The Perfect Play by Cookie O’Gorman

 

CHAPTER 1: Charlie

Studying wasn't one of my strengths. Flirting? Please, I'd turned it into an art. Capturing a guy's attention? No sweat. Picking the perfect clothes, makeup and lighting to make someone look their best? Yes, yes, and yes. Being the best student in Southern University's physical therapy department despite the aforementioned aversion to studying? You'd better believe it. And if you didn't, you could just take a peek at my 3.97 GPA.

I knew how to work hard when I wanted something.

And right now, I needed to get through this book for American Lit.

Signing up for the course was a misstep. I knew it from the minute I set foot in the class. But I'd needed to take a free elective in order to graduate. By the time my advisor notified me that I was one credit hour short, the only choices were either American Lit, Principals of Physics, or Methods and Themes in Comparative Philosophy.

Ugh.

I'd gone with the one I didn't think would bore me to death.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of reading involved.

Like a lot.

Don’t get me wrong. I had nothing against books. I wasn't a super bookworm like my best friend, Honor. But I enjoyed a good romance every now and then—even if books weren't my preferred method of escape. Give me a movie, TV show, or you know what? Give me real life over any of that.

I wanted to live a life worth writing about.

Books were cool, though. My main problem was I wasn't a fan of required reading. When someone told me I had to do something, it immediately made my hackles rise. My inner rebel chose to revolt. Especially when it was something I didn't enjoy. The story wasn't bad per se. The Great Gatsby was a celebrated classic. So many people loved it. I loved the fashion. I mean, 1920s glamour, flapper chic, an unapologetic flare for the dramatic. Yes, please. I should've been all in. But this was the second time I'd been forced to read it (senior year in high school and now college).

Unpopular opinion: The characters were crazy rich, careless and selfish.

I couldn't relate to the first two, and as for being selfish, yeah, I was sometimes—but I tried hard not to be.

I didn't want to read about people like that. When I read a book, I wanted characters who I could see myself being friends with, ones who stole my heart and refused to let go.

Anyway, that was not the case here.

My concentration was shot, and I was getting more irritated by the second. Having to re-read and prepare for a test on a book I didn't love was part of it. But another big part was the girls at the table behind me.

I'd been at the library nearly an hour. The three of them came in around the same time. At first, it was fine. We knew each other from class, social events, and even hung out sometimes if my roommates weren't available. They'd been silent as church mice as I tried slogging through the depressing tale of Gatsby and crew.

Then everything changed.

It happened about ten minutes ago.

I heard the doors to the library open, closely followed by Delia's squeak.

"Oh my God, he's so hot," she said.

"Gorgeous," Sandy had agreed.

"Definite man candy," Tamara said. "Maybe we should come to the library more often."

My ears had perked, but I didn't look. Shaking my head, hunkering down, I kept my eyes glued to the paperback in front of me. If I looked, I knew I'd get sidetracked. Guys could be distracting. Hot guys who were also smart—because come on. He must be if he was spending his free time at the library on a Friday night—forget about it. I usually loved to flirt, thrived on the attention…before turning them down flat if it was too easy. But I needed to focus.

Not that the trio behind me was any help.

Since Mr. Man Candy arrived, the girls had been sighing and commenting nonstop. I kid you not. Every few seconds like clockwork—

Delia sighed for what had to be the hundredth time.

"Look at how focused he is on that book. Do you think he comes here often?" she asked.

Tamara scoffed. "I doubt it. He's a star athlete, Deels."

I hunched my shoulders, trying to concentrate.

"They have better things to do," she finished.

"Actually, he loves to read," Sandy put in. "Baseball and books, those are some of his favorite things."

Delia said, "Oh, that's right. I remember seeing that in the article."

They were silent all of twelve seconds (yes, I counted), and then…

Another sigh, this one from Tamara, a blond like me, who knew how beautiful she was. "He's also got that whole injured bird thing going on because of his arm. Poor baby," she crooned. "He can come to me anytime, and I'd make it all better."

Delia and Sandy giggled.

"Get in line," Delia said. "Injured or not, I'm sure a lot of girls would sign up to look after an O'Brien."

"Yeah, those brothers are hot as sin," Tamara said. "I'm not picky. I'd happily play naughty nurse with any of them."

Geez, it was impossible to tune them out.

Sandy sniffed. "Chase would never do that."

"How do you know?" Tamara said.

"Because I read the article, and he's waiting for his soulmate."

A snort. "And you actually believed that? How naïve are you, Sandy? Chase probably just said that to get more girls."

Secretly, I agreed, but ugh. Now that I knew exactly who was causing all this trouble, it was even harder not to look.

