Chapter 4

Andrew

That stupid redhead, Gina, made me late to the first practice of the year. As I run out on the field, I cast my eyes over to where the cheerleaders are stretching.

Gina and one of her many blonde zombies are talking, and Gina waves her hand in my direction with a scowl.

~Yeah, love you too ginge.~

Her friend looks dreamily over toward me, her eyes looking me up and down. I run my hand through my unruly mop of black hair, winking at her.

Beside her, Gina eases down into splits and stretches over one leg, her boobs pressing up and threatening to spill out of her vest.

~Goddamn! Gotta love those flexible cheerleaders.~

Wait, what? Fuck no, stop thinking about queen bitch like that. She’d probably shatter if I tried to bend her over. Cold as ice that one.

“AJ!” Drew puts his hand up for a high five. “Coach hasn’t shown up yet, so you’re good, man.”

I slap his hand and nod a greeting to PJ, who is sitting on the bench with his phone in his hand, probably still planning his first senior party.

I saunter over, put my helmet down next to him, and start stretching my legs out.

“Hey, you know my friend, Jake, from football camp?”

My boys nod.

“His folks are splitting, and he’s moving here with his dad and starting at our school next week. He’s a kick-ass running back. Much better than Tony.”

We all look over at our running back. He’s only five-five and skinny as fuck. He fumbles more balls from me than he’s ever caught. “No idea why Coach picked him.”

“Sounds like I need some help with coaching varsity now, huh.” Coach’s southern drawl sounds from behind me, and I swallow hard.

Coach hates being told when players are good. He prefers to make up his own mind. I slowly turn around to face him.

Coach Johnson is enormous, easily six feet seven, and pure muscle, topped with a blond crew cut and piercing blue eyes, and not in a dreamy way.

I mean, if he turns that stare on you, you feel it piercing all the way into your soul.

Nobody can bullshit Coach Johnson.

“Yeah, I think you do.” I clear my throat, trying not to sound like I’m shitting myself. “Especially if you want the varsity team to win some games this year.”

Coach’s eyebrow shoots up, and a smirk plays on his lips before he presses them into a thin line. He raises his voice to the rest of the team.

“You can all thank Mr. McGabe here for the ten laps around the field you are all going to do before we do warm-ups.”

***

“That man is a fucking sadist.” PJ throws himself dramatically onto the sofa.

“Dude! Watch your mouth.” I anxiously look around to make sure my little sisters are out of earshot.

I can see both of their blonde heads through the sliding doors, running around the yard chasing Drew. “How does he still have so much energy?”

PJ leans back to look at them and shrugs. “Dude must be sugared up. You know his mom is back on a cleanse, so he’s got to eat all that good shit when he’s off-leash.”

He flicks through the selection of films on Netflix. “So you still coming Friday, yeah?”

“Yeah. My mom is off, and she’s promised not to take any overtime. She’s talking about looking at babysitters or cutting her hours so I can, in her words, get the most out of my senior year.”

I link my hands behind my head and stretch my legs out, resting them on top of the coffee table. “I think she is under the impression I’m still innocent.”

PJ snorts in amusement. I grin back at him. When we were freshmen, we snuck into a seniors' party under the guise that we were at a sleepover at Drew’s house.

We were all pushing six feet, even at fourteen, and because we walked into that house party like we owned the fucking place, nobody guessed we shouldn’t have been there.

I hooked up with a sophomore cheerleader, ironically called Cherry. My first time was…short, to say the least.

But after she found out it was my first time, she actually hooked up with me a few more times after that, until I found my feet, so to speak.

We occasionally got together at parties over the years, and she talked me up among her friends. And so my reputation was born.

And by association, my boys, PJ and Drew, get the choicest pussy in our school too.

Drew walks back into the living room with my sisters tucked, giggling, under each of his arms. I’m not gonna let Sammy and Lottie go to any high school parties. Fuck no. Never.

“What are you guys talking ‘bout?” he huffs, dropping Sammy onto PJ’s lap, and Lottie onto mine, before falling onto the sofa next to PJ.

“PJ’s party.” I watch Sammy play with PJ’s hair, pushing her little chubby fingers into the springy small afro he has.

He waggles his eyebrows at her and tickles her lightly, extracting another high-pitched squeal. She’s slightly obsessed with my best friend and is always trying to touch his hair, or his lips, or just him.

She’ll sometimes put her hand on his arm and look back and forth between the different colors of their skin. It’s kinda cute, and PJ loves the attention.

As dark as PJ is, Drew is the opposite. He’s so pale and blond he’s a second away from being a person with albinism.

I sit nicely in the middle. Black hair, naturally tan skin, thanks to my biological father.

None of us has any trouble in getting attention from the opposite sex. The hours spent training for football give us the kind of bodies girls drool over.

The other guys have had girlfriends in the past, but I’ve never committed to anyone. I have occasionally hooked up with girls at parties, but most of my reputation is smoke and mirrors.

