Ryan Hunter

hasn’t felt this for any other guy before.”
    Hah! I wanted to laugh about that, but it was late and dark on the silent playground and would have made me sound like a mad serial killer. Besides, I wouldn’t laugh at a friend.
    “I think I want us to be official,” Tony confessed.
    I rubbed my hands over my face, feeling the need to drag Tony under a cold shower to open his eyes. “Look, I don’t want to sound like the older brother now.” Mostly because I always hated when Rachel did that shit with me. “But you should really think about it again. You and Cloey…well, you don’t have a future together. She’s not the type for a relationship. She’s like—”
    “You?”
    “Yeah, thanks,” I muttered. “But that’s probably what it is. That girl has a record where guys are concerned. You’re interesting for her now, but she’ll dump you before you can put your pants back on.”
    “That won’t happen. She really likes me.”
    Damn, he wouldn’t listen. How very frustrating. I straightened, and my voice became cold. “ You planning on sleeping with her any time soon?”
    Tony pressed his lips together and shrugged one shoulder.
    “Fine. We’ll talk again then. But be prepared that by the time you messed with someone else, Liza might not be there waiting for you to return to her.”
    “Liz and I becoming a couple, that’s not going to happen. I don’t need her to wait for me. I just don’t want to lose my friend.”
    “The way she feels about you, that might just happen, Mitchell.”
    “I just need time to tell her. So I want you and the guys to shut up about me and Cloey, until I get the chance to come clean.”
    I chuckled. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    And then it became clear to me that I might destroy what little chance just dangled in front of my face if I said anything more. I didn’t intend to give that up when Tony was so set on the course he was currently taking with Cloey. However, there was one thing I needed to get straight. The bark of the tree rubbed against my back when I pressed a little harder against the trunk. “You want Cloey? Take her. I’ll keep my mouth shut. You want Matthews on the team? Consider her a member. But under one condition only.”
    “And that would be what?”
    “As part of my team, everyone sees her as that and no longer as your sacred little girlfriend.” I paused to let that first bit sink in before I went on. “She plays soccer, she comes to my parties. You don’t stop her. And whatever happens there—if guys hit on her—you keep it together, man.”
    Seconds passed, and Tony remained silent.
    “I just don’t want any rivalries on our team,” I added. “Are we clear?”
    Mouth still shut, Tony stood and slowly walked toward the exit of the playground. He didn’t turn around when he told me, “Deal.”

    I lay awake for half of the night, wondering if I should have tried harder to talk sense into my friend. He was going to fall flat on his face, and the jerk just didn’t want to see it. If it was only because of Cloey and him, I wouldn’t have thought about it twice but let Mitchell head into the adventure and come out of it a wiser man.
    However, I knew what was going to happen, and I hated to think of Liza getting hurt in the game and my friend flushing the chance that I had always wanted, and which he had had his entire life, down the gutter.
    But it was not my job to change the world. And after so many years of having a crush on Liza, it was time to think only about myself for once. Well, about myself and her . She’d be in my house tomorrow night as part of my team. After-match parties were customary, and heck, I’d make sure to throw one for the new team members after the tryouts. I punched a short message with the dates into my phone and sent the text off to a group of sixty people. They would spread the word. My mom was on the texting list, too, just in case I forgot to tell her about the party in the morning. I never had to worry about running late to stock the fridge. Drinks and snacks were always there, and some of the kids would bring beer and the wine cooler, anyway. But the best thing was, tomorrow the girl of my dreams would be there. Sometime after midnight I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
    The next morning I went through my usual routine of showering, shaving, and getting dressed, all with music thundering from the speakers in my room. Currently, it was Pink and Nate Ruess asking for a