Against the Rules (Even The Score #4)

89. king

CHAPTER 89

KING

TO CORNY SHIT

Even if it wasn’t exactly how we planned it, it was so much better now that our friends knew. Light years better. Before the seniors dinner, we hung out in Ryan and Kassie’s dorm while Adam lined up the shot glasses in a big circle.

"Summer’s over, babycakes," he announced. "We’re drinking to this shit."

The girls were in the bedroom, finishing up makeup and hair, after Adam apologized to Willow for being an asshole at the pharmacy. The apology ended when Willow told him and Piper about Jade the Architect and the show she had tonight that she was playing drums for, which was an open invitation for them to join.

Adam’s eyes flickered to mine. "Jesus, do you think about that?"

"Hm?"

"This time, next year, the three of us are probably going to be sprinkled across the states, Kassie’s going to be in Florida or California, Piper and Willow will be here, but we’re dispersing, dude. We won’t be bothering the fuck out of each other."

"You’ll still find a way to fuck with everybody," Ryan assured him and downed his shot.

Adam grabbed his glass. "Asshole, that’s for the toast."

"Wait a minute," Kassie’s voice flowed from the bedroom and she stepped out in a gown. "I seem to remember you being a jackass at cards, saying this friend group won’t last."

"I’m reconsidering. In the apocalypse, we’ll need fresh meat, and that’s easier to get if you trust me."

Piper pushed open the door. "We? Who’s we?"

"You. I’m not letting my wife starve." Adam craned his neck. "Willow, hurry the hell up, the shots are getting cold," he joked.

"I’m coming!"

Willow finally followed out of the bedroom and I stared.

A pale yellow dress flowed off of her, clinging to her curves. Her thick curls were slicked back and pulled into a bun, her face was clear and bright, those dark whiskey eyes sparkling. I couldn’t form words, much less continue any remaining thoughts, while she just stood there, like she wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life.

Adam snapped his fingers in front of me and I jerked over.

"Wake up, King! No boners in here, it’s a no-boner zone."

I shoved him away, unable to keep back the grin while the rest of them laughed. Willow’s was the best out of all of them.

Kassie slid over her shot glass. "What are we toasting to?"

"Nothing goes wrong tonight," Ryan said. "One regular night where something doesn’t happen, one normal night."

The banquet marked the end of summer training and the beginning of the fall season. We had an official countdown in the training center for the first football game and the anticipation was fucking contagious.

While everyone else was excited for tonight though, I had a twenty-four-hour countdown on my phone, ticking until the dinner with Lawson and Joyce, where I would publicly earn that boyfriend title.

Twenty-four hours until everything changed.

"We can toast to friendship?" Piper asked.

"To love," Willow suggested.

"Ugh." Adam groaned. "Corny."

I held up my shot glass. "We can toast to each other. No matter what happens—and a lot of stuff is going to happen—we’ll still be there for each other. It doesn’t matter how far apart we are, that’s the unimportant shit, because we’ll still come back to each other."

"I’ll drink to that," Ryan said instantly.

"Fuck yeah, we’ll come back together," Adam agreed. "Our kids have to go to Marrs and we’ll start all this shit up again."

Kassie hovered her shot glass in the middle of the table. "We’re going to be late if we don’t stop auditioning to be philosophy majors—clink the glasses!"

The glasses clinked together, liquor spilling over the sides, Adam complained about it, but we downed the shots anyway, and Willow almost sputtered hers out.

"That burns, " she coughed.

The rest of them laughed while I got her some water before we left. All our families would be at the student center, everybody ready to celebrate with us. Before we walked outside though, I caught her lips for a quick kiss in the dorm, she tasted like liquor and home.

At the dinner. Ryan’s mom gave me a big hug and Jasmine screamed when she saw us, racing over in a bright pink dress before she wrapped her arms around Willow’s legs.

"You look so beautiful, " she whispered. "You look like a princess."

"Doesn’t King look good too?"

I grinned. "Don’t I look like a princess too?"

The only ones late were Cleo and Miles, but it was great to see them. Cleo’s time with the Gladiators was finally over and we’d been waiting to get our PR expert back. We crowded the table to see them but Cleo sipped her champagne, strangely quiet.

"It’s so weird seeing the War Room without you," Piper confessed. "We missed you."

Cleo squeezed me back when I gave her a side hug, but her voice was quiet. "I’m not coming back."

Everyone snapped to attention and Miles raised his glass. "All of you are still expected at the wedding."

"What do you mean you’re not coming back?" Kassie pressed, shocked.

"I asked for a permanent transfer to the Gladiators."

Adam’s mouth fell open. "But the Birchwood Bowl—we have to kick ass again this year, how are we supposed to do that without you, tying ties and throwing hot coffee on people?"

"Trust me, they need me a lot more than you do. This entire summer with hockey has been…I’m going to miss all of you, but you don’t need me anymore. They do."

There really wasn’t anything to say. Even if we’d miss Cleo, we were all supportive, and if this was what she wanted, it was what we wanted. More glasses clinked together and that was it. Our time together was coming to an end.

"Willow?" My mom approached from the side, apologetic. "Sorry, can I talk to you?"

I glanced back, confused, but Willow quickly nodded and walked off with my mom. I tried to catch sight of where they were going but they disappeared into the crowd while Jasmine hung out with us.

"Wait, Cleo," Adam said. "Did you know King’s sleeping with the coach’s stepdaughter?"

Her mouth fell open. " What? "

I grabbed him by the shoulder. "Adam, goddammit, that’s not public knowledge yet."

"Fuck, that’s right. Never mind, forget until tomorrow."

"King." Cleo’s eyes bulged. "You what?! "