Page 11 of Wild Card

I plastered my flirty smile on, lowered my eyes, and batted my lashes. Hopefully that would work. With a few of the guys who moved in closer, I dug deep for the confidence to push past how close they were and dragged my hand down their chests.

Rich Wellington cupped his mouth and yelled over the chaos. “Ladies, we will be splitting you up by bases.”

I stopped close to the two girls who’d walked in before me. I wished I knew their names, but I had never seen either of them before. The girl who stopped next to me was vaguely familiar, but I supposed they all would be since we were all from RFU.

“Once you’ve been accurately placed, you’ll then be given a blindfold. No one here will put this blindfold on you. You must willingly put it on yourself, with the full knowledge that you are going to be led to a room where you will be joined by a specific team member who found your company desirable this evening. This is very important, ladies.” Rich stepped closer to our group.

I tried to see how many other girls there were, but it looked like it was just the four of us: first base, second base, third, and home plate. They only allowed one woman per base per party. The conversation I’d overheard at the restaurant played again in my head. As miniscule as the details might have been, they were currently acting as a survival guide, mapping my way through this entire situation.

“You must follow our golden rule. It’s of the utmost importance.” Rich smiled, bringing my thoughts back to the party. He looked each girl in the eye, but when he got to me, his forehead crinkled like he was confused.

Did he know who had been invited?

My palms began to sweat as he paused, and it felt like an eternity as I waited for him to turn his gaze elsewhere.

Finally, with two furrowed blond eyebrows, he looked away to continue. “You must only go as far as your base allows. The men will be following this rule as well, and there are assurances in place to help enforce this. I don’t care if you think you have a connection with the guy or you love him—whatever the fuck it is, I don’t care. If you’re base number one, you only go as far as your base allows. You will not push for more, or you will be blacklisted, and a formal lawsuit will be filed against you.”

What. The. Fuck…

A lawsuit?

I withheld the loud scoff itching its way up my throat. They couldn’t… Nothing was in writing. Was it?

Wait…shit.

“This way, ladies.”

I was gently shoved forward, and before I could even process what was happening or deliver the barb to not fucking touch me, someone had my wrist pulled up and my card in their hand.

“Home run over here.” Someone laughed then handed me off to another guy who led me toward the back of the line. A black silk blindfold was handed to me by a tall guy wearing way too much cologne. I wanted to puke. They were all too close, and I was going to hyperventilate if I didn’t get out of the crowd.

Suddenly my heart rate spiked. I wasn’t cool with the blindfold. I didn’t like not knowing where I was headed…what if this was a human trafficking ring? What if they were serial killers…or rapists?

But Taylor had mentioned that girls came out of this. They lived to tell the tale, to incite jealousy, right?

With shaky hands, I fastened the fabric around my head. My breathing seemed more strenuous, my limbs suddenly unstable as the sounds from the room seemed to amplify and careen through my head. Everyone was laughing or making bets and jokes about each girl. They didn’t use our names, just our base numbers, which made me think they had a roster of some kind, or they’d put something on our backs to indicate which base we were.

“Home run, this way.” Someone gently pulled my arm then wrapped their hand around mine.

Holding hands I could do because it put space between us. I just didn’t want his arm around me. I needed the distance.

“I gotta say, I’m shocked. You weren’t the girl I thought would be showing up tonight. As far as I knew, my boy had been eyeing someone else all semester.”

Shit.Did one of these idiots actually like my stepsister?

“Hmmm, not sure what happened then,” I replied demurely, still trying to keep my wits and gather information about what I could hear and smell.

“No worries. My boy has been known to be a little back and forth. Either way, he’ll treat you right tonight. You signed the NDA and all that, about your STD checkup and the use of the condom?”

Wow, they were really thorough. I was momentarily impressed.

“Yeah, left it with…” I paused, hoping he’d fill in the blank for me.

“Paul?” the guy offered, opening a door in front of us. I could feel the air change, and the room he led me into smelled much better than the hall we had just been in.

“Yeah, I guess…can’t remember his name,” I lied.

The guy laughed, easing my discomfort. “No one ever remembers Paul.”

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