4
RYDER
Thanks to the big game being only a couple of weeks away, we actually had time off for a change. Of course, we had to fit in every practice we could, but there was only so much punishment the human body could take. And after all that hard work, and me spending countless hours reviewing game footage until my eyes felt like they were going to bleed, I decided we could all do with a little fun around here. A good old-fashioned house party, just like old times.
I missed hanging out with my friends, and I hated that they thought of me as this immovable stick in the mud now that we were so close to the pros. I thought maybe I could kill two birds with one stone by inviting the whole team together for a big bash. It would be a great way for everyone to unwind, to let loose a little, and to shake out some nerves before we had to perform in the most demanding game of our lives.
So what if Coach disapproved? We’d just have to make sure he didn’t find out this time.
“Do you think this is enough?” I asked Alaina as she helped me unpack bag after bag of snacks and drinks. I had probably five-hundred dollars worth of bottles from the liquor store alone. I wasn’t playing around.
“Why didn’t you send me shopping?” she asked.
“I was already out,” I said with a shrug. Alaina was sort of a personal assistant and housekeeper all wrapped in one. I saw an ad listed on a community board in one of the lecture halls saying that she was a freshman and searching for work. She cleaned up around the house, and made meals for me, but she got paid pretty well for it. I didn’t feel bad about asking her to do things well within the scope of her job, but when it got into the territory of buying snacks and alcohol for my friends, it just seemed like something I should be doing, especially since she was underage and I’d never want her to take the fall for something we shouldn’t have technically been doing in the first place.
“How many people?” she asked, arranging the bottles on the back counter to look like a bar. The set-up, I could leave to her. Opening all the bags of chips and putting pizzas in the oven and making everything look nice and inviting — that was definitely Alaina’s territory.
“I dunno. There’s about fifty players, but I’m sure some will bring partners or friends… A hundred? Maybe more?”
Her eyes went wide, but then she looked around at the supplies, nodding to herself.
“Should be good, even with all the bears,” she said.
“Think I should order a couple of kegs?”
“They’re your friends,” she said with a shrug.
I nodded, but considered it. Only Mason and Kingston were really my friends. Everyone else was just a teammate. And we joked around and gave each other hell all the time like we were at a constant family reunion, but it was more like they were second and third cousins that I only barely knew, which wasn’t hard to imagine since I was from a rather large clan to begin with. I didn’t know how the rest of them liked to party. And hell, I didn’t even really know what King and Mase were doing these days. The last time we really partied in earnest was sophomore year and kegs and jell-o shots were all the rage back then.
But we’re seniors now about to move on to bigger and better things, even if that doesn’t really feel real, and something tells me that kegs might be too far. The last thing I want is to have leftover kegs. Gross.
Alaina set to work making punch and setting out hors d’oeuvres, even though it was going to be hours before anyone showed up. Seeing that everything was under control, I headed upstairs to take a shower.
I was actually kind of excited for the party. I’d been so focused and serious for so long that letting loose a little sounded like a godsend. And it was the first time I was having a party in my own house.
I’d only been living there for a couple of months. I began renting it at the end of my junior year year with money saved up from summer jobs and training camps for kids, and the house than I ever thought I’d be able to afford. There was an open floorplan with a large living room, kitchen, and dining room all on the first floor with lots of seating. Not to mention the giant finished basement — a big selling point for me, if I’m honest — and the three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. The house had everything I could need and then some at this point in my life.
It was actually way more than one guy should have to himself, but I didn’t have anyone to share it with, and the way things were going, I wasn’t sure I ever would. But it was a nice house, it made me feel secure and I liked coming home to it even if I wished there was someone other than Alaina to greet me at the end of a day of classes and training.
Maybe I needed a dog. That could be fun.
My bear grumbled.
The bathroom attached to the master suite was bigger than my college dorm room freshman year. There was a tub in the corner big enough for four people with jets and all the bells and whistles one could possibly find. It was amazing on sore muscles, and I’d met more than one girl that cooed over it so much she got naked on the spot. Something about giant tubs and girls. Just makes them want to get naked. Not that I ever complained about it. My bear roared at the thought, wishing I invited those situations to happen more often.
The shower was large too, all glass, with a waterfall head.
Even with all of the fancy bells and whistles that most twenty-three year olds didn’t have, I didn’t really take any time to enjoy it with anyone. Not with my bros and not with any women. Maybe after the Championship. Everything would be different once I had a ring on my finger. I didn’t know what I thought it would change exactly, I just knew that it would.
As I was stepping out of the shower, toweling my hair off, my phone rang from the other room. Probably someone needing directions or calling to say they can’t make it, but when I picked it up, it was Kingston’s name on the caller ID.
“Yo,” I answered.
“Hey man, how’s it goin’?”
“Good, just getting ready for this party.”
