Page 32 of Of Pranks and Passion

Coach pushed to his feet with a nod. “Angel’s right. Be nice to Gary. I’m going to start on dinner. You got any allergies, Gary?”

I shook my head quickly. “You don’t have to–”

Coach waved my protest away without a backward glance. Angel shrugged when I looked at him. “Coach feeds us. It brings him joy. Now, I know we need to be thinking up ideas, but you look like you could use a break for at least a little while. Do you like air hockey?”

“I’ve, uh… never played before.” I wasn’t exactly coordinated, but he wasn’t wrong. I needed a break. And it wasn’t like I was going to get any studying done here anyway. It was too busy. I was still sour at Easton for lying to me about that. He made a move like he was going to tap his beer against mine again, so I lunged off the couch to avoid him, following Angel to a table in the corner.

“Boys. They’re all idiots,” Angel said with a scoff. He pointed to a small bar table near the window. “Set your drink down there. It’ll be nice to play with someone who isn’t six feet tall and can lean across the whole table to screw with me.”

Angel was the smallest in the room. He was even smaller than me, and that was saying something. Still, he was friendly, and he didn’t let me wallow in my misery for long.

“Come on,Gary! I’m smoking you harder than one of Smiley’s joints!” Angel shouted, bouncing on his toes while I fished the puck out of the slot.

“Your trash talk sucks,” Chuckles drawled, sidling up to join him. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been playing, but the group had spread out a little from where they’d been conferring on the couch.

“And you’re the worst sore loser on the planet,” Angel shot back. “Go away. I’m stealing Phantom’s boyfriend.”

“No, you fucking aren’t,” Easton growled. I hadn’t even noticed he approached until he was standing right behind me. I jumped when he grabbed the pusher away from me. He tossed it onto the table with a glare and dragged me away.

“Ooh, intrigue,” Angel called from behind us. “Someone’s possessive! Are you sure you’re not in lurve?”

Yeah, right. Easton was way out of my league. There wasn’t a chance he’d seriously be interested in me. He was being nice helping me with this rumor, and once it passed, he’d move on. I wasn’t delusional enough to think it was more than that.

Easton ignored Angel’s jeering, pushing me into a chair at the table in the kitchen and dropping himself into the one beside it.

Coach was hard at work making dinner, but he glanced over his shoulder and raised his eyebrow at us. “That was fast.”

“Angel was being a shit,” Easton snarled.

Even knowing it was all for show, I loved the possessive side of Easton. I wanted to soak in it while I could. It was nice to pretend someone wanted me so much that they didn’t want other people even joking about having me.

While Easton and Coach talked about nothing, I looked around the room. It was basically an arcade and an apartment mixed together. The TV was set up in one corner, with a massive couch facing it and two comfortable looking arm chairs on each side. In the opposite corner was the kitchen, which was basically a galley kitchen but without a wall separating it from the room. The island was big enough that everyone could probably eat there comfortably, but there was also a table off to one side that had the space, too. The rest of the room was filled with games, like air hockey and pool. There was even one of those basketball shooting games in one corner and a vintage pinball machine.It wasn’t fancy by any means. The floor was basically painted concrete that looked like it could use a few fresh coats, and the walls were all brick. The couch was stained, the chairs at the table were mismatched, and the bar table I’d used to hold my drink was wobbly. But I preferred it that way. Unlike when I was sitting in Easton’s car, I felt like I could relax here. Even when I spilled beer everywhere (Thanks, Easton) no one batted an eye.

“What if you meet the family?” Coach suggested.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

GARY

I choked on air,spinning around from my perusal of the room.

“W-Whose family?” I asked, eyes wide.

“Yours,” Coach said with a raised eyebrow. “Getting him to intimidate people to leave you alone will work on campus, but if you want the rest of it to stop, you’ll need to go to the source.”

“I liked Angel’s idea more,” Easton said blandly.

Yeah, that was what I was afraid of. I liked Easton, and if it were a different circumstance, I’d be proud to introduce him to my family, but I was a little afraid of how he’d react if they weren’t kind to me. And they probably wouldn’t be.

“I, uh… I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I said once Coach had finished berating Easton about that terrifying idea. “Easton already punched someone for saying something unkind. That’s almost guaranteed with my sister, and maybe for my parents, too. I don’t think it’ll have the effect we want.”

“He is a bit of a wild card,” Smiley said as he slumped into the chair next to me. His eyes were bloodshot, and he couldn’t seem to hold up his own bodyweight. If I hadn’t seen him smoking, I would’ve been worried for his health.

“What about an event? Somewhere Phantom would have to behave,” Angel suggested. They’d all wandered over, and I wondered if Easton would get annoyed again, but he just looked bored. Okay, good. He didn't hold grudges against his friends.

“Does your school have family week?” Chuckles asked. “Mine did when I had to go.”

I shook my head quickly. “They wouldn’t be bothered to come to that. Or really anything that has to do with me. It either has to be about my sister, or we’d need to go to them.”

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