I don’t want anything else to get in the way of looking after my family.

It is hard enough juggling school and football with looking after my sisters, let alone throwing in a needy girl who would want to be taken out for dates.

Bathing little girls and reading bedtime stories isn’t very romantic. But it is my life right now. I snuggle Lottie closer to me, smelling her soft hair.

Yeah, this is my life right now, ~but I fucking love it.~

***

It is finally Friday. I’ve managed to get through the rest of the week without any more serious run-ins with bitch face Gina. She actually seems kinda happy this week, distracted even.

And I’ve heard that she isn’t going to the party because I am going to be there, so that is a bonus.

PJ and Drew are already pre-gaming. We’ve only been at PJ’s for an hour since practice finished. They’re gonna be wrecked by the time the actual party starts.

I shake my head at the pair of them as I finish putting Mrs. Jones’ breakables in the lockable master bedroom.

PJ’s folks might not mind him throwing parties when they are out of town, but she’ll be pissed if her family china is trashed or if anyone has sex in her bed.

“So, AJ, who you gonna be fuckin’ tonight?” Drew nudges me with his shoulder. “Cuz I call dibs on Robyn. That girl is wild once you get some beer inside her.”

“Yeah, but just remember if she drinks too much, you have to deal with her hurling.” I scrunch my nose up at the memory of her puking halfway through a blow job. Best way to destroy a boner.

As the time rolls around to eight, the house is party-ready, and people have started turning up. I grab a red cup and get myself a beer. I walk around saying hi to people, flirting with a few girls.

I make a show of going back to get myself another beer, but once I sink that one, I switch to filling my cup with water from the bottle I stashed in PJ’s folks’ bedroom.

I rarely drink anymore.

The last time I got so trashed, I couldn’t walk. I ended up in the ER getting my stomach pumped, and my mom was on shift, so my dad had to come pick me up.

That meant my baby sister, Sammy, had to get woken up at three in the morning and see her big brother in a crying, vomity mess.

I can’t let them see me like that again. And I can’t let my folks worry about me like that. So I let everyone see me drink a little, then act it up a little.

I wander back to the kitchen, where the beer bongs have started. I cheer along with my friends. A small hand wraps itself around my bicep and pulls me toward the living room, where the music is blasting.

I look down at the little brunette who has started grinding up on me. She’s pretty. Big blue eyes framed by wavy waist-length hair and big pink lips, which are curling up into a sexy smile.

I lean down and whisper into her ear to ~come with me.~ She blushes and nods, biting on her bottom lip. Fuck, that’s sexy. Shame this won’t end like she’s hoping.

I lace my fingers with hers and lead her down the hallway, away from the party to one of the guest rooms—my guest room.

The one I always hook up in because it has an en suite and sliding doors so I can escape whenever I want. Pulling her inside, I lock the door.

She leads me over the bed and pushes me down, so I’m sitting on the edge.

“I can’t believe I’m in here with AJ McGabe,” she says with wonder, licking her lips.

“And I’m in here with…sorry, sweetheart, didn’t catch your name.”

“Ashley...? My name’s Ashley. I’m on the junior cheer squad.”

That’s right. She’s a sophomore. Only fifteen. Definitely not going to happen. I edge away from her, shaking my head.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I’m just not interested. This is just for looks, so feel free to tell your girlfriends you enjoyed riding the AJ train because everybody will assume you have once you leave this room.”

Her eyes glisten with tears, and her bottom lip wavers slightly. I lift her chin with my thumb and first finger.

“It’s ok. I’m not gonna kick you out. You can stay in here and compose yourself or whatever. I’ve gotta make some phone calls.” I stand and walk into the en suite. I hear her sniffle and turn on the TV.

My mom answers on the second ring. “Andy? What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Mom, how are my girls?”

“You called me from a party to ask how your sisters are?” She makes an exasperated sound down the phone at me, and I grin, picturing her shaking her head.

“They are fine. Apparently, I don’t tell stories as good as you do, but Sammy said I’d do in a pinch.” She chuckles, and I join in. “Now, go! Have fun being a reckless teenager for a night.”

“Ok. Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, my sweet boy.”

I bring up Jake on my contacts and press dial.

“What up, dude!” He sounds excited.

“Hey, man. You wanna come to this party? Might be good to meet your future teammates.”

“Nah, sorry, dude. My dad just got here with the truck, so George and I are helping unpack. But I’ll hit you up later, kay?”

“Sure. Take it easy.”

“Always do, man.” I can hear his grin.

He is one of the most laid-back guys I’ve ever met, typical stoner.

I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping he’d invite me to hang with him and his friend, so I could finally meet this George guy.

I take a leak then steel myself to rejoin the party. Ashley has gotten over my rejection and takes my hand again as we leave the bedroom.

~They always do. ~I learned a while ago that girls want to save face just as much as guys do.