Page 58 of Out of Bounds

"I’ve been around the block here." She chuckled, but I had no clue why she was chuckling. "Above everything, they want you to be upfront about the relationship. You can’t be coy, you have to be the mostcandidabout it. Get it?"

"Candid?"

"I figured we could talk because, I mean, honestly, I went after Ryan first." She shook her head and something cold wrapped its fingers around my throat. "He’s only been team captain this semester, but I knew his potential freshman year. It was completely obvious. His passing stats, touchdown records, arm length, hand span, he bounced a little on his weight, but that’s good to see. Malleable, you know?"

I didn’t say anything.

"When it came back with a no, I just figured he was gay."

Nothing so far had prepared me for our conversation. I was frozen to the ground.

"Let me know when you’re finished with him." June smiled. "There’s plenty of people ready to jump at the chance."

My thoughts booted up like a modem and none of them were good.

June talked about Ryan like he was a cow for sale, a piece of meat on a slab. I’d heard it from the assistant coaches too, they talked aboutallof the football players in terms of their stats. I should’ve been used to it. Nobody ran the football team through drills for something fun to do.

Why does it matter when June says it?

His weight, height, and muscle mass were all publicly indexed. If anything, I could’ve laughed about the conversation with him. But it didn’t make me laugh. It made me sick to my stomach.

I opened my mouth, I shut it, and I opened it again. "This has been…fun. A blast."

"Let me know, okay?"

I didn’t reply but I wanted to. Oh, I absolutely wanted to. But any of the fifty remarks I had locked and loaded would’ve gotten bad looks at the barbecue, especially with shots fired at the hostess. The hostess thatIneeded to be good friends with.

With a small smile, June sauntered to theHeadbandedfinales.

I could’ve crushed my water bottle between my fingers. There was an undeniable truth to my anger. I didn’t want someone like June to have him. And I didn’t want her to think there was apossibilitythat she could have him.

23

Ryan

A Bet Needs Something To Bet With

Out front, I hauled in ice chests from one of my teammate’s trucks, bringing them inside while I waited on Kassie. It was a classic weekend at June’s place. Plenty of the guys were thrown over the sofas, watching the Saturday night football game with wisecracks and sore shoulders. Last year, that was me too, but now there were obligations to satisfy.

A few of the guys got up for the tournament outside, the last round ofHeadbanded. At least I had a good excuse to escape that.

"Ryan."

I stepped around her to get to the kitchen. Good. Kassie was ready to go. She stood at the kitchen archway, in a pair of overalls cut off at the shorts that showed off her legs. I went back to focusing on placing the ice chest down—I was fixating toomuch on my fake girlfriend’s thighs—and I nodded to her, a clear sign that she could head off to the car.

"Wait,Ryan."

I didn’t break my stride and we finished up with the ice chests. "What?"

Kassie pushed the front door closed when I tried to open it. I frowned, turning back to her. She had a look on her face I didn’t recognize. Her dark eyes, usually rolling at something I said, were too wide, too friendly. Not Kassie. I tried to open the door again but she didn’t move an inch.

"Ryan, I need your help."

"What do you need?" I frowned.

"Headbanded."

That didn’t clear up the questions. The two of us had thrown in the towel. And as irritated as I was with Adam, he’d been right. The only reason June kept the long-running tradition going was for pictures of their fake relationship. And they were great at the game. They couldn’t cut through the cards better with an axe.

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