Friends & Forever Read Free Page A

on the
massive oversize stadium bleachers.
    "Doubtful," Carmine muttered,
taking a sip from his shiny metal flask. He grimaced, the warm liquor burning
his throat. The trip to the hospital had sobered him up real quick.
"Varsity team fucking sucks this year. They'd have better luck letting us play tonight."
    "Next year," Nicholas said.
"We'll show them how it's done."
    "Goddamn right."
    The crowd shifted all around them, people
filtering out for concessions while others made their way to huddle in the
bleachers for halftime. Homecoming . The one game of the year it seemed
nobody in Durante missed. Glancing around, Carmine saw everybody who was
everybody.
    Everybody, of course, except his father,
but that was no surprise to anybody. Vincent never even made it to Carmine's
football games. Why would he come to these?
    A group of their friends climbed the
steps, led by Carmine's brother, Dominic. Dom greeted them warmly, bumping
fists with Nicholas before plopping down beside Carmine. The rest filled the
empty spaces around them, mostly girls, some Carmine knew intimately, others he
had plans to get to know that way before it was all said and done. Tess Harper
weaseled her way through the group, forcing herself down in a spot right in
front of Dom.
    "Boys," she said coldly, casting
the two of them—Carmine and Nicholas—looks of wariness.
    "Girl," Nicholas said
sarcastically, the same time Carmine tipped his flask and muttered,
"Bitch."
    Tess rolled her eyes, turning to Dom.
"Dominic."
    Dom nudged her chin playfully, greeting
her warmer than the others. "Hey, Tess."
    "Your sister not
come ?" Carmine asked, drawing Tess's attention back to him and away
from his brother. Those two freaked him out sometimes with the way they looked
at each other. He didn't get it, and hoped like hell they'd get over their flirtationship . It made things awkward whenever they
all hung out together.
    "Of course not," Tess said.
"Dia doesn't do football games."
    "She came last night," Nicholas
said. "You know, to the JV game."
    Huh . Had she?
Carmine still couldn't remember. He made a mental note to thank her later.
    "Aw, good for you," Tess said
dismissively. "You boys actually had someone there to watch for
once."
    Nicholas flipped her off, but Tess didn't
notice, her attention going right back to Dom. Rolling his eyes, Carmine took
another drink from his flask. Okay, he'd been wrong earlier. Amy Barlow wasn't
the only girl off limits to him. The Harper twins needed added to that
list of his could-never-have . Because Dia was the sister-he-never-had, while Tess was frankly the
sister-he-never-wanted. He shuddered at the mere thought of
seeing either of them naked.
    Good thing Dia swung the other.
    The announcer's voice rattled from the
loudspeaker as the crowd grew thicker, more bodies huddling in the bleachers.
The homecoming court descended upon the field. Seniors, dressed in their
finest, announced one-by-one as the crowd cheered. Carmine found it all quite
ridiculous and barely paid attention to the bullshit charade.
    Nicholas reached over and smacked Carmine
on the arm as he leaned toward him. "Got a bet for you."
    "I'm listening."
    "Twenty bucks to whoever nails the
homecoming queen first."
    Carmine chuckled, hearing Tess groan
nearby. She'd overheard. "You're on."
    "You in, Dom?" Nicholas asked.
    "What's that?" Dom glanced back
at them, raising his eyebrows. "Am I in what ?"
    "Twenty bucks to nail the homecoming
queen."
    Dom scoffed, waving them off. "Hell
to the no."
    "Why not?" Nicholas asked.
"Know you'll lose?"
    "He has more respect that that,"
Tess chimed in, her eyes narrowed as she glared back at them.
    "Yeah, and besides," Dominic
said, motioning out toward the field. "Between the two of you, you've
already nailed almost all of them. Chances are one of you already won."
    Nicholas shrugged, while Carmine smirked.
He was counting on that.
    The announcer finished introducing the
homecoming court, the crowd going wild with anticipation