6

Adam

Handcuffs, No Keys

I poured some into a mug and downed it with a laugh.

"I don't want to hear it," Piper snapped.

"That was hilarious!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "It just came out. I didn't mean it to!"

"If I got a video of that…man. That was fucking funny ." I grinned. "That was great! Do it again!"

"You're a jerk ."

"Did you say jerk?" I asked my most sincere question of the evening. "What are we? Third graders?" The realization came to me on my second mug of champagne. "You don't curse?"

"Don't make a big deal about it."

"That's so adorable." I toasted my mug towards her. "You're like a kindergartener's version of a college student."

"Ugh. Thank you for shutting down the party," she said, pushing herself up.

"Where are you going?"

Piper turned back to glare at me from the door. "I'm going to sleep ."

"Party's just starting." The third mug of champagne was making me feel damn good. "Piper, I figured it out. You're an ice princess through and through. And when you figure out how to loosen up a little, we'll have some fun together."

"Actually, Mr. Russell—"

"It's Adam. Or Big Dick Energy works great too. I've been known to get those comments."

Her lips pressed tight, which was too bad, I enjoyed seeing them. "I'm shutting down your organization. We're living too close together. We're not starting off the semester like this."

I laughed. "Well, I earned this upcoming weekend. No practice. No football responsibilities. Which means a full weekend of nonstop partying."

"Not here ."

"Get comfortable, ice princess. You're not shutting it down."

"Yes, I am ."

"No, you're not." I poured some more champagne into the mug. "I've seen it before. You'll put all this time and effort in the first couple of weeks, and then, who the hell cares?"

"That's what everybody thinks." Piper strode over to me and jabbed a finger in my chest.

I rubbed where she'd jabbed, a smile lifting on my lips. But there was no smile on hers.

"Everybody keeps saying I'm going to give up on my residents, but guess what? No, I am not . This is my first chance to have a great college semester, and I'm taking it! Just because you want to get curled up with a beer bottle, doesn't mean that I—"

I clicked my tongue. "Piper, that's not nice."

"You're not going to blow me off—"

"This is champagne." I held up my mug. "It's not even beer."

While the two of us were bickering, or Piper was bickering at me and I was pouring myself some more champagne, a girl came out of the bathroom with vomit in her hair. A sign of a great party. She gave the two of us a sad look and wandered over, digging out something from her back pocket.

"You two are stressing me out," she whined.

"Lady, everybody's gone," I pointed out. "Get out of my dorm."

"Why aren't you two being nice? "

Piper's tone changed immediately. She gave the girl a sympathetic look. "Do you need a walk home, honey?"

"Why does she get called honey and I get yelled at?" I complained.

Something metal clicked against my skin and I glanced down in surprise. What the hell? A handcuff? Oh, that was funny.

I watched in slow motion while the girl snapped the other handcuff on Piper's wrist. Piper's gray eyes flickered to mine before both of us jerked over to look at the drunk girl.

She beamed, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Now, you have to be nice ."

"Oh my god ." Piper jerked away, like she could've snapped the handcuff. "Oh my god!"

I stared, not comprehending the situation. "Shit."

"Oh my god! " My RA scrambled back to the counter, still trying to squeeze her wrist out. I had no choice but to be yanked along. My mug hit the sink and tumbled in. Champagne spilled everywhere. Piper didn't even notice. "What did you do?!"

"Where the hell did you get handcuffs from?" I asked. "These aren't even mine."

" Adam! "

I shrugged at Piper's shriek. "Looks like you're stuck with me, ice princess."

"Absolutely not! "

The drunk girl hiccuped. "Goodnight."

I chuckled but grabbed the drunk girl's shoulder. She spun back, and I nodded to the handcuffs. "Where are the keys?"

"Keys?"

Oh…shit. There was no way. The champagne hit me, and I couldn't handle the squirrel I was tethered to. This was bad. Well, not fucking terrible, but it certainly didn't look good and eventually I did want to pass out after the grueling football game.

"What do we do?!" Piper yanked at the handcuff again and I almost toppled into her.

"Stop doing that. That's a good start."

She shook her head wildly. "You're no help!"

"Just give me a second." I glanced around the kitchen. "Where's my phone?"

"Do we use a knife?"

I snorted. "Maybe in a Stephen King movie."

"I don't hear you coming up with suggestions!"

With a sinking feeling, I spotted my phone, cracked on the floor. Damn. Not again. "This isn't bad. Stop panicking."

"What?"

It took me a moment to realize my words slurred together. Shit. How many glasses of champagne did I pound down? The bottle looked empty, but that couldn't be. Half of that had to be dripping off the people who left the party or something.

As hard as I tried to figure it out, it was even harder walking with Piper, dragging me off to the living room. I took a long look at my RA. She was trying to get everything together. The soft blonde hair in loose braids, her lips parted while she lost her shit, and the hint of her curves in the sea animal pajamas. The whole package .

"Man." I shook my head. "Your pajamas are hot."

"What?" Her eyebrows knitted together.

"Your pajamas—are—" My brain rewired for the answer. "Ice-cold, pretty baby, ice princess."

" What? Adam, I can't understand a word you're—"

A head peeked in through the room. "Uh, RA?"

It wasn't one of the party guests. Just some lanky guy from the swim team who lived down the hall. His eyes widened when he took in the disaster. The completely trashed room after a Birchwood Bowl rager with his hot RA and a linebacker handcuffed together.

He shook his head. "RA, did you see this?"

Piper straightened up and tried to hide the handcuff. "See what?"

That was when I noticed the water creeping in from the hallway.