13

Kassie

The Marrs Manwhore Video

It took two and a half minutes for Ryan's teammates to pull him off the frat boy after my fake boyfriend dragged him outside. Two and a half minutes of Ryan whooping that guy's ass and everybody egging on the fight. A madhouse of a party.

In the end, Ryan was pushed off towards a lawn chair while his teammates assessed damages.

"How you feeling, buddy?" I asked, offering a plastic baggie of ice to the champion of the evening.

It wasn't the smartest question I could've asked but—to be frank—I wasn't sober.

"Like a million bucks," Ryan grunted, eyes closed.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"You know, I bartend—I bartended . Past tense. And that wasn't the first time some guy grabbed my ass."

Once he opened his eyes to see it, I passed over the ice pack and inspected him myself. He could act tough all he wanted, but I had to press my lips together to stop grimacing when I saw those fresh purple splotches under and around his eye. Oof.

He held up the ice pack that I'd dug from the frat's kitchen. "Is it bad?"

Considering the situation, it wasn't that bad.

Some of the frat guys were consolidating efforts to figure out who had to bring the loser to emergency care. Blood dripped out of the frat boy's mouth, and he alternated between swearing at anybody who walked close and mumbling about lawsuits.

"It could be worse. You could be him." I waved at the other guy.

Ryan snorted. "Ready to go?"

"Yep. Ready to go."

With a nod towards the street, Zariah came stumbling up next to me. I had to grab her elbow to avoid her splattering on the pavement.

"Ryan?" I paused. "Um—how're you going to explain this to Cleo?"

He took over helping Zariah and offered a wry smile. "He grabbed me first. I don't think she's going to complain."

We stopped by one of the nicest cars on the street—and that was saying something, considering how many of the frat boys had lawyer-daddy legacy money. I didn't know cars and I still had to do a double take to make sure it was the one he unlocked.

What if Zariah threw up inside? The interior looked like it cost more than my rent.

Muttering under his breath, Ryan pulled Zariah back from trying to enter his car via the open window. "I'm putting the child lock on. Stop touching the buttons."

I helped him as much as I could but I couldn't benchpress what he could. There was nothing I could do that compared to the way he gently pushed Zariah's head back into the car, all while she belted out another song.

"Cross!" a voice interrupted us and I recognized the real tall athlete from the training center, bounding across the walkway. Aidan? Maybe? He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Captain! Boss captain! Hold on!"

Ryan opened the passenger door for me. "Adam, I'm taking them home."

"Man, you told us to keep on our best behavior, and you—" He laughed. "Wait, what'd you mean?"

"I'm taking them home."

"Are you serious? Dude, no one cares about Darren! Every good party has a fight!"

With a hand on the top of the car door, Ryan stood over me with an eyebrow raised. "Are you getting in?"

"This is…an expensive car."

He chuckled. "I like getting to places on time."

I was definitely more drunk than I thought because something about the way he said that made my thighs press together. The self-assured, cocky way left me fumbling for my next question.

"What—what if something happens to it?"

"Then I'll pay for it," he replied and when I still hesitated, his eyes softened. "It'll be a short ride. Don't worry."

I slipped into the car without further argument. I just wanted to feel a car seat without a rip or a tear or a bit of blood in the lining. It was softer than I thought and I was content running my fingers along the seam of the seat. Definitely not drunk as all get out.

Outside the car, Adam tried to block Ryan, but he might as well have tried to stop a steamroller. The driver's side opened and Ryan got in, one long leg at a time. There wasn't a problem with his car. Ryan was just big .

I held up my phone. "Bluetooth?"

"No," Ryan was quick to say.

"Why not?"

"I'm not listening to the Bird Pants soundtrack." He ignored my sounds of disbelief

When Ryan rolled down his window, Adam knelt down. "That's something you've got to learn about Ryan. Nobody touches his radio."

"They live close," Ryan informed him. "It's a short drive. I'll be back."

Adam tried to sweeten the deal. "Order them an Uber or something. This is your first party of the year. You don't have to do this. We can keep the party going!"

"Kass, K-ass- ie ." Zariah clutched my arm. "Kass! It's him!"

