Page 78 of The Wrong Quarterback

“I’m trying to make you fall in love with me.”

With that announcement, he grabbed my hand and led me next door to where music was blaring out from the open front door, and Jace was leaning against the threshold, staring at his watch dramatically.

“Welcome, fellowInner Sanctum Members,” he said, throwing his arms around both of our shoulders. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“What did you just call us?” Parker asked, sliding Jace’s arm off my shoulder so that he wasn’t touching me anymore.

Jace snorted and glanced at me. “Do you think he would likeCore Crewor theLoyalty Leaguebetter?”

“I was more fond ofNo Drama Llamas, actually,” I said with a smile.

Parker frowned, like he didn’t like that we had an inside joke.

"I like her," Jace announced to Parker as he led us into the house. “I say we keep her.”

“That’s the plan,” Parker whispered in my ear, and I must have been crazy because I could have sworn I heard one more word after that. It sounded an awful lot like...forever.

This party was completely different from the others. As soon as we stepped through the door, a guy in a jersey handed Parker a beer, nodding at him respectfully, and, to my surprise, he handed me a mixed drink, like we’d just stepped into some exclusive club.

Parker stayed close, one arm wrapped around my waist, guiding me through the crowd, his touch firm and steady. People flocked to him the second we walked in, like he had some kind of magnetic pull. It was a stream of handshakes, pats on the back, and knowing grins thrown his way, but his focus never wavered. Every time someone tried to drag him into a conversation or grab his attention, he’d pull me closer. If he did decide to talk to someone, he didn’t let go, his fingers tracing slow, absent-minded circles on my side, like he was marking his territory while he spoke. He played with my hair, his fingers brushing my shoulder. He also made sure to include me in every conversation, even if it was something he had to have known I wouldn’t have a clue about…like football.

I didn’t want to keep comparing them, but I couldn’t help it. Gray had treated me as an afterthought at the two parties we’d gone to together, like he was doing me a favor when he paid attention to me instead of his friends. Parker treated me like I was the center of everything. Like I was the reason he was at the party to begin with.

Girls looked over with wide eyes, whispering to each other, a few of them bold enough to try and touch his arm, brushing against him as they passed. But Parker shifted subtly, every time, occasionally pushing their arms away when they didn’t get the hint.

And I kept thinking…there’s got to be a catch to this.

Parker was talking to some of the players on his team, when I tapped him on the arm. He immediately leaned over mid-sentence to see what I wanted.

“What’s up, baby?”

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I murmured to him.

He nodded, looking around. “Okay, let me get the key from Jace or Matty.”

“I can just wait in line,” I whispered, and he shot me an incredulous look before glancing around again and spotting Matty.

“Yo, Matty. I need a key,” he called, and his dark-haired other best friend nodded from the kitchen and headed our way.

Did they have to apply to be a part of this friend group? Because if the criteria for theLoyalty Leaguewas this kind of beauty…there was no way that they’d even look at my application.

Matty was the same kind of gorgeous as Jace and Parker, the kind that turned heads every time they walked into a room. His black hair fell just past his ears in a perfectly tousled, effortless style. His eyes were a light, Caribbean blue, the kind that seemed almost unreal against his tan skin. They were piercing, intense as they studied me, making me nervous, like he could see right through me, and he knew I didn’t belong. Like Parker, his body was a work of art, strong but lean, and even his movements had this easy confidence, like he was never in a hurry but always in control.

The three of them were unreal.

“What’s up, Parkie-Poo?” Matty said with a grin, and I watched as they did some kind of male friendship handshake—or at least that’s how I would describe it.

“I need the key to your room, Casey needs to go to the bathroom,” Parker told him.

Matty studied me again. “Are you going to introduce me? It feels like we’re moving a little fast—my toilet is a very sacred thing as you know.”

Parker scoffed, and Matty grinned. The two of them…were a lot together. And it just got worse when Jace appeared, pushing his way between Parker and Matty so he was front in center.

I gaped at the three of them, feeling a little bit…light-headed.

“Ooh, are we doing introductions? I can do them,” Jace said excitedly, gripping Matty’s neck and shaking him a little like some kind of really hot puppy.

“Casey, this is Matthew aka Matty aka Sir-Grouch-A-Kins aka The Third Amigo,” Jace said before anyone could get a word in. “Sir-Grouch-A-Kins, this is Casey aka the love of Parker’s life aka the fourthInner Sanctummember.”

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