Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game(15)

“And what is that supposed to mean, Martin? Am I such a nut job you don’t think I could handle it?”

“No, Ev, that’s not what I thought.”

As the voices got closer, we threw horrified glances at each other. In a drunken stupor, we stumbled around, hiding the evidence of our binge. Course, anyone with brains would have taken one look or one whiff at us and known we were totally plastered. But when you’re shitfaced, you’re not known for having very many coherent thoughts.

Mrs. Nelson threw open the patio with such a force I thought she’d rip it off the hinges.

“Noah!” she called.

The other guys swiveled their heads toward me.

Shit. Damn. Hell. I straightened up in my lawn chair. “Yes, Mrs. Nelson?” I called in the most sober voice I could conjure.

It took me only a second to notice the velvet ring box in her hand. Double Shit, Damn, Hell….

“Do you know about this?” she demanded, waving the box at me.

Mr. Nelson joined her at the railing. I exchanged a glance with him before I replied. “Um, yes, Mrs. Nelson. We found it last night in Jake’s room.” Wanting to stay on her good side, I quickly added, “Mr. Nelson thought it would be best to wait to tell you.”

While the Asshole shot me a death glare, Mrs. Nelson bobbed her head. “Good. Then you’ll be willing to help me.”

“Um, help you?”

“Yes,” she said, as she started over to us. I would’ve committed high crimes for a mint at that moment. I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to appear like I was deep in thought to mask my alcohol breath from hell.

“Obviously, there’s a girl out there who my Jake truly loved—enough to want to be married to her. I want to know who she is, and I want you to find her.”

Forgetting all about my heinous beer breath, I let my mouth drop open in disbelief. “Y-You want me to do what?”

“I want you to find the girl who this ring belongs to. Even though Jake didn’t get the chance to give it to her, I want her to have it.”

I stopped myself from blurting, “Are you insane, Mrs. Nelson? I know you loved your little boy, but he was a major panty chasing manwhore! I’d have better luck finding all the girls he deflowered or potentially gave an STD to than the one girl he might actually have had feelings for!”

But at the desperate look on her face, I drew in a resigned breath. “Sure, Mrs. Nelson. I’ll try my best.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Noah. I appreciate that.” She threw a wary glance at the others before she flounced back in the house and slammed the door. Mr. Nelson rolled his eyes and followed her.

As soon as his parents were safely inside, Jason punched me on the arm. Hard.

“Ow, what the hell was that for?” I cried.

“Man, why didn’t you tell us about the ring?” he demanded.

Uh, oh, I hadn’t thought about that one. Yeah the Asshole made me promise not to tell Mrs. Nelson, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about Jason and Jonathan. At the expectant look on his face, I decided to fudge the truth a little. “You heard me. Your dad said not to tell anyone.”

Jonathan snorted. “Figures. The ass**le.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Could we focus here for a minute, Johnny Boy? You do realize our brother must’ve thrown down a hunk of change to buy that ring!”

I knew Jason was right. A ring like that must’ve cost a small fortune. Sure, the Nelson’s were fairly wealthy—the Asshole was an executive with Coke, but at the same time, they weren’t giving their sons thousand dollar monthly allowances or anything. With Jake’s intense sports schedule, he didn’t get in a lot of work hours either.

Suddenly, Jonathan smacked himself on the forehead. “Baseball cards!”

We all exchanged looks. “What the hell are you talking about, bro?” Jason asked.

“Remember like a month ago when Jake decided to sell some of his baseball cards on eBay?”

Jason nodded.

“I bet that’s where he got the money. I mean, he had some that were worth a lot of money that Grandpa Nelson had given him.”

“I’ll be damned,” Jason muttered.

Jonathan sighed. “Course, we’re forgetting something.”

“What’s that?” Jason asked.

“Um, how about the fact our baby brother was thinking about marriage? That’s pretty damn near shocking if you ask me,” Jonathan replied.

Alex, who had been quiet for most of the morning, cleared his throat. “Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I saw that ring. I mean, Jake didn’t impress me as the marrying kind—well, at least not until he was thirty or forty.”

Jason grunted. “I figured he’d be more like some Hugh Hefner and have about three women living with him.”

Jonathan laughed. “Me too, man.”

Sean shook his head. “Forget about marriage. I can’t believe he was actually in love for once.”

The others murmured in agreement. “Knowing Jake, it wasn’t about love,” Ryan said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Nibbling my lip, I debated telling the guys about the flashback I’d had the night before about Jake admitting to being in love.

“Probably some chick heard about his reputation and told him she wouldn’t sleep with him without a ring on her finger—you know to prove she wasn’t just some conquest. Since there wasn’t a piece of ass Jake couldn’t have, he probably liked the idea of the challenge, so he bought the ring.”