Page 3 of The Playbook

CHAPTER2

Logan

“The kegs are on the patio,” Dax, one of my friends, called out as Ryan and I walked into the party the day before the start of the school year.

“They must have sprang for the cheap shit,” Ryan commented, his dark eyes roaming over the living room of Jason’s rich parents. “Last time, it was BYOB.”

“Caleb probably bought it,” I said, mentioning Dax’s older brother, who was in his third year at the state university. “Probably his going away present to Dax.”

“Well, can’t knock it, I guess. Free beer is free beer.” Ryan clapped me on the shoulder and made his way out to the patio.

“Well, look who it is. Mr. Captain.” Andy slapped me on the back, leaving a sting behind.

Andy and I weren’t friends. The guy was constantly trying to ruin my day with his shit. We’d always been rivals. I’d hoped senior year would be more relaxed. It seemed that hope was a joke.

“Andy.” I turned away from him and smiled at Nikki from across the room.

She licked her lips in return.

“You still banging out Nikki? Aren’t you bored by now?”

I spun back to Andy and snorted. “Bored? It’s Nikki. What’s not to like? Nothing about her is boring.”

That was a lie. She was good for a night, but she tended to grate on my nerves past that. We made sense though. Cheerleader and quarterback. We were the epitome of a bad teen movie, but it worked for us, so we did it. She used me for my popularity, and I used her because she let me. It was a relationship of convenience. I couldn’t knock it.

“Whatever. My kid sister’s goldfish has more brain cells,” he grunted before taking a deep drink from his cup.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re just jealous because she wanted me.”

He let out a wild burst of laughter. “Trust me, Walker. If I wanted to tap Nikki, I’d have done it by now. You’re lucky I don’t.”

“What are you two assholes talking about?” Ryan joined us again and handed me a drink while slurping on his.

Dax wandered over along with Anthony and Jeremy, two more members of our crew.

“Walker has it in his head that he’s got something special with Nikki.” Andy smirked at me from over the rim of his red cup. “But I think she’s all he can get.”

“Eat shit, Stephens,” I snapped. “I could have any girl in that schoolandkeep Nikki.”

“Sounds like a challenge,” Dax chortled.

“Sounds like we should see if that’s true,” Julian added.

He was Andy’s friend, not mine. The guy was a bigger tool than Andy if that was possible.

“I think it sounds like a really bad idea. Walk away, man.” Ryan shook his head.

“No, Stephens thinks he has this on lockdown. I’m game. Name the terms.”

Andy’s lips turned up into a wicked smile. “You got it. Julian, record this shit.”

Julian whipped his phone out like it was his dick and focused it on us.

“Me and you. We each get a girl. We’ll let the guys pick them. We have until the end of football season to get her to confess she’s in love with us. And if we get her in bed, it’s game over.” Andy raised his brows at me, waiting for my rebuttal.

A few more guys on the team joined us, grinning as they listened to our bet.

“Write that shit in a playbook in case this jack wagon deletes the video,” Dax piped up, jerking his thumb at Andy. “We’ll make a list. You guys have to check off the items on the list. Get the chicks to do each thing to earn points. The guy with the most points at the end of the season wins if they don’t get the L word or between her legs. We’ll let Anthony keep track of it since he’s pretty neutral.”

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