We make our order and Marcus calls us over to their table when we’re finished. Reluctantly, we sit with them, and I’m grateful when Marcus takes over the conversation.
“We’re gonna miss you tonight, Beck,” he says, shocking me. Marcus is not one to give me any kind of compliment. More like, he loves to give me endless shit.
“I hate that I won’t be on that field,” I admit, stirring my straw in my Dr. Pepper, jostling all the ice. “But I’ll be back next week. You guys got this tonight.”
“Yeah,” Liam adds, his expression sullen.
“Forget football,” Dom says, waving his hand. “This game is a no-brainer. What I want to know is what’s up with you and Monique?”
Marcus smirks, looking pleased with himself. “I can’t help it if she wants my body.”
We all groan and throw our straw wrappers at him while he just laughs. He’s eating this up.
“What about Emma?” I ask, bracing myself. He’s going to say something that I should probably report back to Addie. Emma is her best friend.
She’d want to know, so she could tell her what’s going on.
“That girl wants my body too, but I don’t know.” Marcus leans back in his chair. He’s a big boy. Not as tall as me but broader. Heavier. He could mow anyone down, including me. “Emma started sniffing around me again, and Monique was playing hard to get when Emma wasn’t, so I decided to give Emma a shot because why not? Girl was down last time we were together, and nothing has really changed.”
Marcus laughs, as does Liam.
I can’t imagine talking about Addie like that. What we experienced was…special. And I respect her. Kind of disgusts me, to think of talking about her so callously.
“Are you just playing them both?” Dom asks.
“Well, at first, yeah. But I actually want Monique back. Right now, she seems into me too, but that girl changes her mind like she changes her underwear. At least once a day, maybe more. Depends on if I made her cream them or not.” Liam high fives Marcus, their laughter so loud people are staring at them.
Jesus, these two.
“Emma is a little crazy,” Liam says, his smile knowing. As if he speaks from experience. “She has a temper. It’s kind of hot.”
He would think her temper is hot. He has one too.
“She’s fucking mean if you ask me,” Dom says, shaking his head. “She treats Tori like shit sometimes.”
I sit up a little at that admission. I wonder if she treats Addie bad too?
“She treats everyone like shit sometimes,” Marcus says. “That’s just her way.”
“Just because it’s her way doesn’t mean it’s right,” I point out.
“Oh, high and mighty Callahan, always the golden boy.” Marcus rolls his eyes and he and Liam laugh.
“You’re a dick,” Dom says, not holding back. “Get off his case.”
“He did get a good punch in,” Liam admits, pointing at his eye.
I wince, feeling bad for it, though I shouldn’t. “You got me too.” I turn my head to the side and point to the fading bruise on my jaw.
“Gotta have a microscope to see that shit,” Marcus says, giving his friend grief. Liam just scowls. “You need to work on your accuracy, my friend.”
Damn, Marcus is being harsh.
“With girls too, man,” Marcus adds. “You fucked everything up with Addie.”
My hackles rise. Liam has zero chance with Addie. I’ll make sure of it.
“I’m not interested in her anymore,” Liam mutters. “He can have her.”
He inclines his head toward me.
“Oh, thanks. Appreciate you giving her to me,” I say sarcastically.
“Like you’ll snag her up,” Marcus says. “If you two haven’t sealed the deal by now, you’re never going to.”
Anger rises within me. What is it about this guy that gets under my skin? “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Come on, like you haven’t noticed she’s been dying to ride your jock for years.” Marcus leans across the table. “She’s hot for you.”
“She has not,” I protest. More like I’m the one who wanted to get with her, and she always friend-zoned my ass.
Well, not anymore. Not that I’m telling these assholes anything.
“She has,” Dom adds, bumping his shoulder against mine. “I’ve noticed it. I also noticed you staring at her like you’re trying to figure out what she looks like naked pretty much the entirety of our junior year.”
Great. So we’ve been obvious to everyone. And Liam still tried to get with her.
The dude is a shit friend.
“You’ll never hook up with her,” Liam says assuredly. “She’s not into that.”
Two employees come over to our table and deliver our individual pizzas to us, dropping off a pile of red peppers and parmesan cheese packets in the center of the table before they leave us to eat.
My appetite disappears as I glare at Liam. “She’s not into what?”
“Hooking up. Listen, I’m friends with Jonah. Her ex.” He glances around like he’s afraid someone can hear him and leans over the table, his voice lower. We all draw closer to him. “He tried hard to get in her pants, but she kept denying him. That’s why he broke up with her. Girl is scared of sex or whatever.”
Scared of sex? She didn’t seem too afraid when she was touching my dick Saturday night.
And what the hell is her ex doing, talking about her like that with this asshat?
“She’s not scared of sex,” I say firmly, because fuck it. I know. “Maybe she just wasn’t into him.”
“Hundred bucks says you can’t bag that,” Marcus says.
I glare at him. “What the fuck? You want to make a bet about me and Addie?”
“Sure, because it’s easy money, Callahan. You won’t do it. You can’t pull the trigger either. Look at you and Sasha,” Marcus says. “That girl is fine as hell and I know for a fuckin’ fact you didn’t bang her.”
“How the hell do you know that?” I ask, infuriated.
“You told us, dumbass.”
Shit. I did. After the disaster that was prom night, I told them how I wouldn’t do it with her because she was so shit-faced. I wanted her to actually remember the moment, you know? And I was trying to be respectful. Of course, these assholes—every single one of them at this table, even my best friend—told me I was crazy for turning her down.
“Which leads me to believe you’ve had zero pussy in your life so far,” Marcus adds, a shit-eating grin on his face.
I say nothing because to deny it would be a lie. To act like I get all kinds of girls would also be a lie. It’s easier to remain quiet.
And I sure as hell am not telling them about hooking up with Addie last weekend.
“Leave him alone,” Dom says, right before he takes a big bite out of his pizza.
“Why? You know it would blow people’s minds that Mr. Big Man on Campus still hasn’t done it,” Liam adds with a sneer. His gaze finds mine. “Maybe you two fumbling virgins could figure out the whole sex thing together.”
I brace my hands on the edge of the table, ready to lunge, when Dom grabs my arm, stopping me. “He’s not worth it.”