“Pants, dude. Now.”
“Adam,” I admonish.
“And no hitting on my baby sister.” His demeanor relaxes slightly, and he punches Heath playfully in the arm, although it seems a little harder than necessary.
“Are you coming back outside?” Adam asks me, pausing at the door that leads to the deck.
“I’ll be right there,” I assure him.
Heath brushes by me, the heat of his body licking flames up my arm and grabs two beers from the fridge. He hands one to me. “So, I hear you’re sleeping with me this weekend.”
“Umm… what?”
“I hear you’re sleeping at our place this weekend.” He leans a hip against the counter and pops the top off the beer.
“Right. Yeah. My roommate’s boyfriend is in town for the weekend.”
“Lucky for us.”
“I doubt you guys will even know I’m here.”
“One chick among twenty-seven guys? Plus, it’s you. You’re kind of hard to miss.” His eyes drop to my mouth.
“One chick? Please. Actually, I’m surprised there aren’t girls over already. Are you hiding an orgy in your room?”
He laughs. It’s a deep, playful tone that lights up my insides. “I wish.” He pushes off the counter. “Your brother has banned girls from the apartment tonight.”
“What? Why?” That doesn’t sound like Adam.
“Team building or some shit. Just you and the team, Ginny Scott.”
“No. Absolutely not. Adam said he was going to introduce me to people, not hang with his bros.”
With a light chuckle, he lifts his beer and takes a drink making me realize I haven’t touched mine.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Well, that I want to see. I better get dressed.” He winks and heads down the hall on the opposite side of the apartment from Adam’s room. I’m finally able to take a breath again. Holy mother of all that is good, he’s a lot.
I head outside and take a seat next to Adam. “No girls? What the hell? I thought you wanted to introduce me to people.”
He looks conflicted on how to respond. “I will. I am.” He motions around the party.
“People besides your teammates, Adam.” I flail my hands around. “Girls.”
“Yeah, let’s get some girls over here,” someone says and Adam scowls at them over my head and then drops his gaze back to me.
“Please?” I ask quieter. “I’m sure your teammates are great, but I don’t want to hang with a bunch of dudes all weekend.”
“Shit, Ginny, I didn’t even think about Bryan and what it might be like to be around a bunch of guys…” He rubs at the back of his neck. “All right, yeah, let’s have a real party.”
That wasn’t exactly what I’d meant by not wanting to hang out with a bunch of dudes, but if it gets girls over here, I will keep my mouth shut and let him think it’s my sad, I hate all of mankind broken heart speaking.
“On it,” Maverick says and pulls out his phone.
5
Heath
A knock brings my attention to the door and Scott’s head peeks in. “Hey, I’m going to run to the store to get more alcohol. You need anything?”
“Are you sure I’m allowed out of my room?” I ask. I still haven’t bothered to get dressed. I sat down at my desk to check in with work and got distracted.
“Sorry, man, I’m a little protective of her. She’s been through a lot.”
I nod and open my top desk drawer and pull out the stack of gift cards. “Where are you going?”
“Dude, what all you got there?” He laughs and walks closer.
“Gift cards to pretty much every place you can think of.”
His eyes widen. “You’re coming with me. Bring your stash.”
I don’t know what his sister said to him, but in an hour’s time, our place has become packed with guys and girls. Good work, Ginny.
Adam and I head out and make several stops getting booze and food. When we’re on our way back, I finally decide to broach the subject on my mind.
“Soooo… your sister’s smoking hot.”
I’m messing with him, sort of. She is smoking hot, but I’m only sharing this information to get a rise out of him. As predicted, he pins me with a hard stare. I meet it and smile, letting him know I’m not intimidated.
“Off-limits, Payne.”
“Relax, I’m giving you shit. I don’t do the whole girlfriend thing like you. We’ve only talked a few times. She’s nice.”
“She is. I worry about her. She doesn’t know a lot of people at Valley yet and I want to introduce her to everyone, but she’s off-limits. Friend zone only, man. I know how you are.”
