Page 24 of Fall Hard

I’d never been there before, but it was relatively clean though it was a bit bare. Jamie was curled up on the worn leather couch with Ryan, a red cup in her hand as she laughed, and I fought back the pang of longing as I looked away. Crap. We were one of the first people here.

Jamie turned to us and her eyes lit up. “Liv! You’re here!”

I tried not to wince at the genuine surprise in her voice. God I’d been flaky lately. “Of course, I couldn’t miss… whatever this is.”

“It’s a listening party,” Ryan said smoothly, his eyes warm as he settled a hand on Jamie’s bare thigh. “Jamie’s first song with Max’s label has its first release today.”

“Oh wow.” I smiled and tried to inject as much cheer in it as possible while I watched Jamie lean into Ryan and kiss him. “I’m just going to—” I turned around, hurrying in the same direction Kit had gone in to get a drink. Maybe two.

“Baby steps,” Bryn murmured and I ignored her, instead focusing on the shot she was pouring me.

Commotion from the hall had me looking up hopefully, desperate for a distraction, and relief washed through me when I spotted Xander’s tall form—always coming to my rescue.

I hurried out, drink in hand, not really sure what Bryn had poured for me and not caring as the tingle of the vodka shot began to kick in.

“Xander!” I said cheerfully and then had to work to keep my smile in place when I realized who he was talking to. “Ryan,” I said evenly and his dimples flashed at me when he grinned. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing, we were just talking about basketball. Since the football season is pretty much over and I’m going to be here all summer, it’s nice to have something to keep me busy besides Jamie.”

I tried not to think about all the ways Jamie would be keeping him busy, and succeeded when Bryn nudged me with a pointed glance. Xander looked between us, a quirk to his brows that spelled trouble. He had a bad habit of seeing both too much and too little, so there was no way to know what conclusions he was drawing.

“Do you like to play, Liv?” he said, and Ryan raised his eyebrows as he waited for my answer.

“Ah, it’s not really—” Bryn nudged me again, harder this time, and I shot her a glare as I changed my reply. “Not really something I’d considered, but I’d love to if you’ll have me.”

Bryn beamed and I rolled my eyes. So this was about this list, trying a new hobby and some exposure therapy with Ryan at the same time. I’d bet she was feeling smug about the efficiency of this set-up, and one glance at the smirk curling her pink lips confirmed that to be true.

“Of course! We usually play on Tuesday afternoons, does that work for you?”

“Sure,” I said begrudgingly and Ryan smiled.

“Can’t wait,” he said and I tried to make my grimace look happier.

“Come on,” I muttered as I dragged Bryn away, otherwise who knew what she’d have me agreeing to do next.

* * *

“How long do I have to stay here again?” I muttered to Bryn as I headed for the boys’ kitchen for a refill. Compared to the football parties the team hosted, this was a relatively quiet affair with just our group, music and drinks. I found myself grateful it wasn’t Jamie’s birthday, that would undoubtedly have been a rowdier affair. Instead we were celebrating the first finished recording she’d done with Max at the Sun City label. Apparently her song was being soft-launched on social media, whatever that meant, but she’d been both super excited and super drunk when she’d tried to explain it to me.

I’d been here almost two hours now and was pleasantly buzzed thanks to Xander—he poured his drinksstrong. I’d even managed to forget about the standing date I now had with him and Ryan to play basketball, of all things.

I’d sat with Jamie and Ryan for a full five minutes on the four-seater couch and hadn’t burst into flames, so that was a good sign, but I couldn’t exactly say I was having a good time either. Bryn had spent the majority of the night talking in the corner of the room with her brother and Leo, while shooting meaningful glances at me whenever I spent too long avoiding Jamie. Though I had a welcome reprieve when Nick, one of Jamie’s history coursemates, showed up and the attention was diverted by her happy squeal. We’d joked around together when we’d first met that he was Jamie’s other gay, Black friend—it was an interesting category to be thrown into. Though the ‘friend’ part was the part that stung. But it was now a running joke between me and Nick whenever we saw each other.

“My other half,” he announced as he spotted me lurking off to the side and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “How’re things?”

“Not too terrible,” I quipped and he smirked.

“A ringing endorsement for life.”

“I try,” I said dryly. “Where have you been lately? I don’t think I’ve seen you at the apartment for a couple weeks.”

“Just busy, work, class…” A smile tugged at his mouth and made his already-gorgeous midnight-face stunning. “I met someone.”

“Must be something in the air,” I said, nodding at Jamie and Ryan snuggling in the corner. “How’d you meet?”

“He’s actually a family friend I hadn’t seen in years.”

“Ah, young love then.” I smiled and he chuckled.

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