9. Ford

Chapter 9

Ford

" H ey man, are you ready?"

"Yeah, just give me two minutes to brush my teeth," Jacob shouts from the bathroom. When shit went down at school, we came back to my house. Jacob ended up spending the night, and he's been here since. It's been a few days and we're dying from not seeing Dylan.

We've not heard from her since the day Holly picked her up from school. She's been pretty much radio silent since then, only sending the bare minimum responses in text.

Then, last night, she finally messaged us. In the group chat, she told us that her mother had been whisked away on a trip to a resort by her soon-to-be stepdad. Apparently, her mom was so stressed out by Dylan's behavior, and the lies she'd been telling, that she needed an immediate escape. It was almost midnight, but we didn't care—we were ready to head straight to her house right then, but it was decided we should wait until today.

Her mom's a fucking bitch. Instead of being proud of her daughter, and supporting Dylan as she chases her dreams, she's adamant about stifling them. Dylan's proven how amazing of a lacrosse player she is by being able to compete with the boys.

I unplug my phone from the charger and quickly find our group chat.

Me: We're on our way over Kitty.

I've barely sent the message when I see the tiny circle with her picture in it appear and the dots begin to bounce up and down on the screen.

Dyl: Ok

Dyl: I have soooooo much to tell the two of you when you get here.

Me: About?

Dyl: Matthew.

Me: Give us like thirty, waiting on Jacob to finish taking a shit.

"What the hell, Ford!" he shouts from the bathroom and I double over laughing before I see him quickly replying in the chat.

Jacob: Don't believe that asshole. I'm brushing my teeth. Something he should do too since his breath smells like a litter box.

Me: That's not what you said when you tongued me earlier :)

Dyl: LOL see you two soon.

"You're a fucking dick and payback's going to be a bitch." He picks up my shoe from the floor, chucking it at my head. Luckily, I have cat-like reflexes and dodge it.

"Fuck you. Come on, our girl's waiting for us." I head out of my bedroom, my laughter trailing behind me as Jacob follows.

"Who's driving, me or you?" he asks as he tramples down the steps, bumping into me and nearly causing me to trip and fall head first down them.

"You can, since you're parked behind me." We head toward the door, but before I can open it, Mom calls out to me.

"Ford." I take a few steps back and gaze into the living room where she sits on the couch crocheting.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Where are the two of you off to?"

"We're going over to Dylan's. I'll be back later."

She smiles, happiness shining in her eyes. Since the day she met Dylan, she's been in love with her. I told her how she and Jacob were childhood friends and had reconnected when she moved here. I'm never one to keep secrets from my mom and when I told her the relationship the three of us were in I thought she'd be upset, instead she gave me her blessing. Love is love and you can't control what the heart wants, she explained. As long as we communicated and respected each other she was happy for us.

"Tell her I said hello. Don't forget to call if you're going to be late."

"I won't," I tell her as I walk over and give her a kiss on the cheek. When I turn around, I see Jacob's already gone outside and head out behind him.

"Oh, did you give Mommy a kiss?" Jacob croons, batting his lashes at me when I slide into the passenger seat of the car.

"Why? You jealous?" I ask dryly as I roll my eyes, smirking.

"If I didn't have Dylan, fuck yeah. Your mom's a smoke show. She could've been a cougar for me any day."

"Eww, now I need to bleach my brain. Let's just go see our girl and don't talk about my mom anymore."

"Fine. What do you think Matthew did?" he asks as he starts the car and backs out of the driveway.

I shake my head, not having a clue. The only thing I know for sure is he kissed Dylan, and I can almost guarantee he has feelings for her. Jacob and I both saw the looks Matthew gave her when he thought no one was paying attention.

Jacob turns up the radio and begins belting out the lyrics to Whiskey in the Jar by Metallica. He's one of my best friends, along with Dylan, but the asshole can't sing worth shit. He sounds like a fucking wailing dying cat.

I let my head fall back against the seat and close my eyes, tuning out his screeching while I reminisce over our win. We fucking did it. Winning the state championship was all I'd dreamed about since school started this year. I just never envisioned at the time that Dylan would be by both Jacob's and my side as we achieved it.

When Jacob grips my shoulder, I about jump out of my skin. Looking around, I realize the car's stopped. "Wake up, Sunshine!"

"Let's go. I want to hear the news and cuddle with our girlfriend. Maybe even spend the night if her mom isn't going to be back," I tell him.

