What Are The Chances (Phil-U #2)

51 There went that theory

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

There went that theory

RILEY

Walking into Will’s house tonight had been strange. Last time I’d been too drunk to realise the gravity. His house was the same, but different. Just like he was the same, but different. Just like we were the same, but different.

Grace topped up my glass with the cocktail she’d just made. I was sitting around the island counter with her and Lana, who turned out to be Levi’s sister.

Talk about a family getting hit with the beautiful stick. She was stunning enough to be part of the Kardashian’s inner circle. If she mentioned she’d walked the runway before, I wouldn’t be all that surprised.

Parker was in the living room playing beer pong with Ryan. I’d caught sight of them during one of my many scans for Will. I’d been here for a few hours now and we’d barely exchanged more than five words to each other. Perhaps that was because his friends still didn’t know about us.

Grace gleamed with excitement. “I heard you and Will are finally back together.”

There went that theory.

“Will told the guys last weekend,” she clarified.

I took a long sip of my drink. “He did?”

Lana playfully tapped my arm with her perfectly manicured fingers. “Wow, girl. I’ve never known Will to have a girlfriend.”

“You know him well?”

She nodded. “He’s the other older brother I didn’t ask for. Him and Levi were inseparable growing up. ”

The thought painted a cute picture. Grace must have felt the same, because a gentle smile slowly spread across her face.

“I’m not Will’s girlfriend,” I backtracked. “I used to be. But now things are, well, I don’t really know what.”

Grace pouted, her frustration clear. “You two need to sort things out so we can finally start double dating.” She suddenly paused, her head whipping back. “Wait, is that even what you want?”

I shrugged. I honestly didn’t know. I wanted Will, but wanting him had never been the problem. The age-old adage that you couldn’t have everything you wanted was the real issue. If it was just him and me, no outside world that got to weigh in, then I’d say yes in a heartbeat. Our chemistry was undeniable. But that couldn’t outweigh everything.

“I can’t believe half of the boys in the bachelor pad have settled down,” Lana whistled in disbelief.

Grace chuckled. “Who knows, maybe Ryan and Tripp will have girlfriends too by graduation.”

“My money is on Ryan,” Lana said. “The guy is a freaking smoke show.”

I stirred my drink, amused. “Do you really buy into the pretty boy thing?”

“Please.” Lana lounged back in her barstool. “The whole clean-cut thing is an act. That guy would be dirty as all hell in the bedroom.”

A bubble of laughter burst from Grace and me. I liked Lana. She had no filter. One of the traits of the Holloway confidence.

“I do like the easiness of Tripp though,” Lana confessed. “He always makes me laugh. And you should never discount the guy who makes you laugh.”

Grace regarded Lana with curiosity. “Would you ever–”

Lana didn’t allow Grace the chance to even finish the question. “God no! You of all people know how protective my brother is. He’s coded his brain to pretend I still haven’t kissed a boy. If I hooked up with one of his friends, the world would literally end.”

I could easily picture that scenario. Most hockey players were hot headed at the best of times. Add emotion to that, and things easily got out of hand.

Lana angled her body towards me. “Speaking of boys.”

I was starting to get the sentiment that Lana was always speaking about boys.

“Who was the hottie you were talking to after the game?”

I scrunched up my nose. Gross. Tanner was my brother, not a hottie, despite consistently being told otherwise.

“A friend,” I lied, feeling the same level of guilt I always experienced when I concealed the truth. “My friends, Marnie and Brooklyn, go to Allentown. Marnie is dating Tanner’s best friend and roommate. ”

On the hour drive back I’d sent a message to Tanner, checking in. I hated arguing with him. It made me uneasy. He hadn’t responded yet though, which made me worry he was super mad. He never ignored me.

I did another scan of the party, hoping to catch sight of Will. While I was having fun with Grace and Lana, I had come here for him, and hopefully also a repeat of the training room earlier today.

“Did your parents have fun tonight?” Grace asked Lana.

Lana dramatically rolled her large brown eyes. “They always have fun watching my brother play hockey. I swear if dad could be on the ice with Levi, he would be.”

I sipped my cocktail, which was freaking delicious. Grace could sell these at frat parties and make a fortune.

“Are you in town just to watch Holloway too?” I asked.

For the first time since meeting Lana, her confidence faltered a little. Her gaze cut to the left momentarily before returning to me.

“Kind of. I, ugh, just needed a break from Boston.”

It wasn’t a raging party tonight – mainly the team and the few girlfriends that existed hanging out. There were a whole group of cheerleaders though, including Summer Spritz and her insanely limited clothing, which also frustratingly looked insanely good.

Grace subtly rolled her eyes when Summer giggled. It was a high-pitched grating laugh, like the laughing equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard.

“Not a fan of Phil-U’s head cheerleader?” I teased.

Grace snorted. “She’s not a fan of me.”

I wasn’t sure how that was possible. Grace was crazily nice. Not liking her would be like not liking a puppy.

“She had a thing for Levi. I guess she thought something would happen again if I wasn’t in the picture,” Grace explained.

Lana flicked her thick brown hair over her shoulder. “Ugh. I hate her already.”

Grace chuckled softly.

“I’m serious,” Lana firmly said. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to my brother, Grace. Anything that gets in the way of that earns its way onto my blacklist.”

It was sweet watching Grace and Levi’s sister interact. It made me wonder what it would be like if Tanner and Will were to spend time with each other.

Before I could fixate on the idea, I blinked the possibility away. It could never happen, I knew that. So why bother pretending it could.