“Sounds like your girlfriend,” I said with a grin. “What time?”
“About six. And that’s good because if she doesn’t come with me, then I want her to be with you, Dean. You understand what I’m saying?” He leaned against my door frame.
“Not really. You want me to babysit your girlfriend?”
“No. I want you to make sure you don’t leave her alone on the walk there. I want to know that if she isn’t with me, she’s with the only other person in the world I trust. Okay?”
I grinned back, happy that he needed me. “Okay. You got it.”
“Good.”
As he turned to go, I asked, “Do you think Melissa will come?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You should invite her. I’m out,” he said, jangling his keys on his way out the door.
I pulled out my phone and sent Melissa a text.
Dean: Come out with us tonight. Please?
Melissa: Can’t. I’m heading home for the weekend. Next time?
Dean: I’m holding you to that.
Melissa: I dare you. :)
That girl. She turned me into a sap with a three-word text message. She knew what she did to me, and she toyed with me at every turn.
Damn it, I wished she was going to be in town.
• • •
At Matt’s front door, I could hear the rowdy shouts from inside, so I didn’t bother knocking. I just opened the door and stepped inside Jack’s teammate’s apartment.
“Dean!” the group of five baseball players all shouted at me in unison.
“Dude, where’s your brother?” Matt looked up from the kitchen table where they were playing some sort of drinking game that involved cards.
“Probably with his girlfriend,” I said with a shrug.
“It’s so fucking weird that Jack has a girlfriend. You know that, right?” he asked before downing a shot, his face contorting into a grimace as he gulped it down.
“It was at first,” I said, but it actually wasn’t weird at all anymore. What would be weird would be them not being together. I hated the idea.
“Come play with us,” Ryan insisted as he stared at the cards in his hands.
I moved to a small space at the table as Matt’s girlfriend, Jamie, brought me an extra chair. “Thanks,” I said before she wandered back into the kitchen area.
The guys taught me the basics of the drinking game, mostly telling me that I needed to play to really learn it. I was half terrified I’d be a drunken mess by the time I got the hang of it. As they dealt the next hand, I glanced at my phone and wondered where the hell my brother was.
“President!” Cole slurred from across the table as he slammed down a card.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I pretended to play along. I wasn’t sure how much time passed before the front door opened and Jack finally walked through it.
“Carter! What’s up, buddy! Hey, Cass,” Matt yelled, his eyes trained on the game.
“Hey, Jack. Hey, Cassie,” Ryan said without looking up from his hand.
“Finally! Where have you two been?” I asked, wondering what had taken them so long.