Three and Out

by Meghan Quinn

“The time will come for us, but for now, we need to learn about each other, we need to date, babe.”

  Nodding her head, Piper agreed. “Fair enough. So, whenever we’re together, we should ask each other at least one question so we can get to know each other.”

  “Okay, you ask first, and then we need to get into the house. Jesse is probably having a fucking fit because we didn’t go straight into the house. He can be such a controlling host,” Mason smiled, making Piper’s heart skip a beat.

  “We’ll be quick. Tell me, what is your favorite cuisine?”

  She knew it was a stupid question, but sometimes, the stupid questions are the most important when trying to get to know someone.

  Mason smiled devilishly and said, “Anything I can eat off your body.”

  Piper rolled her eyes and said, “Seriously, Mason.”

  “I am being serious, but I’ll tell you my second favorite is Mexican.”

  “Alright, good answer.”

  “What about you?”

  “Anything Greek.”

  “I feel like I knew that?”

  “Well, you know it for sure now.”

  “Sure do,” he replied, as he kissed the back of her hand again. “Looks like we’re in for a disappointing night.”

  “Why?” Piper asked, confused.

  “Because the lazy dickhead inside is serving pizza.” Piper laughed as Mason continued, “When we host dinner at our place, we’re going to make one hell of a Greek burrito, show these lazy fucks how it’s done.” Mason placed a quick kiss on her lips, and got out of the car, maneuvering his crutches much better.

  Piper sat in the car a second longer, trying to grasp the fact that, not only had Mason already started making plans about hosting dinner for their friends together as a couple, but he also called his house, “theirs.” It was endearing and sweet, a side she rarely saw of Mason, but when she did, she soaked him up like a dry sponge.

  Mason met up with her at the front of the car, and she pulled on his arm to make him stop from moving forward.

  “He’s going to kill us,” Mason said, referring to Jesse’s testiness about being on time.

  “I’m in love with you too, Mason. Please don’t ever forget that.”

  A bright smile spread across Mason’s face as he grabbed her chin and brought her lips to his.

  “Never will, baby.”

  **Mason**

  The boys clinked their beers together as they wished each other a good game tomorrow. The Stallions had played the Thunder during pre-season, but this go around, the win counted.

  The girls were all huddled around the kitchen island, picking at the leftover pizza and talking about girl shit that Mason could care less about, but that didn’t mean he could stop sneaking glances over at Piper.

  She wore skinny black jeans, a long-sleeved Aerosmith T-shirt, and a pair of her Chuck Taylors. Her vibrant hair was in its natural waves, cascading over her shoulders, and her smile was bright as she talked to her friends. Occasionally, she would look Mason’s way and see him staring at her. She would blush and turn away, making Mason’s libido take a giant step forward, but he tamped it down every time, reminding himself that friendship will build a long future with the woman you love.

  “I thought you two were living together,” Ryker interrupted Mason’s thoughts.

  “We sort of are,” Mason replied, as he tore his gaze away from Piper.

  “Then stop eye fucking her and pay the fuck attention to us for a couple of hours,” Ryker complained.

  “Ahh, honey, I’m sorry, are you feeling neglected?” Mason asked, as he cupped Ryker’s chin and brought him in close.

  “Dude!” Ryker swatted him away, making Jake, Jesse, and Mason all laugh. “I know you’re crushing on me, but seriously, I’m spoken for.” Ryker waved his hand and called out, “Hey boo!” to Hannah who was now blushing feverishly.

  “You’re such a little bitch,” Jake laughed, as he took a sip of his beer. “You all are so pussy-whipped, it’s ridiculous.”

  Mason guffawed as he called out to Lexi, “Hey, Lex, did you hear that? Jake thinks he’s not pussy-whipped.”

  Lexi laughed and said, “We’ll see about that later tonight when he’s begging for some action and the only way he’ll get it is if he does what I want.”

  Mason laughed as Jake punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, wife, what happens in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom,” Jake called out.

  “Oh, is that right? Then why did your center come up to me the other day and ask me to teach his wife the little tongue trick you like so much?”

  Jake instantly looked guilty as he said, “Uh, don’t know what you’re talking about.” He lowered his body, as if he could hide from Lexi, as all the girls laughed and huddled together, most likely talking about the tongue trick.

