Page 33 of Blitzing Emily

“There’s one more thing. James called.”

Amy reached out for Emily’s hand. “That bastard. What did he want?”

Emily felt a lump form in her throat.

“He wanted to congratulate me. He said that he and Heather are happy for me. He wants to let go of the bitterness. After all, we can be friends.”

A flush climbed up Amy’s neck and spread over her face. Her eyes glittered with anger. “What an asshole.” She shook her head.

“I hung up on him. I can’t believe he had the gall to call me, Amy. ‘Friends’? Not in this lifetime.”

“What did Brandon do?”

“He has his own set of reasons why it’s good for us to be engaged right now.”

A smirk curved her sister’s lips. “Let me guess. His ex-girlfriend won’t get off his back.”

“He also said something about his contract negotiations, and the coach being happy about this.” Amy squeezed Emily’s hand as she let go. “So, we agreed that we’d stay engaged for a month. It tells the ex-girlfriend to get lost, the team’s happy, and James will get the hint that someone else actually wants me.”

Amy squirmed a bit on the bed. “So, Em, I realize you’re not going to know this because you’re not here a lot and you don’t watch football, but I guess I’d better tell you. Brandon’s a bit of a handful.”

“That’s the truth. I can’t figure him out. One minute, he’s sweet and funny, the next minute, I’d like to throw something at him.” Emily thought for a moment. “He did say something about a public relations issue.”

“You might say that.”

“What happened?”

“You’re not going to be happy.” Amy studied the ceiling for a moment. “Brandon and a bunch of other players were at a party last month at a teammate’s house and the cops came.”

“Was it drugs? Drinking?What?”

“A sixteen-year-old girl who looks twenty-five.”

“Oh, God. Oh, no.”Hiscareer. What abouthercareer? She was an idiot.

Amy continued. “There were underage girls at the party getting body parts signed, and therefore, Brandon got dragged into it as well. The team has already traded two guys as a result. The only things that saved him were his signing closer to her collarbone than her breast, his apology in person to the girl’s father, and his significant donation to the Boys and Girls Club.”

“So, he’s going to be trolling the high schools,” Emily groaned.

“No.” Amy shook her head vigorously. “That’s not his speed. He likes to have fun, he likes the women, but according to the people I know who know him, he was horrified at what happened. He definitely doesn’t want to end up on the online gossip websites again. Plus, they just drafted a new DE, and he’s trying to renegotiate his contract right now. He wants to retire with as much of the owners’ money as he can over the next couple of years.” Amy took a breath. “The other stuff he gets in trouble for is being late for curfew on road trips, that kind of stuff. It’s pretty minor.”

“You’re sure?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you about this. Don’t kid yourself: That guy is busy, but he’s not dangerous. He’s just much too charming. There are women all over town that could probably tell you all about it. Iknowthere are women who’d like to see him dragged behind the team bus, but they did stick up for him when it happened.”

“What are you talking about?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest. This wasn’t good news. It sounded like she’d vaulted out of the frying pan and into the fire.

“Everything goes well till he’s tired of whoever he’s with, and then it’s over. It’s happened repeatedly. Then again, I can’t figure out why he was dating Anastasia Lee. You know, the model. She’s a head case.”

Amy’s supply of local gossip was inexhaustible. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I’m single and I date. Plus, one of the Sharks’ cheerleaders has a yoga studio next door to the shop. I’ll ask her if she has any new dirt.”

“Has he been engaged before?”

Amy thought for a moment. “Good question. She’ll know. She said her cell phone started ringing with this late last night.” She flopped down on her back next to Emily. “So, he was nice to you?”

“He stayed with me at the hospital. They wouldn’t let me check out unless he promised to watch me, and he did. He slept here last night. He woke me up to make sure I was okay, he fed me, and he tried to make me feel better when James called.”

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