“She invited everyone. Her brother’s down from college for the weekend and her parents are in Cozumel. They’re throwing a huge party. Luke bought a bunch of kegs. It’s gonna be awesome,” he says, his grin growing wider. “Plus, we have to celebrate. Ohio State was here tonight and we played our asses off.”
Coach, having given me my C and let me play in the game, had been thrilled at my playing. Sure as hell a lot prouder than my old man could ever be. I killed it tonight and every one of those scouts saw, too. I guess a little celebration is in order.
“Leave the Jeep here and ride with me,” he says. “Come on.”
The drive over to Leah’s is filled with us reminiscing about the good plays. Brett’s our best wide receiver. He caught every ball I threw to him and ran it hard. I’m grinning—a real smile—by the time we reach her property. The giant field that leads up to her massive house is jam-packed with cars already.
We speak to several kids along the way to the house. People congratulate us and I’m feeling pretty high. Brett leads me into the kitchen where Luke is mixing drinks. He’s kind of pathetic to be hanging out with teenagers, but he seems to be drinking in the attention, especially from the girls. Brett and I each grab a red Solo cup. I taste test it and curl my lip up. Strong, but it tastes okay.
“Guess who?” a sultry voice says, covering my eyes from behind.
“Heidi?”
Heidi takes her hands off and then turns me to face her. She’s already wasted. I can smell the liquor on her when she falls into my arms.
“Been looking for you all night,” she purrs, her palm eagerly exploring my chest over my tan Henley.
“Just got here. How’ve you been?” I clutch her wrists and push her away from me.
“Meh,” she grumbles. “Better now that you’re here.”
“Where’s Leah?” Brett chimes in.
“Llama Leah?” she asks and then cackles with laughter. “Over there. She’s the one looking like she’s needing rescuing from the weirdos.”
Leah sits perched on a stool with three guys standing close to her. Two are pimple-faced dweebs who have serious personal space issues. One is a guy named Max. Max is a friend of Luke’s, but I’d bet if Luke knew he was hanging on his little sister, he might have something to say. From behind her round, owlish glasses, her big brown eyes meet mine.
She’s not my type, being a girl and all, but she’s not hideous. Leah has always been a little standoffish and kept to herself. Now that she’s coming into herself, guys are starting to notice. And she doesn’t seem too happy about it.
“Hey, Max,” I call out as I saunter over to them. “Hey, Leah.”
The dweebs slink off, not comfortable to be near Brett and me. We’re not assholes, but they don’t hang around to find out.
“Kicked ass at the game,” Max whistles.
Max and Brett launch into the specifics, so I step over to Leah and drape my arm over her shoulders.
“Is he bothering you?” I ask, my voice low.
She shrugs. “He thinks he’s going to get me drunk and get into my pants.”
“Is he?” I tease.
“No. He’s such a manwhore. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole,” she grumbles. “You going to hang around and let your friend bore him with football to give me a break?”
I chuckle at her. “You mean Leah Collins is choosing to talk to Penn McAlister? And the world isn’t ending? Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
She swats at me. “We used to talk.” Her head tilts up as she studies my face.
“When we were in elementary school. When our parents forced play dates on us.”
“I think they’d like for us to play again,” she mumbles. “Dad keeps asking me why we don’t talk anymore.”
“Because you’re too cool for me now.” I smirk at her.
She scoffs. “Have you looked in the mirror lately, Penn?”
I pull away slightly to mess with my hair. “What? Is there something wrong with me?”
“No, dork. You’re you. Everyone wants to hang out with you. But…” Her smile fades. “Are you okay?”
I stiffen at her words. “I’m fine. Why?”
“You just don’t smile much anymore. When you do, it’s not real. I may not talk to you much anymore, but I watch you a lot,” she admits.
“Creeper.”
She laughs and tucks a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. “You and Cope still haven’t made up? After all these years? What happened anyway?”
The line of questioning—sudden and out of nowhere—has me faltering. My blood grows icy cold. “We just parted ways.”
She opens her mouth like she’ll say more, but I escape. Back to the kitchen. Back to the liquor. After several shots, I learn Luke isn’t half bad. I’d prefer to hang out with him as he regales us of tales of how he’s already bedded half the university, than have to endure one more question about Copeland from Leah. When I’m good and buzzed, I venture out of the kitchen to look for Brett. I find him making out with some cheerleader he hates. Figures.