  “Tongue trick?” Mason asked, while elbowing Jake.

  “Dude,” he looked around quickly and then said in a hushed tone, “She can do this thing with her tongue on the underside of my dick that makes me seriously blow my load in seconds.”

  “Don’t you love it when your girl can take you back to your teenage days, when the outline of a nipple would turn your clothing into cream-coated shorts?” Ryker asked, as he took a sip of his beer.

  “That’s just nasty, man,” Jake responded, as he shook his head in disgust and then shivered. “Seriously, the image of jiz shorts being your only source of clothing is going to haunt me.”

  “Oh, please, like you’ve never crusted over your boxers when a light breeze crosses over an improperly supported nipple?”

  “Hannah, Ryker is talking about other girl’s nipples,” Mason called out, making Ryker punch Mason in the other shoulder.

  The look on Hannah’s face actually made Mason feel bad for saying anything; sometimes he forgot that she could be a very insecure girl.

  “Thanks, fuckhead,” Ryker muttered, as he went over to Hannah to repair Mason’s mistake. Piper gave him a look that said, “We will be talking about this later.”

  Fucking great.

  Changing the subject, Mason turned to Jesse, who had been awfully quiet, and said, “So what’s going on with Ashlin? I leave for San Diego and you finally make a move?”

  Jesse looked over his shoulder at Ashlin, who was picking at a salad with a depressed look on her face.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t easy, but I finally got her to agree to go out with me. She is actually going to be in my suite with you tomorrow, and that little boy from the zoo I was telling you about.”

  “You can’t be keeping her happy. She looks like her dog just got murdered,” Jake pointed out, as they all looked at Ashlin for a second.

  “She has a modeling gig next week and apparently deprives herself of food up until the photo shoot. I try to feed her different things, but she refuses. I actually don’t like it. She works out a lot, and practically starves herself leading up to a gig. She’s perfect; she doesn’t need to do any of that.”

  Jesse was being very serious, so Mason held back all sarcastic comments. He congratulated himself for acting somewhat mature.

  “Is it something to worry about?” Jake asked seriously.

  “Nah, nothing like that. I just wish she didn’t put such a strain on her body, you know?”

  “Yes, but she could say the same thing about you,” Mason pointed out. “You don’t even drink beer, for fuck’s sake, you drink root beer. Don’t you ever want to let loose and have fun?”

  Jesse just shook his head in silence as he looked down at his plate that was empty.

  “Wow, well, this is awkward,” Jake said. “You really know how to throw a rager.”

  Jesse smiled and said, “The strippers will be here later, no worries, it will pick up.”

  “Strippers?” Ashlin asked as she wrapped her arms around Jesse’s waist. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Jake here thinks I throw a lame ass party.”

  “Well, he should have been at the barbeque
earlier in the season when Mason and Ryker were running around in their underwear.”

  Jake looked at Mason and raised his eyebrows, making Mason laugh.

  “We lost a bet because Ryker was my little bitch of a partner. The boy sucks at ladder ball.”

  “That’s why I’m a receiver, dickhead,” Ryker responded, as he held Hannah close to him. The women started trickling over to their group. “I can’t toss worth shit.”

  Lexi settled under Jake’s chin with ease as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “It has nothing to do with tossing,” she said. “Jake can’t play that game to save his life, and he’s the best quarterback in the NFL.”

  Ashlin snorted and patted Jesse’s chest. “I beg to differ.” Jesse beamed with pride.

  Warm arms wrapped around Mason, who was sitting on a stool, and Piper rested her chin on Mason’s shoulder. She kissed his earlobe and said, “I love you.”

  Fuck.

  His heart literally just sped up a mile a minute at her simple statement. She rubbed his chest, right over his heart, as she realized she needed to soothe his tense muscles from all the pain she caused him.

  “If we’re talking bests in the NFL, then I think we have an all-time winner here,” Piper said, as she looked up at everyone. “Biggest dick in the NFL, sitting right in front of you.”

  The table erupted in laughter as Ryker leaned over to take a look at Mason’s lap.

