Saving Us by Wendy Million
Chapter Two
Annika nudged me, and I gave her a wry smile. “Thanks, but I think that’s a lost cause. We’ll see if I can put this dress to good use on someone else.” I did a little shimmy.
She laughed and the sound, always contagious, drifted up the stairs to Johnny and Sebastian. Just before Johnny disappeared in the door, he hesitated and turned back, watching Annika with her head tipped back in a laugh. Her dark hair cascaded down her spine, and I knew how pretty she was normally, but when she laughed, few could compare. From where I stood, his gaze appeared calculated, assessing. He returned to the guy at the door to whisper something in his ear before heading into the house.
The frat brother left behind scanned the crowd, bewildered for a moment, and then he pinpointed us. “Ladies! Purple dress and immigrant girl. Come here.” He motioned for us to move through the crowd.
My back stiffened. Immigrant girl? Annika seemed too focused on getting to the front of the line to notice. Later, after a few drinks, she’d likely replay his words. I could never let mean or racist comments slide.
When we got to him, I burst out, “Immigrant girl? What kind of racist bullshit is that? She grew up in this country. Her parents are American.”
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He focused on Annika. “If I offended you, I’m sorry. Johnny singled you out, but he didn’t know your name.” He shrugged. “Meet him in the kitchen. Fundraiser charge is waved.” He motioned for us to go in.
Had the immigrant comment come out of Johnny’s mouth and been repeated by the douche on the door? Better not be the case. I’d be punching the quarterback in the face the first time I met him. My kickboxing classes might be beneficial after all.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Annika’s voice trembled. For her, meeting him was coming face-to-face with a celebrity. We’d talked about him a million times, and he was more myth than man.
As we pushed through the crowd, I grabbed her arm. “Annika?” She half-turned, moving through and around more people. “Be you, okay?”
She laughed, and heads tilted in our direction. “Who else would I be? Nat, seriously, sometimes you can be so dramatic.” She took my hand and led us around people toward the kitchen.
We were both above average height, and in heels we were even taller. The path to the kitchen was clear over many of the shorter girls and some guys. One thing I liked about Clay was his height. I wasn’t a tall girl who could date a short guy and not mind the height difference. The few times I’d tried it, I’d ended up feeling giant. Tall guys—the taller the better—were my kryptonite.
Finally, we were standing in the kitchen’s doorway. Annika was in front of me, her hand clutching mine, and there was Johnny, leaning against the counter by the sink, a beer in his hand, chatting with his friends. His broad shoulders tapered into narrow hips, and even a blind person could map his features and find them attractive.
I wasn’t blind.
He zeroed in on Annika and pushed off the counter, sauntering over. With his hand thrust out, he grinned. God, he even had dimples. Swoon.
“Johnny.” He was so focused on Annika it was like I didn’t exist.
“Annika.” A blush rose to her cheeks.
“I’ve seen you around.” Johnny sipped his beer. “You come watch our practices sometimes, right?”
The pink in her cheeks deepened. “I do,” she admitted. “My dad coaches high school football, and I’m taking Exercise and Sports Science.”
“Me too. What year?”
I removed my flask from my purse and took a swig. Great, I was a third wheel. Now what?
As though he could read my mind, Johnny broke eye contact with Annika to glance at me. “Johnny.” His voice was flat with disinterest.
I shook his hand and smiled. “Natalie.” Distanced politeness I could do. Annika wanted him, and I couldn't care less if he found me attractive.
“You know, we have alcohol here, Natalie.” He gestured toward my flask. “It is a keg party.”
“Yeah, but this is rum swizzle. Do you have that?”
A deep laugh sounded over my shoulder, and I turned to look.
“That’s rum swizzle?” Sebastian came to stand at my shoulder. Where had he come from? I would have noticed if he’d been among Johnny’s crew when we entered the kitchen.
“It is,” I confirmed. “Has anyone ever told you—”
“Yes.” He grinned. “I look like that guy from Friday Night Lights. I’ve taken pictures with fans, signed autographs, and once, I was chased by the paparazzi.”
I laughed. “Really?” I took another drink from my flask.
“I swear on the team.” He made a cross on his chest.
“Hey now, you just joined the team. You can’t swear on us yet.” Johnny slapped him on the shoulder.
Sebastian’s laugh was deep and full. In answer, a smile spread across my face. He took my flask from my hand and tipped it back. He made a satisfied sound and grinned at me with even straight teeth. His hazel eyes glittered with amusement in his Black face. “Man, that reminds me of home.”
“Home?” He couldn’t mean what I thought he meant. I learned to mix that drink on my last family vacation.
“I grew up in Bermuda—origin of the best rum swizzle—until I decided I’d rather play football with my hands than my feet. Then we relocated from the ocean to dryer land.” He took another swig from my flask before handing it back.
“And now you’re here, playing college ball.”
He nodded. “Gunning for the pros. Keep my head down and get it done.”
Something foreign and welcome moved through my body at the curiosity lighting his gaze. He was bad news for me, for sure. My libido was getting the wrong memo.
“What about you?” He sipped his beer and grimaced. Shitty keg beer had nothing on my rum swizzle.
“I don’t play football,” I said, deliberately misunderstanding him.
He chuckled and the flame in my stomach grew. I wasn’t seeing the guy from Friday Night Lights anymore, I was seeing him.
“What brought you here?” he asked.
To my right, Annika was deep in discussion with Johnny. A beer was in her hand, and she looked lit up from the inside.
“I came for Exercise and Sports Science like Annika, but I switched out. Apparently, I’m not a person who enjoys the science behind exercise.”
His lips twitched in amusement, and he took another drink of his beer. “You were at the game tonight?”
“Under protest. I don’t enjoy football—I should get that out of the way—my roommate loves it. I love her.”
“Sebastian!” A voice bellowed from deeper in the house.
Our gazes connected. “One for the road?” He held out his hand for my flask, and I passed it to him.
He tipped it up enough to wet his lips. When he returned it to me, our fingers brushed, and heat crept into my cheeks. I cursed my fair coloring. I had been doing so well. When I glanced up, he was grinning.
“I think we should hang out sometime.” He glanced over his shoulder as the voice hollered his name again.
I shook my head. “That’s probably—I’m not sure—I think it’s not—I just got out of a—” Did I want to hang out with him? A crush on a football player from afar was acceptable, but it was quite another to get involved with one.
He shrugged, and there was an emotion in his hazel depths that I couldn’t decipher. Disappointment?
“Maybe I’ll see you around, Nattie.” He backed up and disappeared through the doorway. Once he was swallowed by the crowd, he yelled a response to the obnoxious voices floating down the stairs inside the house. A twinge of regret landed in the middle of my chest.
Hours later, when my flask was empty and we were leaving, Sebastian was seated on the couch, a brunette beauty perched in his lap. Johnny eventually extricated himself from Annika, but I’d caught him staring at her a few times throughout the night. As we reached the doorway to leave, he appeared.
“Phone?” He held out his hand.
Annika took her phone out of her purse and handed it to him. He passed her his, and they both typed away for a minute while I waited. When he glanced up at her to return it, the connection between them was clear. A small frisson of unease snaked along my spine. There was something about him I couldn’t connect with, but I wasn’t sure what.
We slipped out the door, and she clutched my arm. “That was the best night of my life, I swear.”
