Page 18 of Players Love Hard
But our foreplay ends when Drake walks into the kitchen. “Hey, dick,” he says. “Would you stop feeding your girl with your fingers? The rest of us have to eat from that bowl.”
It sounds weird hearing my friends call Shannon my girl, but I honestly don’t mind. In fact, I like it. A little more than I would have thought. The more time I spend with Shannon, the more she grows on me, and that freaks me out. Because the last woman I let into my life attempted to destroy it.
I set down the bowl of pasta and step out from between Shannon’s legs to help her down from the counter. She giggles when I whisper all the dirty things I want to do to her into her ear.
“We were taste testing,” I say to Drake.
“Great,” he growls. “Now that your slobber is all over our food, I can’t wait to eat it.”
After Drake yells into the living room, my friends take their usual places at the kitchen table with Preston between Drake, Tucker, and Trent.
Preston leans back, his chair propped against the wall. “Give him a break,” he says to Drake, pointing at Shannon. “Nerds don’t get as many chances to hook up with girls who look like that.”
Shannon chuckles under her breath at my side.
“Hey,” I say to Preston. “I can hear you, Spidey.”
He hates his nickname. Since he’s named after Spider-Man, how can I not give him shit? Preston’s like a brother to me, and we fuck with each other all the time. He can dish it out, but he can never take it. Sore loser.
Everyone laughs except for Preston, who’s wearing a bitter scowl.
“Don’t call me that,” he growls, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s your dad’s fault I got stuck with this name.”
“Your dad shouldn’t have bet mine that he’d beat him at video games, of all things.” I pull out a chair for Shannon and then take a seat at the table next to Tucker. “He should’ve known better.”
“What’re you guys talking about?” Shannon flicks her dark locks over her right shoulder and moves her chair closer to mine.
“Our parents are best friends—” I begin.
Shannon interrupts. “Wait, did you guys all grow up together?”
I nod. “Parker’s mom is my dad’s best friend. They’re kind of like brother and sister.”
“So, that makes you two like brothers.” She points at Preston and then me.
“Yeah,” I say. “Sort of. We’re all family, like one dysfunctional family.”
Drake snorts. “Speak for yourself.”
Shannon glances around the table at each of us. “That’s cool. You guys all knew each other before you came to Strick U. It must make it easier for you to play hockey together.”
“I don’t know about all that,” Drake interrupts.
“It’s definitely an advantage we have over other teams,” Preston says. “Coaches have a hard enough time getting all the egos to play together.”
“We fight all the time,” Tucker says.
“True,” Preston counters. “But we don’t stay mad at each other for long.”
Drake laughs. “I just beat the bitchassness out of you.”
“You wish.” Smirking, Preston motions his finger toward his chest. “Come at me, bro. Let’s see how tough you really are.”
Drake shakes his head, entertained by Preston’s proposal.
Trent holds out his hand to silence Drake. “I’m hungry. Would you two stop measuring dicks until after we eat?”
“You guys are crazy.” Shannon laughs, filling a plate of pasta for each of us. “I hope you all brought your appetite because I made tons of food. Jamie said you can eat an army under the table, so I kind of overdid it. There’s enough left over for the rest of your teammates if you want to invite them.”
