Page 25 of Totally Played
“I could eat.”
“Good, cause Mom and Dad are buying.” She laughs.
“You want to grab a bite?” I turn and ask Ash. His grin grows wider, crinkling the corners of his eyes.
“I could eat,” he parrots my reply, and Rachel links her arm in his and mine, walking in between us as we follow my parents to the Riverside Barbeque.
It’s the place we always go to eat after they come to a game. Half the players will be there and a bunch of fans, too, but they mostly leave us alone after a picture or two.
Rachel looks from me to Ash and back.
“So you were supposed to go on a date with Tony?” she asks, and I instantly regret messaging her after our bro-date. I couldn’t talk to Tony about it. I was supposed to be pretending to be him, not catching feelings for a guy. Cosmo was out of the question. He’d tell Mom and Dad the second I hung up the phone. He already jokes that the Parks know how to populate the LGBTQIA+ community. With Tony being bi and him gay, I keep telling him they only have a sixty-percent success rate. If I’m now questioning my straightness, that percentage goes way up. What are the chances my parents had four out of five children identify queer?
I could just be confusing our instant friendship with something else. It’s not like you meet a person you just click with right away. It doesn’t mean you want to jump their bones or anything.
Ash looks at me before he answers, sending that same flurry through my gut and confusing me even more.
“I was, yeah. But he’s sick, so Calvin came and well, we hit it off so we had a bro-date instead.”
“Bro-date. I love that. More people should have bro-dates.”
“I totally agree.”
“So what did you do on this bro-date?” she asks as we stroll through the dark streets of Savannah toward the water. Riverside Barbeque is exactly as the name suggests, a barbecue restaurant set beside the river. It serves great burgers, ribs, and wings, and their sides are two for one on Tuesdays, drawing more than a few players after training that night. I think Tony and I ate leftover mac and cheese for breakfast for most of last year, loading up on servings every Tuesday. It was cheaper and easier than making it ourselves, and tasted way better. That microwave stuff is just crap.
“We had a few beers while Calvin taught me the rules of Banana Ball, played the claw machine where I kicked his ass, and then met up with a few of his friends for food and charades,” Ash says.
“Cool. He doesn’t let me hang out with his friends,” Rachel complains.
“You’ve never asked,” I say, and she turns to me, mouth wide open in disbelief.
“I did, too. As soon as the hottie Beau Hogan joined the team, I asked you to introduce us.”
“Beau doesn’t hang with the guys; he goes home right after every game.”
“You could invite him,” Ash says, and Rachel nods in agreement as both of them keep staring at me as we walk. I should walk them right toward a pole. That would teach them not to look where they are going while trying to bully me into a friendship with Beau. Actually, I don’t know why Beau doesn’t come out after the games. He’s usually first out the door as soon as he’s showered. He’s only about twenty-one, I think, so he’s the youngest in the team. We’ve all played together for a few yearsnow. I guess it would be hard coming into an established team, especially as a young guy.
“Okay. I’ll invite him out next time the guys get together.”
“Tomorrow,” Ash says.
“Huh?”
“Tim and Lion invited me to game night tomorrow night, after the two OG teams go head-to-head.”
“Right, game night.”
“That’s it then. You invite Beau and I’ll come with you two,” Rachel says, unlinking her arms from ours for the first time since we left the field. “You’re the best big brother in the world,” she says, walking backward a few steps.
“Be sure to say that again when Tony’s here.”
She laughs, then jogs to catch up to my parents.
“She’s sweet,” Ash says, shoving his hands into his back pockets.
“She’s something.” I chuckle.
“I hope it’s okay I brought up game night.”
