Chapter Twenty-Two Danny
“Y ou made it!” When I spotted Taryn near the bar, I stood from our booth in the back of Stromboli’s and waved to her.
Behind her, Zoe gave me a discreet thumbs-up, and I grinned. Good to know I had an ally when my girl got skittish.
The expression on T’s face alerted me she could bolt any second, so I said, “Slide in.” Shooting Finn a warning look, I said, “Make room for nice girls.”
“What does that mean?” Taryn asked as she slid into the booth between me and Bax.
Bax answered for me. “It means Finn can’t distinguish between jersey chasers and girls worth hanging out with.”
“Damn it, you two. You don’t need to taint my rep with people I just met,” Finn complained.
“Finnegan,” Tarvi intoned from his seat in the corner of the booth. “No whining.” Then he turned on the charm. “I’m Tarvarius Johnson—and you are...?” he asked Zoe.
“Turned on,” she said and slapped her hand over her mouth. When Tarvi gifted her with his thousand-watt smile, she dropped her hand and whispered, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Keith Powers from Famous in Love ?”
Tarvi chuckled. “I might have heard that before.”
The other three of us football players let out a collective groan.
“He’s kind of a player, but so hot.”
Her orgasmic sigh was kind of embarrassing for the rest of us.
Awkwardly lifting her hand in the crowded space between Tarvi and Finn, Zoe introduced herself. “Zoe Lampee. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tarvarius.”
Going for the whole cheesy move, Tarvi lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. “I go by Tarvi.” He grinned as she sighed again, and I think I spoke for the rest of the table when I say we were each worried about how far the two of them would take their introduction in a public place. Instead, Tarvi toned it down a notch when he turned his attention to Taryn. “Nice to see you, again. I didn’t know you had something going with one of my teammates.” He dialed down the thousand-watt smile he’d bestowed on Zoe to five hundred watts for Taryn, which didn’t improve my attitude when I remembered he’d frequented the Coffee Kiosk at the beginning of the semester.
T lifted a brow. “You spent your time talking to my coworker.”
I grinned at her sardonic tone. If anyone could put my cocky teammate in his place, it would be Taryn.
“Oh, yeah. Heidi.” He scrunched his face. “Or Hadley.” His smile returned. “The one with the braid.”
“Hailey.”
He snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s it. She likes going to football parties.” His mouth turned down. “And you don’t. Is that why you don’t even show up when the party’s at your place?” he asked me.
“I kind of outgrew them when I was in the service,” I said as I let my arm rest across the back of Taryn’s shoulders.
“How come you don’t like football parties?” Finn asked Taryn. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at one, so I’m not sure you can pass judgment.”
Bax raspberried out a breath. “Finnegan, so many people hit our parties—how would you know who comes and who doesn’t?” Tossing back the last drink of his beer, he reached across the table to where Tarvi had hogged the pitcher and poured another mugful.
“Now you’re dating Danny, maybe you’ll come to the party tonight.” The cheesy waggling of his brows cracked me up. “Help us celebrate that awesome touchdown he scored.”
At Finn’s rather pushy invite, I sensed Taryn stiffen beneath my arm.
“Or we can celebrate privately,” I whispered in her ear.
At my words, her body went as rigid as cement.
Shit . Guess she took that a different way than I’d meant it. Not that I’d be adverse to that kind of celebration. In fact, my dick went half hard at the thought of it. But her response said we had a ways to go before we were on that page together.
“I like parties, and I mostly like Danny—enough to cheer for him anyway,” Zoe piped up, laughter in her voice. “I’ve yet to go to a football party though.”
“You should come to ours tonight,” Tarvi invited. “It’s our turn to host, even though Patty is whining about it—something about his midterm projects scattered through the house.” His snort of disgust spoke volumes of what he thought of our QB Mick Patterson’s excuse. “But we’re going to have fun anyway. We’d enjoy entertaining classy girls like you.”