"As if he'd need help with that," Sandy mumbled. "I mean, look at him. The guy obviously isn't hurting for female attention."

"That's just the first girl he turned away," Delia said.

"No, she's the second if you include the librarian's assistant. She tried to catch his attention on the way in. He hardly glanced at her."

"Oh, look out," Tamara said. "Here comes girl number three. Let's see what he does."

"She's prettier than the other two."

"It won't matter unless she's his soulmate," Sandy said.

"She might be," Delia said.

"No way. I went to high school with Beverly. She's a total skank. Chase would never go for someone like her."

"Can you two please shut up?" Tamara's voice was filled with annoyance. "She's almost at his table."

Curiosity got the best of me. Trying to ignore them was pointless. I'd been on the same page for the last five minutes without absorbing a word. Giving up for the moment, lifting my head and turning in my seat, my eyes traveled past the three girls I'd been listening to…and landed on the guy who'd stolen their attention.

Chase O'Brien.

He was gorgeous.

There was no denying that.

Attractiveness was basically built into the O'Brien DNA. The sling on his arm did nothing to detract from his appeal. The stunning good looks were probably what drew girls to him in the first place. It definitely wasn't his charming personality, I thought as the girl who'd been walking toward him reached his side.

The interaction lasted a minute, two tops. Chase didn't take his eyes off his book, and the girl, Beverly apparently, walked off with a frown on her pretty face. I shook my head.

Man, the guy has literally zero game.

"My turn," Tamara said, standing and running a hand through her hair. "Wish me luck girls. Not that I'll need it."

Delia gave her a sweet smile. "You might. He seems hard to please."

Hard to please, oblivious to the point of exasperation. Potato, potahtoe.

For her part, Tamara just rolled her eyes. "Come on, Chase is hella hot. If the guy has any standards, he'll recognize quality when he sees it."

"It's no use," Sandy retorted. "I told you already. He's looking for his soulmate."

"Who's to say that's not me?"

"Do you even believe in soulmates?"

"I don't," the blonde said, flipping her hair. "But he doesn't need to know that."

Tamara walked toward Chase's table, every step accentuating the sway of her hips. A few words were exchanged. I couldn't hear a thing. But whatever was said didn't seem to interest him one bit. In fact, I could imagine it going something like this.

Her:Hey, Chase.

Him:Hey.

Her:Good book?

A grunt.

Her: Awesome! My name's Tamara. I noticed your mega-hotness from across the room and wanted to give you the opportunity to ask me out.

Him:I'm kind of in the middle of something.

Her: But you're so hot. And I'm so hot. So I thought…

Him: Nah, I'm only interested in baseball, books, and my imaginary-dream-girl-long-lost soulmate. Sorry.

Her:Okay, well…bye.

No response.

Tamara walked away with a scowl, and honestly, I felt for her.

I could've told her it wouldn't be that easy. But her friends had tried, and she hadn't believed them. My words wouldn't have made any difference. Unfortunately, I knew more than I'd ever wanted to know about Chase and his family.

My bestie was dating his older brother, Archer. He was the oldest of the O'Brien brood—and there were so many of them. Six siblings at last count, but who knew; more seemed to pop up every day. His sister, Emmy, was one of my roommates. Though we hadn't hit it off at first, she'd grown on me.

Her brothers, on the other hand, had not.

Tamara took her seat at the table and scoffed.

"What a waste," she said. "Chase may be hot, but he's obviously stupid."

"What happened?" Delia asked, and despite myself, I strained to listen.

"I asked if he wanted to hook up in the stacks, and he turned me down. He actually said, 'No, thank you. I'm really into this story.' I mean, what the heck?"

I winced in sympathy but also had to bite back a laugh. She sounded so put out. And that was such a Chase thing to say. Polite yet brutal.

"Like I'm less interesting than some stupid book?" Tamara went on. " Hmph."

Depends on the book, I thought. This was far more exciting than The Great Gatsby—which I still had a hundred more pages to get through. Blah.

"That sucks," Delia said.

"Thanks, Deels." Tamara shot her other friend the stank-eye. "You were right, Sandy. Happy now?"

Sandy shrugged. "No, but I knew he wouldn't go for that. Chase isn't like other guys."

Tamara's frown deepened, but Delia just looked confused.

"How's he different?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sandy sighed. "Because he's perfect."

Ugh.

That was it. I had to get out of here.

I scooped up my bag and the book-that-wouldn't-end, was about to leave…when I noticed a few other girls gazing longingly at Chase O'Brien. Southern University's star pitcher was totally oblivious. My eyes narrowed in his direction. Chase was head down, wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, as he scanned the pages in front of him. He looked happy as a clam. But he was the reason Tamara and her friends interrupted my reading time. I'd gotten there first, and now, I was being run off because the O'Briens couldn't go anywhere without causing a scene. It was so unfair. Why did I have to go? I still had studying to do, and I knew I wouldn't get any done at the house. That was why I'd come here in the first place.

