Page 10 of Four Letter Feelings

“Y’all too,” Blake answered, as he gave him a salute and walked off to find their teammates.

“What was that about?” Jeremy asked when they were safely out of earshot.

Blake turned to face Jeremy causing him to stop abruptly. “AJ and Ryan don’t get along. There’s bad blood there— and to be honest, I don’t particularly like Ryan either from what little I know of him. He’s not got the best reputation, but Dave wanted to bring him so what’s a guy to do.”

“Ah,” Jeremy said with a nod. “You know what happened?”

“Yeah. Ryan cheated on AJ’s sister in high school. She caught them doing the deed – they were young, too, her first love. He broke her heart. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. They’ve butted heads for as long as they’ve known each other; personality clash or some shit. They lived a few towns apart as far as I can remember, anyway, we tried not to put the two of them together if we could help it. Probably not a bad idea, even now, especially when there’s drink involved.”

Jeremy nodded in response. He tended to trust his gut, it hadn’t let him down thus far and he liked AJ, Blake liked AJ and they both disliked Ryan. This meant whomever this guy Ryan was, he was already potentially on Jeremy’s list. Keep an open mind, Jer. He could be a nice guy, he thought, as he squeezed his way through the busy bar.

***

As it turned out, Ryan was every bit as unpleasant as Jeremy had expected, and worse. He was obnoxious, arrogant and loud. He was an entitled prick who thought he was God’s gift to the universe and the longer he sat listening to him prattle on about how amazing he was, the more alcohol Jeremy needed to consume to endure it. He wished Blake had said no when Dave Nimmo suggested bringing him along.

“Who wants shots?” Jeremy asked, as an excuse to get away from the increasingly annoying Ryan.

Blake pulled his brows together in concern. “You ok, man? You’re not normally this keen to get quite so trashed so quickly. It’s Ry, isn’t it? You don’t like him either, do ya?” he asked with a knowing nod.

“Hate him. Can’t fucking stand the man.”

Also, to be honest, I’m a bit up in my feels right now, missing my parents, homesick and freaking out about starting college, man. But I can’t possibly tell you all of that right now 'cause you’d think I’m a pussy.

Except you know he wouldn’t. He’d understand and help you dust it off.

Everyone else at the table would think you’re a pussy, especially Ryan.

Why do you give a fuck what Ryan thinks of you?

“Jer?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t hear a word I said, did ya?”

Jeremy shook his head slowly. Damn, maybe I’m drunker than I thought.

“Ok,” Blake said, standing up from his chair. “I’ll come with ya.”

Jeremy nodded and made his way to the bar where he ordered a round of shots and another beer for himself and Blake. As he waited for the drinks to be ready, he spied someone who looked vaguely familiar walk past him with some friends.

“You know her?” Blake’s voice pierced his thoughts.

“I dunno,” he answered, thoughtfully. “She looks familiar. Maybe?”

“She certainly seems to know you, dude. She gave you all kinds of death glares on the way out,” Blake added as he picked up his fresh beer and took a drink.

“Right? Maybe she just can’t handle how good looking I am or something,” Jeremy retorted.

His mind was already trying to place her. He felt as though she was out of context, like he knew her from another place. Shaking his head, he chalked it up to jetlag messing with his mind and downed his shot before he and Blake picked up the drinks and headed back to the table but something about the sassy-looking brunette kept nagging at the back of his mind.

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