“Speaking of girls,” Colin said, and a mixture of dread and hope crept up my spine.
I figured he was about to point out Danika somewhere in the distance, no doubt wrapped in Jared’s arms, but he pointed at a group of three skinny guys I didn’t know heading our way. I almost laughed with relief.
“Baseballers,” one of the guys said as he reached us. “Welcome.” He opened his arms and waved them around like we were some sort of guests to his esteemed kingdom. “Keg’s right over there, and hard alcohol’s in the house. We always get a good card game going later if you want in. Cash only. Just let us know before eleven.”
The four of us looked at each other, silent words passing between us before I spoke up, “Thanks for the welcome and the offer, but we’re not allowed to gamble. Even for fun.”
We all signed waivers and forms each season, acknowledging that we wouldn’t, under any circumstances, participate in gambling of any kind. Getting caught meant that you not only got kicked off the team, but you were also banned from the league itself, which meant no transferring to a school of equal caliber.
“We wouldn’t rat you out,” the same guy said with a grin.
“Yeah, I don’t think you would,” I offered cordially, not wanting to start a fight. “But if anyone saw us or took pictures or anything, we’d get kicked off the team.”
“It’s not worth the risk,” Mac added, and the three frat guys all nodded.
“All right. Well, have fun. Let me know if you need anything. Name’s Jaden. These are my bros, Butch and Grady.”
“Nice to meet you. Thanks again,” I said before shaking Jaden’s hand and watching them strut away, shouting some sort of theme song.
“Frat guys.” Dayton made a face, and we all mumbled in agreement.
“I see someone over there I want to talk to,” Colin said, looking at a group of girls surrounding a makeshift ping-pong table.
“I’ll come with,” Dayton said, and they took off, leaving Mac and me behind.
“They didn’t even ask if we wanted to go with them,” Mac whined, and I huffed.
“They knew I’d say no. And they knew you wouldn’t leave my side,” I teased even though it was one hundred percent the truth.
“Let’s go inside. I’m in the mood for shots.”
Grabbing Mac’s bicep, I stopped his forward momentum. “I will leave your ass here if you disappear on me,” I warned.
Mac had a tendency to vanish when it came to parties, shots, and females. One second, he was standing right there, and the next, he’d be gone. I’d spent hours looking for him one night last year, only to have him call me from home, asking where the hell I was.
“I won’t disappear. Promise.”
He held out his pinkie to me like we were in fifth grade, expecting me to take it with my own. I smacked it away instead.
“Let’s go,” I said, walking back inside the hellhole with Mac right on my heels.
The wave of heat smacked me in the face once more, and I stopped short, causing Mac to run straight into my back.
“What the …” he started before looking in the direction of my stare. “Is that …”
“Yeah, it is,” I said before he even finished asking the question.
Jared was sitting on a chair in the kitchen with some girl who was not Danika on his lap, sticking her tongue down his throat. His hand was up her shirt for all to see.
“Shit, Chance. Don’t.” Mac tried to keep me from going over to him, but he knew it was no use.
No one could have stopped me from confronting this asshole. Stalking in Jared’s direction, all I felt was the rage surging through me.
“What is this?” I shoved at him, breaking the sloppy kiss that had been happening moments before I arrived.
“What the hell?” Jared growled before throwing the girl off his lap and standing upright, causing red plastic cups to scatter to the floor. He looked around, his eyes searching wildly for whoever had just interrupted his public display of tongue-tangling. His face dawned with recognition the second that his eyes hit mine, and he realized it was me. “You’re fucking joking.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, my anger propelling me beyond all reason. Any and all rational thoughts flew out the proverbial window.
“What I’m doing is none of your business, Baseball Boy.”
I wanted to break his jaw. “Does she know?”
“Does who know?” He sounded uninterested.
The girl he had just been kissing stood at his side, looking confused.
“Danika!” I screamed, creating even more of a scene. “Does Danika know?”
“Who’s Danika?” the girl asked, but he ignored her and focused only on me.
“Like I said, it’s none of your business.” His tone was far more controlled than mine was, and it only made me angrier.
How was he so calm and composed when I felt like I was losing my damn mind?
“It is my business,” I shouted like a crazed maniac, taking a menacing step toward him.
I expected him to step back in response, but he didn’t. He stood firm, and everything about his posture, his demeanor, his attitude baited me.
“How so? How is anything about Danika your business? Explain that one to me.” He folded his arms across his chest and waited for my response.
I didn’t have one. What was I supposed to say?
“What’s going on here is none of your damn business, but you think it is. Because you care about Danika. Because you want her. You always have. And you hate the fact that she’ll never be yours. Or that I can have her anytime I want.”
I pulled my arm back, prepared to knock his fucking lights out, when Mac pounced. He steadied my arm, stopping me from moving as he created a blockade between myself and Jared.
“Stop, Chance. Chance!” Mac tried to get me to focus on him, but Jared’s words kept replaying in my mind.
“Yeah, Chance, stop. Wouldn’t want to hurt your arm and lose your season,” Jared taunted, and Mac snapped to face him.
“Stop egging him on, or I’ll let him go,” Mac threatened, and Jared only blanched for a second before regaining his composure.
“You’re telling her,” I yelled over Mac’s shoulder toward a retreating Jared.
He turned around, his eyes slamming into mine. “Or what?”
“Or I will,” I deadpanned.
“No, you won’t.” He closed the distance between us enough so that he no longer needed to shout. “You didn’t tell her anything I’ve ever said to you before. And you won’t tell her about this either.”
He laughed as he walked away, but I didn’t find a damn thing funny. I needed to get the hell out of this frat house before I did something Coach couldn’t get me out of.
What Do I Do
Chance
Pulling my keys from my front pocket, I stormed toward the front door, everyone making a path for me as I moved through them.
“Wait up,” Mac shouted from somewhere behind me.
Only once I got outside of the house did I stop.
“Should we get Dayton and Colin?”
“Send them a text that I’m leaving. I’ll pick them up later if they want, or they can come now,” I directed with one destination in mind.