Page 50 of Not Before Game Night
After a night with a woman, that was normally the end.
Vanessa had done exactly what I’d expected from the other women I’d been with, but not what I wanted from her.
It was almost an unwritten code for a one-nighter to be gone before morning. Last night was, however…more.
It meant more to me than a one-nighter, and I didn’t quite realize that until I woke up and saw she’d left, and there was no way she would have known that because like every other woman I’d been with, Vanessa knew what to expect from me.
And that was nothing.
They knew to expect nothing from me.
I didn’t go find her.
I deserved some kind of award for resisting the wild urge that made me want to. I homed in on my sense of responsibility to the team and went to the stadium just in time to hear Coach Simpson’s pep talk/ threat to kill any of us who fucked things up today.
Everyone cheered when he was done and gathered to start getting ready to go over the game plans and strategy.
Denver came up to me and punched me in my side. There was a bright smile on his face.
“Did you do it?” he asked with a smug expression.
I narrowed my eyes at him, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.
“What? Did I do what?” I asked.
He laughed. I could see Matt looking over curiously at us from his locker. He’d avoided me since the other day like the damn plague.
“Vanessa Cartwright, you sleep with her?” Denver clarified, then I remembered the damn bet.
I sighed and smirked in humor at myself. When I’d made that bet, it was just stupid fun. It wouldn’t have made me do anything I didn’t already plan to do with her. Everything else just fell into place.
Me being with her the night before the game could have been any night. I didn’t give a shit about the bet and definitely not the fucking superstitions the coach had.
I won the bet.
One thing I wouldn’t do though was break the special bond last night held for me. Not with this asshole.
“No, man. Didn’t sleep with her.” Bold-faced lie I completely took pride in.
He laughed at me and shook his head. “Damn, man, I told you. Cough it up then, bro. Two hundred g’s, please.” He held out his hand to me.
I whipped out my checkbook and wrote him a check for his money, which he took happily.
As he did, I decided I needed to limit my time with jerks like him. I also realized that something in me had changed. He’d been a friend because he was a guy I could identify with. Not so much anymore.
There was a lot about what he’d said about me the other day that was completely right. I was bad and definitely not the kind of guy a woman like Vanessa should be with.
That wouldn’t, however, stop me.
The time went fast and soon we were marching out onto the field to play.
Us against The Bears.
As the national anthem played, I did my habitual gaze out to the bleachers to see who was here for me.
No one would be able to see me looking from all the way out here, but I still looked and gave my silent gratitude for their support.
As always, Mom was here with Aunt Lurlene, and Patricia. Both had big Texan hair, while Mom looked chic with her hair bare of a scarf or hat. She looked really good and close to what she normally looked like.
