“Dante!” Penn calls out, waving over to where a few guys are standing, and I see him turn to face us. He smiles at Penn, but when he sees me, that smile turns smug as fuck and I kind of want to die.
“Penn, good to see you. You didn’t tell me your friend was Briar Moore.” He smirks at her before pulling her in for a hug.
“So you do know each other?” she asks, her gaze bouncing between us.
“You could say that,” he says with a laugh. “How you doing, Briar? You kinda disappeared over summer.”
“Yeah, sorry. I was in Cali. New phone too,” I say, awkwardly waving my phone in my hand. “Last one was kinda destroyed.”
“That means you’re actually going to call me back this time if I get your digits again?” His grin matches the one on Penn’s face, and I can feel the heat blaring from my red cheeks.
“Yeah, maybe,” I say with a shrug, pretending not to be mortified. It's not like Dante wasn’t a fun time, but I was dealing with some shit and he was a very pretty, very convenient escape. He did seem nice though, maybe I should give him a chance.
He laughs at me and shakes his head as he runs a hand over his buzzed black hair. “I do like it when you’re mean to me, Briar.”
“Okay, enough. Gross,” Penn interjects. “Give me the tickets and I’ll give you her number.”
“Hey!” I groan, and she flips me the bird, which just makes Dante laugh again.
“Got yourself a deal, Penn.”
She takes his phone and puts in what I assume is my number while I grumble under my breath about consent issues before taking the tickets from him. “Kick ass tonight.”
“There is no way we’re losing to those knuckle-dragging Neanderthals,” he says with a wink. “See you at the after-party?”
“You know it,” she answers and links her arm through mine again.
“See you later, Briar Moore,” Dante calls out as we walk away. I just lift my hand in a weird wave, the sound of his laughter haunting me as we keep walking.
“So you fucked him, huh?” Penn asks, giggling when I groan.
“Remind me why I’m going to this stupid game?”
She grins and tugs me to move faster. “Because I’m your new bestie and this is what besties do.”
* * *
After three hours of having no idea what was going on, but getting swept up in the energy of the crowd anyway, my legs ache, my throat is sore, and the electricity in the air from the win is so hyped that I’m bouncing as we head toward the party Dante was talking about earlier.
Even the awkwardness of knowing he’ll be there isn’t enough to turn down my hype. Maybe he’ll be fun to fuck around with this year. God knows I don’t want anything serious, and Dante doesn’t seem the type to want to be tied down.
It could be a win-win situation.
Connor is walking just up ahead with Penn—he met us after the game. Apparently, despite being her bestie,hewasn’t subjected to the actual game.
“Has Cole seen you wearing that?” I turn to find Sawyer walking behind me and roll my eyes. He catches up in an instant and drops into step beside me.
“Seen me wearing what?”
“Dante’s number,” he responds, like I’m stupid.
“Dante is Penn’s cousin. That’s all.” I sigh. Boys are ridiculous sometimes.
“That’s far from all,” he says with a smirk. “But then, I’m good with sharing.”
“So you’re actually talking to me now, then?” I ask, which sounds way more needy and dramatic than I meant it to.
“Oh, Beautiful, I was always talking to you. Travis just has his panties in a bunch about fucking his new stepsister. That whole forbidden fruit thing is a vibe, mix that with the potential fallout with daddy, add a touch of taboo fuckery, and it has him all kinds of twisted. He’s a lot of fun usually. You already learned that.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes again.