Chapter 3

Donnie sat on what CIT considered a bed but in reality felt like a two-by-four frame equipped with a flat air mattress, and stared at the blank screen of his laptop. He knew his mother would get upset if he didn’t call her soon, but he didn’t really know what to tell her. Maybe an email would be easier, he thought. A quick hello and an assurance that he was okay then he could go about his night.

“Yeah, what a night,” he mumbled. It was his first night at college and what was he doing? Sitting in his room thinking about his mom. God, could he be any more pathetic? He should be out partying, getting drunk, meeting girls, and forgetting about Teghan.

Donnie hadn’t stopped thinking about Teghan since he’d seen her on the bench at HFU. The way her hazel eyes had sparkled and then burned when she talked about how bad her day had been. He’d never seen anything like it before.

And her name. He loved how exotic it sounded. Everything about her was enticing. No other woman had ever had this effect on him—especially not a woman he’d met only twice. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Feel like having a little fun tonight?” Alex asked as he walked into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He held up a twelve pack of beer, a bottle of liquor, and a plastic shopping bag.

“Is that tequila?” Donnie closed his laptop and set it on the foot of his bed.

“Yup.” Alex grinned.

Donnie took a bottle of beer from Alex, opened it, and took a long drink. “How’d you manage to score all of this?”

Alex chugged from his beer. He smiled. “I went to high school with the guy who works at the liquor store,” he explained as he sat on his bed.

“We should hit a party. Know of any?”

Alex shook his head as he swallowed a mouthful of alcohol. “You ever play Power Hour?”

“No. What’s that?”

Alex got off his bed and handed the bottle of tequila to Donnie.

“This is it?” Donnie asked. “This bottle is enough for me. What’re you gonna drink?”

Alex laughed. “Power hour is a shot a minute every minute for an entire hour.” He pulled salt, lime wedges, and two shot glasses from the plastic grocery bag.

“Isn’t this normally played with beer?” Donnie asked.

“Scared?”

“Ha! Hope you’re ready to be embarrassed.”

Alex walked to his dresser and pulled out a basketball shaped kitchen timer. He set it for one hour. “Ready?”

“Why the fuck do you have a timer in your dresser?” Donnie asked.

“It was a gift from Teghan,” he said, sprinkling salt on the soft area of his hand between his thumb and forefinger.

“You like to cook or something?” Donnie mimicked Alex’s actions.

“Nah. I used it during practice to time myself.”

“Practice?”

“Yup. Varsity basketball for three years,” Alex said. “Time.”

Donnie and Alex licked the salt from their hands, downed the shot and bit the lime. They simultaneously slammed their empty shot glasses on Alex’s desk.

“Woo!” Alex yelled, making a face and shaking his head.

Donnie laughed. He refilled their shot glasses and handed Alex a lime wedge. “You playing on the college team?”

“Nah. I kinda screwed up my last year on the team. Blew my chance.” Alex shrugged. “Time.” They both did another shot.

“Shit,” Donnie hissed through his teeth before chasing the shot with a swig of beer. “How’d you blow it?”

“A scout from Rygard came to one of our playoff games specifically to watch me. I didn’t show up,” Alex said.

“That’s just plain stupid,” Donnie said.

“I was trying to save my relationship with Teghan.”

Donnie took another drink as his mind wandered back to Teghan. He’d do anything to see her again.

“Time,” Alex shouted. They did a third shot.

“So let me get this straight.” Donnie tried to point at Alex but missed. He wobbled a little then steadied himself. “You gave up the chance to play ball because of a girl?”

“She’s not just any girl, man.” Alex plopped down on the foot of his bed. “It’s Teghan.”

“I get that she’s hot, but come on, dude. She dumped you. Get over it.”

Alex stood up fast. The heel of his foot caught the basketball tucked under his bed and he fell backwards. Donnie laughed as Alex missed the bed and fell to the floor.

“Time,” Donnie shouted.

“Wait! I’m not ready.” Alex scrambled to his feet and hastily downed his shot without taking any salt first. “Son of a bitch!” Alex gagged before he could take a bite of his lime wedge. “I need food.”

Donnie looked at his watch and squinted. All the numbers were blurred. “The dining halls are closed.”

“So we’ll go get some pizza,” Alex said.

“Alright.” Donnie put his foot up on the edge of his bed and tried to tie the laces. He started to tip to one side. “Dude, I can’t drive,” he said after steadying himself.

Alex doubled over in laughter. “Me either.”

Donnie sat on his bed and took another small sip of his now warm beer. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d drunk this much.

“Time,” Alex shouted. They did a fifth shot.

