Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The bus took the team back to school, after they showered quickly. 

This trip was much rowdier than the one before. As soon as they got to school, Carter's teammates scattered to their cars. Carter and Joey slipped inside Seth's black BMW, with Mel and Jenna following in Jenna's red Mercedes.

They drove out to the coast, where they were meeting for that night's party, since there were no parents out of town. A few kids were already dispersing across the beach, congregating slightly in a few small clusters around whoever held the alcohol. 

Carter caught sight of Mike's car, with Bella and Luca standing by. He and Seth walked up to them, while Joey darted off to meet the girls.

"Awesome game, C-man," Luca shouted.

Carter smiled. "Didn't Frankie and Mike come with you?" He asked, concluding after a quick glance around no other Santoro was in sight.

"Mike went straight home and left us the car. Frankie came back on Reggie's bike," Bella said.

"But they definitely saw you killing it on the field," Luca guaranteed.

Bella rolled her eyes. Carter's gaze fell on her Rolling Stones top for a second. That was Seth's favorite band, his mind registered as an afterthought. He didn't quite make much of that note, though.

"It wasn't just him on the field. There was a whole fucking team," she argued.

"Yeah, but he's the quarterback," Luca proclaimed, as though that statement alone barely required any further clarification. "That golden arm won us the game. Their new guy didn't stand a chance."

"It looked to me we wouldn't have won shit without our defense," Bella retorted.

"Is that a compliment?" Seth asked.

Bella smiled slyly. "If you feel the need to take it as one," she mused.

"Bella's right," Carter finally said. "A win is always a team effort."

She rolled her eyes. "How humble of you," she delivered dryly.

Carter pursed his lips. There would never be a way to have a fully civil interaction with his stepsister. It simply couldn't be done. He turned to his more favorable stepbrother instead.

"Have you seen Jessica?" He asked Luca. "Think she was looking for you."

Luca's eyes widened slightly and he scratched the back of his neck abashedly. "Yeah... If you see her again, can you tell her you haven't seen me?"

Carter's eyebrows drew in. "Why?"

Luca shrugged. "Just do that. Brother's favor," he shot back, already starting to walk away to join a group of basketball JV kids.

Joey, Mel and Jenna joined in at that point, dragging them along to the sand. Joey and Jenna had already helped themselves to a bottle of vodka, which Jenna had probably brought with her. Smirnoff, because she was "just so fucking tired of that Grey Goose shit."

"Doesn't all vodka taste the same?" Bella asked, voicing the thoughts Carter would never mention out loud around his friends. Joey and Jenna were particularly sensitive regarding the topic.

As the two took it upon themselves to make a case for their respective favorite brand of vodka, Carter and Mel sat down with a group of football players and cheerleaders. In the distance, Scott Meyers and Bobby Gonzalez's voices could be heard indistinctly. Carter smiled politely as one of Mel's teammates told him about something that had happened in the girls locker room before the game.