He chuckles and shakes his head. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a girl announce that.”
“Well, she’s a different kind of girl. Has zero boundaries. The amount of times we’ve seen each other naked because she’s clueless is far too high to be considered normal.”
“You get that when living with other people. I just moved in with the boys, and I’ve already caught Rusty with his hand down his pants while talking to Chrissy on the phone.”
“Oof.” I cringe. “And you can still see okay?”
“I was temporarily blind, but after some deep-cleansing therapy, I was good as new.”
“Thank God for that.” He turns toward me, just like Lincoln did, but instead of reaching out and pressing his fingers into my scalp, Deacon keeps his hands in his lap, behaving like an utter gentleman. “So, do you like it here so far?” I ask.
“Yeah, love it.”
“Where did you transfer from?”
“A community college in Nebraska where we’re from. I didn’t have the grades in high school to come to Brentwood, whereas Rusty is just naturally smart. And as you know, it takes a lot of athletic talent and intelligence to be recruited by Brentwood. So, I went to a community college and worked my ass off to get my grades up. Rusty helped me train virtually, teaching me everything they did at practice so I could replicate it. I was a walk-on, had to try out, and then luckily, made the team.” He smiles. “Might have cried a little into my brother’s arms when I saw my name on the roster.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Congratulations. It must have felt good to see all that hard work pay off.”
He nods. “It did. And I was grateful there was a spare room where I could live with my brother and not have to share a room with him, because that’s what we were planning on doing.”
“Oh, that would have sucked because those conversations with Chrissy would have been increasingly awkward.”
“Tell me about it.” He rubs the side of his jaw. “And when she comes to visit from Nebraska, yeah, that would be even more awkward.”
“Is she going to make some trips again this year?”
Deacon nods. “Yeah, she always does. To be honest, I miss her. We became really good friends while Rusty’s been in Chicago. He asked me to watch over her while he was gone, and now that we’re both here, he worries about her more. Keeps trying to convince her to move to Chicago.”
“Why doesn’t she?”
Deacon sighs and says, “She’s scared. She doesn’t want to move everything and then have something happen to their relationship.”
“But Rusty is crazy about her. They’ve been dating for five years, right?”
Deacon nods. “Yeah, but her parents are divorced so she’s extra cautious. Rusty realizes that and is patient, even though I’m pretty sure if I handed him a ring, he’d propose to her right now.”
I clutch my hand to my heart. “Ugh, that’s so cute.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty awesome together. She’s family at this point.” He smooths his hand over his thigh and asks, “Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope. Just me and my parents, which makes their involvement in my life difficult at times.”
“Oh damn, really?”
I nod, smiling to myself. “That’s how I met Lincoln, through our meddling moms.” I relay the story, Deacon laughing through the entire thing with a couple “oh damn” outbursts. The whole time I’m telling the story, I realize what a great listener he is, just sitting there, interacting, asking questions. He’s pretty awesome. I can understand why Rusty wanted us to meet. Any girl would be lucky to meet Deacon.
“Could have been worse; you could have been matched up with someone like Barry Winston on the lacrosse team.”
“Oh God, you’re right.” I cringe. “Barry likes to sniff his armpits for fun.”
“Yeah,” Deacon drags out. “I met him for the first time this past week and I’ll tell you right now, he likes to have other people sniff his armpits for fun too.”
“Disgusting.”
“Plus, you’re lucky. Lincoln’s a really great guy . . . even if he didn’t know who you were.”
“He is a good guy, surprisingly.” My mind drifts back to the way his fingers felt in my hair, his sexy smile, the way he smelled like fresh-cleaned man.
“He doesn’t really venture outside of his circle. Not sure if you see it, but the baseball team deals with a lot of pressure, not only from their coach, but from the school and the fans. There’s been drama from players behind the scenes because of the legendary locker room.” I roll my eyes, thinking about the myth of the baseball locker room. According to the legend, if a baseball player takes you to the locker room to have sex, you’re meant to be together forever. I don’t buy it. “And then of course, the rapid rate of Brentwood players going pro. You find out who’s genuine and who’s not. The boys are closed off a lot of times, so the fact that he’s included you and Scarlett in his circle means something.”
Huh . . .
I never thought about it that way.
I just assumed he was being nice. But if I think about it, I’ve never spoken with any baseball player for that matter. They’re a close-knit bunch, probably for the very reasons Deacon stated.
“Hmm, I guess I won him over.”
Deacon chuckles softly. “Pretty sure you didn’t have to put in much effort.” He glances at me and my heart trips. “Would it be cool if I took you out for dinner sometime?”
I look away, unable to meet his eyes. I swore I wouldn’t date. It’s not what I need right now when I’m so hyper-focused on school and soccer, but . . . God, he’s so nice. But I know myself. I don’t want nice nor a man who seems like relationship material. And yet . . . I could do dinner. He doesn’t seem needy, and he’s good company. As long as he knows there will nothing more. That is not happening even if the guy is sweet and hot.
On a deep breath, I nod. “Yeah, that could be fun.”
“Really?” he asks, surprised, and it’s adorable.
“Rusty did say I should get a free dinner out of you.”
Deacon shakes his head. “Of course he did.”
Chapter Seven
INDIE
I love Sundays. They’re our only day off during the week, and Scarlett and I both spend them isolated in our rooms, relaxing and doing absolutely nothing. Well, I have done laundry, read over my notes from Professor Adams’s lecture, and done our meal planning for the week. My version of nothing.
So, when my phone vibrates with a text message, I consider not answering it as I lie naked in a coma-like state, staring at the ceiling, my muscles on fire from yesterday’s physical test.
But when it vibrates again, I pick it up with a huff. Better not be my mom wanting to hassle me about dating.
Lincoln: Whatever you talked to Deacon about after we left has him walking around with heart eyes over here.
I roll to my side and type him back.
Indie: He asked me out to dinner. I said yes.
Lincoln: You did?