Page 135 of What are the Risks
When I came back, Stefan had found a table with his high school friends. I could see some of my old school buddies too, hanging around the pool table.
Sometimes my hometown felt more like a small town. You bumped into people wherever you went, which was a blessing and a curse.
Back in high school, as graduation had neared, I hadn’t felt a burning desire to leave. But now that I had, I couldn’t imagine still living here. At least not for a long time to come.
My friends spotted me and made their way over. As expected, the number one topic of conversation was the Draft. Whenever I tried steering the attention from me and talk about what they’d been up to, it always circled straight back.
I appreciated how excited everyone was for me, but man, the pressure was a lot. It felt like every person I’d ever met was paying attention to the Draft. What if it didn’t go in my favour? What if, in some universe, I didn’t get drafted at all?
“You need another beer?” I asked, eyeing my brother’s empty glass.
My former backup quarterback had just had me cornered me for fifteen minutes, reminiscing about the glory days that were high school. This was my excuse to escape him.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Shooting an apologetic look to my old teammate, I ducked away from the table and headed for the bar. The line was huge – big enough to put me in a foul mood – and that mood only worsened when I noticed who was at the front.
Noah.
As he turned with two beers and spotted me, his smile fell. He looked the same as always, complete with a wanky fucking sweater. Seriously, where the fuck did he shop? I’d never seen a sweater like that in any guy’s store I’d ever been in – even the pretentious ones Evan dragged me into.
He began to stride towards me, then seemed to think better of it and went the other way.
Thank fuck.
Seeing him served as a bitter reminder that he’d cheated on Ruby – more than once – and continued to hassle her long after they’d broken up.
I hated his smug face so fucking much.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, instinctively going to text Ruby, but stopped myself. Worrying her wouldn’t help.
I wasn’t sure why Noah wasn’t at college, and frankly, I didn’t care. So long as he stayed on the opposite side of the bar to me, we wouldn’t have a problem.
By the time I returned to my brother and the rest of the guys, my mood had tanked even further. Thankfully they were all too drunk to notice.
“So Ryker,” my former linebacker started. “Any ideas who’ll pick you up?”
I sighed. Here we went again.
*
An hour later, my luck ran out. Noah’s friends had taken over the pool table, which meant he was less than six feet from me.
Stefan shifted between us, discreetly gesturing over my shoulder. “Dude hasn’t stopped staring at you for ten minutes.”
“I know.”
I could feel Noah’s miserable gaze on the back of my neck. It was making my skin crawl.
“Are you and him good?” Stefan checked.
“Not really.”
“Then maybe you should stand closer to your old football buddies. I have your back, bro, but fighting isn’t really–”
“No one is fighting,” I said.
As much as I hated Noah, I’d made a promise to Ruby.