  Mason pushed him away, and said, “Seriously, dude, you have a problem. I think you’ve seen my dick more times than Piper.”

  “It’s just hard to believe. I don’t get how you can run as fast as you can with a fucking tree trunk dragging behind you.”

  “Is that what they use to till the ground after the season is over?” Jake asked with a quizzical look on his face.

  “Yup, they strap a rototiller on my dick and I do fifties up and down the field until I have aerated the fuck out of the field,” Mason deadpanned, making all the men laugh.

  “You see, this is why we split up into different groups. Men are so disgusting,” Lexi said, as she wiggled out of Jake’s grasp.

  “She’s just jealous she can’t have a piece of this monster in my pants,” Mason responded.

  “Pig,” Piper said, as she walked toward Lexi, but not before Mason grabbed her by the arm and sat her on his lap.

  “Take it back,” he smiled.

  “Never,” she smiled back.

  He searched her eyes and asked, “Favorite body part of mine?”

  “Is that even a question?”

  “Confirm it for me, baby.”

  “Your dick, no question. What about mine?”

  Mason thought about it for a second and whispered in her ear. “You would expect me to say your firm ass or your fucking gorgeous tits, but that would be a lie. It’s your mouth, because it can be sassy, it can bring me to my knees with your words, and it gives, by far, the best blow job I’ve ever had.”

  “Such a romantic,” she laughed, as she kissed him on the lips and got off his lap. He slapped her ass as she walked away, giving her a devilish grin as she looked over her shoulder.

  Yup, he was in fucking love.

  **Hannah**

  The boys were now outside playing ladder ball, just so they could embarrass Ryker some more, while the girls huddled around the dining room table, drinking beer, and devouring a giant chocolate chip cookie that Hannah had brought to the party. Ashlin wasn’t eating it, which made Hannah feel self-conscious, since she was on her fourth piece, but she tried to hide her insecurity. It was hard being around these girls; they were all so beautiful…Hannah felt like a gremlin compared to all of them. Sometimes, she really had to question what Ryker saw in her.

  “Jesse is so yummy,” Lexi said, as she grabbed another bite of the cookie, eating enough for her and Ashlin. Thank God for Lexi.

  “He is,” Ashlin said, as she peered outside. “He is so different than anyone I know, even Ryker.”

  A piercing pain went through Hannah’s chest at the mention of Ryker’s name. She still felt like there was a connection between Ashlin and Ryker that Hannah would never be able to have; it was another reason for her insecurities.

  “Oh, I forgot you and Ryker knew each other beforehand,” Piper said absentmindedly, making Hannah feel even more uncomfortable.

  “You did?” Lexi asked.

  “Yes, we grew up with each other.”

  “Is the chemistry between you two real, like in all those clothing ads?” Lexi asked, as if Hannah wasn’t sitting right there.

  Ashlin looked over at Hannah with an apologetic smile, which clued Lexi in.

  “Oh crap, I’m sorry Hannah. God, I can be so blonde sometimes.”

  “No, it’s alright,” Hannah soothed. “Ryker and Ashlin have a history…even a sexual one; I’m aware of it.”

  Crickets.

  Piper’s mouth hung open in shock, Lexi looked confused as hell, and Ashlin looked outright mad.

  “What? It’s true and I’m okay with it,” Hannah said, while swallowing hard.

  “Yeah, you seem real cool about it,” Ashlin replied, as her arms crossed over her chest.

  Sensing an explosion about to happen, Piper stood up, grabbed Hannah by the arm, and said, “Help me get some more beers.” Piper didn’t give Hannah a chance to reply as she dragged her toward the kitchen.

  “What are you doing?” Hannah asked, as she finally was able to remove her arm from Piper’s death grip.

  “What am I doing? What the hell are you doing? Why are you making Ashlin feel bad?”

  “I’m just stating the facts.”

  “No, you’re being a bit of a bitch. I thought you were okay with Ashlin and Ryker being friends.”

  Hannah ran both her hands through her hair and said, “I am! It’s just that when we’re all together, I’m just reminded how superior you all are to me. I mean, Ashlin is a super model for crying out loud, Lexi has the body of a Playboy bunny, and you’re so tall and gorgeous that it’s hard to be around the three of you without developing a complex.”

