15. Charli
CHARLI
I wake with a dull headache, but it’s not too bad. I have vague memories of drinking water before going to bed, and that is no doubt helping me recover from the excessive shots we all had last night.
My memories are a little fuzzy. There was definitely a lot of laughter, and that’s the part that has me smiling as I roll over and take in the morning light. It’s coming through the curtains and giving every surface a soft yellow glow.
Nix is in the bed opposite mine, and I watch her for a second. Her breathing is loud, and she’s making this adorable purring kind of sound, like a happy kitten curled up to sleep.
I grin.
She’s the best, and it was cool seeing her have fun with us all last night.
A very good sign, if you ask me.
She definitely needs a place in the house.
So that’ll make it me, Darian, Sawyer, and Nix. A great starting lineup. Now we just have to find two more people to make this the ultimate house for my sophomore year.
Sophomore. I like the sound of that.
Not a newbie anymore.
No more getting lost on the way to class—Nolan U campus is huge, okay?
And no more “newest girl in the locker room.” Last season, there were only two freshmen starting on the women’s basketball team, and the other one dropped out after only a couple of months, so it was just me.
And man, did the girls let me know it. I was treated like the most junior member of the team in every way.
The only good thing about it was it made me work my ass off to prove myself.
I’ve earned their respect, and this season will be a much better start. I’m also determined not to treat any freshman players the way I was treated.
When I first envisioned starting at Nolan U, I thought I’d be welcomed to the team with open arms. We’d all become best buddies, and it’d be the experience of a lifetime.
But my dreams were shot down pretty fast.
Sure, I’m one of the team and I’m respected now, but I haven’t become friends with the other players like I thought I might.
I’m the shorty, the newbie, the one they all assumed barely knew anything about basketball.
I’ve proven them wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m the smallest player with the most to prove. Nor does it change the fact that I never get invited to social, non-basketball-related events.
Thankfully, Sawyer and my bro have never minded me tagging along to anything, so I’ve been able to fit in with their friend group easily enough, but it always bummed me out that my own team hasn’t pulled me in. They’re just not like that, I guess.
It’s not a super-cohesive setup.
There are a few friend groups within the team, and I don’t belong to any of them.
The basketball guys seem to all like one another and hang out socially all the time. Thank God for them. And thank God for Nix.
I smile at my petite little friend again before slipping out of bed and tiptoeing down to the bathroom. I have no idea who’s up and who isn’t, so I stay as quiet as I can. Sneaking back to the bed, I wrestle on an oversized hoodie that I stole off Darian months ago and walk downstairs in bare feet.
Adonis and Ben are lounging on the couches drinking coffee, which smells so freaking good!
And… oh wow. My eyes are drawn to the shirtless man outside on the deck.
It’s Jimmy, and he’s doing some kind of slow-motion, martial arts thing.
Damn… he looks good! His movements are smooth and controlled, his back muscles rippling as he sweeps his arms in these fluid circles.
He raises his knee, then steps forward, slowly pivoting to change direction before raising his other knee and extending his arms out.
It’s like a real-life version of The Karate Kid, and I can’t stop watching him until Adonis snorts at me and tells me to stop perving on the poor guy.
“I’m not perving,” I mutter, spinning into the kitchen. “I was appreciating his karate skills.”
“It’s called Tai Chi,” Ben softly corrects me.
I roll my eyes, grabbing a mug and placing it under the machine. Selecting a pod, I pop it in, then spin back to keep watching the Tai Chi action.
I wonder if Jimmy would be a good fit for the house.
The thought sits for all of two seconds before I’m shaking it out of my head.
No way. The poor guy looked so uncomfortable playing our game last night. I remember that much. I think he only had one shot the entire night. There’s no way he could handle living with us. And besides, I wouldn’t want him hampering our style either.
He may be a nice guy, but he’s too good. Too tightly strung, from what I can tell.
There’s no way he’d fit into our chaos.
Which still leaves two places.
The machine whirs, and I watch my mug fill before grabbing it and walking back to the living room. Curling my leg under my butt, I eye up Adonis and Ben for a second. I’m still liking the way Ben cleaned up after me and Sawyer yesterday, so he’s pretty high up on my list.
