Page 12 of Play By The Rules
My head snaps up, curious as to what the hell he’s talking about.
“What are you on about?”
He grabs his phone from his pocket and shoves the screen in front of my face. I press play on the video, cocking my head at the events that play out before me. “Well, shit.”
“Shits about right. Dad’s going to have my arse about this,” he moans, grabbing the phone back. “Anyway, that’s not the worst of it. Sure, Anna is going to moan and bitch, but Fallon’s the one threatening to kick people out.”
I didn’t miss that on the video either, but what I also didn’t miss was Anna pushing first and threatening to go run to administration and tattle on the girls. Since Bennett is Fallon’s cousin, he’d have laughed in her face and kicked her out of his office, but that thought doesn’t stop my cock from stiffening in my pants at the fire in Fallon’s eyes.
“It’s not like we’ve never done that,” Kyle pipes up, shrugging. He shakes his head when we stare at him. “What?”
“But we’re us,” Gage says, not understanding. Though I’m pretty sure I’ve clocked onto what Kyle is getting at.
“Yeah, and she’s her. She’s one of us, whether we want to admit it or not. This place belongs to her as much as any of us, if not more since her family runs it and ours only stick their hands in occasionally.”
“So, what do we do, then?” Gage asks, his question aimed at me but Kyle answers.
“I say we let her crack on as she wishes, I’ve no idea why we iced her out in the first place,” he says, looking to me. I say nothing, just dip my head and resume my scrolling. “Look we all know that Bennett is going to side with her if push comes to shove, what’s the point in making our lives harder in our last year all because Theo has his panties in a twist over a childhood crush and refuses to bring her into the fray.”
“Watch it,” I warn, my gaze settling on his face. He doesn’t shrink under my glare, just holds my stare with a poker face. I’ve never bothered to give them any answers when it comes to Fallon and me, and I’m not about to start now. My reason for dissolving that friendship isn’t something I’m willing to get into with the two fuckers I call my friends.
“I have my own plans when it comes to Casper, you two can do whatever the fuck you want. You wanna bring her in? Welcome her with open arms for all I care.”
They both gape at me, unsure as to what’s changed my tune. Though what they don’t get, is nothing has. When I pulled away from Fallon and spent the next few years taunting her from afar, these two idiots just went along with it without question.
While I’m glad they did, because I would have had to force their hands at some point, they made my life easier by staying loyal.
“Dad’s still going to ream me out over Betty,” Gage groans, running a hand through his dark hair. “Little red is going to be the death of me, I swear.”
I thump him on the back, lifting out of my chair. While he might like to pretend Betty is a pain in his arse, their relationship is anything but familial.
If they aren’t already fucking, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens soon. The pair have been dancing around their attraction to one another since their parents got married a few years ago.
“I doubt he’ll find out,” I tell him, grabbing my bag. “Bennett’s not going to go and snitch to the rents about what happened. He loves Casper too much to get her in any hot water. Anyway, I’ve got shit to do. See you tossers later.”
Instead of going to my next class, I skip and head to my dorm to grab my gym bag before going to the gym in the basement. The first day back is always a shitshow of boring speeches and paper-pushing to make it seem like the teachers have their shit together; when really, they’re still winging it after the long break.
That’s something I just can’t be arsed with today.
Sweat drips over my brow an hour later, but I don’t wipe it away. My fist strikes again, the leather bag swinging under the momentum. The campus gym is quiet since most students will be in their final classes of the day.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Bennett asks me, stepping up to the bag beside mine.
“Shouldn’t you be off head teaching or some shit like that?”
He barks out a laugh, wrapping his hands with the tape I left on the side. “Touché, smart arse.”
We both hit our bags in silence for the next hour, while Johnny Cash fills the space with his docile tones. I can feel Bennett watching me every now and then, but I keep my gob shut. I know him well enough to know that, like his cousin, he’ll say what he wants at some point.
“Are you ready to talk about it?” he finally asks, lifting his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.
My hands stop the bag before it can hit me in the face while I move my gaze to his. “What?”
“Whatever it is that has you working up a sweat down here, at two p.m. instead of being in class.”
This is one of the reasons I like the dude. He doesn’t give two shits what we get up to, and mostly sees Gage, Kyle, and me as little brothers of sorts. He’s fourteen years older than us, but he’s more than willing to shoot the shit when we need to.
“Nothing,” I tell him, going back to the bag. He scoffs, tossing a towel at me.