Page 52 of The Draft
Grumbling into my burrito, I took another bite, hoping that would hide my discontent. Thankfully, I was a grumpy asshole on the best of days, so Alex hadn’t noticed much of a difference.
Sitting next to me, Alex had eaten his entire burrito and was watching Madison intently. So intently that he hadn’t noticed the toes of her shoes were peeking out from under the checkered tablecloth right on my crotch.
I gave her a look of warning, but she didn’t heed it. Instead, she pressed her foot down, caressing my cock more. Should I be surprised? She never did listen. She had to have been some kind of contortionist, because how the hell was she able to sit up even though she was toying with me like that? Seriously, her back was straight as a rod, and she had this unaffected smile on her face. There was no way anyone would believe that she was fondling a dick with her foot right now.
“Laser tag?” Alex glared at me with an upturned lip. “I know you have no idea how to have fun, but laser tag?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Agreed. Dash is the king of all party poopers.” That was it. I grabbed her foot and pressed my thumb into her ankle as a warning. If she was going to continue to taunt me, then I was going to get my own back. Madison’s eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly masked it with over animated fake shock.
“He even said no to a dinosaur bounce house.”
“Madison,” I growled in warning as I pushed her foot away and dropped it as far from my body as I could. It was the first time I noticed Alex side-eyeing me, and I realized it was probably because I looked like I was jacking myself off under the table.
“I didn’t say no to laser tag. I wasn’t aware that it was an option.” She’d taken this too far and gotten so detailed into this party planning lie that I already knew this was going to happen.
She raised a brow. “But you said no to the bounce house.”
“That’s because it’s a bounce house, and there will be a bunch of hockey-playing men there. It will be ripped to shreds in minutes.”
Madison raised a brow, her lip quirking in amusement. “Men? You really think highly of yourselves, don’t you?”
I’d show her exactly what kind of man I was once we got out of this stupid lunch with my teammate.
“Honestly, you’re missing out. This bounce house is not just any bounce house. It’s awesome.” She turned to Alex, knowing full well she’d get a better reception. “Like I said, it’s the shape of a dinosaur, and you have to enter it via his mouth. Then, you go through an inflatable assault course in his stomach until you reach the tail, where you get pooped out.”
“Sounds perfect for the king of party poopers.” Alex elbowed me on the side, and I grumbled in annoyance. It didn’t matter that this party was fake, I wasn’t going to be attending it. It sounded awful.
“Cade’s turning twenty-one. Not five.”
“Anyone who doesn’t want to relive their youth needs an injection of happiness,” she said, and I stopped myself from smiling because I agreed. I needed her. She was the sunshine to my rain and didn’t even appreciate it.
“Still, I think the whole thing sounds awesome,” Alex said, looking over at Madison with approval. She smiled back, and the only positive thing I could think was that at least Alex was so focused on this imaginary party that he stopped putting the pieces together and working out what was really going on between Madison and me.
“Thank you. You know what? Alex, you’re invited.”
Alex raised his hand for a high-five, and Madison eagerly accepted. “You can be my date,” he said jokingly as they dropped their hands. Madison laughed, subtly glancing over at me and winking.
“Well, that’s great. We’ve got at least three people coming now.” I rolled my eyes, wondering how much a pooping dinosaur bounce house would cost because that would no doubt come out of my signing bonus.
Alex took a sip of his drink but quickly drew it away because he started choking. I patted his back while he brought a fist to his chest, heaving in air. When his breathing finally steadied, he looked over at me with bugged-out eyes and red cheeks. The guy looked like a fish out of water.
“Everything okay?”
His eyes were frozen on me, and he nodded quickly. “I’m, I’m good.” He didn’t sound good, and his eyes kept shifting to the other side of the table like there was a giant spider on the booth that he was too afraid to tell anyone about. Even though his breathing had returned to normal, his cheeks were flaming with heat.
I looked to the side, trying to catch Madison’s eye, but she seemed oblivious to my friend’s sudden change in demeanor. She touched her phone, watching it brighten up, and her shoulders straightened. “Is that the time? Oh, whoops, I’ve got to get to my next class. I enjoyed this. Let’s get together next week and plan this thing.”
“Yup. See you soon,” Alex squeaked out. Was he still choking?
Seemingly oblivious, Madison smiled. “See you guys later.”
She slid out of the booth, and as she left, she brushed her hand across mine. My dick twitched. Damn it. I knew it was a bad decision to have sex with Madison, but I didn’t realize that every time she’d touch me thereafter, I’d instantly get a boner. By the time she’d walked out and I’d stopped discreetly staring at her ass, I turned my attention to Alex, who was still red-faced and flustered.
“Alex, are you having an allergic reaction to the burrito? Your face is still blotchy and red. Can you breathe?”
He huffed out a breath and shook his head before swallowing. “No, it’s not that. It’s that.” He pointed at the exit as though that was enough of an answer.
I looked at the door, then back to him, and realized that he must have figured it all out. How could he not? There was something going on with Madison and me. He could tell. Or he saw her caressing my dick with her foot because that was an obvious giveaway. “It’s what?” I played dumb.