Page 31 of Trusting You
“Another night, another party, more chicks.” Ben gave an exaggerated eye roll, clearly blitzed. “Blah.”
“I’m not into pong,” I say. “Should we throw some ball outside? Get some poker going?”
To be honest, I was also losing interest in this party, in the sameness of it all. Senior year. Routine was all well and good on the field, but take me out onto concrete and spontaneity was what I craved. Not another house party, another exam, another day of training. I felt for Ben.
“Nah, all done and done.” As if on chance, but it was purely planned, Ben put those two girls back in his sights. “Which one, Locke?”
I laughed, but it was suspicious. “What are you talking about, man?”
“Which one do you want?”
I shook my head, playing with Laura’s hair. “Neither.”
“Liar.”
“Fine. The brunette,” I said. “‘Cause I got a blonde right here.”
On cue, Laura giggled again, then whispered, “Let’s go somewhere.”
“Soon,” I said to her. Despite my boredom, my cock was calling for some action.
“I dare you to bag the blonde, then. The other one.”
My attention strayed to Ben. “Dude, no.”
“Yes!” Asher pumped the air. “A wager. Better than any poker game, because I suck at it.”
“I’m not betting on a chick,” I said, “when I can get any chick I want.”
“Bet you can’t get that one,” Ben said.
“You’re an ass.”
“You’re a pussy.”
“If you fuck her, I’ll give you five hundred bucks,” Asher jumped in.
Both Ben and I said, “You fuckin’ kidding?”
We knew he wasn’t. Asher came from prime old money stock. His family had more money than some countries. College was more a way for him to pass the time, and, I often ribbed him, a place where he could make friends.
“Nope,” he said. “Let’s boost the odds a bit. You’ve got a lady on your arm—sorry, Laura—but, go for the girl who has the best chance of saying no to you. Prove us wrong, Locke. Show us the Hayes legacy remains strong.”
“You’re both dicks,” I muttered.
“That’s ‘cause you won’t use yours.”
I don’t know which one of them said it. It didn’t matter. I was bored, used to nailing challenges, and figured, why not give that girl a story? She could have one night with the best, something she could tell her grandkids one day.
Little did I fuckin’ know, I’d be related to those grandkids.
Falling back into the present, my apartment ceiling re-enters into focus.
That’s what I don’t want Carter to find out. That I slept with her friend on a dare, when I really would have preferred to sleep with her. Clearly, Paige never filled Carter in on the specifics. And yeah, I accepted a thousand bucks cash for it. I’d upped the ante with Asher on precedent.
Fuck, Carter would hate me more than she does now.
I’d always been interested in women. Who wouldn’t be, when your first experience with them was being propositioned by an older lady at a convenience store at fifteen years old buying Red Bulls?