Page 18 of Matched By My Rival
I laughed, thinking of my behavior today. “More like a supervillain.”
Rhett’s forehead creased, obviously not knowing what the hell I was talking about. I waved a hand. “Never mind. I’m delirious at this point.”
“I can see that. I hate to be a hardass, but I’ve got a cram session when I get back to the dorm and a test Monday morning, so…”
He didn’t have to spell it out. I grabbed a rag and started wiping down the bar while he snagged a mop to clean up spills. A couple of servers also worked on weekends, and they’d help set the outer room to rights. With any luck, I’d be in my bed within the hour.
And that’s when I remembered HotPan22 on my hookup app. My heart beat a little faster. Would I have another message? Did I want one? He’d said he’d be patient. I hoped that was true, because I wasn’t sure how I’d handle a tacky come-on or unsolicited dick pic.
I kind of wanted to see the guy’s dick if I was honest. But I was still trying to come to terms with that fact. I wasn’t sure I was ready to dive headfirst into sexting waters. I needed to dip my toes in, wade a little. I wasn’t the type to jump in the deep end and see if I was going to sink or swim. I learned how to swim—with lessons. I trained for it. Ipreparedfor it.
But I had no idea how to prepare for this.
6
PARKER
Irolled to an off-campus party with the team, though we were all on the same page about keeping it low-key. No posting to social media, no bad behavior that would get us in more hot water with Coach Jackson. Our off-season training schedule was Tuesday through Friday, with only Wednesdays for drills—meaning we were all free to recover Sunday and Monday—but none of us wanted to take any chances.
Besides, we were all tired as fuck. I wasn’t the only one who’d been volunteering most of the day. I was probably the only one who had to shower thoroughly afterward, though. Darnell wouldn’t even let me in his car. I had to bum a ride from one of the guys taking a load to the dump. To add insult to injury, Darnell had regaled the guys all night about my unmanly shrieks and the shudder-shake dance I’d done when I’d emerged covered in mud.
“Sounds like Prentiss got some payback,” Hinkel said.
“Yeah, well, watch out,” I muttered. “After he hides my body, who do you think will be next?”
Hinkel was one of a handful of wide receivers, but the best suited to run the same routes as Simon and I. Our other guys were more useful in different places on the field.
“Hey, I didn’t kiss his girlfriend,” he protested.
I scowled. “She kissed me.”
“Suuuure, you didn’t want the hot girl’s lips on you at all,” another of the guys crowed.
I flipped them off and headed for the watered-down beer. I had to wait in line. The party was crammed into a small apartment, the smell of perfume, cologne, and hair gel thick in the enclosed space. Despite the tight quarters, there had to be a hundred people there.
After a long day of work and humiliation, I wasn’t in the mood to flirt, especially when I had to suppress my attraction to any guys and only focus on women like the one who kept standing too close in line, pressing her soft body against my arm while she leaned in to make small talk.
When Darnell found me a short while later, I shot him a glare. “Don’t even start.”
“I’m heading out,” he said. “Gotta pick up this girl I met the other night. Chantel. She needs a ride to the party.”
I blinked. “Okay.”
He punched my arm lightly, nearly knocking me off my feet. “Thought you might want to cut out? I can drop you by the dorm.”
A relieved breath gusted from me. “Oh, hell yes.”
“Aw.” The redhead who’d been doing her best to capture my attention pouted. “We could have fun.”
I shot her a practiced smile. “Some other time.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” she called as we weaved through the mass of bodies toward the door. Luckily, Darnell was a big fucker, and the sea parted before him.
We got to the dorm in record time, just three minutes door to door. Darnell pulled up, letting the car idle while I reached for the door handle.
“You did a good thing today.”
I paused, glancing over incredulously. “Um, yeah, volunteer work. Yay.”
