Agony (Entangled Hearts Duet 1)

“He’s living his best life, that’s for sure. I just hope he doesn’t catch something or get one of them pregnant. That’s all he needs is some cleat chaser getting her claws into him right before the draft,” Cooper says, shoving the last of my fries into his mouth.

“Fuck, I’m glad I’m not there.” Nixon leans in and kisses Tessa on the corner of her mouth.

Cooper grumbles something under his breath that I don’t quite catch. “What was that?” I ask him.

“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “You about ready?” he asks Nixon.

“Yep. Those kegs aren’t going to pick themselves up.” He stands and gathers their trash and ours before walking to the nearby trash can to throw it all away.

“How many kegs are we talking?” I ask Cooper.

“Three.” He grins. “This is our last hoorah. Those of us who are declaring for the draft have the Combine coming up, so we have to stay focused—no booze and no parties. So we’re doing it up big.”

I look across the booth at Tessa. “This could get interesting.” She throws her head back and laughs.

“You can count on that,” she replies.

After a round of goodbyes, we part ways. “So, what are you thinking as far as snacks go?” Tessa asks.

“Let’s see. There’s going to be an abundance of drunk college kids. Chips and beer are all you need.” I chuckle.

“You’re probably right. I was thinking we make the guys go to an early dinner beforehand. Me drinking on an empty stomach is not a good plan.”

“I’m going to take it easy. I don’t think I’ve recovered yet from my junior year bender,” I tell her.

“I’d hardly call that a bender. One night of letting loose and drinking is far from it.”

“Well, I can still remember the vomiting.” I shudder at the thought. “I hate to vomit, Tess. I really, truly hate it.”

“Nobody likes to vomit,” she says. “However, it’s the last party with the guys. You have to let loose and enjoy yourself.”

“We’ll see how it goes. Come on. We have Solo cups and chips to stock up on.”

“And brownies. Even if we hide them, we need to make Hank some brownies.”

“Agreed.”

We spend the next few hours shopping and getting everything we need to make six batches of brownies before heading over to the football house. We’re going to cook, and the guys can clean up. We’ll hold the brownies hostage until they do. It’s a fair trade that they’ve never turned down in the past.

A few hours later, the brownies are done and packaged in a few containers. I take three and hide them in Cooper’s room, and Tessa takes three and hides them in Nixon’s room. We have the place to ourselves as the guys went to the gym. They decided not to replace Levi this year, since next year all five of them will be gone. This house will have a new set of students. We’ve made some good memories here. This year we’ve missed Levi, but he’s off living his dream, just like Cooper, Hank, and Nixon will be soon. They’re all declaring for the draft this year.

“I feel like we should clean the kitchen,” I tell Tessa as we kick back on the couch. The furniture has all been pushed to one side of the room, so it’s not exactly comfortable, but we’re managing.

“Nope. They said they would be home by two. That gives them plenty of time to load the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. Because, let’s be honest, we didn’t exactly make a huge mess.”

“True,” I agree as the front door flies open.

“Ladies, I smell the goods. Where are they?” Hank jets off to the kitchen. “I can’t find them!” he calls out, and we both laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Cooper asks, sitting on my lap.

“Oompf. Get off me, you giant.” He’s not putting all of his weight on me, but still. He wiggles his ass, laughing his head off before he finally stands, pulls me up from the couch, takes my seat, and pulls me onto his lap.

“Better?” he asks, resting his hand on my thigh.

“Much.”

“Hello? Brownies?” Hank asks.

“We made them,” Tessa tells him.

“I can smell them. Where are they?” Hank points over his shoulder to Dustin and Trey. “We all three looked.”

“We hid them,” I say, barely containing my laughter at the look on his face.

“Why would you hide them?” Dustin asks as he literally scratches his head.

“You have kitchen duty.”

“Come on. We just put in two hours at the gym,” Trey moans.

“And we put in two hours of making your damn brownies,” Tessa fires back.

“Hey, you.” Nixon walks in the room, and pretty much mimics what happened between Cooper and me a few minutes earlier; however, he doesn’t squish her before pulling her to stand and then sets her on his lap.

“Where were you?” she asks him, kissing his cheek.