Follow the River

River claps his hand on my shoulder, immediately causing me to stiffen at the contact, but it quickly subsides. He nods at a few people as he leads me over to the keg in the middle of the living room. The girl ma

“Don’t you normally have to buy in for a cup at parties like this?” I shout in his ear after the girl hands me my own cup of beer.

He goes to respond but the music is actually shaking the entire house, so I can’t hear him.

“I can’t hear you,” I motion with my hands by tapping my ear.

His smiles—the fucker is always smiling—leaning into my space in order for me to catch what he says this time. “Football perks,” he yells, his lips practically brushing my ear, causing me to shudder.

I pull away quickly, taking a sip of my beer to hide my unease and simply nod as I swallow it down.

Honestly, it’s lukewarm and tastes like shit. And the music is already starting to cause my brain to throb behind my eyes.

Why did I come here again?

Oh, that’s right. I decided to make friends this year.

Sigh.

I’m already starting to regret my decision.

River leans over again and yells “I’ll be back,” before crossing the living room, weaving his way through the throng of dancing bodies and into the open kitchen where he wraps an arm around a pretty brunette. Curvy in all the places a woman should be.

I make my way away from the commotion, towards the stairs leading to the second floor, and find a spot to people-watch against the wall.

I’m not one for large crowds and lots of noise, so this is pretty much a goddamn nightmare, but at least I can watch a bunch of drunken idiots be…well, drunken idiots.

After a few minutes, one of our cornerbacks, Elliott Benson, slides up beside me. He’s got his own cup in hand and a brooding expression on his face as he leans back against the wall beside me.

Well. Wait.

If he’s brooding it might be his twin brother, Drew. You’d think I’d be able to tell them apart, seeing as I practice and work out with Drew every single day as the two starting wide receivers for the team.

But alas…

“Hey, man,” I say, and I’m grateful as hell the music has somehow toned down a bit. Either that or I’ve gained super-hearing.

Elliott slash Drew gives me a sup nod, taking a drink of his beer, his eyes searching the dance floor, as if he was looking for someone, which doesn’t help narrow down who is next to me.

He looks at me, his blue eyes piercing me, and he smirks. “You have no damn idea who I am, do you?”

I huff out a laugh. “That fucking obvious?”

He shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck. “It’s a blessing and a curse, that’s for sure. Caused plenty of issues between me and Drew though. We aren’t exactly on speaking terms currently because of it.”

Ah, so it is Elliott.

I suppose the VANS on his feet could have given him away, since Drew is always talking about his damn adidas Ultra Boosts like they are God’s gift to the fucking planet.

“You’re brothers, you’ll always figure it out,” I tell him, even though I have no damn clue if that’s the truth. You have to actually have a family in order to know shit about how they work.

The only twins I know are Siena and Roman and they were always at each other’s throats, but somehow, they always made up. They were exact opposites, but still consistently remained half of a greater whole, and they knew that. Time after time, they would throw shade at each other but then turn around and defend their sibling to anyone who dared to cross the other.

From what I’ve seen, the twin bond is the strongest thing in the fucking world. I swear, they could feel each other’s physical and mental pain as if it was their own. I’ve witnessed it. So if Si and Ro fought so bad they weren’t speaking?

Fuck. It would be like tearing their souls in half and expecting them to figure out how to survive.

I can’t imagine it would be much different for Elliott and Drew.

“I do know one thing, even if Drew would never say it aloud, much less to me these days, but he’s jealous as fuck you’re here.”

His words cause my brows to furrow in confusion. That doesn’t make sense. Drew and I both play at the same time, so it’s not like I took his starting position or anything.

Elliott must read my face because he laughs. “You just have such a good in with our QB,” he says, motioning towards River across the room. He’s got his arm slung around the shoulders of the little brunette from earlier, and she’s got hers curled around his waist. “Though it looks like you have some competition with Abbi over there.”

Competition?

I frown so hard I swear my face might get stuck in this position. “What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you and Riv…” he trails off, glancing between me and the quarterback in question. “…like, together or whatever?”

If I was drinking my nasty beer, this would be a good moment for a spit take.

I gape at him. “W-what?” I stutter, horrified.

“Dude, it’s no big deal. Love is love and all that. Or in this case, fucking is fucking, maybe? As long as it doesn’t negatively impact our season, Coach isn’t going to say anything. But the way you two co

My teeth clench together and I’m almost positive they are going to wind up as finely ground powder. “We’re not fucking doing anything together besides playing football. I’m not gay and clearly,” I point over to River, who just kissed the top of Abbi’s head, “he isn’t either.”

Elliott laughs and gives me another smirk, delight dancing in his eyes. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what, Elliott? Jesus Christ, stop being fucking cryptic,” I snap.

“Le

Bats for both teams?

I must say the words out loud because Elliott lets out yet another loud, irritating laugh. “I know you’re a football player, but please tell me you got the fucking idiom. He’s bisexual, dude.”

Ice freezes everything inside me as my eyes whip back to focus on River. He’s still wrapped up with Abbi, looking cozy as hell. As if sensing my gaze, his eyes rise and meet mine. A grin crosses his face, exposing a set of dimples deep enough to see from across the room.

No, there’s no fucking way.

Keeping my eyes locked on his teal ones, I grind out, “Are you sure?”

“As sure as I am that the sky is blue. I’ve known the guy since we were like eight, seeing as we went to prep school at Summit Academy together. It’s never been much of a secret after he came out his freshman year.”

As Elliott speaks, River gives me a curious look, his head cocking slightly and mouths “What?” to me from across the room, to which I shake my head and turn my attention back to Elliott.

“I’m not… we’re not… fuck, no,” I stumble through the words, not sure where the hell I’m trying to go with them or if they’re even meant for Elliott or more myself.

Bisexual? What?

“That might be true, man. I promise, I do believe you. But the way he’s looking at you right now?” Elliott says as he glances up to River, then shakes his head. “It’s somewhere between eye-fucking and a predator ready to devour it’s next meal.”