Page 68 of Game Plan

“I’ll have one,” the other guy replied, rising from the couch.

“Mel, this is Bailey, our roommate and teammate. Bailey, this is Mel.” He opened the box, and Bailey grabbed a slice.

“Thanks. Nice to meet you, Mel.”

Only then did I notice the hamster perched on his shoulder. “Seven?”

“Nah. One slice is enough.”

I chuckled. “I was talking about your friend.” I pointed at the pet with a finger. “Him.”

“Oh yes. Sorry.” He frowned. “You’ve heard about him?”

“Yes. Mase told me all about his roommates.”

“Sweet.” He extended his arm at Mason, his fist closed, and Mason bumped it with his own. “How do you guys know one another?” His attention traveled between Craig, Mason, and me.

“We used to be neighbors. Same high school and shit. Mel and I are best friends.”

My eyes widened at Mason’s admission, but I didn’t correct him in front of his roommate.

“And you all go to college here?”

“Yep.” That was Craig’s clipped answer. “Small world.”

Bailey frowned, and I bet he could sense the tension building between all of us. “Cool.” He went back to the living room and resumed his seat next to Craig after inhaling his food. “You guys joining us? We have two more remotes.”

Mason raked a hand through his hair. “Nah. We’ll be upstairs. Rain check?”

Craig studied us for a beat, with furrowed eyebrows, before nodding. We were halfway up the stairs when he called, “Nice costumes, by the way. Mel, if you end up handcuffing this sucker to his bed, leave the key in my room so I can free his sorry ass in the morning once you’re gone.”

I froze, not sure what to reply. Was it a joke, or was he being serious? Right now, I couldn’t tell.

“Just kidding.” Craig pressed pause on his remote and returned to his game.

“Since when does your brother have a weird sense of humor?” I asked Mason in a whispered tone when we neared his bedroom.

“The second he chased Paige away.” He sighed. “He’s been bitter since the moment she left. He hasn’t been himself in months.”

“Oh. It’s really that bad?”

“You have no idea.”

18

Ohmygod, I stripped naked. Almost

“Maybe you should have repainted your room turf green. It would have made the comforter seem completely in its element.”

Mason elbowed me in the ribs. “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

“What? It would have looked like a four-wall football field. Very chic.”

“Yeah, in your dreams.”

We settled in the same way we had the other day, with him sitting on his desk chair and me sitting on his bed, digging into the pizza.

“Did you see the guy swinging from a rope earlier at the party?” I asked.