Page 142 of Game Plan

For the next four hours, we collected tipsy people and drove them back to their places. They voluntarily shared stories with us that they would have probably withheld if sober, and it was quite entertaining. Sometimes, I wished I was riding in the other car, to hear their drunk confidences firsthand instead of my friends’ retellings. Some teams told us they had to deal with customers throwing up and having a fit or getting undressed. So far, the only awkward thing we’d witnessed was a couple full-on making out on the backseat as Donovan and Cassidy drove them, moaning at the top of their lungs, and a girl stripping out of her shirt, her upper body only covered by a sheer white bra, snapping pictures of her armpits. Go figure.

“Is it already eleven?” Donovan asked as we waited for our next customers to meet with us by the back door of a small bar a few minutes outside of campus, while we sipped the to-go coffees we’d grabbed on our way here. The night was cold, and fog wafted from our mouths each time we spoke. “We have twenty minutes left, and it feels like we’ve only been doing this for thirty minutes.”

“I was wrong thinking this would be boring.” Cassidy blew on the steam rising from the gap in her cup's lid. “It’s better than any reality TV show I’ve ever watched. Can you imagine if all these people had been driving their cars tonight? At least these are the smart ones who chose to call HADB. I hope the university will run the service all year long and not just during the holidays.”

“I think⁠—”

Evan Nichols stumbled out of the door, his jacket ripped at the sleeve, his hair in disarray, and a shiner starting to form around his left eye. Oh no. Was he our last customer of the night? I prayed he wasn’t, but my gut told me I’d soon be proved wrong.

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Donovan asked. “Do you need us to drive you to the ER?”

“Nopppe.” He brought his fingers to the corner of his mouth, and only then did I notice the bruise and the cut along his lower lip. “I’m fuckkking fine.” He gestured to the length of him with a wave of his hand. “All fuckkking good.”

He made a set of keys appear from his pocket and pressed a button. A car alarm echoed from the far end of the parking lot.

Before my friends could follow him, a guy I’d seen hanging out with the football team a couple of times at Lola’s stormed out of the bar. His hair was just as much of a mess as Nichols’s, and a cut split his left eyebrow. When he joined us under the parking lot light, I could see his bloodshot eyes and the rips in his clothes.

The guy’s attention was solely focused on Nichols. “Ev, you can’t leave like that.”

Nichols spun to face him, shooting him a murderous gaze. “Shut uppp, Gabe. Don’t say another worrrd or I swear⁠—”

Gabe closed in on him. “You swear what? That you’ll be honest with me and yourself from now on? That you won’t act like a prick and flirt with chicks just so you can prove to daddy-dearest you’re exactly who he expects you to be? Aren’t you tired of lying to everyone all the time?”

Nichols fisted his hands at his sides, his face turning an alarming shade of red. “Shut the fuckkk up, man. I swear I-I’ll punch you if youuu don’t stop talking.”

“You’ll punch me? Because I care about you? Because I-I love you? What happened in your childhood that caused you not to trust anyone?”

“You…you don’t know whattt you’re talking about.”

Gabe snorted. “Yeah, right. Because shagging a bunch of random girls in dirty restrooms of random bars makes you less gay.”

Nichols’s face reddened even more, and I didn’t think it was possible. “Don’t ever call meee gay again, Gabe. I’m…I’m warning youuu. You’re gonna get yourself beaten up a lottt more if youuu don’t let it go.”

Gabe threw his arms above his head, resignation entering his expression. “You know what? Screw you, Ev. I’m done. You don’t wanna be with me because those guys in there called you names, and you’re too chickenshit to take a stand? Well, I’m done trying. Don’t call me when you sober up and realize you’ve made a huge mistake. I’m no one’s doormat. You want us to be together? Newsflash. I won’t be your dirty little secret anymore.”

Nichols’s face fell. His eyes filled with moisture, and he blinked a few times.

With a quick spin, Gabe turned until his back was to us and pulled at his hair, his shoulders heaving.

Beside me, Nichols cast a glance down, and I bet he was trying to conceal his tears from us.

For a long moment, nobody dared to say anything.

Even though I despised the guy, this breakup scene felt oddly personal. And complicated.

Not sure what we should do next, I touched Nichols’s arm, keeping my tone low. “Hey, still want that ride home?”

It finally dawned on him who I was, and he recoiled. “Y-you again?” He transformed right before my eyes. Gone was the broken guy I’d witnessed seconds ago, and back was the cocky jock I’d met at the beginning of the semester and the bully who had cornered and tormented me at Lola’s a few times. “Is youuur job to humiliate me annnd stumble upon things youuu were never meant to see? Is this a setuppp? Why are youuu even here? You say one word abouuut tonight to anyone, and I don’t care whose dick you suck, you’ll…you’ll go downnn.” He pointed an accusing finger at my friends. “You too.”

Frozen by his comment, I stayed glued to the pavement. I had tried to be nice and supportive, and he’d snapped at me like I was the one who’d wronged him. This guy was a piece of work. And a straight-up lunatic.

Nichols continued his rant. “You hear meee? Stay out of my…my business. Youuu better⁠—”

Donovan slipped between us and shoved him with both hands until Nichols was forced to step back. “Don’t ever talk to her like that again. You hear me? I don’t care who you are or whose dick you suck, but I’ll make sure everyone knows your dirty little secret if you don’t shut your stupid mouth. Crestwood isn’t that big of a town. I’m sure a lot of people would love to know we play on the same team, you and me. Are we clear?”

I blinked, still unable to move. I had no idea my friend had it in him to bully the bully back.

“I know…I know people in high places. You can’t talllk to me like thaaat.”