BET

Chapter One

Kasia

"Sexually liberated women are considered sluts. Sexually liberated men are called ballers. It's sickening." I say, groaning.

I cross my right leg over the left one where I sit on the couch at the random house party that my friends and I are attending. Taking a sip from my drink, my friend, Juliette responds from where she sits on the couch beside me.

"And your solution to that gender inequality is sleeping with as many guys as you can?" Juliette asks, raising her eyebrows.

I consider her question for a moment, then shrug my shoulders and nod my head.

"We all have to contribute somehow." I say, a laugh bubbling up in my throat.

Juliette scoffs, shaking her head and laughing as she takes a sip of her drink. When she brings the cup down and swallows, she turns towards me again.

"You know most people just donate to a political organization."

"Yeah, yeah. I like to think outside the box." I tell her.

"Uh oh." my other friend, Evelyn, who sits across from Juliette and I on the matching love seat, perks up. "I think your contributions just walked through the door, Kasia."

Evelyn's eyes are trained near the entrance of the house and I follow her gaze over the crowd of people to see a group of guys walking in. All of them are visibly tall and muscular, even from this distance.

"Is that a uniform, I see?" Evelyn says and sure enough, I spot one of them wearing a jersey. "What does it look like, Kasia? Hockey? Lacrosse?"

I crane my head to get a better look at them, then settle back down on the couch, putting my hands over my face and already accepting defeat.

"Football." I mumble through my fingers.

"Oh god no." Juliette groans as she settles back down next to me after getting a look at the guys too. "Not the football guys."

"You know I can't resist them. They're all so... big." I say.

"Go introduce yourself." Juliette suggests, bumping her shoulder into mine. "Maybe they'll let you come to practice. You can take a turn with each one."

I run my hand over my face. "Don't give me any ideas. I don't need help coming up with situations that will inevitably ruin my life."

"You couldn't get between them all.'Bros before hoes,' you know." Evelyn says, nodding her head towards them. "Especially the sports guys."

"Are you kidding? They come up with terms for people who are only interested in sports to sleep with the members of the team. You know they secretly love that shit."

"What are you talking about?" Juliette asks.

"You know, like a puck bunny for hockey players or a lacrosstitute."

"A Lacrosstitute?" Juliette exclaims, obviously never hearing the term before.

At the same time Evelyn shakes her head. "That shit is so fake."

"It's not! I guarantee it happens a lot more than you think." I say, taking a sip of my drink and shrugging.

Evelyn continues to disagree. "No, I bet you'd sleep with one of them and the rest would put an unofficial ban on you forever."

I laugh. "You're giving them way too much credit. I bet they're not as loyal as you make them out to be."

Evelyn holds out her hand towards me. "I bet they are."

I look down at her extended hand, considering the wager that she seems to be placing in front of me. After a minute, I smile, taking her hand and shaking it firmly, accepting this challenge.

"We'll see, won't we?" I say, peering over the back of the couch again.

I spot the guys near the counter where the drinks are. They seem to have congregated there and are passing around beers to each other. I turn back to Juliette and Evelyn, standing up and holding out my drink for them to take. I look down at my outfit, fixing it quickly.

"They'll figure it out." Evelyn warns.

"Who cares?" I say, smoothing down my hair and rounding the couch. "It'll be fun for me either way."

I walk up to where they stand casually, like I am there to grab something and not for a bet, pushing my hair back behind my ear and leaning in their direction. My eyes skim over each of the guys before I lock onto my first target. The one that is conveniently standing closest to me.

He is the shortest of all of them, but not by a lot as they all stand at least six feet tall. He has short brown hair and glances over at me with a pair of blue-green eyes that instantly lock onto mine, telling me that I already have him before I even open my mouth to speak. Still, I smile brightly at him.

"Could you pass me one of those?" I ask, gesturing towards one of the drinks that sits in the small bucket of ice near him.

He glances over at where I point and sees whatever disgusting cheap beer is in that bucket of ice. I don't know what it is, only that it is the same exact drink that he has in his hand. He looks back at me and nods his head.

"Sure," he says, reaching over the other guys to grab one of the drinks and turning back, holding it out. "Here you go."

"Thanks." I say with another smile.

I glance around the counter, searching for a bottle opener that I know isn't there. He watches me closely and then clears his throat.

"Do you need something to open that?" he asks.

"Would you? I'd really appreciate it."

I take a step closer to him, holding the bottle up between us. He takes it from me and reaches into his pocket to pull out a bottle opener attached to his key ring. He pops the cap off the beer and hands it back to me with a polite smile.

"You like those?" he says, looking down at the bottle.

No, definitely not. I think.

"Yeah, of course." I say.

He smiles, taking a swig of his drink.

"What's your name?" I say.

"Keagan," he says. "What's yours?"

"Kasia," I say, shaking his hand. "I saw you walk in earlier, Keagan."

He raises his eyebrows. "You noticed me? I'm flattered." he jokes.

Yeah, you and the rest of your big football buddies. I think.

"You just caught my eye." I say.

"Is that so?" he asks.

I nod, my hand fiddling with the bottle of the cold beer that I am definitely not going to drink. Keagan chuckles, his eyes moving down over me as he takes another sip of his drink.

"Well, how do you know I'm interested?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

I look up at him with a smile, trying not to laugh. "Everyone is interested in me."

He works his jaw, glancing away from me for a moment while the smile on his lips grows. Finally he returns his eyes to me and nods.

"Yeah, I think you might be right." he says, inching closer.

I watch as his eyes drag over me and sit the beer in my hand down on the counter.

"So, would you like to lead the way or should I?" I say, gesturing towards the door.

He bites his bottom lip, nodding and reaching down to grab my hand. He sets his drink down too and turns to lead me through the crowd of people. As we walk towards the door, I glance over to where my friends still sit, peering over their drinks at me. I point at him in front of me and hold up one of my fingers.

Number one secured.

They both shake their heads, laughing with one another as they watch me walk out the door with Keagan in front of me.