Page 95 of The Game Plan

“I know better than to go for older guys,” she says, rolling her eyes again. “I’m not interested in hooking up with anyone tonight. I’m sleeping on your couch. Trust me, I’m not going to run off and bang some dude in the bathroom.”

I cough. “Mackenzie.”

“What? Like you and Sam don’t totally get it on whenever you can?”

“That’s different.”

She makes a face. “Because you’re in a relationship?”

“No, because we’re both over eighteen and can legally consent to it.”

“The age of consent in Massachusetts is sixteen,” she points out.

“So?”

“You can relax. I’m not going to pursue anything with anyone. I’m going to nurse my one beer and kick back, have a good time. I just want to know what a college party is like.”

She’s full of bright-eyed wonder. I remember what it was like, being recruited, everyone wanting me, going to college parties with the roster guys trying to show me a good time. I didn’t like it much then, either. Maybe parties and I just don’t mix. I think I’m okay with that.

“Awful,” Wes says from his reading chair.

“Thank you,” she says politely.

I goggle at him. He never talks in front of people who aren’t part of the football team. He’s said a few words to Sam over the last few weeks, here and there. They get along. I like seeing her forging friendships with my friends, assimilating into my life. I don’t know that I’ll ever like Tamar, but I like Lex and Aleesha, and I get along with her sorority sisters. Jake is an all right dude, even if he’s more of a Call of Duty dude than a World of Warcraft guy. We both care about Sam, which is the most important part.

We start the walk over to the Delta house. As much as I would prefer to go to a Gamma party if we have to go to a frat party; they card everyone who comes in. The Delta douchebags don’t care who shows up. On any other night, I should probably care more that they’re letting seventeen year old high school kids in. Tonight, though, I don’t care. What Mack wants, she gets.

Sam and Tamar link arms with Mack for the walk, chattering away. Sam is great with her, encouraging and friendly without crossing boundaries. I like to see my girlfriend and my sister getting along.

I smile to myself. My girlfriend. Yeah, Sam and I are on the mend. We’re not going to be one hundred percent perfect overnight. I’m going to have to work harder to open up, to let her in more. It goes against my natural inclination to bottle everything up inside, but with her help, I’m confident I can get there. Eventually.

Inside the party, I pour three beers from the keg and pass them out. As an afterthought, I grab one for Tamar, too, who gives me a pleasant smile. She knows she’s not my favorite person.

The music is already too loud, pulsing at a decibel that others might consider deafening. The place already reeks of body odor and stale pot. People are crammed into the house like sardines. Couples are hooking up in plain view.

And people like this shit?

I keep an eye on Mack as we make our way through the party to the back deck. It’s bitterly cold out here even with the help of the space heaters.

Sam laces her fingers through mine. “She’s a big girl,” she tells me. “She can handle herself.”

“I know. I just worry.”

She leans up on her tip-toes. I meet her halfway for a kiss that I intend to keep chaste. She deepens the kiss immediately, her tongue slipping into my mouth to tangle with mine. My cock jerks, and I have to remind myself there’s a time and a place. I won’t let her seduce me to distract me.

“You’re a good brother,” she tells me.

I brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks?”

She tightens her grip on my hand. “Come on. Let’s mingle.”

Oh yes, mingling. An important part of partying. She talks to various people she knows, other athletes or fraternity brothers. I vaguely recognize some of them. Others, I have no clue who they are. She doesn’t care that I don’t have much to contribute. Every once in a while, she turns her head and looks up at me, her heart in her eyes.

And maybe that’s enough.

I don’t want to be at this party, but Sam does, and I want to be where she is. I’m interested in the things that interest her. Just like she’ll sit on the couch watching Jeopardy! or a superhero movie with my roommates, I can make some sacrifices if it means I get to spend more time with her.

It’s all about balance. We give and we take, ebbing and flowing like the Charles River. When she has a bad day, I know she wants to dive head first into a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, macros be damned, and she knows nothing will cheer me up faster than a bottle of grape Gatorade, lightly chilled.

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