Page 9 of High Baller

“So, the pool party?” Calvin asks again.

If I say no, I'll never hear the end of it. All I'll hear is, ‘Because of you, I missed a super star’s party,’ or ‘There could have been a hot guy there, and because of you, I missed out on finding him at the party.’

“Fine, we can go,” I say in a defeated tone.

I can never say no to him, which I hate. One day, he'll make me say yes to something, and I'll get in trouble for it.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Calvin jumps up and down in his chair, clapping his hands. He looks at his watch, and I know that he'll keep checking it until we have to go.

“Now that I've agreed to this, can we please change the subject?” I ask. I mean, we've spent the whole morning talking about this pool party and I’m a little over it.

“We need to go shopping, so hurry up and eat.” Calvin pushes my plate closer and I let out a small giggle.

I do need a swimsuit. Now the question is, do I want something sexy, or something simple? Do I care if Trey notices me or not? I smile to myself again just thinking about Trey smiling at me. Hmm, maybe I do.

“What you got planned when we get back to England?” I ask him. I have a nice facial and massage booked for myself. It’s long overdue and I need to relax a little.

“Finn wants to go for dinner one day when we get back, but I don’t know if I should,” Calvin says, but doesn’t look at me.

“For a hookup, or to get back together?”

“I’m hoping it’s just for a hookup now. He always knew how to make me want more.” Calvin gives me a wink.

I hate that he has a better sex life than me. In fact, I hate that he has a sex life and I don’t.

“Then go. If it’s just sex, it’s a win— win for the both of you, and I can live my nonexistent sex life through you,” I say through laughter.

“What’re you laughing at?” Calvin asks.

“I can’t believe that I’m living my sex life through my gay best friend.” I start laughing even more.

“You’ll find someone,” Calvin reassures me as he looks around the restaurant.

“Yeah, I will. Doesn’t look like I'll find anyone here, anyway.” I take a bit of my food, then swallow. “Have you got your route for the next flight?” I ask. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get them early.

“No, but we won’t get it until we’re back home anyway. I think we have Seattle next.” Calvin looks at me, then back down at his food.

I love going there; there’s so much to see and do, and this time we said we might take a small trip to Canada for a day or two. I think we have a five-day stay there.

“Great, I love that we can both go to these places together.”

“I know, me too,” Calvin says with a smile.

I love Calvin; he’s not just my best friend, he’s like a brother I never had. I'd do anything for him, just like he would for me.

***

“I can’t believe that I agreed to this. You know that there'll only be skinny girls with perfect boobs, and long legs here.” I don’t think I’m ugly, I actually think that I’m pretty. Not hot or sexy, but pretty, and I’m happy with that. The only thing I wish was that I was a little taller. I mean, five feet, three inches is pocket size, so today, I'll feel tinier than usual.

“Yeah, but that means there'll also be men here that are half naked, sexy, and I’m hoping are gay,” Calvin says as he drapes his arm over my shoulder while we make our way into Trey’s house.

It’s a freaking mansion, but I expected nothing less when Calvin told me about Trey’s new multi-million dollar deal. I think my mouth was hanging open for a long time—more surprised someone would get paid that much for throwing a ball around, but football players back in England make a lot of money for running up and down the pitch. So, I take it no matter what the sport is, if you’re good, you’re going to get paid a lot for it.

“Hey, Calvin, glad you could make it,” a voice says from behind us. I look over at the guy from last night walking over to us. “You must be the beauty, Sky.” He holds his hand out to me. I place mine in his, then he raises it to his mouth and kisses my knuckles.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Calvin replies as I look around the house.

“Everyone is outside, but if you want to have a look around, it’s open house,” the guy says while still looking at me.