“Tell me about Teghan,” Donnie said, sitting on the floor, his back against his bed.

“I knew things were going south. I could feel it and I did everything in my power to stop it, but I just made it worse.” Alex chugged another beer. “I just love her so much.”

“Why’d you break up?”

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. She gave me a line of crap about growing up and going our separate ways. Something about wanting to have the freedom to explore her options.”

“Ouch.” Donnie grimaced. “What’re you gonna do when she starts seeing someone?”

“I’d rather not think about that.”

“She’s hot, man. It’s gonna happen sooner or later,” Donnie said.

“Dude, show a little respect,” Alex said, giving him a dirty look. “Time.”

Donnie swallowed another shot of tequila. “I’d tap that,” he said with a smile.

Alex stumbled, his face red with anger. “Teghan’s not like that.”

“You sure about that?”

“You’re not her type anyway,” Alex said, sitting on his bed.

Donnie glared at Alex. What the hell did he mean? There wasn’t a doubt in Donnie’s mind that Teghan was attracted to him. She had given him ‘the vibe,’ and ‘the vibe’ was never wrong.

“Teghan isn’t into smooth talking guys who only want a one-night-stand.”

“And you think that’s all I want?”

“What else could it be? You don’t even know her,” Alex said.

“Maybe I want to get to know her.” Donnie folded his arms over his chest.

Alex laughed. “Good luck.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just forget it.”

Donnie stared at Alex. If Alex only knew how hard he’d been trying to forget it. To forget Teghan. It was like a cat chasing its tail—fun, thrilling, and totally useless. He had it bad for Teghan and he knew Alex did too—and that made the situation extremely difficult.

“Why are you so determined to stay friends with her?” Donnie asked.

“It’s not all about her,” Alex said. “Trevor is my best friend. I’ve known him longer than I’ve known Teghan or Annabelle. If I can’t make amends with Teghan, then I don’t have a chance of keeping these friendships. And that’s not an option.”

“Time,” Donnie said through clenched teeth. It was becoming very obvious that Alex wasn’t about to let things with Teghan go easily.

“What do you care, anyway? It’s not like you’re ever going to see her again.” Alex’s speech was slurred.

“Thought we were gonna hang out in Hayden Falls this weekend?”

Alex stood up. “You really want to?”

“It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”

“You just want to see Teghan again,” Alex accused. “I saw the way you two acted at dinner the other night. Not cool, man.”

“I was just talking to her,” Donnie said. He wasn’t about to deny Alex’s accusations. They were true. Donnie did want to see Teghan again. It was a want bordering on desperation. He wanted to hear her laugh again; to see her smile and her eyes sparkle. Oh, how he wanted to touch her and kiss her. The thought of feeling her in his arms had his dick thickening with desire.

“Yeah, right.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Time,” he bit out.

They downed another shot. “Looks like we’re out of tequila,” Donnie said.

“Yup,” Alex agreed. “This is lame. Let’s go find something else to do.”

From the corner of his eye, Donnie caught sight of the basketball tucked under Alex’s bed. He walked over and picked it up. A white mailing label was affixed to it. Worn, dirty, and slightly peeling, it read: Property of Alex Anderson. If lost return to 194 Birch Lane, Hayden Falls, CA.

Donnie laughed. “Seriously, dude?”

Like a petulant child, Alex grabbed the ball from Donnie’s hands. “That’s none of your business.”

“Whoa.” Donnie put his hands up in a show of surrender.

“This was the winning ball, man,” Alex said, sitting on his bed, spinning the ball in his hands. “It was the first game I ever played in high school.”

“It makes sense you’d want to keep it. I have the ticket stub from my last high school game. It was the only game my mom ever made it to,” Donnie said.

“I had possession of the ball. Teghan was on the side lines, cheering for me.” Alex looked down at the basketball. “I dribbled over to her. She told me she loved me then kissed the ball. I turned right there and from the side of half court, I took a shot.”

“And you scored?”

Alex nodded. “In more ways than one.” He chuckled. “That was the first night Teghan and I…” his voice trailed off.

Donnie clenched his teeth. There’s no reason this information should make him feel so damn angry. But it did. The thought of another man touching Teghan had him seething with jealous rage.

“I bet I could kick your ass though,” Alex said, snapping out of his memory.

“I didn’t realize alcohol made you delusional.” Donnie laughed.

Alex stood. “I’d bet you anything, man. Name it.”

A slow smile spread across Donnie’s mouth. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Anything, huh?”

“Yup. We’ll even use my lucky ball which hasn’t—"

“Teghan.”

“What?”

