Page 32 of End Game

“Diana.”

I don’t want to embarrass Mack and Wes, but I want to squeal from how cute they are and what a good couple they would make. Except I’ve already been warned that Wes doesn’t date, and he especially doesn’t like to be touched. The grunting and monosyllables as his main form of communication are a defense mechanism—a defense against what, it hasn’t been explained, and it’s not my place to push.

Barrett seems to finally understand that I’m not going to tell him, at least not right now when Wes and Mack are within earshot—she’s right next to me. He puts a handful of his chips on my plate and pushes his container of guacamole into the space between our plates.

“Thanks,” I say lightly, and he quirks a smile at me.

“Anytime.”

Somehow, I get the feeling he’s not talking about sharing his dinner with me. It’s something deeper, something I can’t decipher.

“So, I kind of need this favor,” I start, and then I pause for a deep breath. “It would really help me out. It would make my life so much easier.”

“Done. Whatever you need,” Barrett says instantly.

“You haven’t even heard what I need yet.”

“I’ll do it,” he says. “It will help you out, so I’ll do it.”

I just have to take my shot. I can’t beat around the bush anymore.

“So you’ll go on a date with my team captain?”

Barrett chokes. He erupts into a coughing fit. His face goes red as he struggles to breathe.

I pound on his back, and he twitches away from me.

“Diana.”

“See, Johanna has a crush on you,” I blurt.

“Johanna?” His eyebrows raise sky-high. “You mean the girl that’s been making your life miserable the last two weeks?”

“Yeah?”

He swallows hard. “You want me to go on a date with Johanna?”

“She likes you. She’s practically obsessed with you.”

“Great. So she’s a stalker.”

“I wouldn’t say stalker. More… fan. She knew your stats off the top of her head without having to look them up.”

He makes a face.

“She’s really pretty.”

Here, he shoots me a deadpan ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look.

“And she really likes you, and it would be great for me to set the two of you up. She’s totally into you.”

“So you’re whoring me out with a woman I’ve only met once, but I’ve heard countless of terrible stories about, and maybe I should remind you, you only met her two weeks ago.”

I nod. That’s about right.

Barrett lets out a bitter laugh. “Okay. Yeah. Right. Sure. Let’s do this.”

“You’re going to do it?”