Ouch. I’m a perfect gentleman, thank you very much. Just because I don’t date the same girl for months at a time, doesn’t mean I treat them any worse.
“Is there some sort of big brother gene that makes you all giant overprotective assholes?”
“I’m serious. She just got out of a relationship and she doesn’t need another guy screwing her over.”
We pull up to the apartment and grab the bags to carry inside. Before we enter the apartment, Adam stops and regards me seriously. “You’ll help me keep an eye on her? Make sure the rest of the guys don’t mess with her?”
“She doesn’t need a babysitter, man, and I’m no nanny.”
His mouth pulls into a thin line and I cave, some part of me understanding his concern. I can’t imagine having a little sister around my teammates and friends.
“I will keep an eye out, but I’m not going to lord over her like some sort of protector. Normal, friendly, keep an eye out, not whatever you’ve got going on there.” I lift one of my arms bringing the grocery bags with it and motion to him and his moody intensity.
“Good enough, I guess.”
I barely get the beer to the fridge before people are grabbing for it. I take two and spot the object of my and Adam’s conversation sitting on the couch watching Maverick and Rauthruss play Halo.
“Hey,” I say as I take a seat next to her and hold out a beer. Her hair is in an elaborate looking braid, the end hanging over one shoulder.
She takes the can hesitantly. “Thanks.”
“Where’s mine?” Maverick teases.
“In the fridge.”
He holds a hand to his chest and pretends to be appalled.
“When you’re as hot as Ginny, I’ll start being your beer bitch, too.”
She rolls her eyes as she pops the tab on her beer, but there’s a faint blush to her cheeks.
“Genevieve,” Adam calls from the kitchen and lifts a beer in a silent offering. She holds up the one I gave her so he can see she’s already got one.
“Genevieve?” Mav asks. “I thought your name was Ginny.”
“Ginny is short for Genevieve.”
“That’s rad. Why would you ever go by anything else?” He says her name again slowly. “Genevieve.”
“Adam couldn’t pronounce it when I was born.”
Mav and Rauthruss bust up laughing.
“He was three,” she adds, sticking up for him.
Rauthruss wins, like he always does, and Mav looks to me. “I’m done getting my ass kicked. Do you want to play?”
Nodding, I hold a hand up and he tosses the controller to me. I nudge Ginny. “What do you say?”
Rauthruss holds his out to her and she takes it.
“Have you played before?”
“I grew up with Adam. What do you think?” She sits forward and places her beer on the coffee table and straightens her shoulders. She’s taking this seriously, looking determined and sexy as hell.
I set out with the goal of taking it easy on her, but Ginny doesn’t need it. A few of the guys on the team crowd around to cheer her on and voice their hope of me getting my ass kicked. I win, just barely, and everyone boos.
“Thanks a lot, guys. Real team spirit.”
“Do over,” she demands.
I’m not confident I ca
n pull off a victory twice, so I hesitate. We lean forward and grab our beers at the same time. I take a long drink while she sips and then grimaces.
“What was that face?” I stare at her cute little mouth and pink lips wet from the beer.
“Do you actually like the taste of beer?” she asks.
“I wouldn’t drink it otherwise. Why didn’t you say something?”
“I’m trying to learn to like it. It seems to be what everyone drinks here.” She takes a longer drink as if to prove her point.
“Be right back.”
I find Jordan and trade a twenty-dollar gift card for a twelve-pack of his hard seltzers. Two more people have taken over the game, so I motion for Ginny to follow me and lead her out to the deck.
“Try this.”
“Thank you.” She takes it and I lean back against the railing. There are a lot of people out here, but no one is paying us any attention except her brother. Big brother radar, I guess. Dude needs to chill.
I turn so his big-headed scowl isn’t in my peripheral. There’s no pleasing the guy. He wanted me to look out for her. I am, yet he still seems displeased. “I don’t remember seeing you last year. You were really at our games?”
