Read The Other Game: A Dean Carter Novel (The Perfect Game #4) for Free Online Page A

welcome, she snatched the drink from my hand and began sucking it down like it was her savior.
    Not me; the damn drink.
    Her face scrunched up almost immediately and she stomped on the floor. “Brain freeze, brain freeze, brain freeze!”
    I laughed, but when the smell of fresh-baked brownies assaulted my senses, I sympathized with her sudden craving.
    “That freaking hurt!” she said, clearly recovered. “Come in.”
    I stepped through the door and leaned down to wrap her in a hug. She gripped my back tightly, her fingertips digging into my muscles, and I wished I had the balls to try to kiss her. It would have been out of nowhere, but being this close to Melissa made me want to do all sorts of things to her.
    Our eyes met for a second before she looked away, releasing me from her embrace and breaking our connection completely.
    “The brownies smell incredible,” I said, practically drooling.
    “Still have twenty more minutes to go, but they do smell good, huh? Thank you for my Slurpee.”
    “You’re welcome. How was Jack when he got here?” I cut straight to the chase, wondering if my brother seemed nervous to her or not.
    “Ha!” She laughed. “Good. Cocky as ever.”
    “Was Cassie excited?”
    “I’m not sure that’s the right word,” Melissa said as she walked into her kitchen. “Can I grab you something to drink? I have water or soda.”
    “I’ll take a soda. Do you think they’ll be okay?”
    She tossed me the unopened can, and I knocked on the top of it with my knuckle before opening it.
    “I don’t know, he’s your stupid brother. Do you think he can act like a normal human being for one night?”
    “Probably not,” I said with a chuckle.
    “Didn’t think so. Here, sit.”
    She waved at the kitchen table, covered with a mess of papers and textbooks, and I added my notebook to the pile before I sat down. Other than the table, the apartment appeared spotless, which was impressive.
    I couldn’t even keep my room clean, let alone multiple rooms. Gran was always yelling at me and Jack to pick up our stuff, to wash our dishes and put them away. I wanted to be neater; I just didn’t see the mess. When Gran looked around the kitchen, she saw every single glass and utensil out of place. Me? I only saw food. The other stuff never concerned me, but I promised Gran I’d try to do better, and had to repeat that promise every other week or so.
    “How long have you and Cassie known each other?” I asked.
    Aside from flirting with each other in class, I didn’t know much about Melissa. Not to mention the fact that we didn’t get much alone time, and the one time when we had been alone at the student union, it hadn’t lasted more than five minutes.
    “We’ve been friends since high school.” She smiled. “I came here right after graduation, but Cass’s parents forced her to go to a junior college instead. She’s only been here since this year.”
    “Why’d they make her do that?”
    Melissa looked me square in the eye. “Money.”
    I nodded slightly in complete understanding. “But your parents let you come right away?”
    “Yeah. They don’t have money issues,” she said with a shrug.
    “Are your parents still married?”
    “They are. Are yours?”
    The question rattled me. The fact that our parents had abandoned Jack and me wasn’t something I told most people. And my sharing that with Melissa would mean she not only knew something extremely personal and private about me, but about Jack as well. So I thought better of it.
    “No, they’re not.”
    “I’m sorry. That sucks. But I guess it’s rarer to have parents still be married than anything else, these days,” she said, and I nodded.
    “Do you get along with them?” I wondered what it was like for her, to have rich parents who were still together.
    “Oh my gosh, yes. They’re the greatest. We have the best relationship, honestly. My mom owns a PR firm in Hollywood, and I work for her every summer.”
    “Is that what