Page 64 of On Merit Alone
The only foreign thing was Merit, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs quietly, with her hands in her lap looking somewhat uncomfortable. I focused on her first. She had no shoes on, having taken them off at the door like everyone did. She wore that same matching getup she had on earlier, but now she was wearing some sort of long sleeve to cover herself up. And she had a piece of pizza on a plate in front of her.
When I noticed the food, I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. She winced, nodding toward the culprits—the rest of the guys who all looked like they’d stolen a piece or two already. “They wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Ah,” I said as I crutched the rest of the way into the room. To the guys, I said, “When did I call for the three fucking stooges to bust in here?”
“Well,” Troy said as he raised a piece of pizza over his head and fed it to himself dramatically. “We thought we’d come over to cheer your sorry ass up, but it looks like you’ve got that covered already.”
“It’s not like that,” I grumbled to the room. The men all just grunted disbelievingly, making sarcastic“uh-huh”noises as they continued to make themselves at home. Merit ducked her head shyly, not saying anything. It made me want to crutch over to the three idiots and gift them all with a slap upside the head. That would be pretty hard at the moment, though. I’d just have to save their licks for another time.
“Mer here has been telling us all about what she’s been doing to make you feel better,” Stephens said, waggling his eyebrows.
“Don’t make it sound like that, Mike!” Merit said sternly under her breath.
I felt my own eyebrows climb my face, shocked. Shaking my head, I gestured between the two of them. “I'm sorry, was I gone long? When did you two become friends?”
Merit gave me a weird look as if she didn’t know how to answer that, but the guys snickered. Apparently finding something about this quite funny. I wasn’t finding the humor in it at all.
“You know,” Rogers said from his spot on the couch. “We heard you told Scottie that he could, quote, ‘fucking forget about that’ in the locker room the other day.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my eyes cutting to him. He was smirking. “So?”
“We took bets on what that meant.” He leaned back, then he slid his gaze to the other guys in the room. “Run me my money, boys.”
Instead of being upset that they lost their little bet, Stephens and Troy moved over to stand behind him and began making it rain over his head with fives, tens, and twenties.
I tried to keep a scowl, but as I shook my head, I cracked a smile. Chuckling under my breath, I said, “Idiots.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Merit. She was watching the exchange with a confused and somewhat anxious look in her eye. When she saw I was looking at her, she asked, “Who’s Scottie?”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
She bit her lip. Ducking a little, she tried to whisper, “Should I go?”
“No,” I said a little too quickly. In the other room, my nosey-ass friends all made cooing noises, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. Crutching closer to Merit, I stood just a few feet away from her so I could talk to her at least semi-privately. So I could see her face and her reactions clearly. “I mean, if you want you can leave, but weprobably won’t do anything crazy here. Just watch a game and eat some more.”
“Need me to order more food?” she asked, pulling out her phone.
“No,” I said, again too quickly. It made her frown. Hobbling forward a little more, I set my crutches aside and set my hands over hers. She was officially giving me a toothache. So sweet. I never thought I’d see this side of Merit, and I was immediately obsessed. “You’ve done more than enough. I feel much better, thanks to you. Whatever Grandpa Jones says, I’m officially a believer in.”
“Jackson,” she corrected softly. “My mom’s maiden name was Jackson.”
I nodded, adjusting. “Grandpa J, then.”
Her eyes flickered up to me, a weird expression passing through them as she smiled weakly. She seemed almost dejected all of a sudden. Something changed in her from just moments before. Was it that we had company now, and she didn’t feel welcome? Or was it something else?
Either way, I decided I did not want her leaving with that look on her face, and I hated to say it, but I knew three idiots that it was hard not to crack a smile around. So, deciding for her, I said, “Matter of fact, I need you to stay. You saw what happened the first time you didn’t come to a game. Who knows what I’ll do if I’m left without my good luck charm again. Probably fall on a pair of scissors or some shit.”
She quirked a smile. “Good luck charm, huh?”
I smiled too. “Damn straight. Now, c’mon. Hang with us.”
“Oh my god! You two do know we’re in the fucking room, right?” Troy called, the volume on the TV turning up immediately following his question.
“Mind your business,” I called back.
They snickered, and Merit began fussing around with a plate. “Come sit. This one is for you.”
She rose to give me her seat, and as she did, something weird caught my eye—something that immediately made me see red.
