"So how's baseball going?"

The last thing I want to do is talk to a cute blond about baseball. Baseball sucks right now. Coach Harris is making me do all of his dirty work. He won't even let me touch a bat unless I'm cleaning it or putting it away. I can't even try and swing the damn thing because if I do, he'd kick me in the ass, literally.

I also don't want to talk to this blond— Monica, her name is Monica— I should give her the courtesy of saying her name because she hasn't done anything wrong. She's being nice. But all I can think about is Loni. All I want to think about is Loni.

Where is she? Is she with someone else right now? Is she thinking about me?

But Monica is trying so hard to get my attention. She has these huge tits — which are real because I've asked when I was very drunk one night— that she's brushing against my torso. She wants to fuck me. I know her tricks because we have hooked up a few times.

She's subtle. She doesn't like to ask men to hook up. She wants them to chase her. So she'll massage them with her tits, bat her big blue eyes, and bite down on her plump lip until the men are begging to screw her.

I'm not going to lie, she was a good lay. Pretty loud though. I don't really mind that. A lady can make as much noise as she wants, but I just had to make sure no one was home when we fucked. I'm a pretty open guy, but I like my private time. And I don't want my friends to know my technique. It's sacred.

For some reason, the back of my neck is burning when the thought of Loni pops back into my mind. She wasn't loud or quiet when he had sex. She would moan and bite her lip to hold in her noises. If she got too loud she would laugh. I love her laugh.

But, fuck, if anyone else heard those noises, the noises she makes when she orgasms, I might kill them.

"I'll have to come to your first game," Monica says, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, sure." I take a long pull of my Jack and Coke.

Monica stands on her toes and kisses my cheek. "Come find me later."

"What the fuck man?" Kaden exclaims as soon as Monica leaves the room. He places his pool cue on the table and shoves my back with his hand. "That's good pussy you just let go."

"Been there, done that."

"Mind if I give it a go then?"

"You two are so disgusting," The raven-hair girl hanging on Tyler's arm says. "Do you not have any self-respect?"

Valerie Marquez has been dating Tyler since they were freshmen at Bayside. She's a nice girl, rarely. But most of the time, I can't fucking stand her. Mainly because I feel like Tyler turns into a totally different person when she's around. He's normally funny and does some stupid shit like the rest of us. But when she's around, he loses his entire personality and is like some goody-goody, proper, chancellor's son, boring person.

And she is so high maintenance, it's insane. I don't know how Tyler can put up with her. Just the thought of her name makes my entire body stiff. Like I'm mentally putting up a protective barrier to shield me from her bullshit.

"Don't you think your friends should learn to respect women, TT?"

Man, she really has him by the balls.

"Damn, your girl really has you by the balls, TT," Kaden mocks and I can't help but laugh. He took the words right out of my mouth.

Valerie's pale cheeks turn bright red. I swear I see two little horns grow out of her head. "You are such a dick."

"I'm just speaking the truth, Hunny, if you don't like it, maybe you should leave. And leave Tyler with us."

"You are so childish. It's so pathetic."

"Come on, babe, stop," Tyler says, grabbing her arm when she takes a step toward Kaden.

"You're seriously defending him right now?"

Tyler lowers his voice, glancing around the room before he speaks. "You are starting to make a scene."

She scoffs. "I cannot believe this." She pulls her arm out of his grip and storms off, which makes Kaden laugh under his breath.

Tyler sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, guys."

"Why the hell do you put up with that?" I ask. "The girl drives you crazy."

"It's complicated."

It's actually not that complicated. When they first started going out, Tyler admitted to me that his father set them up. Apparently, her father is some kind of big shot at this school, donates a whole lot of money, and the library is even named after him. So, per his father's request, Tyler went out with her on one date. I guess they hit it off because they went on more and more.

She's a pretty girl and has her moments where venom isn't circulating through her bloodstream. But now, I think Tyler is just too scared to break up with her. He's worried about what it will do to his family's reputation. So, he puts up with her. Which I think is wrong.

"You better not go after her," Kaden says as Tyler walks towards the open door to the game room.

"I have to," he says without looking back.

It happens all the same. They fight, she runs away, he chases her, then they go home and have crazy makeup sex.

Asher gets a pretty good show multiple times a week since they live together. But it doesn't seem like he will be coherent for any of it since he's been passed out on the couch in here for the past hour.

"Ty really needs to let that crazy bitch go. He can do so much better." Kaden picks up his pool cue again, crouches down, and makes another shot. He sinks a stripped ball into the corner pocket with ease and praises himself under his breath. "Don't you agree?"

"I think they have a lot of issues to work out. If he loves her, they can find their way out of all their drama," I shrug.

"Love?" Kaden scoffs, getting eye level with the table to contemplate his next move. "Love shouldn't be so hard. If you love someone, it should come naturally. Love is easy. And the two of them have a whole laundry list of hisses." He takes his shot and misses. "Damn," he sighs.

I round the table, picking up my stick. Eyeing the table, I get into my position to take a shot. "This coming from a guy who has never been in love." I lift my gaze from the table for a second and Loni is standing in the doorway. My mouth goes dry and the pool cue slips from my grasp.

Her eyes are red and puffy. From across the room, I can see red blotches littering the skin on her neck. And with each slow breath she draws in, her shoulders tremble.

Kaden follows my gaze to her, but before he can ask any questions, I'm by her side, grabbing her arm and dragging her through the mansion. Away from the chaos. Not stopping until we are completely alone.