Quarterback's Secret Baby (Bad Boy Ballers) by Imani King Page B

dark skin glow and she looked good enough to eat. Good enough to skip the whole fucking prom, in fact. She raised her eyebrows at me.
    "Kaden! I hope you haven't had any of that yet."
    "Nah," I said, truthfully. "But it's prom, isn't it? Come on, just have a sip. I'd be surprised if anyone here was sober tonight. Even the teachers."
    I watched her as she raised the flask to her lips - those full, pink, perfectly-glossed lips - and took a small sip.
    "Ugh! Kaden, how can you drink that stuff?" She spluttered, wiping her mouth and scrunching her eyes closed. She was so adorable. It was all I could do not to pull her onto my lap and bury my face in her cleavage.
    "Well, I'm not drinking it for the taste," I laughed.
    We walked in together and I noticed Kelsey Richards and a few of the cheerleaders loitering by the front door, eyeballing me.
    "Hello, ladies!" I called, waving. Most of them waved back but Kelsey and a couple of others just gave me bitchface. I probably didn't even have the right to be angry so I just shrugged it off. It didn't matter anyway - I was at my high school prom with Tasha Greeley, the girl I'd crushed on from afar since we were little kids. And I was at prom with her after taking her virginity mere hours beforehand. I felt like the goddamned king of the world.
    There were more photos to take inside. We'd agreed to spend some time with our own friends during the evening - there was no hostility there but we had different social circles. And something told me Tasha and her friends didn't want to hang out with a bunch of half-drunk football jock idiots anyway.
    It took me longer to get finished with the pictures because more and more people kept asking me to pose with them. I gave Tasha a little 'are-you-OK-with-this?' look when something like the tenth person asked and she just threw me a smile and a shrug, nodding. God, she was perfect.
    I put an arm around the girl who'd just asked for a photo. "Just in case you get famous!" She giggled, smiling at her friend who was holding up her phone. When everyone seemed to be satisfied I jogged back up to Tasha, who had a big grin on her face.
    "What are you smiling at?" I asked, bending down to kiss her cheek. It was difficult for me not to just push her up against the wall and keep kissing her but that probably would have gotten us kicked out pretty quick.
    "You," she said. "You're famous!"
    "Nah, they're just hoping I get drafted so they can sell those photos on eBay or something."
    "Maybe the guys," Tasha teased me. "I think the girls are all in love with you."
    I don't know why that comment - which she obviously meant to be affectionate - bothered me so much but it did. It was probably just self-consciousness at how happy I'd been to have sex with anything that moved for the past two years or so, until I got with Tasha. I did a quick check to see if any of the teachers were nearby and, when I didn't see any, pulled out the flask and took another swig.
    "You better slow down there, cowboy," Tasha giggled. "Or you're not going to be able to put one foot in front of the other."
    We made our way into the gymnasium. That Black Eyed Peas song about having a good night was playing and the prom committee had hung balloons and streamers and little LCD-light 'stars' from the ceiling.
    "Cheesy," I commented.
    "It's supposed to be cheesy," Tasha responded, looking up at me. "I actually feel a little emotional. That's weird, I didn't think I would."
    "Really?" I asked. "You feel emotional about Reinhardt High? I don't know, Tasha, I think most of us are counting down the hours until we get the hell out of this place."
    We sat down on a bench and she gave me a little shrug. "Yeah, I know. But this is a big deal, Kaden. This is our high school prom. It only happens once - and you know what it means, don't you?"
    "There's gonna be a lot of puke all over the parking lot tomorrow?"
    Tasha gave me a playful punch on the arm. "No, idiot. It means adulthood is imminent. Literally