The Man I Thought I Trusted - E. L. Todd Page 0,22
and waggled my eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes like what I’d said was stupid, but I knew she loved it.
“Alright.” Matt stood in the middle with the ball. “Let’s get the jump shot going and get this party started.”
At the end of the game, we walked to the bleachers and wiped down with our towels. Water was squirted into our mouths, and we caught our breath. It had been a competitive match, and I’d managed to distract Carson enough to make them lose.
It was a weak victory, but it was still a victory.
“You totally cheated.” She stabbed her finger into my side to tickle me. “How am I supposed to get the ball when I have two enormous hands gripping my ass cheeks like that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. You went to Harvard, so I’m sure you can figure it out.” Nothing got under her skin more than mentioning her alma mater, and when the irritated expression came over her face, I knew I’d accomplished exactly what I wanted.
She gave me a playful smack on the arm before she grabbed her water bottle.
“You guys are cute.” Denise sat on the bleachers by herself, not looking at Charlie even though he was shirtless beside her, wiping down his sweaty body with a towel.
“You think this man sabotaging the game is cute?” Carson asked. “I think he’s a punk.”
I was so absorbed in Carson that I didn’t notice the basketball aimed right for me. It came from my side and hit me before it fell to the floor and bounced away.
“Sorry!” A group of women high up on the bleachers waved at me. Their leader was a brunette in her workout clothes, a sports bra and leggings.
“It’s no problem. Just an accident.” I went after the ball and picked it up, and when I rose to my full height, the brunette was right in front of me, giving me a flirtatious attitude. “Here you go.” I handed the ball back.
She took it and tucked it under her arm. “Can we play with you guys sometime? We aren’t as good as you, but maybe you can give us a few pointers?”
Now I wondered if they’d thrown the ball at me on purpose just to get my attention. Was it not obvious I was with Carson? Instead of blowing the woman off right away, I thought the guys might like the opportunity to talk to the girls, so I said, “Maybe we—”
“Bitch, he’s taken.” Carson came to my side and stared down the girl trying to make a pass at me. “And don’t act like you didn’t know, because you did. Throw the ball at my man again, and I will shove that ball up your ass.”
All her confidence disappeared, and she quickly turned away like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.
Carson grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back to the gang. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.” As if nothing had happened, she dragged me away and groped my ass for the girls to see.
“You were a little harsh with that girl,” Denise said across from her sister as she picked at her salad. The rest of us had pizza, wings, beer, but she chose to stick to something clean.
Carson was the same size, but she seemed to eat whatever she wanted. Right now, she had two slices of pizza on her plate along with a stack of extra hot wings. “Was not.”
“I’m sure Dax gets hit on all the time,” Denise said. “Are you gonna hunt them all down and call them bitches too?”
Carson continued to converse with her sister like I wasn’t sitting right beside her. “Yes, of course, I know he gets hit on all the time. Look at the guy.” She pointed at me with her thumb and gave me a once-over. “But she knew he was with me, and she thought she was hotter in her little workout outfit, so she went for it. She’s a bitch, and she knows she’s a bitch. I tell it how it is.”
“If she knew and did it anyway, then yeah, that is pretty bitchy.” Denise grabbed her root beer and took a drink.
“I don’t feel bad.” Carson picked up a wing and took a huge bite out of it. Then she chewed it for a long time in order to get it down her throat. “Come after my man, and I’ll come after you.”
I wiped my mouth with a napkin before I spoke. “I thought it was pretty hot…honestly.”