Page 60 of End Game

I laugh. “No, I think I’m good for now.”

“Guys?” She raises her brows pointedly. “I totally won’t judge.”

“Diana, I’m not interested in men. I like women. I just don’t want to date anyone right now,” I tell her.

“Oh.”

“What’s with this sudden interest in my sex life?” Maybe if I downgrade it to the transactional physicality of it, she won’t realize all I want is her.

She goes pink. “Well, we’ve spent the last few weekends together.”

“So?”

“So if you wanted to, you know… go out and get laid…” She bites her lip. “I just don’t want to stand in your way.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” I tell her seriously.

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

Rolling my eyes, I scoff. “First of all, you’re not, but I think you should trust that I would tell you if you were.”

“I do,” she says quietly. “I do trust you.”

“So believe me that I would tell you if I needed space, to get laid or otherwise,” I tell her.

Her eyes rove over my face. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

She nods. “Okay.”

Tucker’s phone rings with a video chat.

“Listen, babe, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later,” I say as he answers Mason’s call.

She gives me a small smile. “Goodnight.”

When we hang up, I exhale slowly. My chest feels tight and itchy. I don’t like this. Sinking down in the bed and rolling over, I text my brother back. Breakfast works great. See you tomorrow.

“You sick fuck,” Dougie shouts as he enters the hotel lobby. “How dare you?”

Everyone in the packed lobby turns to look in his direction. The fucker thrives off the attention.

Rolling my eyes, I stand and walk towards him. My brother pulls me into a perfunctory hug and claps my back. Everyone is watching us.

“Damn it, when did you get taller?” he whines.

He’s three years older than me, but I’m three inches taller and close to a hundred pounds heavier, most of that muscle now that he’s not working out five hours a day anymore. He also still can’t grow a full beard, whereas mine comes in fully in about four and a half days.

Even though we’re not exceptionally close, I have to admit it’s kind of nice to see my brother. With him being off at Brown and me being busy with school and football, we don’t cross paths often. For now, neither of us are being manipulated into attending the dozen or so charity events my parents attend every month, but as soon as we both graduate in the spring, that will start up again. Dougie is a classic extrovert, he thrives on being around people, whereas I prefer to keep my cards closer to my chest.

I didn’t fit in with the other rich kids at my fancy prep school—I was too Asian, even though my family has been here for three generations. I didn’t fit in with the other Asian kids at my school—I was too much of a jock. And I didn’t fit in with the other football players—I was too much of a nerd, too interested in math and accounting to socialize the way they did. My brother defied the molds, whereas I disappeared into them.

Dougie heads in the direction of the hotel’s restaurant and I lumber after him. Technically we’re supposed to be having breakfast in the team room, but if we want to spring for the expensive restaurant, they can’t stop us. Most of the guys on the team don’t have the kind of spending money we do, nor do they have the desire to venture out of the team’s block of rooms. And Dougie can’t visit the team sponsored rooms if he’s not actually part of the team.

“I didn’t realize you were in town this weekend,” I comment idly as we take our seats at an out of the way table.

“Sean and Soo-jin are getting married,” he says.