Page 15 of Necessary Roughness

Sloane

“LET’S GO!” I cheered along with all the other fans in the student section.

“You have extra school spirit today,” Bryson commented.

“Because she has a personal stake in the game,” Jayden said. “She has not one, but two boyfriends down on the field.”

“That is factually incorrect,” I replied. “In fact, it’s literally the opposite of our agreement.”

Jayden rolled his eyes. “Fine. You have two fuckboys down on the field.”

A girl in front of us turned around and looked at me. “He’s joking,” I told her.

When she turned back around, I leaned over and told Jayden, “Can I call them my fuckboys if we haven’t done anything more than kiss?”

“Can you say you’ve eaten at a restaurant if you only share an appetizer?” Bryson pointed out.

“This is what makes you the clever twin, and me the cute twin,” Jayden teased.

“That’s a terrible metaphor,” I argued.

“Yes, but as long as you… um…” Jayden frowned. “Sorry. I was trying to think of a joke about getting eaten out, but I can’t concentrate while the boys are running around in those tight pants. Mmm hmm.”

Even though we had been going to college football games for four years, I had never really paid that much attention to them.

Sometimes they threw the ball, and sometimes they ran it.

That was about the extent of my knowledge of the sport.

The event was mostly a social occasion for me, cheering with all the other students and feeling like part of the school.

Having several players to focus on made the game a lot more exciting.

Knox, the man I’d made out with two nights ago, received the snap on almost every single play when our team had the ball.

When he got hit, I winced like I was the one being tackled.

When he threw a pass, I cheered. When that pass went to Logan, the other guy I’d locked lips with on Thursday, I cheered even louder.

And when the opposing team had the ball, I got to watch their other roommate in action.

Roman was a massive bull of a man, even larger and more intimidating when he was wearing a full set of pads.

He stalked around the line of scrimmage, then leaped into action, bowling down his opponents and throwing his arms wide to sack the quarterback.

The way he went from casually standing around to attacking without warning reminded me of a lion on the prowl.

“I’d let him pin me to the turf,” Jayden said, licking his lips.

“Stop it,” I said with a laugh.

“Words you’ll never hear me say to Knox Maddox or any other member of the football team.”

Bryson leaned forward to look over at me. “Please stop encouraging my brother. I can only handle so many sex jokes per day, and I reached my limit about an hour ago.”

The game was never close; our team took an early lead, then held onto it for all four quarters. I cheered along with all the other students when the clock hit zero and the victory was complete.

I grinned down at the field as Knox removed his helmet and began shaking hands. His hair was damp against his head, but he wore a huge smile while making his way through the other team. Logan was even more cheerful, clapping teammates on the back while smiling confidently.

“Earth to Sloane,” Bryson said. “You coming, or what?”

I realized that our row was already empty of fans.

On the way home, I shot off a group text.

Me: I know you guys can’t respond right now because you’re still on the field or in the locker room or whatever, but I wanted to say congrats on a great game! You guys are really good this year.

I tried studying that afternoon, but ended up falling asleep with my Art History textbook in my lap. I was awoken by a flurry of texts:

Knox: It was a good game. Glad you were watching.

Logan: That’s an understatement. Shit was DOPE. We normally suck against a big school like Florida State, but I was running holes through their coverage like it was Swiss cheese.

Me: I don’t know what that means, but good job!

Knox: You coming to the party tonight?

Logan: Oh, yeah! You’d better come.

Me: What party?

Knox: The big party at the Kappa house. You didn’t hear about it?

Me: I’m just a lowly student. I don’t get invited to the cool parties with all the athletes.

Knox: You do now. I’ll send you the address.

Me: I’ll think about it. Depends on how much work I get done between now and then.

Logan: Fuck that! Come party with us.

Me: You just want to fulfill our agreement

Logan: Maybe ;-)

Knox: No pressure or expectations. Just come hang out and play beer pong.

Logan: Right. No expectations. Totally.

Logan: But if something happens? Then so be it.

Me: I’ll see if I can pop by.

There was never any question in my mind about going. I was eager to hang out with them some more, even without the potential for sex. Knox and Logan had this charismatic pull to them that I couldn’t ignore.

The twins already had plans tonight, so I made the walk to the party alone. It was a cool evening now that the sun had set, and the neighborhoods bordering campus were alive with activity as students walked from one party to another.

When I reached the Kappa house, I hesitated. This was one of the popular fraternities. There was no rule that I couldn’t be here, but it felt like I was crossing a line by going inside. Like I was disrupting the natural hierarchy of the college campus.

I went inside, still feeling anxious about whether or not I belonged.

Music thumped somewhere deeper inside the three-story house, and it was so crowded that I had to squeeze through people just to get out of the foyer.

There was a commotion in one of the back rooms, so I did my best to head in that direction.

It turned out to be the dining room, and they were using the long dining table as a beer pong table.

A ball soared through the air, landing in a cup with a soft clink and splash. The room erupted in cheers, and the man who had thrown the ball—Knox—triumphantly thrust his hands in the air.

“This arm’s on fire today!” Logan said, grabbing his teammate’s right arm and patting it appreciatively. “Touchdowns in the afternoon, and beer pong cups at night!”

I was immediately struck by how many women were in the room with them, watching and fawning over their every move.

Sorority girls in dresses that were a lot sluttier than the sun dress I’d selected for the party, cleavage and blowouts as far as the eye could see.

A few of them glared at me when I tried to squeeze through, and blocked my way, as if this was a rock concert and they had already staked out their spots as close to the stage as possible.

“Do you fucking mind?” one of them snapped at me.

I already felt like I didn’t belong, but that was the final crack to my confidence. It was probably for the best if I went home.

Logan’s voice cut through the crowd. “Sloane! Get up here.”