Page 49 of Replay

Me

What you doing tonight?

BB

Working the late shift. I’ll be here with the drunkies all night.

Me

I know the guys said we’re holding off on Sunday dinner since we’ll all be driving back from Georgia, but I’m free once we get home if you are.

She still hasn’t responded to that. I’m trying to convince myself that it’s because she’s busy at work and not avoiding gently letting me down.

We arrive at the Delta Phi Epsilon house that’s already thumping with people and music. Supposedly, no Georgia football players will be here, even though I find it hard to believe since this is a big campus.

Most of my teammates are talking to girls or playing drinking games. I’m standing beside the pong table, babysitting my beer, watching Graham and Nola flirt with two sorority girls. I’ve kindly avoided all the flirty whispers and little touches throughout the party. No part of me even wants to entertain another woman.

Almost worse than a flirty Georgia college girl, Carter Graves walks up beside me. I bite my tongue from saying something smart. I’m not sure how he’s going to play this since he typically just avoids me altogether.

He looks out toward the pool behind the pong table. “This party reminds me of the summer before college. The party at Berk’s place.”

I grind my teeth, remembering the way his hands were on her that night. The visions of them coming to fruition make me want to vomit and break his nose at the same time.

“I knew that night you’d break her heart. And I knew I’d be there for her.”

I tilt my head, looking him straight in the eyes, heeding a warning.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. And I’d tread lightly if I were you.”

“No, Outlaw, you should tread lightly. She’s mine now. I heard how chummy y’all were at the pool party on Sunday when I conveniently wasn’t there.”

I push my finger into his chest. “There’s your first mistake, Graves; she isn’t yours.”

He pushes my finger away, and I let him, knowing I can’t put my hands on him here, of all places. It would jeopardize my whole team. And he knows that, too, which is why he approached me.

“Well, that isn’t what she told me at breakfast yesterday or on the phone earlier. She made sure I knew exactly how she felt about me before I left.”

His words slice through me. I try to school my features, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but just picturing her and him after everything from this past week feels like a knife digging into my chest.

“How long did it take you to make your move freshman year?” I ask him, partly curious, partly to act unaffected by his previous words.

He raises an eyebrow with a slick smirk that I want to knock off his face. “We hung out before she moved to Mountain Ridge.”

My response is instant. “Bullshit. You left not long after me for football.”

His smirk turns into a smug smile, and I hate that I showed my emotion. “Yeah, but I drove home almost every weekend until school started. She needed a friend from the broken heart you left her with, and I was happy to oblige. Happy to help her forgetyou.”

I crack my knuckles, begging my rational brain not to punch him. I want him bleeding at my fucking feet.

“But she never forgot me,” I retort, and he tries to hide it, but I see the anger from the truth of my statement as it flashes over his face. I take a threatening step toward him, and I see Graham move from behind the pong table.

“You can try to convince yourself that she has, but you know who she sees when she closes her eyes,” I whisper in his ear.

“Woah, woah, come here, Outlaw,” Graham says, dragging my ass away.

I comply, not saying a word as he questions me about the altercation. Just running Graves’s words over and over in my head as my fists clench tighter and tighter.

“I’ll call myself an Uber; you stay with Nola and Mav. I’m good,” I finally say as we get to the front of the house.

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