Harper's Rules 1 & 2

Chapter 4: Jake

Similar to the San Jose State game but without my crazy extended family present, we traveled the next weekend up north to Pullman, Washington for the Saturday night game against Washington State. Unlike UW, which was right near the city of Seattle and close to the Pacific coastline, their cross-state rival WSU was the main attraction within a small town near the eastern corner of the state.

After our ninety-minute bus ride from the closest airport, I stayed with Drake again Friday night. We remained a lot quieter in the room. Well, he ignored me like usual, so technically I was a lot quieter. While I wished I hadn't, I looked at him differently after he admitted he'd hacked my phone, even if just for a school project.

Drake hadn't really apologized and I'd always considered the guy a friend, but now I doubted my easygoing lack of judgment. After a week where I'd silently studied him, I now realized I barely knew anything about the quiet, introverted guy who lived on the same floor as me but kept his room locked up like a vault.

"Hey Drake?" I sat down on my bed, my knees facing him.

We'd finished our weekend supply of homework as usual but neither of us felt tired enough. My legs twitched from all the travel, since generally planes and buses weren't comfortably tailored to my height.

As usual, London's eyes were glued to his phone. The white glare from his screen cast a shadow around the edge of his profile and over his ears. With his gaze fixed down, his eyebrows drew together and he absently mumbled, "Hmm?"

My own brows furrowed. "Do you want to go do something?"

He snorted softly but looked up from his screen. In a dry voice, he looked completely unamused, "Like what, work out in the hotel gym?"

"Let's go to the pool area," I offered with a slight shoulder shrug.

After a grumbled, 'why not,' we both changed and grabbed some white bathroom towels that barely covered half of us. A few fists pounded on some other guys' doors, Drake and I were joined by Griff and Jackson. Evan's eyes lit up at the idea of privacy within the room he shared with Griff. His roommate looked just as excited to leave, slammed the door behind him, and ran down the hallway like a little kid.

"Do I even want to know?" I raised my eyebrows at him while we marinated in the hotel's hot tub.

"Bro, it's Evan," he spat out in a sarcastic voice, tipped his head back onto the hot tub's edge, and groaned quietly. "Why don't we have one of these at the house?"

"'Cause it would get nasty," Jackson pointed out the obvious as his fingers tapped on his phone screen. "I ain't cleaning one either."

"Don't drop that," I warned him with a low chuckle.

"Just checking up on my girl," he mumbled, then cursed a few times and gripped his phone tighter. "Why the fuck does she do this!? Showing me how much fun she's having without me."

"Savage, bro." Griff smirked at the photo Jackson flashed at us, where Nevaeh either wore the tightest dress I'd ever seen or had just painted her body red. Either way, she danced with someone's large hand clutched over her stomach. My lips rolled inward at Jax's nine 'the fuck!?!?!?' responses.

"Smooth," I teased him.

He just groaned, turned his phone off, and hopped out of the hot tub. His wet feet puddled a trail across the floor to where we'd dropped our towels on some chairs and my lips twitched at his longer trail of curse words.

"She's just playing," he growled in a low voice that obviously indicated he wasn't a fan of that game, then hopped back in next to Griff.

Like he doesn't play it either.