29. Bailey
29
Bailey
A fter the game, my parents took me and Ethan out for dinner. Ethan tried to decline, but Dad wouldn’t allow it. When we walked into Tom’s Burgers, we spotted Lachlan and his parents and little sister right away.
“Bailey!” Lachlan’s mother smiled at me. “It was such a pleasure seeing you on the field today. Did you enjoy yourself?”
Lachlan’s mother had blonde hair, ice-blue eyes, and the same freckles on her face that dotted Lachlan’s. “I did. Much different than tykes, that’s for sure.” I laughed.
“Why don’t you kids sit together?” Dad said. The parents all sat down, while Ethan, Lachlan, Grace, and I took another booth. Right away, I could hear our dads talking about the game.
“I’m starving,” I said, pushing the menu away. I already knew what I was having. Thankfully, the waitress was quick to take our food and drink orders.
“What’s Nolan doing?” I asked Lachlan.
“Not sure. He said something about reviewing footage with his dad, but he said he would be there tonight.”
“Tonight?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, the first game, uh, get-together.” Lachlan side-eyed Grace, who was listening to us intently. “I believe new players are honorary members tonight.”
“I guess I should go, then. Are you going?” I asked Ethan.
“He never goes to them—”
“Yes.” Ethan cut Lachlan off with a growl. “I’ll drive.”
Lachlan sat back with a satisfied smile. Our food took no time at all to come out. I thought the guys were talking, but I was too engrossed in my double bacon cheeseburger to even pay attention. When I finally looked up, Ethan was smiling and shaking his head as he dipped his fries in ketchup.
“Try the chipotle dip.” I pushed the dip across the table.
“The three of you eat like savages,” Grace said.
“We’re starving. All we had was some pizza before the game, Gracie Macie,” Lachlan said.
“Don’t call me that!” she grumbled in the most adorable way. It had been so long since I’d seen Grace, and she had grown a lot.
“What grade are you in?” I asked her. She looked like maybe grade five.
She lifted her chin and proudly stated, “Eight. I’m fourteen.” My heart sank and my body froze. All I could do was stare at her.
“You’re thirteen.” Lachlan bumped his elbow with hers. “You don’t turn fourteen until next year.”
“Oh my god, Lach. Next year is like a few months away. I’m in my fourteenth year!” It seemed like an argument she had made with him often.
The way she spoke, it was…immature. She looked young, too little, a child. Yet…this was the age I had been when Ed started seeing me. Started helping me learn to barrel race. Started telling me how beautiful I was. How I was so mature, and Grace… Grace was…a little kid.
Ethan tapped my knee with his finger, getting my attention. “We don’t have to go tonight, if you don’t want to.”
I blinked a couple of times, coming out of my trace. “No, it’s—I’m fine. I want to go.” Clearing my throat, I dipped my French fry in the chipotle dip. “Have you tried this yet?”
Lachlan had texted me to wear my spandex shorts and sports bra under my clothes, so I did just that without questioning him on it. I didn’t wear anything fancy, either. Even though it was a party at Chase’s place, it was with kids from our school, so I doubted it was anything big. I threw on my usual jeans and a comfortable black tank with a flannel over the top. I grabbed my ball cap and pulled it on before running out to the truck.
“Bailey.” Dad’s voice stopped me. He sat in his usual chair on the porch. “You call if you need anything,” he said sternly.
I smiled. “I will.”
“When will you be back?” Mom asked from the doorway.
I took my phone out to check the time and shrugged. “A few hours?” I guessed. I had never done this before.
Dad nodded. “Call if it’s any later.”
“Okay. Bye.” I ran to the truck and jumped into the passenger seat. Ethan already had it running. He was freshly showered and smelled amazing. He wore dark jeans with a band shirt. “Did they already talk to you too?”
“Yep.” He didn’t look at me as he drove down the driveway. “The moment you want to leave, I will be ready. Just tell me.”
“Okay. Same with you. If you want to leave, we can go whenever.”
“Mm-hmm.” I had a feeling that, if Ethan had it his way, he wouldn’t be going at all.
Nolan: Hey! You going tonight? I can pick you up.
Bailey: On our way, want a ride?
Nolan: Sure.
