Chapter 8
Addison grabs the phone and reads the open text message. She stares at the text for a moment and then glances up at me.
“Are you okay?” she asks, handing the phone back.
The air feels dry and cold tonight. It’s constricting my throat.
Addie must think I’m pissed off about the breakup, but receiving this text was a godsend.
We had a minor argument over text about who was breaking up with who, but in the end, Hailey and I decided to end things.
What I’m actually pissed off about is my best friend missing my game, so that she could work when she doesn’t have to fucking work.
I have an endless amount of money that I don’t know what to do with.
The least I can do is help my best friend financially.
And I did. I called her landlord, which was a pain in the ass.
It took me an hour to talk to this man, haggle out a deal, bribe him to keep quiet, and all that just for Addie to say, “I made two hundred in tips.” I wanted to tell her that’s my fucking pocket change.
But she wants to earn her money, and I guess that’s enough for me to keep my mouth shut because I respect it.
“I think I’m just in shock you would tell your dad you’re dating me.
I knew you wanted to break up with Hailey, but I–” Addie trails off, halting my spiral.
It’s even more annoying that she thinks my problem lies with Hailey.
Hailey has barely been a problem. Actually, she was a fine girlfriend, and I wish her the best.
“Why me?” she asks.
I turn to her and say, “My dad brought you up. He blamed you for how shitty I played, so I said it to shut him up. He said he can’t believe that a grown man has a woman for a best friend, so I said you are more than that.
Then he said, so she’s your girlfriend? And I said yeah.
” I’m staring at the ground, but then I look up at her.
“I’m sorry, Baddie. We had just lost the game and I was pissed off.
” She’s staring at nothing right now as I search her face for what she’s thinking.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize again.
“So, we pretend?” she asks, not a hint of anger in her tone.
My stomach curdles at that thought, knowing damn well that pretending is not what I want to do. In fact, I should tell her right now that I want the real thing. Lay it all on the line for her.
My phone rings, filling the silence. We keep eye contact for another second and then I glance at the screen and huff. “The guys are doing something tonight and they want me to go.”
“Are you going to go?” she asks, concerned.
I look over at her. “Only if you go.”
“Are you okay to go?” she asks in a protective tone.
I nod. “Yeah. Should I answer it?”
The phone is almost done ringing, so I drop it on the counter. That’s when I notice two Baddie Addie coffee cups on the counter, so I point at them and give Addie a questionable look.
“Oh, that’s for us. It’s not coffee. I made us turmeric lattes to relax after the game,” she says, making her way over. I take a sip and love the creamy richness of milk and the gentle note of turmeric.
“Thank you,” I say as my phone starts blowing up with texts from the boys.
Chase: We're gonna go to Colton's
Colton: Yeah so get your ass over here
Andrew: Couch is empty without the fourth amigo bro
Chase: Why aren't you answering?
Colton: I thought you were showering and then coming over
Colton: Unless...
Colton: Is she there?
Chase: Bring her over here
Chase: We'll help you out
: We will
Colton: Yeah
Colton: Besties Forever
I shake my head, chuckling under my breath. These idiots have no idea what they're in for. Addie's eyebrows raise questioningly as she sips her drink.
“What are they saying?” she asks curiously.
“Uh,” I stall, scratching my jaw and praying she doesn't ask to read the increasingly embarrassing texts. “I told them I was going to shower and head out, but–”
“You can go,” Addie says with a shrug, taking another swig.
I mirror her, sipping my own drink as my phone continues to erupt with incoming messages. The constant pinging is getting annoying, so I silence it. “Let's both go.”
She shrugs. “Okay, yeah.”
I’m nervous to find out exactly how the guys are going to ‘help’ me with Addison, but here we go.
We stroll into Colton's place a little later to find the boys at the dining room table, playing a random card game. As soon as they spot us, the hooting and hollering begins. My first mistake is not realizing that they’re already buzzed.
“Hey!” Colton shouts, excited. “Look who finally made it! My man, the China Wall, and oh, who's this?”
Addie smirks at his joke and says, “Humpty Dumpty.”
Colton barks out a laugh and brings her into a bear hug, lifting her clean off the ground. I watch closely, ready to step in if his drunken enthusiasm makes her uncomfortable, but she seems totally at ease, even hugging him back.
“That's the worst joke I've ever heard,” Colton informs her as he sets her back on her feet. “You’re not going to fall off the wall.”
I glance at her, not realizing that’s what she meant.
“Unless…oh,” Colton says, nodding his head like he understands some secret code language that my mind is racing to uncover.
Chase swoops in next with a hug, stealing both of our attention from Colton. Andrew offers Addie a drink, which she politely declines. I grab a beer for myself and sit at the table, trying not to overthink the Humpty Dumpty comment.
