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Ryan
I count my twenties,one after the other. “Nice doing business with you guys,” I say, and the others all grumble.
I love beating their asses at golf. Every single time, they think they can beat me, especially Carter. He thinks that just because he understands the physics behind all this stuff that somehow he can take me on. So every time, they bet big, and every time I win.
It’s not really fair, to be honest. I’m the only professional athlete out of the group. I mean, I’m a tennis guy, but still. That sort of skill can bleed into other sports. It also helps that I get out on the course at least once a week.
We head back inside the house. “I’m grabbing a shower,” Henry announces. “And then we’ll get dinner. Sounds good?”
We all grumble our assent and he heads off, disappearing upstairs. The rest of us gather in the kitchen. Aiden’s in there, drinking a beer and reading the paper.
“How’d it go?” he asks. “Ryan win again?”
“Sure did,” I say, flashing him my fat wad of cash.
He laughs. “How much did you idiots bet this time?”
“One hundred each,” Carter says, looking particularly sour. “He only beat me by five strokes.”
“Still won,” I say, sitting down at the counter.
“Yeah, yeah,” Carter grumbles.
“Come on, gents, let’s get past that,” Daniel says, getting some beers from the refrigerator. He passes them out and we each crack one open. “To a good day and a better night.”
We knock cans and drink. Aiden looks particularly happy, which isn’t normal for him. He’s usually more reserved than this, annoyed that we all went and played golf all day without him, but today he doesn’t seem to mind.
“I was thinking about something,” James says suddenly.
I look over at him. “That’s new.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Funny. Listen, I’m serious. I want to talk about it while Henry’s not here.”
Everyone seems to perk up at that. All five of us are here: me, Carter, Daniel, Aiden, and James. I’m not sure where Emily is, and Henry’s washing the stink of defeat off of him.
“What’s up?” Carter asks him.
“Well, it’s about Henry’s game.” He looks a little hesitant, and I suddenly get a strange feeling about what he’s about to say.
“Spit it out,” Daniel grunts.
“I think he’s going to win,” James says. “I mean, he’s up by two now, right? And as far as I can tell, we’re all at a big fat zero.”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s true,” I say. “Why is that? Not like this group to hold back.”
Nobody seems interested in saying why. I watch their faces and I can tell something’s going on, but I’m not positive what it is.
I don’t like hiding stuff from these guys. I don’t have a ton of friends in my life. It’s hard, I spend all day training, I work hard at my tennis, and I’m somewhat in the public eye. It’s difficult to keep friends, and these four have been incredibly good friends.
But so has Henry, and the reason I haven’t slept with anyone else would hurt him. So I’ve kept it to myself, but maybe it’s time to get it out in the open.
“It’s Emily,” I say simply. “Isn’t it?”
The guys all look at each other. “Yeah,” James admits. “It is.”
“For me too,” Daniel admits.
“Me too,” Aiden says.
