“And was it fun?” Scarlett asks.
I shrug. “It was okay. We were both pissed initially, because apparently both our moms have been trying to set us up with people all summer. And then it turned into a competitive thing. We just left it at: thanks for the ride, see you around.”
“And why didn’t you tell me this the minute you came back to school?” Scarlett asks.
Rusty’s eating his chips, looking back and forth between the two of us as if he’s watching his own movie.
“Didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Like I said, nothing happened. Just a random night.”
Rusty shakes his head and says, “I can’t believe he didn’t know who you were.”
“Typical baseball player at Brentwood. Stuck in their own world,” Scarlett says.
“Most of them are pretty good guys,” Rusty says. “I’m surprised about Lincoln, as he’s a really good guy. I would have thought he knew everyone.”
Well, not everyone.
“It’s fine. I really don’t care, because I’m not interested in him in other than as partners in student teaching.”
“You’re not interested in Lincoln Castle?” Rusty asks, his eyes wide. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that sentence come out of a girl’s mouth. Hell, my good friend Amber on the basketball team, who’s a lesbian, said she would throw away her rainbow flag for a passionate night with the man.”
“Eh,” I say. “Not my type.”
“Oh, okay,” Scarlett scoffs and laughs.
“He’s not. I like . . . bigger guys. Meat on their bones.” I smile. “Like Rusty.”
He pats his muscular stomach with pride. “If you like this physique, I have an identical man I can match you up with. Mind you, he’s a little skinnier, more in shape, doesn’t have the burly beard, and doesn’t have the bear hug quite down yet, but he’s awesome. I think you two would hit it off.”
“Rusty, I’m not dating this year.”
“Who says you have to date?” He leans forward and whispers, “Just let him take you out to dinner and get a free meal out of it.”
I chuckle. “Wouldn’t that be leading him on?”
“The guy needs some more friends and you’re a sweet girl. I know if anything, he’d value your friendship. Give him a shot.”
I sigh and lean into my booth. “What’s his name?”
“Deacon. He just moved in with me and the boys.”
“Yeah, and where’s that?”
Rusty smiles brightly. “Hartley and Lincoln’s house, of course.”
Of course . . .
Chapter Five
LINCOLN
Hartley holds up his soda and says, “To our junior year.”
“To our junior year,” the boys all say together and then clink cans.
Every Wednesday, no matter what we’re doing, we always have a “family dinner.” Hartley got the idea last year when one Wednesday night we were all in the kitchen trying to figure out what to eat and he said, “Let’s make a family meal together.” And we did.
Ever since, we sit at our dining room table, which doubles as a drinking table when we throw a party, and we have a dinner together to decompress.
We lost two seniors from the football team last year, so this year, we have Hartley, me, my boy Asher, Hutton Marshal, a wide receiver on the football team, and Rusty and his brother, Deacon, who just made the football team as a linebacker.
It’s a good group of guys with zero drama, which is what we prefer.
“Dig in, boys,” Hartley says, passing the bowl of homemade sweet potato fries.
Tonight we made burgers on the grill with all the fixings, homemade fries, a salad, and Hutton cut up some watermelon, because he’s a master at it.
We go in a line, handing things off, loading our burgers, and filling our plates until there’s barely anything left in the serving dishes.
I’m the first to dig in, going straight to the salad, because I’m the person who needs to eat their greens first to get those out of the way.
“First things first,” Hartley announces from the head of the table. “Let’s talk about our valleys for the day.”
Just like Hartley’s family did when he was growing up, he makes us talk about our peaks and valleys of the day, or week for that matter. At first, we grumbled about it, but now I find myself thinking throughout the week what a good peak and valley would be to bring to the table.
“Asher, you’re up,” Hartley says.
“Valley, uh . . . I asked a girl out and she turned me down.”
“What?” I ask, confused. “First of all, you asked someone out?” Asher is painfully shy and to hear he asked someone out is shocking. “Secondly, who was it?”
“Well, technically, I asked her out for Barry on the lacrosse team.”
“Why isn’t Barry asking his own girls out, and why is he asking the shyest guy in the athletic department to do his dirty work?”
“We were doing a dead lift challenge, he maxed out more than me, and we made a bet. So I had to ask Charlize out for him. Backfired badly.” Asher shrugs then picks up his burger and takes a huge bite.
Hutton’s up next. “Deacon caught me jacking off in the shower.” The boys all groan and Deacon buries his head in his hands. “Which reminds me, we need to add to the rules. Knock with bathrooms too.”
Deacon goes next. “I saw Hutton’s O face. Not sure I’ll ever recover.”
We all laugh and Rusty puts his hand on his identical twin brother’s shoulder. “I caught Lincoln last year. Dude jerks it hard.”
“Will you shut the fuck up with that? I told you I was almost at completion, okay? Christ.”
Hartley looks around the table. “Am I the only one who knocks in this house?”
Asher raises his finger but says nothing as he bites his burger.
Rusty chimes in and says, “I split my pants yesterday in class when I sat in my seat. I sat through the whole class with a rip in my pants, trying to figure out how I could leave class undetected.”
The table roars with laughter.
“What did you do?” Hutton asks, before plopping a fry in his mouth.
“Walked out of there with a split in my pants. There was no other option. I did consider buying the sweater off the girl next to me but realized it would barely cover one of my ass cheeks. It’s all those squats; my thighs are gigantic. Papa needs new pants.”
Once I’m done laughing, I say, “My valley would be . . .” I think about it, unable to come up with anything. I’ve had a pretty good few days. “Uh—”
“Shocking. Lincoln had a good week. Again,” Hutton says in a teasing tone.
“Oh, I know. I asked for skim milk in my coffee and they gave me whole.”
The table goes silent and then Rusty starts to slow clap. “Wow, you brave soul. How are you able to hold your head up right now?”
“Shut the fuck up.” I laugh, while Hartley takes the lead.
“Valley for me would be listening to Lincoln’s valley. I am positively devastated.”