Chapter 4 Maverick
maverick
There are some drinking games where everyone wins.
Truth, dare, or drink feels like one of those games where everyone loses.
Just like Noah has never been able to turn down a bet, I’ve never been able to deny a dare.
The downside is, I just end up holding my beer all night rather than getting to drink it.
“You’re up, Hall,” Gabe calls.
I cock my head, holding my hands out like it’s crazy that he even has to ask. “Dare.”
“I dare you to jump in the lake.”
I eye him, waiting for a beat before I stand from my chair. It’s not until I set my cup down that he adds, “Naked.”
The small crowd of women and my teammates around the bonfire break out into a mix of cat calls and low groans.
“Always so interested in seeing my balls, mate.” I pull my shirt over my head, and even though the nights are starting to get cooler, the flames from the pit heat my skin.
I toss my shirt, aiming for the side of my chair, but the girl that was sitting beside me—Kim or Kit, I can’t remember now—snatches it before it can hit the ground.
I look away, though I catch the way she subtly drags the fabric across her face first then clutches it in her lap.
The grass is cool under my bare feet, and now that I’m far enough away from the fire, it’s enough to send goosebumps over my skin.
I shuck off my pants halfway to the water and turn back around to the fifteen or so people watching me.
“Close your eyes, Sassafras. I don’t want to give Kingy Boy a complex.
” With that, I drop my briefs, causing both hoots and exaggerated groans.
I run down the length of the doc, spinning into the water with my middle fingers in the air.
When I pop back up, the top layer is still warm from the day.
My hands effortlessly glide through the water as I bob up and down, taking a minute to appreciate the view now that everyone is back to drinking and laughing with each other.
Just this small distance between us feels like miles.
It’s quiet out here in the water, and I absently wonder how many more nights like this I have left.
The two story white house is the only one at the end of the street.
Beyond the deck, the grassy yard backs all the way up to our own private lake.
We play hockey on it in the winter, and drink beers on it in the summer.
The backyard is lit up with hundreds of yards of lights—a new addition to the house since last semester—and the fire pit has been the center of many late night hang outs.
Noah, Silas, and I moved into this house the summer after freshman year, and at the time, I was just excited to have a place to party.
I didn’t expect it to actually become my home.
This is our last year here together with these guys that are like family to me, and as excited as everyone is for what’s coming next, a small part of me already misses what we’re going to lose.
I swim over to the edge of the dock, hoist myself up, and cup my dick between both hands as I jog back up the lawn.
“Relax, you don’t need both hands,” one of the guys calls out.
“Just say you don’t know what it’s like to deal with something this big and move on,” I throw back over my shoulder as I round the side yard and reach the sliding glass door that leads to my room.
My shoulders physically drop, and I mutter a silent thank you when I pull on the handle, and the door opens up. After a quick rinse in the shower, I throw on a hoodie—no shirt—a pair of sweatpants, and a quick spray of cologne.
I pull my door shut behind me and listen for the click, just as one of our defenders walks by. “Heard you were out there shaking that ass for everyone,” Wyatt says.
“God damn, that was the fastest game of telephone gone wrong.”
He drapes his arm over the redhead beside him, barking out a laugh as he steers her out back. “You coming?” he calls over his shoulder.
“I’m gonna make a new drink and then I’ll be out.” I push the sleeves of my sweatshirt up, turn toward the kitchen, and stop when I catch a glimpse of the only girl whose absence I’ve noticed all night.
Chloe leans a hip against the counter while her thumbs hover over her phone and her teeth strum her bottom lip.
She types something, brings her fingers to her mouth, and then appears to delete the message.
I watch her go through this process once more before she slides the phone into the back pocket of her shorts and pushes off the counter.
One hand reaches for a bottle of vodka while the other grabs the tequila.
She looks like an extra from Coyote Ugly the way she flips both bottles upside down and begins filling her red solo cup.
She tops it off with a splash of Diet Coke and crushes half a lime between her fist.
