Page 3 of Scoring the Player
“Dahlia!” My name is yelled in a chorus of voices. It takes me a second to find the source. Some of my golf teammates are waving at me from where they’re congregated next to the keg.
“I should go say hi.”
Jane gives me a pleading look. “I really gotta pee.”
“Go. I’ll catch up with you.”
She nods and hurries inside in search of the bathroom, while I start back across the yard to say hello to my teammates. Before I get to them, I spot Felix. I don’t mean to. I always just seem to find him in a crowd. Like my brain is searching for him even when I don’t realize it.
He’s standing with Bethany. His ex-girlfriend. She’s universally acknowledged as the hottest girl on campus. Long legs that go for miles, shiny blonde hair, and these big, brown eyes. They look great together.
They dated last year, before I ever met him, but I’ve stalked his social media enough to see the pictures of them together. She’s beautiful. One of those girls that never has a bad hair day. I had a lit class with her one semester. She showed up to every single class dressed like she was ready for paparazzi to take photos of her. I admire her dedication to looking flawless.
Felix and Bethany are in my direct path to get to my teammates. I either have to walk by them or circle around. I’m seriously considering the latter, but I decide to suck it up.This year is going to be different.That was my wish for the year. I want to stop waiting for life to happen and put myself out there more. I figured asking the universe for a boyfriend was a little cliché.
When I’m a foot away, Felix looks up and directly at me. I freeze, like I’ve been caught doing something terrible, instead of existing and breathing the same air as him. He seems surprised at first and then a slow smile spreads across his face. Bethany notices his attention has drifted from her, and she whips her head around to see why.
Her pretty glossy lips pull into a scowl when she finds him looking at me. I wave and try to keep moving, but the crowd is making it difficult. A group of guys, definitely drunk, start pushing and shoving each other. I think it’s friendly fighting, but I have to quickly sidestep to avoid being stepped on.
Felix moves in front of me and claps the guy, who almost squished me, on the shoulder. “Watch where you’re going, Brogan.”
Brogan turns and a lazy smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
Felix crosses his arms over his impressive chest. “It’s not okay. You could have hurt Dahlia.”
“It’s fine. Really,” I say at the same time Bethany says, “What am I, invisible?”
“He wasn’t even close to you, Bethany,” Felix clips and his features harden. “Besides, you were just leaving.”
“Whatever.” She spins on her heel, making her blonde hair flip around her shoulders like she’s practiced that move a million times.
His expression softens again when Bethany is gone. “Did you lose your friends?”
“No, I saw some of my teammates and thought I’d go say hello.” My voice shakes as I speak. I point in the general direction I last saw them. “I should have just texted.”
He chuckles. “Want me to clear a path?”
“No. I’m okay. Thank you.”
Someone yells his name. His gaze moves from me long enough to jut his chin in acknowledgment to the person, but then his attention is back, focused solely on me. “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”
I think about my wish, about how this year is going to be different. Maybe it already is. After all, I just spoke to Felix Walters. Go me. Baby steps.
“No, really. I’m good. Thanks.” I duck my head and continue around him.
It takes a few minutes, but I finally push my way through the party crowd. My teammates started drinking early and are so beyond drunk that it’s hard to even talk to them. I promise them I’ll go out with them tomorrow night and then I fight the crowd back toward the house to find Jane.
I’m curious about the inside of this off-campus house. Felix lives here with some of his teammates. The house is small, or maybe it just seems that way with so many people crammed inside it. There aren’t a lot of personal details. It looks like your average college digs.
At the dining room table, people are playing cards. In the living room, there are guys playing video games and girls standing around stealing glances at the guys while chatting.
I find Jane still in line for the bathroom. I lean against the wall next to her. The girls behind us glare at me for cutting.
“I’m not in line,” I tell them and give them my back.
“I would kill for your hair,” Jane says as she runs a hand over my blonde waves.