“A few of them.” This time when she takes a drink, she smiles. “Much better.” She plays with the end of her braid. “I was at the Colorado game and Arizona State and whoever you guys played for Parent’s Night.”
I think back to that game for a second. “Western Michigan.”
“Right.” Her smile lifts higher.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see you.” Her phone is stuck in the front pocket of her jeans and I nod toward it. “Let me see your phone.”
She hands it over without question and I program my number in it and send myself a text so I have hers.
“A lot of people come to the games. Plus, it wasn’t like I was sitting on the bench with the team. Do you guys notice anyone in the crowd?”
“We notice hot girls.” Maverick butts into the conversation and puts an arm around her shoulders. “You’re hot, Little Scott.”
She blushes and I hand her phone back.
Mav holds on to her and takes a step away from me. “I’m stealing her. Ginny here has a lot of people dying to meet her and you’re hogging her, Payne.”
“I do?” Ginny asks, sounding a little hopeful.
“Oh yeah.” Mav nods. “Come on. You need a tour guide.”
“Okay, yeah, that’d be great.” She glances at me. “You probably want to hang out with your friends anyway.” She lifts her seltzer. “Thanks for this.”
“Anytime, Genevieve.” I wink and tug the end of her braid.
She follows Mav, and I head inside, grab another beer, and take a seat back on the couch next to Rauthruss’s giant frame. “I’ve got winner.”
6
Ginny
True to his word, Maverick introduces me to everyone. He has a shirt on now, but the tattoos that cover both arms, all the way down to his fingers, are still visible. And I can spot a hint of his chest ink peeking out of the top of his T-shirt.
He leads me to where Liam and Jordan are standing. Liam and Maverick look like polar opposites. Where Johnny Maverick is dark-haired and covered in tattoos, Liam is blond and clean cut. He’s even wearing a polo shirt. Even though I met him earlier, this time when Maverick introduces me, Liam extends a hand for me to shake. “Ginny, really nice to meet you.”
“Same.” His politeness catches me by surprise, but I slip my hand into his giant palm and squeeze.
“Roadrunner?” Jordan asks, holding a blue shot glass out to me.
I take it and sniff. “What’s a Roadrunner?”
“It’s like a Blue Kamikaze,” he says and continues passing out shots.
I don’t bother asking what a Blue Kamikaze is. My experience with alcohol is pretty limited. My high school bestie always grabbed a bottle of white wine from her parents’ wine refrigerator and we’d drink that when we went to parties or had sleepovers. I never paid much attention to the label—none of it was great, but it was better than beer.
Jordan lifts his and the rest of us mimic the movement. I watch the others drink first. No one grimaces, so I take a sip. It’s good, sweet. I smile and then drain the rest of the glass.
“We’re off to meet more people,” Mav tells them, pulling me away. He stops every couple of steps to make introductions and share the bottle of Mad Dog he’s carrying. He’s funny and kind of ridiculous, saying whatever pops into his head. Or maybe not, but if he’s holding back at all—I don’t want to think about the thoughts left unsaid.
“Total douche,” he says after we’re done talking to one guy that I think he said was a neighbor.
I laugh. “Then why did you introduce me to him?”
“Gotta know which ones to stay away from.”
The next time he stops, it’s in front of a girl standing by herself, her face hidden behind her phone. “Dakota, baby, I missed you all summer.”
“You missed having someone to bum laundry detergent and junk food from.” She looks up and over the device at Maverick. She’s pretty. Big, ice-blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair that hangs in loose waves around her shoulders. She looks sweet, but the playful glare she gives Maverick makes me believe she could cut a bitch with words alone. That gaze slides to me and softens. “Hey.”
“Dakota lives in the apartment next door. I’m her favorite neighbor.” He tips his head to me. “This is Scott’s little sister, Ginny.”
“Hey there.” I wave three fingers around my drink.
“Where’s Reagan?” Maverick asks. Then to me, “Her roommate. The nicer of the two.”