She was drunker than I thought. "What?"

"I'm going to drop them off," Ryan said. "I'll be back before everybody misses me."

"I know you!" Zariah giggled.

Adam's attention snapped to the side with a wolfish grin. "Oh? And do I know you?"

Suddenly, he seemed to realize what audience he had and he swiveled back to look at me.

"Hey! The artist! Your boyfriend didn't introduce us. Finally, a face to face meeting." Adam snagged my hand and shook it. "Adam Russell, linebacker. Jersey number forty-five. Sexiest player on the Marrs football team. Bar none."

"That's not your name," Zariah sang from the back.

" Adam ." Ryan's huge hand shifted over and pushed him away, keeping him off the car.

I knew the two of them were close. I'd seen them talking to each other, and I'd witnessed first-hand the way Adam had slung his arm around Ryan's shoulder. But there was something else under Ryan's voice, something I couldn't catch.

A warning?

"Remember what we talked about in the car," Ryan said. "And step away. You're too close. You need to be more careful."

"Marrs Manwhore!" Zariah burst out, and I suddenly realized where I'd seen Adam from.

That nickname was damn accurate too. Adam was pretty and a whole lot of trouble. I'm sure he had girls praying for their birth control routines.

The cocky grin was gone though. A nervous smile took its place.

" Marrs Manwhore! Marrs Manwhore! Marrs Manwhore! " Zariah chanted from the back.

Ryan passed his phone to me. "Type in your place."

"Put on the Marrs Manwhore video!" Zariah giggled.

"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "We've all seen that. No need."

Adam was suddenly close to our car again, trying to ask about some practice thing, some football question. Ryan answered as best as he could, and leaned in close to me, to be heard above Zariah's babble.

"Marrs Manwhore?" It was funny hearing the term from his deep, husky voice, but it was even funnier when Ryan hesitated with his next question. "Is it…me? From the photo?"

"You?" I bit back a smile. "No. Luckily, you haven't been gifted with that title yet."

Adam shook his head. "There's no Marrs Manwhore. It's a joke!"

"The dorm video," I chuckled, waiting for Ryan to laugh too, but he stared back, confused.

Does he seriously not know?

There was no way. Everybody knew.

It took me a moment to sober up enough to remember exactly who I was talking to. I was in a fake relationship with a man who refused to learn what copy and paste meant, even to fill out the online memory packet. I'd shown him what the tab key could do, and he'd been impressed. If anybody didn't know about the video, it was Ryan.

"I've got it from a math group chat," Zariah said and those familiar shaky thirty seconds flashed up. "I showed it to everyone at the coffee shop."

"Ryan, captain." Adam tried to get in the action. "You've got to get them dropped off. They're shitfaced!"

Why was he making such a big deal about it?

Anybody can sleep with anybody, no judgment, but the whole story behind it was crazy. As clear as day, you could hear the two juniors screaming at each other in the Fairfield Village dorms, and there was Adam, hanging precariously by his fingernails on the windowsill. Apparently, the two of them were sisters and one of them had the misfortune to walk in on the Marrs Manwhore screwing with her sister in her dorm room after she'd left for the weekend.

What a way to find out. Especially at six in the morning. People shouted from the sidewalk and Adam just managed to stumble onto the landing, scurrying by in his boxers.

Ryan stared, transfixed. I could've sworn I saw his eyebrow twitch. His voice was deadly quiet. "Who's in this video?"

Backing away from the car, Adam shook his head. "Captain—"

"Look out the car!" Zariah snickered.

"Ryan, no, it's—it's not what it looks like—"

"When was this taken? " Ryan whispered. But if he was looking for an answer, he must've already figured it out. "What the hell is this? You've got to be fucking shitting me. Slept in? "

With a shove, his car door flew open, and there Ryan went, lumbering on the grass. Adam had a trail of apologies but Ryan didn't hear them.

"SLEPT IN?! "

He was one pissed-off grizzly and everybody on the front porch stopped their shenanigans to watch.

" Marrs Manwhore, Marrs Manwhore, Marrs Manwhore —"

"Would you shut up?" I hissed at Zariah and the car fell silent.