Page 18 of Hard Count (Newhouse University #4)

DREW

“Are their parties always this crowded?” I ask, as Frankie parks her car in front of the guys’ townhouse.

“On game day? Yes.” Her head swings around the front yard as the party has spilled outside and spans the entire row of townhouses.

“I might have to renegotiate the terms of my agreement with Nash.” I take Frankie’s outstretched hand as we push our way through the front door.

“I’m sure he would love to have a private party every week with you instead,” she says over her shoulder, winking at me. She leads us into the kitchen where they have a full bar set up on the island. “What do you want?” She grabs a solo cup and fills it with ice, vodka, and some juice.

“I’ll just take one of these.” I grab a can of ginger ale from an open cooler on the floor.

“Cheers.” She raises her glass .

“Cheers.” I take a sip while casually taking in the scene. I recognize a few guys on the team dotted around the room but no sign of Nash. Not that I’m here for him. He dropped me off at my apartment a few hours ago after dinner. I literally just saw him.

“Do you want to check outside?” She motions toward the door with her thumb.

“Sure.” I smile when I see Asher out back by the keg. I wasn’t kidding when I told Nash he makes me laugh with all of his random questions and fun facts.

The backyard isn’t huge but they’ve made the most of the space with a fire pit, corn hole game, and beer pong table. Frankie settles a hip against the deck railing and I do the same. “Who are you looking for?” I whisper to Frankie when her head does a full scan of the backyard for the third time.

“What? Me? No one. It’s called familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Spotting potential threats and danger.” She hides her face in her solo cup and takes a long sip.

“You’re a good actress, but you aren’t fooling me with those lines. I’m sure they’re around here somewhere.” I wince knowing I just blew my own cover.

“How are things going with you and Nash?”

“We’re becoming friends.” I shrug. It feels like more than that most days. We’ve been doing team stuff but we’ve also been carving out time to be alone too. Even without anyone else around we’ve been keeping things platonic.

Platonic. Forehead kisses are platonic, right? Even if they keep you up at night thinking about wanting more of them? Other than his would you rather question, there haven’t been any more mentions of kissing since the game a week ago.

I don’t know if he’s trying to be respectful to his coach—my dad—or if he’s focusing on football more than dating, or if he isn’t as interested in me as I’m perceiving him to be.

“Ooh friend zoned,” Asher says, breaking me from my thoughts. “Would you rather be friend zoned and keep that person in your life or cut ties with them completely?”

“That seems extreme doesn’t?” Frankie asks, her eyes still casually searching for Eli.

I refuse to look for Nash. He knew I was going to be here. It was part of our deal. Last week I was able to get out of attending the party with an excuse of not feeling well. Now that I think about it he didn’t look very disappointed. Does he regret making this part of our bet?

“Maybe. Depends on how difficult it is to see that person date other people.” His face blanks as if he’s had a similar experience.

“If they’re truly a friend, we should be happy that they’re happy, right?” I ask.

“I guess. If they’re actually happy,” he grumbles. He takes a sip of his beer and it flips a switch inside his brain. “Would you rather be abducted by aliens or—”

“Aliens,” we answer in unison.

“But you didn’t hear the other option. How do you know it isn’t better?” he questions .

“There is nothing better than being beamed up by an alien,” I reply. Frankie nods in agreement and gives me a high five.

“I can think of at least one thing,” Nash says behind me.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I ask, eyeing him over my shoulder.

“You’ll have to stick with me and find out.” He smirks. I’d much rather fuck around and find out. “Eli and I called next on beer pong. Are you up for the challenge?”

I glance down at my soda. “I’ll watch and cheer you on. Asher, do you want to be Frankie’s partner?”

Nash places a hand on Asher’s chest, halting him. “Drinking isn’t a requirement to play. You can still have fun like everyone else without alcohol. Pour the beer out for all I care. Do you want to play?”

“Against you? Always.”

“That’s cool. I’ll watch,” Asher says as we walk down the deck stairs.

The crowd around the table clears to let us get into position. One of the underclassmen resets the cups while Nash and I stare each other down from across the long folding table. He’s trying to taunt me but jokes on him because he’s actually just turning me on.

