I pull up to the Shadle Creek campgrounds in Dominique’s Escalade. I would have preferred to drive my old-as-shit El Camino but Dom’s ride has more space, so here we are. Emilio sits passenger while Dominique is sprawled out in the backseat, snoring louder than a lawnmower. He doesn’t usually let me drive. He’s got control issues. But he’s fucking beat. We all are.
We killed it in tonight’s game winning twenty-four to three. It was a slaughter. But because of tonight’s game, we’re getting out to the campgrounds later that I would have liked. At least we still managed to make decent time.
“Wake up, cabrón. We’re here.”
Dominique groans but pushes himself into a sitting position before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The three of us stare at the circle of cabins in front of us with varying expressions. Emilio is hyped as fuck and already has his door flung open. His hair is still wet. We all showered after the game in the locker rooms before heading out, so when he whips out of the car, water droplets smack me in the face.
Asshole.
Dom is his usual impassive self but side-eyes me as he grabs his shit from the back. It only takes a second for me to figure out why when all the blood inside me heats and anger spikes in my chest.
Allie is here, and just exited the first cabin with Aaron Henderson. Fucking Henderson. Just the sight of that wannabe asshole makes my blood boil. I told her to stay away from him.
I grit my teeth and tighten my hands on the steering wheel.
“Bro, come on,” Emilio calls, slamming his door and grabbing his duffel from the back. Dom meets my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“You gonna eye-fuck the girl all weekend?” he asks.
“Fuck you.” I flip him off.
He snorts and climbs out of the backseat, grabbing his bag before heading off to follow Emilio to our cabin. I watch them in my peripheral but I don’t take my eyes off Allie. She looks good. Real good. She’s changed her clothes since I last saw her at school, trading in her white jeans and flowing top for black, ripped jeans and a basic t-shirt. The top dips low in the front exposing a thin line of cleavage and I’m already envisioning her naked breasts.
I scrub a hand over my face. I need to stop checking her out. Emilio’s been on my ass all week to focus on the field and yeah, we kicked ass tonight, but I didn’t bring my A game and she’s the cause of it.
I’ve stayed away from her all week, avoiding her in the hallways like a fucking coward. It was risky, especially if she decided to whine to Kemp about it, but she stayed quiet like I knew she would. Which makes her all the more intriguing. She didn’t rat me out and land me in detention. She didn’t beg for attention like other girls would have after being on the receiving end of my cold shoulder.
No. She kept her head down and acted like I didn’t even exist. No chance glances my way. No longing looks.
I don’t know what it is about her but I can’t get her out of my head and it pisses me right the fuck off. I thought if I avoided her it would lessen my attraction to her, but seeing her now makes me realize that was a big fucking failure. If anything, I want her more. I want her as consumed with thoughts of me as I am with her.
It’s becoming an obsession.
What am I doing to myself? I pull out a cigarette and light it up. I take one deep pull, holding the smoke in until my eyes burn before I release it. Fuck. I toss the cigarette out the window and then shove the smokes into the glove box before Dom sees. If either he or Emilio realize I still carry a pack on me, they’ll both have my ass.
You can’t be a star wide receiver and a smoker. The two don’t go hand in hand. But damn if I don’t want to smoke my way through the entire pack right now.
Dominique’s parents own the cabin we’re staying in. It’s the nicest one out here. Two stories tall, it has four bedrooms and four bathrooms making it more of a vacation home than a cabin. Dom comes from money—enough to rival even Gerald Ulrich—and while the fucker may hate it, it does have its perks. We stay here at least once a month. It’s nice to get away from things. Or it would have been if everyone else didn’t have the same idea this weekend.
I glare at Henderson and Allie once more before slipping on a pair of mirrored aviators and following my boys. I don’t care that it’s late. No one is gonna say shit to me about the sunglasses.
The clearing is packed with people illuminated by firelight. Most hang out next to their cars, or in small clusters by the fire. No one speaks to me and everyone gives me and my boys a wide berth as we make our way toward our cabin.
A few guys I recognize from the football team are stupid enough to nod in my direction as if to say sup?
I don’t reciprocate the gesture. I might talk to some of these assholes on the field when I have to, but I sure as shit am not going to tolerate them off the field. I am not one of them. Never will be and sure as shit don’t want to be. They don’t take the game seriously. It’s all fun and games for them but for us, for me, Dom, and Emilio, football is life. We live, breathe, and sleep football.
