“You’re really just going to keep staring at her?” Mitchell asks, standing beside me.
“I don’t understand why they serve drinks at these events.”
“Says the guy drinking a beer.” He chuckles.
“Yeah, well, according to my count, Rocky has had at least five shots. She doesn’t even drink normally, so you know this won’t end well.”
“And you’re going to babysit her all night like it’s your job,” Mitch says, shaking his head. “Maybe she wants to be with Brian. Maybe she wants to let loose and go home with him.”
I shoot him a glare. “I dare him to try.”
“Are y’all going to the after-party with us?” Ashley asks, walking over to us.
“What after-party?” I ask.
“Oh, Rocky didn’t tell you?” Ashley frowns before her face shifts into an “oh shit was I not supposed to say anything” expression that makes my already heated blood start to simmer.
“Is it Reese’s party?” Mitchell asks.
“Yeah.” Ashley smiles. “So, you did know about it. I mean, duh, of course you did.”
“I guess we’ll see you there,” I say. I wait for her to walk away before turning to my brother. “I guess we know where Brian and Rocky are going next.”
“So, what’s the play here? We’re going to follow them around all night?”
“You have anything better to do?” I look around for show.
“No, asshole.” He rolls his eyes. “But just so you know, I did talk Misty into going on a date with me.”
“Oh wow. A date.”
Mitch chuckles, shaking his head. “I would say you need to get laid, but from what I heard you got laid today.”
“Today?” I stop walking and glance over at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“When I got to your place Colson said you were in your room playing the new J Cole CD with someone.”
“Okay?” My frown deepens.
“You only do that when you want to block out the noise.”
“What?” I laugh, and once I start, I can’t stop because of the ridiculousness of this conversation. “First of all, my door was open and I had Ray and Erwin in there with me listening to the album, so unless you guys are accusing me of having a gay threesome, nothing happened. Colson said this?”
“Yes.” He raises his eyebrows.
“Colson’s an idiot then.”
“I mean, you said it, not me.”
Reese lives in an apartment in the same building as my brother. Same floor, too. It’s two to three guys per apartment and they seem to share everything and never get sick of each other. Even though I live with Colson and we play together, this feels like too much. It’s like taking the locker room home or something. Some of my coaches actually call the baseball players “the locker room bros” as a joke. I’m standing on the balcony with my brother and a few of our friends, but I’m not really contributing much to the conversation tonight because I’m too hyper-focused on what Rocky is doing. She’s still hanging with Brian. They’re still touching and talking and laughing and I don’t know how much longer I can just stand here without intervening. I swing my attention back to Mitch, who’s talking about some assignment Misty is doing and how she’s interviewing everyone, when the door opens and Rocky appears.
“Mitch,” she whispers. “I need your key.”
“For what?” Mitch frowns.
“I have to pee and I don’t wanna use the bathroom here because it’s gross.” She looks at the rest of us before looking at Reese. “No offense, Reese.”
“None taken.” He chuckles. “It was probably someone at the party though because I keep my shit clean. No pun intended.” He cringes.
“I’ll take you.” Mitch walks over.
“No, I’ll take her.” I step aside and block him slightly.
“Okay.” My brother hands me his keys and shoots me a warning as if to say don’t fuck this up. I grab the keys and turn to Rocky, who starts walking beside me.
My brother is two doors down. When I open the door to his apartment, it smells like it was just cleaned, and I know that’s the case since Ms. Ana just went to our house yesterday and she cleans ours back-to-back. Rocky rushes inside and goes straight to the guest bathroom. I walk around, hands in my pockets, as I wait. The view of the city is nice from this building. I turn around when I hear Rocky’s heels against the wood floors behind me.
“It’s such a nice night,” she says, walking over and I can’t control the way my heart pounds against my chest with each step she takes.
“It is.” I turn back to the windows briefly, then look at her again. “I’ve been hoping to talk to you all day.”
She side-eyes me. “Okay.”
I’m thankful my hands are still in my pockets because I’m dying to touch her. For ten years I’ve been nothing more than her friend and now suddenly I want, need, more. It’s insanity, yet here I am, a lunatic falling for my friend.