He clicked his tongue. “Yeah, listen that’s why I’m calling.”
“Don’t you dare fucking bail on me,” I growled. “We need this.”
My bear was already growling at Kingston on the other end. He thought maybe for once I’d get laid by one of the tagalongs, and if my own best friend was playing hookie, who knew how many others would.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he sighed. “But look, my little sister’s back in town and—”
“I don’t give a fuck. The three musketeers are having a goddamn party. I don’t care if the motherfucking Pope is in town. You’re going to be here, aren’t you?”
“Of course, man. I’m not trying to get out of it,” he said, sounding defensive. “I just wanted to know if it’s all right if I bring her with me.”
I blew out a heavy breath, the fight in me going out. I was so sure he was trying to weasel his way out of the party and in that instant I saw the three musketeers unraveling for good. We’d been drifting apart for so long, moving further and further into our own paths, that I felt if I didn’t do something to pull us back together, we were going to lose this friendship.
And I couldn’t let that happen. These two assholes were the best thing that ever happened to me and I wasn’t going to let either of them off that easily.
“She’s cool, right?” I asked. I’d never met his little sister, and all I knew about her was summed up in the story of how Kingston almost got expelled. I didn’t know how she felt about house parties full of skimpily-clad girls and free-flowing booze. And the last thing I wanted was a buzzkill.
“Yeah, she’s cool. Don’t sweat it. You probably won’t even notice she’s there. Just that if she doesn’t come with me, Mom’s probably going to invite the whole family over again and she’s begging me to let her come to get out of it.”
I snorted. “Gotta bring your little sister over to your friend’s house? What are we, ten?”
“Shut up.”
“Nah, it’s cool. Bring her, I don’t mind. I never have met her. Is she hot?”
“Fuck you,” he grumbled. “Don’t make me reconsider.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m just fucking with you. You know if I’m going to go after anything it’s not going to be something complicated.” And my best friend’s little sister was the definition of complicated. I wasn’t going near that with a ten-foot pole, even if she was a supermodel.
Hot women were practically a dime a dozen for a guy like me, with my perspective career, with my own bachelor pad, and the big game coming up, yeah. I could have any girl I damn well pleased. So why the hell would I go for something as boring and complicated as Kingston’s sister? He didn’t have anything to worry about.
“Fair enough. I’ve definitely never known you to go for a challenge when it comes to women.”
I laughed. “Are you saying I go for the low-hanging fruit?”
“I’m saying you go for the fruit that falls on your head you lazy ass.”
My bear roared because it honestly was true. We were both laughing then and it felt good to be joking and teasing with King again. And he wasn’t wrong. I liked girls. I liked fucking girls. But I wasn’t like him and Mason. I didn’t like chasing girls. I liked going after a sure thing. I liked the girl that put herself in my bed, that made the moves, that practically threw herself at me.
It was an ego boost, so sue me.
“Guilty as charged,” I finally said. “Hey, I’ll see you in a couple hours, yeah?”
“Yeah, see you.”
We hung up and then I was left thinking about the possibility of having a new girl in my bed tonight. I looked over at the big California King size bed and the decorative pillows Alaina helped me choose. She sold me on them by telling me the soft furnishings would make a woman more comfortable, but the kind of women I went for didn’t exactly stick around long enough to require any comfort, so I hadn’t really had any cause to ask if they worked as advertised.
“Do you need anything from me?” I asked Alaina as I headed through the kitchen. I still had plenty of time before people were going to be showing up.
“No,” she said, arranging a cheese platter.
I walked by and gave ruffled her hair a bit on top. I’d never had a sister, but Alaina had quickly grown to feel like one to me. I appreciated her presence and we argued with each other as much as we agreed on things. And when it came to her dating guys, she always brought them by my place for a screening before going on dates with them.
“Oh, hey, this doesn’t belong here,” I said, pulling a bottle of Arbios’ Merlot from the rack of other available wines.
Alaina frowned, her eyes narrowing, trying to figure out what I was getting at since we both knew I didn’t drink wine and didn’t have a ‘private collection’ of things I didn’t share.
“No?” she asked.
I shook my head. “This one’s for you. They’re sold out again until next season, but I called last week and convinced them to reserve me a bottle.”
“Sneaky devil.”
I grinned, reminding her she was only allowed to drink it while off campus. Then I headed out back to straighten up the patio furniture. Alaina was the one person I had in my life besides Mason and Kingston.
But they were fun, and it had been a while since I’d had any fun like that. Between classes and practice, I set no time aside for play. I’d told all the guys to bring their girls, to have their girls bring their girls. No one wants a sausage fest. So hopefully there would be some cute girls. Hopefully one would be eager enough to catch my eye and not make it difficult for me. Hopefully, I’d find someone to keep my bed warm for just a little while. Lord knew I deserved it.