“I’m not good at this game,” Frankie whispers, her eyes zoned in on the cups in front of us. “If I make any, it will be a miracle.”

“That’s fine. I have decent aim. I think I can carry the team.” I played a few times in high school. It wasn’t that hard; it’s more luck than skill. Then again, I never played against someone whose career is based on aim and precision.

“Did you wear a bra?” she whispers.

“What?” I rear my head back, staring at her.

“Did you wear a bra?” she asks slower, annunciating each word.

“Yes, I wore a bra. Why does that matter right now?”

“I was thinking we could up the ante a little to knock them off their game. We need an advantage.”

“Are you for real right now? You just said it would take a miracle for you to make a shot and now you want to wager my boobs?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“It can be my boobs and your ass.” She smacks my butt. Eli and Nash stare at us in confusion as we bicker back and forth.

“It might but it also means everyone else is getting a look at our goods.” My eyes roam the backyard. Letting almost the entire football team see me in my thong isn’t something on my to do list but it's similar to a bathing suit, right?

“Even better if you ask me. It will make them jealous and they’ll lose focus.

Sometimes you have to force their hand to get them to make a move.

” She snags one of the ping pong balls off the table.

“Nash might need a little push.” She tosses the ball across the table.

It flies wide and Eli has to reach for it.

Shaking his head and grinning he throws it back to her.

“That doesn’t help your case. I’m not feeling very confident right now. I also don’t like the idea of scheming to make them jealous. ”

“Are you two done yapping?” Eli asks.

“What are the terms?” Frankie bounces the ball on the table and instead of catching it, the ball bounces toward the pyramid of cups. She has to scramble to trap it. Lord, help me.

“Do you want to make bets?” Nash asks.

“We can. It'll make your game more fun. Don’t you think so?” Frankie looks at me for approval.

“Ugh, fine.” I drop my head back and silently groan. I hope I don’t regret this.

“What do you have in mind?” Eli eyes her with suspicion.

“For every shot we make, you owe us a piece of clothing. If you make a shot, you get one of ours.” She smirks back at him.

Nash eyes me leisurely, and I can see his chest pumping with heavy breaths. When his eyes meet mine my skin heats to a boil. The metal can I’m holding pops when I squeeze it too tight as he flicks his tongue out over his bottom lip. I can’t tell if he’s angry about the idea or if he likes it.

They turn to each other and have a short discussion. Coming to an agreement, Nash says, “Fine. But if we make a shot.” He stares at me. “I don’t want your clothes. I want your truths.”

“What does that mean?” Frankie asks.

“It means every time I make a shot you have to answer one of my questions,” Eli replies.

“That doesn’t seem like an equal trade,” I say. Being naked in a crowd sounds like a much better option than opening myself to a series of personal questions for Nash and everyone at school to know the answers to.

“That’s what I want. Make a shot and I’ll answer your questions too. Whatever you want to know. Deal?” he asks. Frankie and I both nod in agreement, making Nash and Eli visibly relax.

“Did you see that?” I whisper to Frankie.

“I did.” She grins. They didn’t like the idea of us stripping in front of the crowd. Interesting .

“One of you can go first.” Eli nods toward our end of the table.

“Go ahead.” I nudge Frankie.

She wipes her hands down her jeans and pushes her hair out of her face. Lifting her arm, she does a few practice throws without releasing the ball.

“Any day now,” Eli mumbles. She glares in his direction and then lobs the ball toward his head. It would have been a direct hit if he didn’t catch it first.

“Nice try, Francesca ,” he says before throwing the ball back in our direction and sinking it in one of our cups. I remove the ball out of the cup before passing it to her to drink.

I miss the question he asked her while I dunk the ball in a water cup to rinse off the sticky beer. Whatever it was, Frankie’s answer is yes and she isn’t happy about having to admit it.

My hands shake as I aim the ball in their direction.

It doesn’t help that Nash is staring at me the same way he did when we were at the gym.

He’s the only person I know who’ ll root for his opponent to win.

Maybe he’s just rooting for me to win. I toss the ball in the air and it bounces off the rim and into the middle cup.

Frankie jumps up and down and wraps her arms around me. “Make it hurt.”

I know I should ask something more scandalous but I’m coming up blank. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Lame,” Frankie says, with a fake cough.