All three of us have plans to go pro and we’ve all earned scholarships at division-one schools. It’s a big part of why we don’t hang out with the team. We can’t afford to get sucked into their bullshit.
Football has to come first.
A group of bikini-clad juniors walk toward me. Emilio slows his steps a few paces ahead while Dom reaches the cabin porch and disappears inside. Beers in hand and wide grins on their faces, the girls sway their hips and offer flirtatious looks and stupid giggles.
I stifle a groan. At school, these chicks usually just give me googly eyes but leave me be unless I approach them, but I can tell they’ve already had some booze.
One of them is particularly brave. “Hey, Rome. You gonna party with us tonight?” she calls out.
At the mention of my name, I see Allie’s head jerk in my direction. That’s right, pretty girl. I’m here. I don’t bother hiding my smirk. “Maybe.” I holler back to the girl, wanting to gauge Allie’s reaction. She scowls and turns away while the bikini chick giggles. Fucking giggles. I swear these girls get stupider each year, but I eye her rack anyway. Stupid or not, she’s got a good one.
Maybe a quick fuck will get Allie out of my head?
“Come find me later,” she says and I give her a noncommittal grunt.
I need to get laid, but the idea of fucking her doesn’t pique my interest. Allie on the other hand… Fuck.
Inside the cabin, Dom flicks on all the lights and we each throw our stuff in our respective rooms. Our cabin is off limits to everyone outside of our group. We’ve been known to bring a few girls back for the night but our cabin isn’t one of the open ones for partiers.
“I see your girl is here,” Emilio comments with a shit-eating grin when I make my way back to the porch. I accept the beer he offers me and my eyes track Allie as she follows Henderson over to a group of his skater friends.
My hand clenches around my beer and I clench my jaw. The fucker smiles at her as he leans down to whisper something in her ear.
“I don’t have a girl,” I say.
That earns me a grunt from Dom. “Then why are you eye-fucking her?” he asks.
I flip him off with my free hand. “You can’t see my eyes, asshole. I’m not even looking in her direction.”
“Liar,” Emilio adds. “Just fuck her and get it out of your system already.”
I roll my eyes, not that he can see it. “I’m not interested in fucking her. I— ”
“Right. You want to be a dick and toy with her, that it? You need a new pet project to focus on?”
“What the hell is your problem, man?” I flick up my aviators and glare at him.
Emilio laughs but there’s an edge to his voice. “Nothing. You do you. Fuck her. Don’t fuck her. I don’t care. Just make up your mind already so we can enjoy the damn weekend. I’m too tired for your games so whatever you have planned, leave me out of it.”
“Count me out, too,” Dom adds. He leans back in one of the wooden porch seats, his legs wide and a beer in hand, pretending like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “We agreed we’d focus on our futures. You don’t have time to be chasing tail. Get laid. Don’t get laid.” He shrugs. “I don’t really care. But you were off today and you know it. She’s in your head, so do what you need to do to get her out. If that means playing one of your mind games with her, so be it. But we’re not backing you this time around.” He tips back his beer.
I grind my teeth together. “Fine.” Assholes. We’ve always messed around with the same girls in the past. It made things fucking convenient, but whatever. I didn’t need them to get what I wanted out of Allie.
Emilio downs his beer before reaching for a new one. “I’m going to go find myself a piece of ass. I earned it after tonight’s game. I’ll catch up with you two later.”
He jogs down the steps and heads straight for the bikini girls, throwing his arms around two of them. I won’t be surprised if both end up in his bed tonight. Emilio’s been known to enjoy his fair share of threesomes and even the occasional foursome.
“I’m surprised his dick hasn’t fallen off yet with how many holes he sticks it in,” Dom says.
I lift a brow. “Like you’re one to talk.”
He shrugs. “I’m taking this year easy. Focusing on what’s important.” I follow his gaze and catch him staring at Kasey Henderson. He tracks her movements like a lion hunting its prey.
“You want Henderson’s little sister?”
He shrugs but doesn’t take his eyes off her.
“Dude. She’s a freshman.”
Another shrug.
“Whatever. If you want jailbait, go for it. You’ve got two months before she’s off limits so I suggest you work fast.”
He grins. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