“I’ll play you for Teghan. I win; I get to take her out without any shit from you. You win; I walk away and never see her again.” Donnie folded his arms over his chest. His smile faded and his heart raced as he waited for Alex to answer. He was drunk. But Alex was drunker.

“Alright,” Alex said after a pause. “You’re on!”

What were Alex’s odds of actually winning the game? Donnie wondered as they walked towards the basketball court. He knew he had to win, because there was no way in hell he would be able to walk away from Teghan.

Taking to the court on the left, they faced each other. Alex’s back was to the hoop and Donnie had the ball in his hands. He bounced it to Alex. “Here.”

Alex bounced it hard back to Donnie. “I don’t need any favors.”

“Suit yourself.” Donnie dribbled the ball a couple of times before picking it up, taking aim, and shooting. “Nothing but net,” Donnie hollered.

“You have to actually hit the net for it to be nothing but net.” Alex laughed.

Donnie looked over his shoulder to see the ball bouncing behind the hoop. “Shit.” He jogged over and picked it up. “Your ball,” he said, bouncing it to Alex.

Alex took possession of the ball and made his way down the court with Donnie on his heels. He went in for the lay-up and took aim. The ball hit the backboard and bounced off the left side of the court.

“Smooth,” Donnie said. He retrieved the ball and attempted another basket. It bounced off the rim, flew back towards them and hit Alex on the forehead.

“Fuck!” Alex shouted, rubbing his head.

Donnie doubled over in laughter. “I’m sorry,” he gasped. “You okay?”

Alex nodded and laughed. “Where’s the beer?”

“Over there.” Donnie pointed towards the side of the court where he’d set the alcohol they’d brought with them.

Alex jogged over to the bottles, popped one open and took a long drink.

Donnie followed Alex. That’s right, buddy. Drink up. The more you drink the better chance I have of winning. Donnie shook his head. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did a woman he’d only met twice have so much power over him?

“We gonna play or what?” Alex shouted.

Donnie looked around and noticed Alex was now standing on the court. Taking a drink, Donnie set the bottle down and joined Alex. “Let’s do this.”

***

Forty five minutes later, the score was tied: twenty to twenty. Donnie had the ball. He was one point away, one easy shot, from getting the one thing he wanted—a date with Teghan. Yet, he hesitated taking the shot. Winning would get him Teghan. But at what cost?

Sweating, panting, and fighting dehydration, Donnie knew it was time. One way or the other, it had to end. He was, after all, the one who’d made the wager and he’d live with the results. Donnie dribbled, side stepped Alex and ran down the court. Alex was behind him. Seconds later, Alex was in front of him, reaching, trying to swat the ball out of Donnie’s hand.

Donnie stopped, raised the ball slightly above his head and Alex jumped, knocking the ball free. Shit! If Alex made the last shot, he’d win. Donnie chased him, but it was too late. The ball was in the air one second and the next it was swishing through the netted hoop. “Fuck!” Donnie shouted. He’d just managed to lose his chance with Teghan.

Alex doubled over and vomited on the court. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stood up straight. “Good game,” he groaned.

“You alright, man?”

Alex shook his head as he bent over and threw up again.

“Come on.” Donnie put his arm around Alex’s waist and helped him stand up. “Let’s get you home.”

“Dude, I’m hungry.”

Donnie laughed. “Food is the last thing you need. You need sleep. And maybe some coffee.”

“I don’t like coffee,” Alex said with a chuckle.

“Okay, no coffee. But you need to sleep this off.” Donnie urged Alex to walk. Alex took a few unsteady steps before he stepped on Donnie’s shoelace causing Donnie to trip and fall forward. Alex went down with him. They lay on the ground, laughing uncontrollably for a few moments.

“Hey!”

Donnie shielded his eyes from the flashlight pointed at him. “Oh shit. Campus police,” he said.

“Run,” Alex said. Donnie was right behind him. They reached the dorm and collapsed into their room. Alex flopped down on his bed. “I drank too much,” he mumbled into his pillow.

Donnie laughed and sat down on his bed. He gripped the edge of his mattress as a severe case of vertigo washed over him. “Me too.”

“I won,” Alex whispered before he passed out.

Donnie sighed. He was pretty sure Alex wasn’t going to remember much of this come morning. What the hell had he been thinking? Using Teghan as a bargaining chip?

Kicking off his sneakers, he laid down on the bed. Folding his hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling and blew out a ragged breath. There was no way he could go out with Teghan knowing that Alex, his friend, his roommate, had won the bet. Could he? It violated every guy code in the book. Didn’t it? It was simple. He’d lost. And now he didn’t have a pass on the bros before hoes rule. Donnie closed his eyes. Maybe things would be clearer in the morning.