Page 99 of Tempting the Player
“Are they having a party?” I ask as a chorus of excited “Ooooohs” drifts outside.
“There aren’t any cars parked out front.” Hendrick sets my feet on the ground and then opens the front door to the chaos.
All four brothers are in the living room, though it looks nothing like it did when we left a few hours ago. Brogan has a golf club in his hand, the others are scattered around what looks like an elaborate maze of some sort, set up with cups and pots, textbooks, and a hair dryer? Actually, that’s my hair dryer.
“What in the world?” I ask.
They all turn, just realizing we’re home, and stare at us like deer in headlights. Then they start laughing.
Hendrick and I share an amused look, then walk farther into the living room. He shuts off the hair dryer, which is on the coffee table, and looks around. Then hesmiles? Not the reaction I expected at all.
“Happy Gilmore?” He takes in the setup, making more sense of it than I can apparently.
“Yeah.” Knox is vibrating with excitement. I’ve never seen him quite like this before. “Check this out, Hen.”
He talks incredibly fast as he goes through the entire setup. It’s like Mouse Trap but with a golf ball.
“I take it this is something you’ve done before?” I ask Hendrick, fighting a smile.
“Who, Hendrick?” Brogan claps him on the shoulder. “Level-headed, serious, grumpy Hendrick?”
“He invented it.” Knox takes the club from Brogan and hands it to him.
“I can’t,” he says. “We were—”
“Gonna go fuck? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But first hit the ball.”
He hesitates.
“Come on, Hendrick,” Knox encourages.
“Henny, Henny,” Brogan starts, and soon they’re all cheering him on.
Still not giving in, he looks to me for approval.
“Better hit the ball, Henny,” I tease and take a seat on the arm of the couch.
It’s actually pretty entertaining. He has to hit the ball into a plastic cup that’s resting on a paint stick stirrer on top of a stack of books. The stirrer tips with the weight of the ball. From there the cup empties the ball onto the coffee table, the hair dryer assists in blowing the ball down a tunnel of books to drop off the table and bounces into three pots of varying sizes. The last bounce is the trickiest because the ball loses steam a couple times and doesn’t quite make it.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Hendrick look so happy or determined. It takes him a few attempts but as soon as he gets it through the entire maze, he throws his hands over his head and cheers, then captures me around the waist and kisses me.
His kiss reminds me that: a) I’m not wearing any panties and b) I was promised another orgasm. I think he just remembered too.
“Jane’s turn,” Knox says, interrupting our lust-fueled stare off.
“Oh, I don’t think—” I start to protest but they start chanting my name the same way that they had for Hendrick. It’s obvious we are not getting out of here until I take my turn.
Smiling, he leans down and brushes a kiss on my cheek as he hands me the golf club. “Don’t take too long, sweetheart.”
I shiver as he pulls back.
If my beer pong skills hadn’t been an indicator that Happy Gilmore was not my jam, then they should have been. I’m terrible. So terrible that they take pity on me and adjust the setup, so I don’t have to hit the ball into the cup (because that was never going to happen).
Dahlia would love this. A pang of sadness hits me at how little I’ve seen her recently. Sure, the girls came over tonight and we all went to the party, but I used to see her a dozen times a day. I miss lying on the pillow fort in her room and talking all night long or sitting downstairs in front of the TV doing homework.
Me
I need a girls’ night soon.
