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“How does he even know me? You played Centennial. The school is almost an hour from here.”
“He saw me walk in with you and saw you sitting through warmups. The guys on the team all know we’re friends so they’re friendly to you. Other teams see that and use it as ammunition to try and throw me off my game,” he argues back.
“Well, clearly it works,” I snap back. “You had four fouls. One more and you could have been kicked out.”
Corey grunts. “They can’t kick me out.”
“You aren’t invincible,” I remind him. Clearly, he forgets this at times. Corey opens his door and slides out. I get out after him and round the front until I’m leaning against the hood with him.
“I’m not going to let some douche talk smack about you. He knows you’re mine and he chose to make asshole comments about your pussy. It's not okay. It will never be okay.” Corey shakes his head, his shaggy blond hair sweeping across his forehead.
His words make my anger deflate some. Guys are weird and it's something I will never understand. “Yeah, he shouldn’t be talking about me like that. But he did it on purpose to rile you up. You have to know that.” I blow out my breath. “Maybe I shouldn’t come to the games anymore if it's going to hurt you.”
“You have to be there.” Corey turns to me. “I’ll work harder on not letting them bother me. Unless it's degrading then I’m laying them out.”
“I don’t need you to defend me. You just need to play well. You’re a junior next year; soon scouts could be looking at you. I know you want to get out of this town,” I remind him of everything that's at stake.
He glances at me, a smirk forming on his lips. “You know I’m not leaving you anyway. I’ll wait a year.”
“That's ridiculous.” I poke my pointer finger into his chest. He grabs it and turns my hand, so he’s holding it at his side. We start walking toward the party.
“I’ll always defend what's mine,” Corey murmurs, and this time, I don’t have it in me to argue back. Nothing I say will deter him. Corey just needs to find a way not to let it bother him on the court.
We reach the front door and Corey holds it open for me. We walk through the house and spot a few people coming in to warm up and grab more drinks. The majority of the crowd is gathered in the garage. I grab a water bottle from the fridge and Corey grabs a beer from one of the coolers. He leads me outside again, my body falling in line behind him, letting him lead me. I’m not a fan of parties; I only go when Corey and Harper make me. It’s better if I can just blend in or disappear.
“Patterson!” Tim Kruse, one of the guys on the team, calls out to Corey. They bro-hug, slapping each other on the back, before Tim notices me. “Oh! Hey, Jade.”
“Hey.” I smile at him and step closer to Corey without meaning to. Tim’s eyes follow the movement and his lips turn into a grin, when he also sees my hand tucked into Corey’s.
“Dude, you have the patience of a saint.” Tim shakes his head. “Everyone’s in the garage See you later.”
They slap hands again before Tim walks away. I shoot a look at Corey.
“What?” He chuckles.
“Why did he say that?” I raise my brow at him.
“Probably because he knows I’ve been waiting to get here or he thinks you girls slow me down.” His shoulders shrug.
“No one is stopping you.” I usher him down the path with my arm. “Maybe if you go make out with Sloan Henderson, you’ll chill out.”
Corey’s eyebrows jump. “She’s already waiting for me.”
My lips curl. Corey is my best friend and my knight in shining armor. He’s the brother I was never given. Despite how close we are, neither of us developed romantic feelings for the other. No one gets it. I don’t really care who Corey sucks lips with or who sucks his dick, but Sloan is her own brand of ick. She’s had it out for me since I became friends with Corey. Even though they usually end up playing tonsil hockey, she is always a bitch to me. Either acting like I’m invisible or purposefully drawing attention to me that's embarrassing. I don’t tell Corey and he’s never around when she’s on her A-game. It’s our own private war. And even though I don’t understand her grudge against me, I hold my own. I do not need Corey to fight my battles, despite what he thinks.
We walk into the garage and I immediately drop Corey’s hand. He glances at me and I don’t miss the flash of hurt before a few of the cheerleaders flounce over to him. The hurt is gone instantly and replaced by lust. I edge away and give him a salute, before going to find Harper. I spot my friend’s curly hair in the crowd. We make eye contact and she waves me over.
“Did you two talk it out?”
I shrug. “There's no reasoning with him. He thinks I need protection twenty-four-seven.”
Harper frowns, her eyes bouncing around the room, looking for Corey. After a minute, she laughs and shakes her head. “Well, looks like he’s in a fine mood now.”
I follow her line of vision, and sure enough, Corey is leaning against a wall with one of the cheerleaders wrapped around him, making out. My eyes meet Harper’s and we both snicker. Typical Corey.
“Good. Now he can chill the fuck out.”
Harper and I take a seat around a space heater. She chats animatedly with a few kids from our English class, while I sit and try to pay attention. My fingers itch to grab the kindle out of my bag and read. I’d give anything to be at home reading in my bed. Glancing at Harper then across the room to Corey, who’s still going strong with the cheerleader, I sigh. I am a damn good friend to suffer through all of this.
