The Guy on the Right (The Underdogs 1)

“What’s that for?”

“Icebreaker.” She explains, taking a sip before passing it to me. I eye it with caution. “Don’t be such a prude. I met you intoxicated.”

“True.” I take the flask and flinch at the burn as it goes down. “This isn’t rum.”

“Whiskey,” she says, taking another pull. “It’ll put some hair on our chests.”

“Easy girl,” I chide.

“I measured out only three shots. Just a little something to take the edge off.”

That’s when I see it, the uneasiness.

“You’re nervous?”

“A little.”

“You can’t be serious. You’re the most outspoken person I’ve ever met.”

“Really large crowds give me anxiety.”

“Is that why you don’t attend many games?”

“Partly.”

“Huh. You’re a walking contradiction.”

“It’s not a big deal. I just get a little nervous.” She pauses, the flask halfway to her lips. “You know I didn’t get my first smartphone until I was fifteen. And I wasn’t allowed to watch too much mainstream anything.”

“Really?”

“My God, the catching up I had to do. I think that’s why I find PR so fascinating. For years I felt out of the loop. I mean it wasn’t so bad, it’s not like we had dial-up or I got a ruler snapped on my hand or anything like that.” She presses her brows together. “Momma and Gran, they just raised me their way. The old-fashioned way, I guess.”

I don’t bother to ask about her father because I know that relationship is rocky.

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Not at all,” she grins. “But in my house, Sunday is still meant for morning church, and gatherings for big meals with family and friends.”

“In my house, Sunday was meant for shopping for my mom and sisters while Dad and I binge-watched TV because it was the only time it belonged to us.”

“Gran used to say don’t buy it, make it. That shit could get a little embarrassing.” She hands me the flask. “So, you ever been to one?” She nods toward the party.

“Last time I was here, I lost my girlfriend, and she tripped and fell into someone else’s bed.”

“Shit, at the bonfire?”

“Yeah.”

“Look,” she says softly, “we can leave. It doesn’t mean shit to me to be here.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Social experiment?”

“Ah, the project.”

“Not necessarily. Do you want to go?”