My feet move on their own accord toward her, but I only make it one step before a guy I don’t recognize approaches her. She smiles at him, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
I don’t know why I stay rooted to the spot, watching.
Beer turns in my stomach when the guy touches her elbow, and again when she laughs at something he says.
The shirt she’s wearing might be two sizes too big for her, but the way she has it tucked up shows off a sliver of her perfectly smooth skin that’s holding on to that summer tan for dear life.
Her blonde hair flows in waves down her back, and when she rounds the kitchen island, my eyes trail over her toned thighs all the way down to her ankles covered in pink and purple bracelets.
The only thing that can break the spell of my stare is the sound of her laugh.
Whatever this guy said must be hilarious because she throws her head back, letting out a fit of giggles toward the ceiling before moving her hands with animation when she responds.
I’m so entranced when she lifts her hair, exposing the column of her throat that’s decorated in three different necklaces, that I barely register the fingernails that dance up my back and across my shoulders.
Kim steps around me, and her big blue eyes shine up at me through her lashes, but my eyes travel down to where my shirt is now tucked into the waistband of her skintight leggings.
“You’re missed outside.”
I bite down on my lower lip, grateful for the distraction. Not wanting to get sucked back into the vortex that is Chloe Cooper, I keep my eyes on the girl in front of me, drop an arm over her shoulder, and head back outside.
It only took one more round of truth or dare, and Gabe’s girlfriend admitting to never having a penetrative orgasm, for us to move on to a different game. Roughly six rounds of flip cup and five games of beer pong later, and pretty much everyone has started to find the front door.
The wall is holding me up as I look around the room and notice Silas has already done the Irish goodbye.
Gabe and Parker are outside with their girls in their laps; Noah is leading Savannah up the stairs, and when she lifts a hand in a wave, I follow her line of sight to where Chloe is sitting on the couch with the same guy from earlier.
She nods along as they continue to talk, while taking sips from a blue solo cup now.
Normally, I wouldn’t question someone’s alcohol consumption.
The universe knows I’ve woken up naked with no memories from the night before on more than one occasion.
But I saw both the heavy-handed pour and the frustrated phone situation prior.
Both Guy Unknown and I watch Chloe’s full lips wrap around the rim of her cup as the bottom of it points up to the ceiling.
Kim—whom I’ve been told is actually Kat—might have an Apple tag on me tonight the way she keeps popping up out of nowhere. She’s a pretty girl. Long curly blonde hair, soft blue eyes, porcelain skin, and a straight white smile.
Usually, I like a girl who’s persistent—not that many have ever had to be—but for some reason, the only thing on her mind tonight and the only thing on my mind tonight don’t match up.
Kat’s hold around my wrist tightens as she props up on her toes and licks the shell of my ear.
I flinch at the feeling, but she mistakes it for encouragement and drags the tip of her tongue down the column of my throat.
“We should go somewhere a little more private,” she murmurs; her teeth grazing my earlobe.
Fingers still trail over my shoulder, but I barely feel them anymore.
Over Kat’s shoulder, I catch sight of Chloe on the couch, twisting the blue scrunchie off her wrist and pulling her hair up with it.
Any noise left in the room fades when her eyes lock on mine.
Her lips part, and her chest rises, but doesn’t fall.
For a moment, neither of us moves, and I know Chloe isn’t the only one holding her breath.
My jaw tightens, teeth grazing my bottom lip, and she looks away.
“Did you hear me?”
I drop my eyes to Kat’s when she pulls back, and all the sound comes rushing back to me. The air no longer feels charged, but rather cool against the trail of saliva she left on my skin.
I give her a smile that I hope reads more excited than I feel, take her hand in mine, and open the door to my bedroom.
“You can sit over there on the futon.” I point to the small couch on the far wall.
She drags a hand across the end of my bed as she passes it, and I fight the urge to outwardly cringe.
“You sure you don’t want me here?”
I would take you missionary, knees digging into the rough edges of a frozen lake before I had you in my bed.