We unhook our seatbelts and get out. I reach my arms above my head, my muscles stiff just from the short ride and yawn. Staying up late last night is really kicking my ass right now, like an old man.

"Jacob, we need to look at a co-ed dorm, or maybe an apartment when we decide on a college. I don't want Dylan in a different dorm than us." He takes off at a jog up the driveway, hitting the steps without slowing down, and lays his finger on the doorbell, pushing it repeatedly like an annoying cock.

I have to admit, I've thought about college more times than I haven't. The idea of Dylan going to a different school than us has my stomach tied up in knots. I'd never keep her from going anywhere, but I know she needs her mom to cover the costs if she doesn't get a scholarship. And if her mom foots the bill, then Dylan has to do as she wants, which would gut her.

I step up beside him as the door opens, but instead of our beautiful goddess of a girlfriend, it's him.

Matthew.

"Perfect, you're both here. I need to talk to the three of you, and now I'll only have to do it once."

Jacob and I turn to look at each other with furrowed brows. "What's he talking about?" I mouth.

Jacob just shrugs and shakes his head. "Not sure, unless it's about the fact that he had his mouth all over our girl."

"Come inside so we can talk. Dylan's in her room." Matthew doesn't even acknowledge Jacob's comment. But my gut is telling me that's exactly what it's about, especially with Dylan saying she needs to talk to us about him.

"No, I'm not." Her voice echoes from inside and when Matthew turns to look behind him, Dylan's standing on the stairs in a pair of skimpy shorts and a crop top.

I push past Matthew and scoop her up in my arms. My lips crash down on hers as I take the kiss I've been wanting since the last time I saw her. With how much I'm craving her right now just after a few days, there's no way I could make it through four years of college without her wedged in between Jacob and myself.

"Come on, please. I need to talk to all of you." Matthew clears his throat, effectively cock blocking me.

I carry Dylan to the living room, not wanting to let her go, and sit down on the couch with her in my lap. Jacob takes the spot beside me, lifting her feet, and placing them across his lap. Matthew paces across the room before finally stopping in front of us, sighing deeply.

"Okay. We all know I kissed Dylan at the end of the game. I won't pussyfoot around it. I like her more than I should and I'd love to pursue those feelings. I've confessed this to Dylan and now to you. She asked for time to process and to speak with the two of you, and I'm giving her what she requested."

"It's about fucking time you manned up and admitted your feelings instead of hiding in the shadows like a creeper." I laugh at the same time that Dylan swats me across the chest.

"Can we get this over with? Is that all you wanted to tell us?" Jacob begins to gently knead Dylan's foot, eliciting a moan from her that makes my cock rock hard.

Matthew clears his throat, interrupting again. "As you know, I moved back here due to a new job position as a scout for Colorado State, and this was one of the areas I was assigned."

"Yeah, that's not news to us. If you're only going to tell us shit we know, then don't waste our time," Jacob barks, and I have to fight to stifle my laughter.

If Dylan wants to pursue something with Matthew, Jacob's going to be the one to have the most issues with it. He struggled enough with learning to share with me.

Matthew shakes his head in annoyance and I already know I'm going to love how the two of them are going to bump heads.

"Yeah, let me finish. I was scouting the three of you. Well, at the time I thought Dylan was a dude, not my soon-to-be stepsister. When I found out who she was and the consequences of that, I had to tell the CSU coach."

"They don't want me because I'm a girl?" She pulls her feet off Jacob and places them on the floor, jumping up from my lap. Her voice rises with each word. "What do I have to do to prove that I'm just as good? I played—"

"Dylan, please let me finish. I explained everything to him and he doesn't have an issue with you being a girl. The official announcement isn't out yet, but I've been given the authority to share this information with you."

Dylan crosses her arms over her chest, staring him down, refusing to sit. Matthew presses his lips together as he runs his long, slender fingers through his hair. I wonder if he's used to a female as strong-willed as our Dylan.

"Well, get on with it, we don't have all day," she announces boldly.

"Okay, so they want to offer Jacob a scholarship, since he's the captain and heart of the team, from what your coach tells me." I look over at Jacob at the same time as Dylan. She leaps into his lap, hugging him.

"Fucking A, man, that's amazing," I tell him, before glancing back at Matthew, wondering if there's more. I can't believe the gamble we took of having a secret girl on the team has paid off.