Penalty Box Heartthrob

Chapter 4

### Brett

When I searched the house for Cassie to see what Olly was talking about, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I spotted her with one of her friends.

She was wearing a tank top that looked a little too good on her. I won’t lie; Cassie has a beautiful figure, but she doesn’t need to flaunt it like that.

Maybe I’m being a jerk by suggesting she change her shirt, but I know Cassie. That shirt isn’t really her style. These drunk idiots around here won’t understand that.

“Brett, get over it. Cassie isn’t going home to change,” Sophia chimed in.

“You know I can speak for myself, right?” Cassie shot back at her friend.

Then she turned to me. “We just got here. I didn’t drag myself out just to go right back to the house. You don’t think I’m used to guys ogling my boobs, Brett? Guess what I’ve had to deal with since high school,” Cassie told me.

“Nice,” Sophia said, high-fiving Cassie.

I give up. I’m not going to argue with these two.

“Fine, but don’t come crying to me when one of the drunk frat boys tries something,” I warned her.

“Oh, which one are you going home with tonight, Cass? Brett just said you’re getting lucky tonight,” Sophia laughed.

Cassie shot a look at her friend and shook her head slightly before turning back to me. “Why do you care?” she asked.

I sighed. “Because I’m your friend, Cass. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Cassie nodded but then turned to Sophia. “I need some air. There are too many people here,” she said.

“Yeah, good idea,” Sophia said, taking Cassie by the arm as they walked past me.

Just then, I felt a heavy arm drape over my shoulder. “So you struck out with Cass?” I heard Marco say.

I shrugged his arm off. “I wasn’t hitting on her, Marco.”

He laughed. “Riiiggght.”

My friends always tease me about Cassie. They’re convinced we’re some kind of couple.

But we’re just friends. I’ve never done anything with her other than talk and joke around. We met freshman year as lab partners in one of our classes, and we just hit it off.

Besides, Cassie isn’t my type. She’s beautiful, sure, and she has a great figure.

But I prefer girls who are more physically fit than Cassie. She’s just a bit too fleshy for my tastes. That’s fine, though; I’d rather have her as a friend.

“You just got here?” I asked Marco.

“Yeah, Blake and I just arrived.” He glanced at a girl wearing nothing but a bra and a mini skirt as she ran past us.

“I guess Truth or Dare has started,” Marco laughed. I watched the girl do a lap around the room before she disappeared.

“Yeah, looks that way. I’m guessing that’s where Blake is?” I replied.

“Oh yeah, you know it.” Marco chuckled.

“How long before he dares a girl to go upstairs with him?” I asked.

Blake loves to kick off Truth or Dare games at parties. He gets girls to do crazy, half-naked stunts, and when he finds one he likes, he dares them to go to a room with him, where they finish the game in private.

It’s the cheesiest way to pick up girls, but for some reason, it always works in his favor.

“I’m thinking ten minutes,” Marco said.

“He already has a girl picked out, doesn’t he?” I asked.

“Maybe… he spotted a redhead when we got here and said it had been a while since he’d had a natural redhead,” Marco replied.

“So he wants to see if the curtains match the drapes?” I joked.

“Bingo. Do they have bottles here, or is it just the keg?” Marco asked.

“Let’s find out,” I said as we turned to head to the kitchen to grab two bottles of beer.

At parties, we prefer bottles over red Solo cups. With a bottle, no one's going to mess with your drink. With the red cups, you never know.

When we reached the kitchen, Marco opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of Corona.

“Looks like this is all they have,” he said, holding the bottles up.

“Hmm, well, better than the keg,” I replied, grabbing a bottle from him.

Marco shut the refrigerator door and twisted the cap off his beer. “No football players here tonight,” he remarked before taking a swig.

I hadn’t even noticed that. A quick glance around the kitchen confirmed he was right.

“I guess the rumors are true. They must be on lockdown because of that,” I said.

“You live next to the football house. Are you telling me you didn’t know that one of the guys on the team got a girl pregnant?” he asked.

“Hey, it’s not like I hang out with them. I hardly even see those guys,” I told him.

Occasionally, I say hi to one of them if I pass by, but that’s about it. My housemate Olivia knows more about the rumors than I do. She’s always with those football guys.

Besides, I’m into hockey, and they’re football. That means we’re rivals and usually don’t associate with each other.

“Well, it’s better that it happened to them and not to one of us,” Marco said.

“I agree with that,” I replied as we clinked our bottles together.