Dakota flips him off. “She’ll be here. She was still getting ready. Ginny, you’re a freshman?”
“Did the seltzer give it away?”
She lifts her cup. “We’ve got a better variety at our place if you want something else. These guys only know cheap beer and hard liquor.”
“Thank you. That’s really nice.”
“Of course.”
Dakota’s phone pings, and she smiles at the screen. “Wardrobe emergency. I should go make sure Reagan’s not buried under a pile of dresses. Do you want to come with me and scan our booze?”
Maverick nods his approval and smiles like a proud parent who’s set up their kid on a successful playdate. “You two have fun. Don’t tell her any lies about us, Dakota.”
“Lies would be less incriminating.”
Dakota lets us into her apartment across the breezeway from the guys.
“Help!” a muffled voice calls from one of the bedrooms. A girl with hair the color of honey pulled up in curlers rushes out wearing a silky robe. “I don’t know what to wear.”
Dakota laughs. “This is Ginny. Ginny, that’s my neurotic but lovable roommate, Reagan.”
“Hey,” she says, breathless, cheeks pink.
“Green’s a good color on you,” I tell her and motion to the emerald color of her robe.
“She’s right. Put on that green dress with the crisscross back.”
Reagan smiles, deep dimples popping out. “Oh, right. I forgot about that one.” She disappears back into the room.
Dakota moves to the kitchen and I hang in the living room looking around.
“I like your apartment.” It’s decorated with lots of black and white with pops of dark pink. Old Hollywood movie posters and cute furniture. It’s a smaller version of my brother’s, but same basic setup with bedrooms on either side of the living area.
“Thanks,” she says, and I join her in the kitchen area. “Pick your poison.” A wide selection of alcohol is spread out on their kitchen counter. Wine—red and white, hard lemonade, vodka, Captain Morgan, and a bunch of mixers. I settle on half a cup of white wine. After all the mixing, I’m a little nervous to drink too much.
“So, you’re Adam Scott’s little sister?” she asks with a smirk once we both have a fresh drink.
“I am. Yeah. You know him?”
Reagan reappears in green with her hair down, looking like she walked out of a salon. If I could make that sort of transformation in five minutes, I’d probably get dolled up more often.
“Do we have a winner?” Dakota asks.
Reagan holds her arms out to her sides. “I think so.”
“You look great.” I glance down at my jeans and tank top. I’m underdressed by comparison. Dakota’s in a skirt and T-shirt with tennis shoes, but her makeup and jewelry give it all a much more put-together look than my casual outfit. “Do you guys always dress up like this for parties?”
Dakota responds first. “This is my basic uniform, but that one” —she nods toward her roommate— “has her eye on a boy.”
Reagan makes a face at her but smiles.
“Oooooh. Someone at the party?” I ask. “One of the hockey guys?”
“Yeah.” She takes a seat next to me.
“She won’t say which one. I’ve got money on Liam. He’s got that nice guy vibe, but something about him screams that he’s probably not afraid to get down and dirty in the sheets.” Dakota pours white wine into a cup and hands it to Reagan.
“Liam? Really?” Reagan asks with a shake of her head. “He’s not my type. And I’m not saying who because I don’t want to jinx it.”
“Well, he’d be a fool to turn you down,” I tell her honestly. Reagan is the kind of pretty that you wish only existed on the pages of a magazine or on TV.
She takes the drink and sighs. “I’m nervous, which is ridiculous, right? Who gets nervous about going to a party where their crush is? It’s like junior high all over except without the zits and braces. Thank god. I’ve been trying to talk to this guy for… a long time. I get all weird and shy around him. Well, shier than normal.”
“You’re going to knock his socks off. Trust me.” Dakota says. “And if not, you get to come home to me.”
“Have you guys been roommates for a long time?” I ask. It’s easy to see how close they are. They tease, but it’s with a smile and none of the catty, fake compliments that some girls do to one another.
Secret Puck (Campus Nights Book 1) Page 4