“We have to pick Nolan up,” I told Ethan.
He didn’t respond, just took the turn toward town.
“Should I see if Lachlan needs a ride too?” I asked.
“Might as well.”
Bailey: Lach! Need a ride to Chase’s?
He took a few minutes to respond, so we were already entering town.
Lach: Already here. Thx
Nolan jumped into the truck, looking sexy as sin. His eyes were bright with excitement, a small smile toying with his pink lips. He too was freshly showered and smelled as good as he looked. He’d taken time to style his hair, and it took everything in me not to run my fingers through it and mess it up. He jumped in the back seat, and Ethan drove off silently.
Nolan was busy on his phone for most of the drive, so I turned on the radio. When we pulled up to the gates at Chase’s estate, though, he sat up. “Holy shit. I mean, the kids in my area are rich, but this…”
“Yep, like I said, Chase comes from wealth,” I told him. “Not money—wealth.”
“Hate this fucking place,” Ethan muttered under his breath.
The driveway curved back and forth in a way that was almost maddening. The property was a wide expanse of properly trimmed green grass. It would’ve been so much faster to just drive straight to the house, but we followed the already long line of cars making their way to a parking area on the lawn up near the house…mansion.
Three stories high, and I was sure there was a cellar. It was an older style house, built by his great-great-grandfather, or his great-great-grandfather’s servants. I remembered when Chase’s dad took our family on a tour once, telling us the background and origin of the property. The objects inside were priceless artifacts and original art pieces collected over the generations. I hadn’t really cared for it as a kid—all I’d seen were all the hiding places when playing hide and seek, and becoming suspicious when told we couldn’t run in some rooms. The backyard was the best. All the trees and bushes made for endless games and fun, not to mention the pool.
Ethan parked the truck, his eyes tracking all the people showing up, some with alcohol, most without. “I don’t even think some of these kids go to our school.”
Nolan and I got out at the same time, and he took my hand. I paused and smiled at him as he stepped closer to me. “Just platonic?” I asked, leaning my back against the truck.
“Have you been to a football party before?” he asked.
I shook my head no.
“Don’t drink out of any open cups, unless you pour it yourself.”
I smiled. “I know. Also, I won't take a drink from anyone or leave my drink unattended. They preach this in health class.”
He reached up, running the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“Sometimes those kisses don’t feel very platonic.”
Nolan winced. “I’ll stop.”
“No.” I reached up and mussed his hair. “I’ve come to learn that Nolan is just an affectionate guy.”
“If I go too far, you’ll let me know?”
“Yes.” I threaded my fingers through his, and we walked toward the house. Ethan was standing at the front of the truck with his back to us, almost like he’d been blocking others from seeing us. When we started walking, he quietly followed.
“I get you two aren’t officially dating,” Ethan said. “And I know there’s a no-comp pact between Lachlan and you.”
“No comp?” I asked.
Nolan blushed. “No competition. Sorry. We didn’t want to force you into anything or want to make you choose between us.”
I let go of his hand and frowned. It had been so long since I’d seen Ed last, I’d nearly forgotten about him.
Nolan glared at Ethan. “I’m not insinuating you would take it further with either of us. We just didn’t want it to turn into a competition that had us pushing to see who was… shit.”
“First?”
“Yeah.” Nolan at least had the decency to look guilty. There was a lot wrong with it. For one, Lachlan was my best friend since childhood. Shouldn’t he feel like a brother to me? Only, he didn’t. The feelings I had for Lachlan were far from sisterly.
There was nothing either of them currently did that I didn’t want. They were okay with that, and so was I.
“I’m just saying,” Ethan spoke to Nolan. “I get you and Lach are good, but kids from our school like to spin stories. Maybe it’s best to keep the PDA to a minimum.”
I sighed, he was right. If they found out I was friendly with more than one guy, that would just add fuel to the fire. “The notes are easy enough to ignore.”
“I hear people talk in the hallways, B. I know you hear them too.”
“At least it’s not the team,” I whispered. It was my mantra of the day. It wasn’t what the team thought of me, so it didn’t matter. “Maybe after this game and seeing me play, the notes will stop. Maybe it was just a tactic to make me mess up.”
“You were pretty badass.” Nolan grinned. “I was watching the replays my father recorded.”
