Page 21 of Pitcher

Looks like Ans might get her wish. After all, Bo is a dog’s name.

Bo is a terrible beer pong partner. So bad, I want to ask him to feign injury and gracefully retire to the sofa so Thad and I can kick some ass like we always do at these boring-ass parties. You would think baseball players would know how to party, but they don’t. Football players on the other hand…

“Your turn, cutie,” he interrupts.

If I didn’t mention it before, Bo is also horrible at nicknames.

Apart from those two things, though, he isn’t so bad. He’s handsome with his surfer good looks and endearing southern charm. His hair looks like it’s in a perpetual state of chaos, and I’ve yet to see him frown.

I smile easy, letting the nickname thing go, and turn to face the table.

“If you bounce the ball hard to the left, I think you could get the cup on the edge,” Thad whispers in my ear.

Instead of being my cheerleader like Bo, Thad knows exactly what kind of talk I desire in the middle of a ridiculous game. I’m not like other girls, so his strategy talk turns my smile into something more genuine. With no need to clarify, I flick my wrist and release the ball just how Thad instructed. The ball bounces right into the red solo cup, making a plopping noise.

“Drink up, boys.” I laugh. “Hell, I might even drink with you.”

I eye the several full cups on our side of the net. “From the way this game is panning out, I might end up being the DD tonight.”

Theo’s teammates groan but take it like the men they aren’t and designate the rookie to down the cheap alcohol in the cup the ball landed.

“So… do you go to Cantor,” Bo asks, leaning against the table while the guys chant for the rookie to “chug.”

Thad makes an amused noise that I ignore.

“No, I attend Berkshire.”

Bo’s eyebrows lift. “Oh. How about that? I do too.”

How unfortunate.

I flash him a smile like I’m impressed. Truth is, I’ve been attracted to dozens of guys at school, but it doesn’t matter. Because none of them knot my stomach like the man I go home to every night.

With fake enthusiasm, I return, “What a coincidence.”

Thad resumes the game by taking his turn, ringing yet another cup and making the baseball team look like little league players.

“Do you stay on campus?”

Oh, jeez. Here we go. Let it go, dude. I’m not interested.

“Uh, no. I live with my roommate.”

And he will make you cry if you show up at our apartment. He’s considerate like that.

“Oh really? Does she go to Berkshire too?”

“He goes to Cantor,” comes Thad’s voice. “Your turn.”

Bo’s expression goes from excited to confused in a second.

“He?”

Sigh.Yes, Bo. He. As in male. As in he carries a Y chromosome.

Thad grows exasperated as Bo ruins the fun of the game for him. “Anniston and my brother have lived together for four years.” Thad gives Bo this look I can’t quite make out.

“Oh.”

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