Adonis?
Yeah, I’m not so sure.
I’ll keep a close eye on him today and see if anything hits.
I really want this year to be as perfect as it can be, and choosing the right people to live with is essential.
I’m thinking a few more tests are in order…
because I can only remember half the answers from our game last night.
I’m not about to admit that our plan kind of failed because we got so caught up in the drinking that we forgot to analyze everyone’s answers.
Although, with the amount Mac drank last night, I think we can safely rule him out. That guy is way too wild to live with.
Maybe rather than a selection process, this whole thing will happen by elimination.
By the end of this weekend, if we can rule out everyone but two, then we’ll have our guys.
Perfect!
Within a couple of hours, the whole house is up, and Sawyer is back in the kitchen creating delicious smells that I can’t resist. Soon, everyone who hasn’t eaten yet is piled around the table while Sawyer serves up gourmet-looking French toast, and I quit calorie counting so I can enjoy myself.
In all honesty, I never count calories, but I am pretty strict with what I let myself eat.
When you’re an athlete, you can’t afford to just shove anything you want into your body, and I was raised in a house where we were taught to be aware of this stuff.
Before Dad’s accident, he was a basketball player.
After his accident, he became a wheelchair basketball player, and he was really good.
Mom has always helped him any way she can, and that’s why our house was Health City, especially when Dad was really making a go of his athletic career.
It meant Darian and I grew up on healthy snacks and were only allowed ice cream like once a month.
Okay, so it wasn’t that bad, but we always felt deprived growing up.
Now I’m just aware of everything I put into my body.
But not this weekend.
For the next two days, I’m going for it, which is why I put a healthy drizzle of maple syrup over my French toast and tuck in.
Moving in with Sawyer is such a no-brainer. He’s going to be the biggest asset to our house. A man who can cook. That can only be a good thing.
I’m pretty sure my father’s allergic to the kitchen.
My upper lip is curling before I can stop it.
“You good?” Cash nudges my foot with his, and I glance up, forcing a smile and nodding.
“All good.” I shift my foot out of his reach and look up in time to see Nix padding down the stairs. She’s looking a little worse for wear, and when Sawyer offers her food, I swear she turns a pale shade of green.
“Just coffee,” she rasps, heading for the machine.
“Have some water first.” Ben fills her a glass and places it in front of her on his way out of the kitchen.
I watch him walk up the stairs. He’s got a fine sheen of sweat on his skin and… has he just gone for a run?
The way he’s slightly puffing as he climbs the stairs makes me think he has, and now I’m feeling like a lazy ass.
My only achievement of note this morning has been to get out of bed. I’m not even dressed yet, and Jimmy’s been Tai Chi-ing and Ben’s been running. Sawyer’s been cooking and…
Darian thumps down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and I feel slightly less guilty for acting like such a sloth. At least I’ve been awake longer than my brother.
I try to catch his eye as he walks past the dining table, but he’s too busy staring into the kitchen.
Guess I’ll have to run another test on my own, then.
While he’s busy getting coffee, I glance around the table, then go for my first acting award of the day and “accidentally” knock over the juice as I’m reaching for the maple syrup I don’t need.
The jug wobbles, then tips, splashing juice across the table and onto the floor.
“Watch it.” Enzo jumps back before he gets hit, grabbing his plate and moving to the other end of the table.
Adonis snickers, then keeps eating, while Sawyer points the spatula at me.
“You good?”
“Yeah.” I keep waiting to see who else will notice the spill and come to help me clean up, but… nope. Ben’s not here, so it looks like this lands on me.
Stupid boys.
Standing up, I snatch a towel off the hook and nudge my oblivious brother out of the way. He’s leaning against the counter, mumbling something to Nix that I’m too annoyed to pay attention to. He’s probably just being impatient about getting his morning coffee.
“Don’t worry, guys, I got this.” I glare across the table, my frown deepening before I drop to my knees and clean up this orange juice spill on my own.
Adonis and Enzo are out! And Cash, the toenail biter, was never an option anyway, so that eliminates three!