I smiled and messed up his hair one more time for good measure. “Okay, no PDA.” I nodded at Ethan.
The front door was wide open, and the moment we stepped through it, our names were being called out, followed by cheers. Music was blasting from the other room, a thumping, heavy beat. Chase’s house was huge and the rooms expansive, however it was packed full. Ethan was right; I didn’t think half the people here were from our school, but they seemed friendly enough.
Straight ahead in the foyer was the grand staircase leading upstairs, with a balcony looking below. Chase stood at the balcony, red Solo cup in one hand and Hadley under his other arm, clinging to his chest. “Fuck me!” Chase laughed out, his voice carrying down. “Ethan Henry. I never thought you’d step foot in here again.”
I looked back at Ethan, who was completely stoic, not even giving a single glance up at Chase. Some players came forward, smacking hands with Nolan. Sam and Desmond, both on the team, stepped up to us, holding blindfolds. “I thought you guys didn’t do hazing.” Nolan stood in front of me, and suddenly, I could feel the heat from Ethan’s chest behind me, as if he stepped closer.
“Come on, Reeves, it’s just a little fun,” Chase yelled. “Nothing big enough to be considered hazing. The other new recruits are waiting for you.”
Nolan sighed and stepped forward to allow Sam to wrap the blindfold around him. Large hands were placed on my shoulders, and I quickly glanced up to reassure myself it was Ethan—he anchored me in front of him.
“I’ve got this.” Lachlan walked out of the living room, setting down his red cup next to some statue on a table, and took the blindfold from Desmond. He winked at me. “It will be fun, trust me?”
Yes, I did. I stepped out of Ethan’s hands toward Lachlan. “I swear, if I wake up tied up to some pole in the woods…”
He laughed. It was his carefree laugh. He had clearly been smoking, looking content despite being around so many people. “I promise. And at any time, you can say no, and the blindfold comes off.”
I nodded. All right, time to get welcomed to the team. Lachlan tied the blindfold around my eyes. Plunged into darkness, I took a deep breath to steady myself and breathed in Lachlan’s scent. He put his arm around me to guide me.
I could feel my palms become sweaty and my muscles wanted to shake, but I held them still, everything contracting to stop the shaking that so badly wanted to come on. Don’t, I begged with myself. Don’t feel this. Just have fun and be a normal teenager. Don’t get scared.
“Where are we going?” Nolan asked as we were taken through the house.
“The pool house,” I said as a door opened and I could smell the chlorine. So many childhood memories of this place.
“No other players behind this point,” a deep voice spoke. “You can go to the pool to watch.
“Try to stop me,” Ethan growled, his presence behind me never fading.
“Just let him,” Lachlan said.
“Finally, you’re all here,” someone called from inside the room.
“Shut up, Greg,” Lachlan snapped, and a few people laughed.
“New recruits, time to take it off.” I recognized Jacob’s voice.
“Take what off?” Nolan asked.
“All of it.” Greg laughed. “Right down to your tighty-whities.”
“Fuck, Greg, you wish I wore tighty-whities,” another of the new players said. I bet all five of us were here.
“Just take your clothes off, right down to your underwear,” Lachlan said, and then he spoke in my ear. “Did you wear shorts?”
I nodded.
“You can strip down to those if you want. You can keep your clothes on, if not. There is water involved.”
I’d practiced a few times around these guys in my tank and spandex shorts, so I was comfortable. As I started pulling my flannel off, Lachlan stepped back from me.
“Bailey, you don’t have to,” Ethan growled.
“I’m fine, no big deal.” I pulled everything off until I stood in my sports bra and shorts. I wished I could see who exactly was in the room, though.
Fingers suddenly tugged at my shorts, and I gasped. “These are shorts, not panties,” Greg yelled.
His fingers disappeared, snatched away, as he yelped. “You fucking touch her again, and next time, I will let him break your hand.” Lachlan’s voice was low, steady and deadly. I let out a slow breath. Lachlan and Ethan were here, I was good. “She wore it under her clothes, so it’s underwear, dipshit.” Lachlan’s arm was back around me as we were being moved. “You’re safe,” he whispered in my ear.