Conversation stopped with the arrival of our pizzas. Hanging out with guys who had NIL contracts with the pizzeria came with serious perks. We’d already demolished two pitchers of beer before the girls arrived, and now three extra-large pies covered the table.
Handing Taryn a plate, I said, “Help yourself.” Glancing across the table, I added, “You, too, Zoe,” as I passed a plate to her before handing the rest out to the guys.
Since everyone—the girls included—was starving, we bailed into the food, filling our mouths with succulent meat lovers’ slices, to the point we didn’t talk.
As she ate dinner, I sensed Taryn marginally relaxing beside me. With the party set to go at Tarvi, Patty, and Fitz’s house, I’d had an idea to invite Taryn over to my place. After all my bedroom alone was half the size of her entire apartment. But with the way she’d reacted to my teasing, I amended those plans. While we’d been best friends for years, this thing between us was new. I didn’t want to spook her back into the friend zone by moving too fast.
In short order, one pie disappeared. Then a group of jersey chasers arrived, and I watched in amused fascination as Finn tried to straddle the line between telling them to get lost while trying not to hurt their feelings or piss them off.
Then one of them—the leader I think since she talked the most—said, “After your heroics on the field today, the party’s at your place, huh?”
“Actually—”
Before he could finish, Bax took care of it. “We haven’t decided where the party is tonight, except it isn’t our turn to host for another couple of weeks. Guess you’ll have to keep checking social media.”
“Bax, it’s not nice to string us along like this.” Though the girl was smiling, something steely girded her tone.
“Tory, we’re trying to let you down easy, but no matter where the party is, bouncers will be stationed at the door. Those fake IDs you keep using and losing in this place”—he glanced around the bar—“won’t work at all with guys who know exactly who you are.” The expression in his eyes as he watched her over the top of his mug was the exact same expression I’d seen more than once when I’d faced him across the line of scrimmage in practice. Smart people took that on with extreme caution.
From the way she planted her hand on her hip and stared him down, this Tory girl was either cockier than Tarvi or plain ol’ stupid.
“Come on, Bax. You know you don’t want to be like this.”
“I’m sorry, Tory. It’s out of our hands. None of the teams can take a chance on the university suspending players because of something that happened with an underage person at one of our parties. That’s what I keep trying to tell you.” Finn looked genuinely apologetic.
Right then the bouncer from the front door materialized beside the girls. “Huh. Guess you guys sneaked past the temp sitting in for me while I took my break. But you know the drill, ladies. Time to go.”
Zoe and Taryn exchanged wide-eyed looks while the girl argued with the bouncer.
“Do you know who my dad is?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Not the owner of Stromboli’s, and not the cops.” The guy pinched the bridge of his nose. “With the place this packed”—he glanced toward the bar where people were waiting four deep for a drink—“I’d rather not deal with a scene.”
The girl, Tory, gave off a vibe of absolutely wanting to create a scene. Guess the bouncer had her number about that too.
“Whether you leave quietly like the grownup you’re pretending to be or I pick you up and haul you out of here like a toddler, either way you’re leaving. Now.”
Ignoring him, she turned her charm on Tarvi. “Tarvarius, you want us to come to the party, don’t you?” she simpered. After the way she’d talked earlier, her change in tactics came off as fake as her eyelashes.
In one of the few times in our acquaintance I’d ever seen him serious, Tarvi stared her straight in the eye and said, “I love playing football. What I don’t love is the way you try to play my friends. Get lost, Tory.”
Finn choked on the sip of beer he’d just taken, while Bax let loose a feral grin.
The bouncer hid his own smile as he stepped closer to the girls. “Looks like you’ve worn out your welcome with the team too. Easy or hard, doesn’t matter. Time to go, ladies.”
The Tory girl flipped the switch again. Honestly, her mood changes came close to giving me whiplash. “You’ll be sorry. All of you,” she growled as she toured the players at the table with her gaze.
