow, and I had to fight down my mouthful of booze. “Uh, no. I’m not a dancer.”
Rain nodded but his smile disappeared.
“Can you help me out?” I leaned closer to ask, feeling like an asshole as I did it.
“Yes!” He beamed up at me.
“What are people saying about Wystan?” I asked, glaring at Wystan as Cohen from the basketball team slapped him on the back.
“Well, what do you mean?” Rain nearly shouted so I could hear him.
“Anyone hate him yet?” I asked hopefully.
Rain laughed as if he thought I was joking. “No, but Withers and a few of the guys thought you were, uh, maybe out of line for the way you acted after he got picked as captain. They were talking about it tonight.” He flinched when I swung around to stare into his face.
Chugging my beer didn’t help me keep my thoughts inside. The second I was done, I growled. “He has no idea what he’s doing with strategy.”
“But he’s part of the team, and you were treating him like.... Well, like crap,” Rain said.
As I glared at Wystan again, he slammed three shots in a row, and then the next guy in line did the same while everyone cheered. Five guys drank shots that way, and when they were done everyone clapped like they’d saved kittens from a burning building. They were already fucking drunk.
We had practice tomorrow. It would be a real shame if Wystan was hungover for that, after winning the vote today and all. I smirked as a plan formed in my head.
“Rain,” I said, sliding an arm around his shoulders. He cuddled against my side, and I felt a little bad. I was in no way interested in him, and he was being absolutely pathetic with the way he was batting his eyelashes and giving me a wide, hopeful smile. “You’re right. As a sign of goodwill, I should be really nice to Wystan.”
“Yes, that would be good.” Rain leaned against me.
I handed him my empty glass, and he took it, and then I fished my wallet out. I’d brought enough cash to pay for myself and a few rounds for the guys—Dad always told me to take the money for that because a team that drank together won together, according to him. I passed a fifty to Rain.
“Go buy Wystan drinks. I don’t want him to know they’re from me.”
“Why?” Rain asked, frowning.
“Because I want it to be a surprise later.” I flashed a toothy grin at Rain, and he almost melted on the spot. Fuck, I was no better than Hoffman. That shame from earlier flared in my gut again as I watched Rain scamper off to do as I said, and when he bought more shots, he was hailed as a welcoming hero. I half expected Wystan and the guys he was drinking with to put him on their shoulders and carry him around the room.
As soon as Wystan had more shots lined up in front of him, the rest of the fucking team decided to do it, because where the captain went, the men followed. I groaned, slapping a hand to my face. They were all going to be fucking wasted at practice tomorrow. That hadn’t been my plan. I sighed. Fuck, I loved them, but they were goddamned stupid.
The girls who did the really expensive shots, where they poured booze directly into your mouth, started walking along the bar, and I flagged down a redhead in a miniskirt that let me get a good eyeful of some gold bikini panties underneath. She went to a knee, but I passed her the cash and shook my head.
“Get that guy down there.” I pointed at Wystan. “He was just made the hockey team captain. Can you tell him congrats?” I passed her the rest of my cash. “And make it a triple?”