  Piper looked at Hannah for a second, and then burst out in laughter. “Hannah, are you kidding me? Have you looked in a mirror? You’re beautiful.”

  Hannah looked down at her hands as she shrugged her shoulders.

  “You need to stop with the pity party,” Piper said honestly. “Ryker is the kind of guy that needs a strong woman next to him, and you are that girl, but you sometimes you get in these moods where you think you’re some atrocious troll wandering around the world, when you’re not at all. Accept the fact that you’re beautiful and own it. You want to be with Ryker? Well then, act like you belong with him, because you do. You two were made for each other.”

  Nodding her head, Hannah grabbed some beers from the fridge and said, “It’s just so hard.”

  “Love is hard, sweet cheeks, get used to it. Believe me, I have.”

  “Motherfucker!!” Ryker shouted as Mason and Jesse high fived. They must have won in ladder ball, because Jake was also yelling at Ryker.

  “You’re going to want to come out here, girls,” Mason called out.

  Hannah rolled her eyes at Piper, and they followed the other two girls outside as Jake and Ryker stood next to Jesse’s pool. Hannah sidled up next to Ashlin and leaned over to her.

  “I’m sorry about earlier. I’m really cool with you two,” Hannah admitted, even though she was still feeling a little sour about Ashlin and Ryker…but she would get over that in time.

  “No need to be sorry. I would be the same way. Just know, there is nothing going on with us, and there never will be. He’s my brother…I know that now, plus, I kind of have my hands full.”

  Hannah watched Ashlin look adoringly up at Jesse, who was laying out the ground rules for the next insane competition the boys came up with, while holding pool noodles in his hands.

  “Listen up, boys, due to your lack of skills in ladder ball, you now have to compete in the great noodle race.”
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  “This is going to be good,” Lexi said, as she sat on a lawn chair and called the other girls over. Piper sat next to Lexi, so Hannah pulled up a chair and blanket for her and Ashlin. Hannah had to accept the fact that Ryker and Ashlin were friends, and she might as well make a friend while she was at it.

  “Here,” Hannah offered the blanket that Ashlin accepted with a smile.

  Ashlin wrapped her arm around Hannah and whispered in her ear, “You are beyond perfect for Ryker. I’m so glad he has you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jesse interrupted their little love fest and continued on with the instructions. “You two are to strip down to your skivvies, put this noddle between your legs and ride it like it’s a horse across the pool and back. First one to climb out of the pool and do one lap around the pool doing his best cowboy impression, wins.”

  “Are yeehaas and yippees permitted?” Jake asked, with his hands on his hips.

  “They are encouraged,” Jesse responded seriously.

  Hannah giggled to herself at the show the boys were putting on.

  “What about Yippee I O?” Ryker asked.

  “Yes, but anything other than that will place your man card into serious question.”

  Both Jake and Ryker nodded their heads, and they muttered an understanding.

  “Alright, the first one to complete the course and tag Mason, who is propped up on the chair over there, wins.”

  Mason sat at the outdoor bar, holding his beer while laughing. Hannah enjoyed this side of Mason…easygoing and enjoying life. For as long as she had known Mason, she’d only known the dark, brooding, and hurting man, but now she got to see a different side of Mason…the fun-loving side, and she loved it. She glanced over at Piper, who was beaming with love for the man who sat across the pool. The difference in their lives from a couple of months ago was dramatic, and it almost seemed too good to be true, but Hannah was going to soak it in as much as she could, because she couldn’t think of a time when she was happier to see her friends happy and to have happiness in her life as well.

  “Time to strip, men,” Jesse announced.

  Ryker and Jake started taking off their clothes, as they swore about the chilly Denver air. Hannah felt her eyes glue to Ryker’s body as he finished taking off his shoes and socks and went for his shirt. The space around her faded into black as her eyes were fixated on Ryker and the way his arms took his shirt off, exposing his extremely well-defined stomach and chest. He was smaller than Jake, not as bulky, but he was sculpted in all the right ways…almost perfectly sculpted. For the amount of food the man ate, Hannah was shocked at the fact that the man didn’t have one ounce of body fat on him. He either busted his butt out on the field, or he had the metabolism of a wizard.