Page 102 of Scoring the Player
I stop and cross my arms over my chest. Yeah, I’ll bet.
She smiles coyly and bats her lashes. It annoys the fuck out of me. “Okay, fine. I’m not sorry. I miss you.” Her hands come up to rest on my chest. “We were so good together. Don’t you remember?”
I stare down at her long, pink fingernails. I feel nothing but irritation. “No.”
“No?” she asks, eyes widening in surprise.
“No, we weren’t good together. You were toxic, and I was too blind or preoccupied to care.”
Anger flashes across her face, but she masks it quickly. “You don’t mean that. We had so many good times.”
“You cheated on me. More times than I can fucking count.”
“I never had sex with anyone else,” she says as if that’s the line. “I only did what I had to do to get your attention.”
“Yeah, and when you had it, you said that I was boring and—”
“I didn’t mean any of it. Let me remind you how good we can be together.” Her fingers walk down my stomach.
I step back, letting her hands fall away. “It’s not going to happen. Not ever.”
I turn from her and head outside toward my first class. I stop before walking into the room and lean against the wall. I pull up my text conversation with Dahlia. My thumb hovers over the keys, but in the end, I decide not to send her another text.
I told her that I’d give her time to think. I can do that and, in the meantime, I’m going to stop moping around and figure out how to lead my team to a win tomorrow night. Seeing Bethany reminded me of all the lies I’ve told myself since we broke up—that I wasn’t anything more than a great football player and that I could never be the kind of guy a girl deserved because of it. I can be a great football player and a great boyfriend. I know I can, but now it’s time to prove it to myself.
Plus, I don’t want to be the guy trying to steal away her attention while she’s doing this big, amazing thing for herself. Even if it’s killing me that we’ve barely talked all week.
Time. She wanted time and I’m giving it to her. But when she gets back to Valley, it’s game on.
36
DAHLIA
LA is a whirlwind!On Friday, Jane and I fly in mid-morning. We have the day to relax and explore. She takes me to some of her favorite spots and then in the evening we go to watch Eddie perform. Tonight’s concert is at a small venue where he had his first gig.
An assistant named Beverly hands us passes and shows us to a table near the front of the stage where we can watch the concert. Jane is subdued while I’m not-so-silently freaking out.
“How are you so chill?” I ask as I try to stop my leg from bouncing up and down. I run my palms up and down my thighs.
“What? I’m not chill,” she says brightly. “I’m so excited for you!”
“Us. Excited for us. You get to meet Eddie Dillon, and I get to dress him. Maybe. Hopefully.”
“You will.” She squeezes my hand. “You are the most talented and deserving person I know.”
“Wow.” I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye and chuckle. “Way to ruin my makeup, bitch.”
“I love you,” she says, and rests her head on my shoulder.
“Love you, Jane.” I tilt my head against hers. “Thank you for being here.”
“You always show up for other people, and I’m really happy that I get to return the favor today.”
My phone pings. I glance down to my lap and Jane sits straight.
Felix
You don’t need it but sending you all the good luck today. Knock ’em dead.
