Page 129 of Necessary Roughness
We kissed again, deeper and deeper until we were rolling on the blanket, and we didn’t care that the nearby students were snickering.
57
Sloane
We held an NFL draft watch party in our house on a warm Saturday afternoon. Knox explained that he was invited to attend the draft in Wisconsin in person, but didn’t want to make the trip because he was afraid of jinxing it. Apparently there were plenty of cases of high profile players attending the draft, wearing nice tuxedos and sitting patiently while their name was passed over again and again, and Knox didn’t want to be one of them.
The Westview football coach was there with us, along with the athletic director and Knox’s parents. There was also a cameraman from ESPN, but we all tried to ignore him while he sat in the corner and scrolled on his phone.
I wore a nice summer dress with a thong that I hoped the boys would love later on tonight. All of them were dressed up for the occasion; a slate gray suit for Knox, and dress pants with white button-down shirts for Roman and Logan. It was the first time I’d seen them all dressed up, and it made me wish we didn’t have all these guests occupying the house because I wanted toimmediatelyundress them and show them just how sexy they were.
But wedidhave guests, and there was too much going on today. The moment she arrived, Darlene took me by the arm and spent the hour before the draft talking my ear off about all the gossip she’d heard from the other football parents. I didn’t care about such gossip, but I was thrilled that Darlene loved me so much. Apparently she’d always wanted a daughter, and now saw me as her best chance to get one. And beyond that, she wasreallysweet. I wondered if Logan and Roman had moms who would like me this much, whenever we eventually met.
The twins were here, too. Jayden brought NFL-themed cupcakes, one for every team. “It took mefour hoursto decorate them all,” he explained to us. “I smudged the Buffalo Bills cupcake, and didn’t have time to fix it, so you’dbetternot be drafted by them.”
“I’ll call the Bills and let them know,” Knox said with a nervous laugh. He’d been a wreck all week, culminating in today’s event. He’d vacuumed the house three different times, and spent the rest of his day pacing around the front porch as if that could make the draft arrive quicker.
Logan, meanwhile, was calmer than I had ever seen him. I suspected he had accepted that he wasn’t going to be drafted at all. I desperately hoped he was wrong.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Bryson said, clinking his beer bottle against Logan’s.
Logan snorted. “Your twin threatened to write a tell-all book about our four-person polyamorous relationship if wedidn’tinvite both of you.”
Bryson turned to glare at his brother.
“I was mostly joking about that!” Jayden said. “Unless you kick us out now. Then I’ll tell the world what I know.”
“Heisjoking.” I put an arm around Jayden. “We have enough stress today. Can you be cool, please?”
“Impossible,” Bryson smirked.
Jayden flipped him off, then picked up a glass of white wine. “I’m the coolest one here. Watch this.” He walked a few feet away and tapped Darlene on the shoulder. “You’re the famous Mrs. Maddox, aren’t you? I justloveyour broach!”
Her face lit up. “Oh thank you! I inherited it from my mother.” She cocked her head. “You know, one of Knox’s cousins is a homosexual.”
“Oh!” Jayden glanced at us excitedly, then turned back to Darlene. “Is he an athlete like Knox? Is he broad-shouldered and barrel-chested? You know what, I don’t even care! Can I have his number?”
“Of course not, he’s married to a nice young man,” Darlene replied. “Adentist. They have two little girls. Let me show you.”
While she pulled out her phone, Jayden gave us the pleading stare of a prisoner.
“The draft is starting!” the athletic director announced.
We all hurried over to the TV, where Roman was cranking up the sound. The NFL Commissioner stepped up to the podium as the crowd buzzed and cameras flashed. In his hand was a crisp white card. He paused for dramatic effect, smiling at everyone gathered there, then at the camera.
“With the first pick in the draft, the Cleveland Browns select… Marcus Whitmer, quarterback fromTheOhio State University!”
Cheers erupted from the fans, and the camera panned over to a table in the front row. Marcus stood up and hugged his family, then jogged up onto the stage and accepted a Cleveland Browns hat.
“Whelp, time to pack it up everyone!” Logan announced. “Neither of us were the number one pick, so everyone might as well go home!”
There were a few laughs. Roman punched him in the arm, which made Logan wince and cradle his arm. “Dude. That hurt.”
“It was supposed to hurt.”
“I thought you would’ve learned by now not to punch people at parties,” Logan muttered.
Roman barked a laugh, then wrapped his arm around Logan’s shoulder and gave him a quick little hug.
