Page 24 of First Down Promise

“Bro, you have two sisters. How would you feel about them having sex under your roof?” Pete asks.

I blink at him and don’t even consider his question before I speak up. “Why the fuck are we doing this right now? I wouldn’t care.”

Pete narrows his eyes at me. “You wouldn’t? I guess that’s the difference between having older sisters than younger ones. You seem pretty defensive for someone who doesn’t care.”

“My sisters have been married for years with kids. You get over it,” I snap again. “Someday, Abby’s going to be serious with someone. You going to be okay with her having sex?” I ask. My stomach knots at the thought, but as Pete opens his mouth, I interrupt him before he can start. “Before you answer, remember you just asked us about your sex life. Don’t be a hypocrite.”

Pete glares at me, and Dane clears his throat from the other side of the pool table. “Can we, uh, get back to this?” he asks, holding up his pool stick.

“Yeah. Fuck it. Let’s do it,” Pete says.

“Thank God,” Coop mumbles.

A couple of drinks later, Pete’s eyes are doing that thing where I can tell he’s getting close to his limit. He misses a shot and curses. “Alright, weirdest place you guys have fucked. Go,” Pete says.

Dane answers first. “Hot tub at the top of a building in LA—worth the elevated body temp.”

“Dude,” Pete chuckles.

“Hood of my truck. Senior year at ‘Bama,” Coop answers.

“What’s in the air tonight?” I joke instead of adding my own story.

Pete raises his eyebrows at me. “Come on, Josh. You must have fucked somewhere real fucking weird.”

I stop myself from asking why everyone’s bothering me about my sex life tonight. I run a hand down my face and decide sharing will be the quickest way to move on. “I, um, took a girl’s virginity on a boat dock back in high school. It was sunset, and aside from the humidity, it was kind of romantic.”

“Romantic? Who are you?” Pete asks.

“What about you, Pete?” Dane asks, picking up his drink.

Pete snorts into his glass. “Senior year at Minnesota, I went home for spring break and fucked this girl Abby’s been friends with since they were kids. She was eighteen, I promise. It was fine. But they stopped being friends after that, and I don’t think Abby knows.” He throws his head back with a drunken laugh. “I guess it’s not a weird place, but a weird thing I did once.”

We’re silent after that. Dane’s attention shifts to me, and Coop scratches the scruff on his face. “That’s definitely odd,” Dane says after a moment, keeping his attention away from Pete. Dane can be judgmental, unnecessarily at times, but I don’t blame him at the moment.

Pete bends over the table with his pool stick, and I mutter, “I hope you get humbled.” His arm stills as his gaze snaps to my face.

“What’s that, Kenz?”

I clear my throat. “I hope you get humbled,” I repeat, slower and more deliberate this time.

“Kiss my ass, Josh,” Pete snaps, refocusing on the ball.

“No need. All of Nashville already does,” I retort. Coop chokes on his drink and coughs, and Dane bites his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“I dunno what’s going on with you guys, but can we chill?” Coop asks.

When it’s my turn, I lean down to make the shot, but I’m not even going to pretend I won’t blow it. Just as I pull the pool stick back, the garage door rumbles open above us, and as predicted, I miss.

“Hmm, she’s home early,” Pete mumbles and stretches his arm to look at his watch. “Is it early?”

Her footsteps cross the main level above us as she searches for us. From the line of cars in the driveway, she’ll know the gang’s here, but her being back this early might mean Tyler did his job.

“Joshua Beau Mackenzie, who the hell are you setting me up with?” Abby screams when she finally finds us in the basement. My full name? How does Abby even know that?

She reaches down, unbuckles the strap around her ankle, and hurls her high heel at me. Followed by the other shoe. I throw my arms up to block the impact as the guys freeze on the other side of the pool table. Her shoes barely hit me and clatter to the floor, but my stomach drops once I take in her face. Black streaks run beneath her eyes where tears smeared her mascara. I caused this, but I can’t stop the pang of jealousy over her getting dolled up for another man. Let alone someone I set her up with. It’s not fair to her.

Pete notices her face too, and his drunken expression disappears. “Abby, what happened?” he asks.