With a flounce of her long blond hair, she spun on her heel and said to the girls with her, “We don’t need these guys. We’ll find a good time with real men over at the Pike house.”
Before the girls, who were obviously jersey chasers, had moved out of earshot, Zoe flashed rounded eyes at Tarvi and Bax. “Who was that girl?”
“The epitome of bad news,” Bax answered as he piled another slice onto his plate.
“Her dad’s one of the team’s biggest donors, Bax. Might want to keep that in mind when you’re being an ass to her,” Finn mumbled into his beer.
“She’s an entitled princess.” The disgust in Tarvi’s voice had me doing a double-take.
“I thought you liked all the girls,” I blurted. Then I aimed an apologetic shrug at Zoe, who’d made her interest in the guy crystal clear the second she slid into the booth. Tarvarius Johnson was a monumental flirt. Probably better she found that out from the beginning.
He shot a flirty smile Zoe’s way. “I do like girls, but I have discriminating taste.”
The look Zoe shot me said she was an inch from sticking her tongue out at me, and I had to grin.
“From the way she acted, that girl could be Kaitlyn Frost’s little sister,” Taryn said quietly.
“Without a doubt,” Zoe seconded. “I knew she reminded me of someone awful.”
“Who’s Kaitlyn Frost?” Finn asked.
“Someone you do not want to know.” I tipped back a swig of beer.
“Luckily, she goes to school at Wyoming, so you’ll never have to meet her,” Zoe said. “Especially since it seems you have enough on your plates putting up with her spirit sister.” She shuddered, and I noticed Tarvi inching a little closer to her.
“We don’t want Tory Miller at our party, but we’d love to have you.” Tarvi turned on the charm again, his brown skin making his best smile even brighter. His hooded bedroom eyes left no one at the table in doubt about his interest in Zoe. The guy was shameless.
For a long beat—that made it awkward for the rest of us—the two of them stared at each other before Zoe turned her gaze on T.
“What do you say, Taryn? We could go for a little while, see what it’s all about.” Her wheedling tone said she knew my girl well.
Taryn’s stiff body said one thing: her mouth another. “Maybe if we stop by my place first so I can drive my own car...”
“I’ll drive you home whenever you want,” I said. “Better yet, I’ll give you the keys to my car when we’re at the party.”
She heard my unspoken offer: I won’t leave you this time .
Pulling in a long breath, she nodded at last. “Okay. But when I’ve had enough, I’m leaving.” Though she trained her gaze on Zoe, I understood her words included me too.
“You really don’t like parties, do you?” Finn asked Taryn.
“Some parties are fine. I’ve just not had great experiences with football parties.”
“Yeah, but we’re not in high school anymore,” Zoe reminded her.
Taryn shot Zoe a look down her nose. “The way that Tory girl and her buddies acted implies exactly the same people attend football parties in college as in high school.”
Leaning his forearm on the table, Bax caught my eye. “Apparently, you threw lame parties back in the day. Maybe it’s good you haven’t helped us with ours so far.” To Taryn, he said, “You’ll have fun tonight. We won a big game today, and Fitz and Tarvi always get the best people to DJ when the bash is at their place.” He reached his fist across the table for Tarvi to bump. “You’ll have fun,” he pronounced—a foregone fact.
The tension I sensed in my girl’s body said she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t argue either.
“This will be a real celebration with one of the heroes of the game in attendance,” Finn said, lifting his mug to me.
“From what I saw, you were all heroes out there. That strip sack you had was impressive.” Zoe smiled at Finn. “It’s no wonder you recovered the fumble on that play,” she said to Bax, “what with you living together and everything. You probably talk strategy all the time.”
“A girl who knows football. You’re just becoming more and more interesting,” Tarvi said. “Did you enjoy the offense too?”
She shot him a flirty side-eye. “Danny and Callahan O’Reilly had pretty big games.”