Addie takes a seat next to me as Chase asks her, “How's the coffee shop?”
Addie beams, always happy to talk about her pride and joy. “It's going well. Yeah, it’s been fun. What about you guys? I watched the game.”
Colton adds, “On a screen.”
Chase chuckles. “Yeah, you can’t be missing this man’s games from now on. We have a bet going.”
“A bet?” she questions, looking over at me like I forgot to tell her a secret.
Chase nods. “Yeah, so if you can’t make it and we lose, he wins.”
Baddie glares at me now like I’ve done this on purpose, but I shake my head and shrug. Chase said he would help, and it’s funny that this is what he had in mind.
Baddie says, “I think the Saints would’ve kicked your asses either way though.”
I laugh, rubbing my chest. “Ouch! Damn, Bads.”
“Whoa!” Chase shouts.
Colton holds up his hands. “Hey, hey, hey now.” Andrew shakes his head.
She laughs, holding up her hands in surrender. “I'm kidding. I’m kidding. It was totally because I wasn’t there.” Now she steals my beer and steals a sip, enjoying the silence of her cruel teasing.
“It's a good thing you're Ryan's girlfriend now,” Chase says with an exaggerated head turn in my direction. “Otherwise,” he trails off.
I feel the color drain from my face. This is their idea of helping? Baddie plays it cool, waiting to hear what Colton will say because he is pointing his finger at her.
“Yeah,” he says, holding in his burp. “Ryan told us all about this new little uh, arrangement, you two have going on. We know everything.”
“Everything?” Baddie asks, glancing at me amused. “Like what?”
Oh god, she would ask the drunkest one for details. I try to catch Chase's gaze, silently pleading for him to shut this down, but he's deeply invested in what’s going to happen next.
“Well, maybe not everything,” Andrew argues, and I’m thankful for it.
Colton waves him off impatiently. “No, no, I know everything, bro!”
I clear my throat loudly, but it does absolutely nothing to deter him.
“I know our boy Ryan here has had it bad for you for years,” Colton states with a serious head nod.
“Years?” Addie asks, impressed. I could crawl into a hole right now.
"Years!" he confirms, nodding so hard that I’m afraid he’s trying far too hard to be convincing. “And you don't have to worry about Hailey at all, he never shuts up about you.”
“Really?” She turns to look at me and I can only shrug helplessly. I think that’s the look of save-me . When she turns back to him, I silently chuckle, my chest only bouncing. Chase finally turns his attention to me. He’s enjoying that I’m squirming.
“Yup!” Colton points and shrugs at me. “Look at him over there, he's got it so bad for you. But I get it, I get it, this is new for you guys. Fucking Ryan, man. He’s a good guy, Addie. You’re lucky. One lucky girl.”
Now I’m wiping my face because that was not helpful at all. I should've known they'd find a way to make this as humiliating as possible.
Andrew tries to do some damage control by changing the conversation back to her coffee shop.
She seems to be taking this all lightly, but now I need to come up with quick answers because right now the guys are acting as if they don’t know about the fake girlfriend thing.
And because these assholes are playing it off, do I have to go with the lie?
I make my way to the kitchen for a breather and Chase follows.
He walks over to me and mutters, “I tried helping but Colton, man.”
“He’s coco,” I say, and Chase laughs. I pat his shoulder. “It’s all good. No one’s in trouble.”
“Easy going Ryan Wilder. Man, I don’t know how Coach is your dad sometimes. You’re fucking cool as ice, dude. Your dad? Cold as ice.”
I laugh. “Still made from the same substance. Ice is ice.”
He lowers his voice. “So, you didn’t answer your phone earlier?”
I glance over to where Baddie’s laughing at Colton's drunken antics. “Yeah, she was already at my place when I got home.”
Chase nods approvingly. “That’s a good sign. What'd she say about the whole girlfriend thing?”
“She didn’t seem to mind it.”
“My man.” He bumps me on the shoulder playfully. “This is good. Really good. Now you just gotta boyfriend the shit out of her, show her what she's been missing.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “What are you two drinking? You’re like two little giggling schoolgirls.”
Chase clinks his bottle to mine. “Loser’s potion.”
I laugh, shaking my head.
I take a swig of my beer.
What a night.
My team just lost epically, I lied to my hard-ass coach father about dating my best friend, told her about it and now we’re pretending to date because my teammates want to play matchmaker.
Addie catches my eye across the room with a smile and a wink. I give her a questionable look, and she points her two fingers at her eyes and then points them at me.
Great, she’s got her eyes on me. I take another sip from my cold beer and smile gently at her. She better not rail into me too hard later because I won’t be able to handle it.