And who knew how many other girls would approach him only to start doubting themselves after he turned them down?

Nope. It was no good.

Something had to be done.

Changing directions, I strode over to his table, tapped him on the shoulder and waited for him to look up.

"Oh hey," he said as his light gray eyes settled on me. I wondered if he even remembered my name. We'd met on several occasions. His brother's girlfriend was my best friend. But who knew with this guy? "Did you want something?"

"Yeah," I said, crossing my arms. "You need to leave. Now."

Chase blinked. "What?"

"The library is a place for learning, and you're causing a ruckus."

"Ruckus?" he repeated then shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I can't be any clearer. You're disturbing the peace. No one can concentrate." I put some authority into my voice, then said, "I'm going to have to ask you again to leave."

Chase tilted his head. "Is this a joke?" he asked. "Did Baylor put you up to this?"

I couldn't control my eyeroll. "No, your dumb, panty-thieving twin didn't put me up to anything."

"Well, I was just reading."

"Doesn’t matter," I said. "You have to go."

Chase leaned back, really looking at me now. "Do you work here or something?"

Refusing to let him see me fidget, I put a hand on my hip.

"No," I said.

"Then technically," he said, "you can't make me leave. Can you?"

"But—"

"I'm on good terms with Blanche," he said, giving a nod to the librarian, who sent him a smile and fluttery wave in return. "She'd never throw me out. This has been fun, but I should get back to my book."

I stared him down, determined not to leave until I'd had my full say.

After a few seconds, Chase sighed then looked up again.

"Is there something else?" he asked.

"Yeah, there is," I said, pointing a finger at him. "First, would it kill you to be more pleasant? I thought you were supposed to be the nice brother."

Chase shut his book carefully and gave me his full attention. "Like you were being so nice a second ago?"

I sniffed. "My behavior isn't in question. You're the one making it difficult for everyone else to study."

"How am I doing that?"

"Ask the three girls sitting over there," I said, giving a nod in Delia, Sandy, and Tamara's direction. "They haven't shut up since the moment you walked in. It would help if you'd stop throwing out all of these signals."

"I was just reading my book!" Chase exclaimed.

I pointed at him again. "Yeah, in this super-hot way with your baseball cap pulled low and your forearms flexing every time you turn a page. I mean, seriously. How are the women in the room supposed to keep their minds on learning with all that going on?"

Chase's brow furrowed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah, sure you don't," I said, voice thick with sarcasm.

"I don't," he said. "But how is this my fault? I was just sitting here, minding my own business, and that blonde girl came over and offered to…"

He cleared his throat as his cheeks went red.

"Anyway. I wasn't interested. Did you have more to say or is that all?"

"No, it's not all," I said. "Second, you should try being kinder to the members of your fan club. It wouldn't kill you to have a conversation. One kind word goes a long way."

"This coming from someone who tried to throw me out of the library—which is one of my favorite places on campus and a public space, I might add."

I shook my head. "Now you sound like Honor."

Chase's eyes lit up at the mention of my bestie. "Oh yeah, how's she doing?"

"She and Archer are one of the reasons I came here," I said. "To give them some alone time. They looked about ready to rip each other's clothes off when I left, so I think she's good."

"I'm glad to know my big brother's taking care of her."

"Yeah, he better," I muttered.

"Listen, Charlie," he said, and holy wow, give the boy a cookie. He actually did remember my name. Would wonders never cease? "Sorry if I messed up your study time. It wasn't intentional. I'm here to get away from the Omega Beta house for a while, clear my head. Things have been kind of stressful with my arm, and I needed a break."

Well…that sounded reasonable.

He nodded toward the paperback in my hand. "Good luck with that one. All the characters are self-centered, unlikable jerks. I hated it."

I felt my eyes widen. "Seriously? Me, too."

"Well," Chase said, standing up, "guess I better go before I cause another ruckus. I'll try to live up to my rep as the nice brother and be more polite next time."

"Don't overexert yourself," I said. "I know it can be hard for you jocks to be anything but cocky."

Chase gave me a small smile. "Say hi to Honor for me, will you?"

"Sure." I gestured to his arm. "And you might want to loosen your sling a bit. If it's too tight, it messes with the circulation and puts more stress on your neck."

"Thanks for the advice. See you around."

As Chase left the building with every female eye following him, I thought, yeah, I hope not. Hot, smart, and polite? That wasn't for me. Just keep walking, O'Brien, and we'll get along just fine.