Page 12 of The Fantasy League
“Exactly! You never would’ve done that if you weren’t on drugs. And well, you see, Mae has been known to participate in… recreational activities from time to time and I thought she might’ve been playing a joke on me.”
Fuuuuuuck.
“How did this happen?” Scarlett muttered to herself as she paced back and forth in the kitchen and I asked myself the same question.
I hadn’t toyed with drugs since sophomore year of high school, but I didn’t remember feelingnormalafter hitting a joint.
There’s no way that she—wait—I chuckled to myself.
I hadn’t touched my omelet.
My appetite had been shot from trying to grow the balls to ask Scarlett out, so I only toyed it around the plate with the hopes that she wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t eating anything.
Scarlett’s stride came to a halt. “Okay. Here’s the plan. You stay right here and don’t talk to anyone.” She nodded frantically while she laid out the details of her plan. “First, I’m going to go to the store and buy a drug test for you to take. Then, while we wait for the results, I’ll take the test and the ‘oregano’”—what was up with everyone using finger quotes lately?—“to the pool house and hide it in my trash bin so no one sees it in yours and tips offPage Six.”
She gathered her phone and the bottle of oregano from the counter and shoved them in her tote bag. I managed to swipe her keys off the counter before she could grab them and positioned myself in front of her, trapping her between my body and the counter.
I caught her by the waist in her attempt to break free. “Scarlett,” I sighed with a small chuckle, dangling the keys above my head and out of her reach.
I had to admit her effort in trying to snag them from me was admirable. But I questioned whether or not she forgot the fact that I was a professional athleteandtwice her fucking size.
“Scarlett, come on. I’m not on drugs.” I pushed down an amused smile as she continued to climb me like a tree, hooking her leg around mine for leverage and stretching her arms as high as they’d go.
She peeled herself off me and desire barreled through me at the loss of contact. “Abel, yes, you are.” Her eyes grew wide as she made a final leap for the keys only to fall short.
Again, had she forgotten I was twice her size? How tall did she think she was?
“This is the drugs talking.” She leveled those big brown eyes with mine. “You know, it’s like when you’re six shots of tequila deep and you keep convincing yourself that you’re fine so you take two more?” she rambled. “And the next morning you wake up and slowly piece together all of the embarrassing things that you did the night before…” Her voice grew quiet as her eyes darted to the floorboards.
“Speaking from experience, huh?” I squinted though my eyes lit with a glimmer of mischief.
“What, me? Never. Nope.” She looked cute with rose-colored cheeks and a lie written all over her face.
“Convincing.” My lips twitched trying to swallow back a laugh. “I’m completely sober, Red. I promise. Although I do appreciate your willingness to commit a felony for me. It’s quite endearing.” Tilting her head, she threw a questioning look my way. “I know exactly what I asked you earlier, but I don’t mind asking again if you need me to.”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “My answer is no.”
Ouch.
“Why?”
“We’ve never had a full conversation, Abel. Why would you ask me on a date?”
Taking a step back, I quickly ran through scenarios in my head to see if I could come up with something that might be convincing enough to explain why I asked her on a date out of left field.
Sighing in defeat, I settled for a half-truth.
“Coach told me I had to get a girlfriend. The team’s pissed about the ‘unattainable bachelor’ image”—fuck, now I was the one using air quotes—“that the tabloids have been clinging to recently. These reporters are dying to get their hands onsomething, even if that means tearing me down, and they want me to redirect their attention.”
Scarlett nodded to herself and resumed her pacing. “I see… so you don’t want to go on a date with me… you want me to be your girlfriend?”
“No. Well, yes. I don’t know.” What the fuck was I saying? It was like my mouth had severed its connection with my brain. I made a mental note to get a grip before the season started. “What if we fake it?” I suggested.
“Fake it?” She paused in her tracks and scrunched her brows. I could almost hear the thoughts swirling in her brain as she debated the idea.
After a beat, she lifted her chin in defiance and nailed me with an unamused stare. “I don’t think so, thanks for the offer though.”
“Why? Lea told me about the book deal. This would get you more exposure. Free marketing.”