I reached out to where I thought Ethan was behind me, and his large, calloused hand slipped into mine, giving me a small squeeze.
We were led outside, the night air hitting my bare skin, causing goose bumps to appear. Lachlan’s warm hand rested on my hip, and I leaned into him a little more, wanting the warmth. Though the music wasn’t as loud out here, I could still hear it seeping out from inside. But hearing lots of cheers and shouts, I could tell the crowd was large.
Wetness touched my bare feet, and I knew we were close to the pool. Lachlan positioned me before stepping away. “I’m right here,” Ethan reminded me. I stood tall as I waited for the instructions.
“Welcome, Panthers!” Chase’s voice came from a loudspeaker. Our blindfolds were pulled away immediately, and I blinked a few times to adjust to the light.
Forty or fifty people stood in the yard, along the back deck, and a few on balconies. Members of the team lined the sides of the pools, while Nolan and I and the three other new players stood at the end of the pool, facing it.
The yard itself was lit with lanterns and fairy lights, making it easy to see the pool, which was completely filled with small plastic balls and a bunch of large inflatables, set up like an obstacle course. “Contestants!” Chase got our attention. He stood on the balcony, which I recognized was off his bedroom. He kept an arm around Hadley as he spoke, but his eyes were solely on me. “You are to take a shot of tequila from the table behind you and make it across the pool without falling into the water. If you should fall in, you will be punished.” He blinked and looked away, down to the crowd. “First one to catch and kiss the pig wins.”
Pig? I looked around and laughed when I saw the small pen with two live piglets inside. I turned around to see the table set up behind us with limes, salt, and already poured glasses of tequila. Ethan took the glass that was lined up for me and downed it in one gulp. Then he poured a new glass and set it back for me.
“What was that for?” Lachlan asked.
Ethan shrugged. “If it’s spiked, I’ll let you know.”
Lachlan shook his head, like he couldn’t believe Ethan had done that.
I looked over to Nolan. “How do I take a tequila shot?” I asked, eyes wide.
“Follow me.”
There was a bang, and the other players moved before I could register that we had started. I ran back to the table, and Nolan turned to me, so I could watch as he shook salt onto the side of his hand, licked it, took the shot, then sucked on the lime.
I quickly followed, cringing and stomping my foot as the tequila burned its way down my throat. I grabbed the lime wedge and spun around. Nolan and I jumped onto the first floatie at the same time. I was dizzy from the shot, but somehow, Nolan and I jumped from floatie to floatie in unison. I started laughing at the disorientating feeling.
One of the other players fell in, causing waves in the water and shaking things up even more. Then we were under fire. Teammates that lined the pool produced buckets at their feet and began throwing small foam footballs filled with water at us. Nolan squealed just as loud as I did when we went down, falling into the water.
“You good?” Nolan asked as we came up at the same time.
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m good. I thought, for sure, we would make it, but that’s hard!” We were still under fire as we swam up to the pool edge. Nolan grabbed a few footballs and threw them back at other players. He pulled himself up, grabbed Wes, and tossed him into the pool. Soon, an all-out war broke out. It was mostly players from the team pushing one another in.
Ethan stepped up to the pool edge and held his hand out for me. I took it, ready to get out of the chaos. In one swoop, he pulled me out of the water. Lachlan was there, waiting with a towel to wrap around me.
Two of the other newbies made it through the course. I watched as they chased the pigs around, the pigs squealing as they attempted to catch and kiss them. But Nolan, another guy, and I had to take the punishment. We were led over to the balcony and placed underneath it.
Lachlan took the towel away. “Contestants, your punishment,” Chase announced just as a bucket of green slime was poured over our heads. It was so cold, I gasped, but when I looked over at Nolan, I went into a fit of laughter. Most of the slime had gone down my back, but they got him really good— all over his head and down his face. I reached up and wiped the slime from his eyes.
“You having fun?” he asked.
“Oodles.” I laughed again. I was. It was stupid, wasn’t it? Falling into a pool, being pelted by squishy footballs, having slime poured down my back.
My first party, and I was soaked, my hair had slime in it, my makeup was ruined, and I was having an absolute blast. Because it was stupid. Because it was silly. Because it was so unexpected, and it was about time that the unexpected made me laugh instead of striking fear.