He snorted a laugh.
Throwing him a bone, she added, “A certain running back looked pretty good out there too.”
I bumped Taryn’s shoulder with my own as we watched her friend’s antics with my teammate, and we shared a grin.
“Looks like the offense is beating the defense in the post-game.” Tarvi waggled his brows at me. To Bax and Finn, he said, “You two might have some luck at the party.”
I wasn’t sure Bax had heard him since he was busy texting someone, and I couldn’t get a read on Finn’s expression, though I had the distinct impression he wouldn’t be looking to hook up with anyone at the party. Come to think of it, ever since Homecoming, he’d been subdued.
Huh.
When the check came, both Taryn and Zoe reached for their wallets.
Tarvi put his hand over Zoe’s at the same time as I covered Taryn’s.
“You keep going up in my esteem, girl,” Tarvi said. “But we’ll get the tip.”
Her eyes saucered. “You want us to buy dinner? For four football players?”
With a laugh, he clarified. “The three of us—Bax, Finn, and I—have NIL contracts with this place. On game days, the pizza and beer are on the house. But we always leave a tip, so we need the check to know what that is.”
The girls exchanged a look.
“Since Danny-boy doesn’t have an NIL contract yet, he gets to pitch in a little extra to cover his share,” Finn said with a smirk, and I flipped him the bird. “When you get one with the tire shop, maybe we all can snag a discount, and we’ll let you eat with us for free.”
As we threaded our way through the throng of people filling the bar, I snagged T’s hand. When I gave hers a reassuring squeeze, she returned it, and I grinned.
Some girl in front of me must have thought that grin was for her because she said, “Wow, you’re even hotter up close. Wanna join us?”
I had no idea who “us” was considering all the people squished together talking, laughing, and trying not to spill their drinks. Still, one thing my roommates had drilled into me since I moved into the house was to be nice to fans in public.
“Another time. We’re headed out.” I tugged T up beside me and slipped my arm around her, pulling her tight to my side. “But you have a good night,” I said to the girl.
For a second her face fell, but as I maneuvered T around the group, I saw the girl’s face light up again. Guess Bax must’ve been directly behind us. Who knew? Maybe he’d have a date for Tarvi’s party after all.
On the sidewalk outside the pizzeria, I sucked in some air. Navigating a crowd of excited football fans in a bar was not for the faint of heart, especially as someone who’d contributed to their happiness. At least T’s expression was more bemused than terrified, which boded well for how I wanted our relationship and the rest of the season to go. I needed my girl to play along with this side of the game too. I’d set a bad tone in high school. So far in my first college season, I’d been working my ass off to set a better one. Hopefully, she saw that.
“It’s kind of crazy hanging out with local celebrities,” Zoe said as she sidled up beside Tarvi.
“After your show next week, you’ll be a local celebrity too,” Taryn said. “Who will I hang out with then?” She accompanied the words with a flicker of a smile, but I heard everything she didn’t say.
“What happens next week?” Tarvi asked.
“Zoe has a lead in the university production of Rent . After people see the show, she’s going to be a star too.”
Tarvi slipped his arm across Zoe’s shoulders. “Better and better and better. It was fate that brought you here tonight.”
She winked up at him and slid her arm around his waist.
He tossed his keys to Finn. “Take my car. I’ll ride with Zoe, make sure she finds the house okay.”
Finn snagged Tarvi’s keys from the air with a scowl. “The party’s on Jock Street. Everyone knows where that is. The noise coming out of the house will clue people in about which of us is hosting tonight’s bash.”
“Has no one ever told you never to assume?” Tarvi asked. “Come on, Hollywood. Let’s go have some fun.”
Zoe beamed at him. As they headed up the block, she called over her shoulder, “See you at the party, Taryn.”
“Brat.” Taryn gazed after her. “Now I don’t have a choice.”
Tightening my arm around her, I said, “You always have a choice.”