He empties the content of the cup onto the ground and my heart does a backflip. That move was for me in solidarity. “Orange,” Nash answers. Then hurls a ball into the air nailing the back center cup.

Frankie snatches the cup before I can grab it to dump it out. “If I’m going to have to answer all of his questions, I need this more than then the grass needs to be watered.”

Laughing, I focus back on Nash and wait for his question. “What kind of music do you like listening to?” he asks.

Frankie throws her hands up in the air in disbelief, then grumbles, “This isn’t fair. ”

“I guess it depends on my mood but I like a little of everything from R&B to country music. My favorite is probably more acoustic singer/songwriter stuff. I’m even becoming a fan of Broadway.” I hip check Frankie.

Nash nods with a smile. Frankie takes her turn missing the cup by a mile. “Next time,” I murmur and pat her on the back.

Eli steps up and nails the ball into another cup making Frankie huff in irritation. “Oh goodie, another question. Can I just take my shirt off instead?” she asks. The crowd of guys watching us play clap and encourage the idea.

Leaning on the table, Eli says, “Do it and I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here. Don’t test me, Frankie.” She whimpers beside me. I’m sure her brain—and other body parts—are being tempted with a good time right now.

Eli stares down Frankie, waiting to see what she’s going to do. “Do you need help with a question?” Asher asks. Nash and I both have to hold back our laughter.

“I’m good. Why did you stay with him so long?” he asks, not taking his eyes off her.

Frankie looks around the crowd. “I’m not answering that in front of all these people.”

“It’s not a complicated question,” he counters.

“Because I did,” she sneers. “Your turn, Drew.” She crosses her arms over her chest. Eli frowns but doesn’t press her further.

I take my shot and land it in the back corner. What do I want to know about Nash that I don’t already? “Um…what’s your guilty pleasure?” I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Good one,” Frankie says.

Nash tilts his head as he leans on the table, staring at me with hooded eyes. I swallow hard and inhale a deep breath through my nose.

“ Manga ,” he answers .

“Are we going to call him out for lying because it’s pretty obvious thinking about ripping your clothes off on a regular basis is the truth,” Frankie says low enough only I can hear.

“I don’t even know what manga is,” I say ignoring her.

“It’s comics or something,” Frankie answers.

Nash gasps in offense. “They aren't comics. I’ll show you my collection,” he says to me. Eli sputters a laugh. Nash’s cheeks blush and I bite my lip to keep from smiling.

“I would love to see your… collection .” I emphasize the last word and I swear he blushes more. It feels pretty good to have him weak over me for a change. He’s usually the one making me feel flush.

We go a few more rounds with all of us missing and making a few shots.

We’re down to only one cup and the guys have two left on their side of the table.

Frankie lines up and sinks it in. “Oh my god! I did it!” she screams, and high fives everyone within reach.

You would think she figured out how to end world hunger with her over the top celebration.

She settles back into her spot beside me and narrows her eyes at Eli. “Why were you so mean to me when we first met? It’s always bothered me and now you have to tell me,” she says smugly.

“Because I was,” he replies with a smirk.

“That’s cheating!”

“That’s almost the same answer you gave him earlier,” I mumble and elbow her side. “Nash, it’s your turn for the win.”

Eli passes him the ball while still holding eye contact with Frankie .

“For the win,” Nash repeats, before throwing the ping pong ball at our last cup. He makes it easily and I brace myself for his final question. He waits for me to dump the contents of the cup onto the ground and stack it with the rest of our empty ones.

“What do you want to know?” I taunt him.

“For my final question, I want to know…” He walks over to my side of the table and stands in front of me. He runs the tips of his fingers down my forearm until the palm of my hand is held in his. “If you’ll go out on a date with me. What do you say, Drew?”

“You’re really putting me on the spot.” I glance around at the crowd of people waiting to hear my answer.

He pulls my arm and I fall into his chest. “Don’t worry about my pride. You can say no. What do you want, baby?” His arms wrap around my back and his hand gets dangerously close to my ass.

“You…I mean yes. I’ll go out with you.” My cheeks flame in embarrassment at my slipup.

“I think you had it right the first time,” he says, then kisses the top of my head.