“Nothing gets through this brick house,” Rusty says, as I attempt to catch my balance but fall to my ass instead.
Hutton laughs his ass off and says, “I wish I caught that on video. The great Lincoln Castle taken down would have gotten me at least two thousand more followers on TikTok.”
“Dude, are you really on TikTok?” Asher asks, coming into the room while holding a bowl of cereal. I haven’t seen him around in a while, nor has he been very vocal lately. It’s concerning, but I’m not going to press him because when Asher is ready to talk, he will talk.
“Hell yeah, I’m on TikTok. Scar and I did a dance together yesterday.”
The room falls silence as we all stare at Hutton.
Scar?
Dancing?
Something has happened to our manwhore friend.
“What?” Hutton looks around. “Am I not allowed to have fun?”
“You just referred to Scarlett as Scar and you’re doing dances with her on TikTok. Sorry if we’re a little shocked.”
He just shrugs. “It is what it is.”
“And what is it exactly?” Hartley asks.
“My life, so keep the hell out of it.”
Deacon comes down the stairs and starts clapping his hands. “Today’s the day, boys. We win this, we go to the bowl.”
“In the bag,” Hutton says casually. “Nebraska has no idea what kind of freight train is coming for them.”
“Don’t be too cocky,” Hartley says. “We show the work on the field.”
“Dude, we got this,” Hutton says, standing and going to the kitchen where I hear him root around in the pantry.
Rusty walks up to Hartley and pats him on the shoulder. “We do, man. Stop worrying. We got this.”
“Worrying?” I ask, plopping down on the couch. I toss the ball back to Hartley and ask, “When have you ever been worried?”
He looks back at the kitchen and then leans in toward me. “Not worried, just . . . nervous. My dad and Jake Taylor are coming to the game today. They have field passes.”
“Ah, and you want to impress.”
“Who doesn’t want to impress their parents?”
“True, it feels like additional adrenaline rushes through me when my moms are in the stands.”
“Exactly, but it isn’t just my dad . . . ” He tosses the ball in the air and I make the connection.
“Alice’s dad will be there. Does he know about you guys?”
He shakes his head. “He doesn’t, and I’m not sure he’d be cool with it, either.” Hartley rubs his hand over his face. “They want to go out to dinner after. I’m not going to be cool about it, especially if we lose.”
“Hey.” I take the ball from him and then lightly toss it back. He catches it and finds the seams. “Focus on the game, the rest will come to you. But the most important thing is blocking out your personal life and pushing the ball down the field.”
“Yeah, I know you’re right.” He sighs and then says, “So, Scarlett told Hutton about your orgasm fest the other day with Indie.” Hartley grins, and I’m instantly annoyed. Of course, Hutton wouldn’t keep his mouth shut. “What’s going on there? You dating?”
“No,” I answer. “Just having fun.”
“Just having fun.” He nods and tosses the ball, catching it himself. “Okay, because that seems like a good idea.”
“It is,” I answer. “We’re both in a spot where we can’t get into anything serious, so we’re just going to have fun, hang out, and if she happens to sit on my dick, then so be it.”
Hartley chuckles to himself and then says, “Sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“How so?”
He gives me a very good side-eye. “Come on, you really think you’re not going to grow feelings for the girl? I’ve already noticed a change in you. Convince yourself all you want, but when the time comes to part, it’s going to be a lot more painful than you think.”
“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine today?” I stand from the couch and Hartley blocks my path.
“Sorry, man. Just stressed.”
“I know.” I give him a fist pump. “You’re going to be awesome. You’re not an All-American for no reason. Focus on seeing the field and then concentrate on everything else after that.”
He nods, so I take off toward the kitchen where the rest of the guys have congregated. There’s an air in the house: playoff air. The boys are buzzing, testosterone is flowing, and I can feel great things are in the works.
“I seriously feel like I’m going to throw up,” Indie says next to me. “I’m never this nervous during my own games, so why am I a lunatic now?”
I lift my ball cap and push my hand through my hair, feeling as uneasy as the rest of the crowd around us.
Fifteen seconds left to play, Brentwood is down by four points. We need a touchdown.
Hartley has been magic on the field all day, but he threw one interception while being tackled that has put them behind.
“Yeah, I’m nervous too,” I say, hopping up and down. My boys are all around us, Scarlett is next to Indie, and the buzz of the game has us all shaken up.
The boys take the field and Hartley gets into position, pointing out defensive moves to look for. His deep grunt is heard around the stadium. The ball is snapped, he falls into the pocket, the lineman giving him time to find Hutton, who’s cutting down the right side of the field.
Everyone in the crowd holds their breath as Hartley falls back and throws the ball. It sails in the air. Indie grabs my arm and Hutton’s arms reach to catch the ball. He pulls it into his chest and makes a run for the end zone.
The crowd erupts.
Nebraska’s hot on his heels, but the man is a machine. He kicks up the speed, escaping a tackle and diving into the end zone before being taken down.
The refs hold up their arms for a touchdown and the stadium bursts into cheers.
Indie and Scarlett jump up and down together as both my hands go to my head. Fuck. That was phenomenal.
The boys celebrate on the field while the stands shake with excitement.
They’re going to the Governor’s Bowl. Third year in a row.
“Oh my God, I’m going to bang him so hard tonight,” Scarlett announces to us as she claps.
There’s no doubt in my mind that’s going to happen.
“This calls for a party,” I say. “We need to celebrate.”
Hartley’s nowhere to be found, but we can’t hold off any longer. I lift my red cup to the air and say, “To the boys who represented today.”
They lift their cups as well.
“Kick some ass at the Governor’s.”
They all cheer and most of them drain their cups, then head to the keg for a refill.
We kept the party “small.” It’s just the football team, baseball team, and people’s significant others slash fuck buddies. Just enough to celebrate, but not too many where you can’t move in the house.
I hop off the counter and go straight to Indie, where I grip her around the waist and spin her around. She laughs and grips my shirt to keep herself steady. I lean down and press a kiss to her lips that she quickly returns while holding on to my cheeks. If people didn’t know we were together before, they know now.