Page 12 of Go Deep (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)
5
Slade
“You knowwho we ought to try to get to come out?” Evan asked. He was the best wide receiver on our team. We were sitting around after practice, planning our next kegger.
“Who?” Chad asked. Chad Worthington, center.
“Cassidy,” Evan said, leveling his eyes on me.
Tre and Mo, my running backs, laughed and looked right at me as well. “Nope,” they said at almost the same time. “She’s the cheerleader who won’t put out.”
“Yeah. That bitch is the ice princess,” Chad added. “She won’t give anyone on our team the time of day.”
Tre chimed in. “I’d nominate her for the ‘most unattainable by a jock’ award.”
Ryan Hunter and Nathan Ward were also there from the fraternity.
“My bet is for ‘most likely to marry a pot-bellied accountant’,” Ryan joked.
Nathan had to put his two cents in. “Or to become a lesbian,” he said.
“Maybe she already is,” Chad went on.
“Oooo. That’s fucking hot.”
The guys were sitting around me laughing. I hadn’t said anything. I couldn’t defend her. They were right. She was impossible. That’s why I was counting on this team project. Working up close and personal with her could change that.
“Slade, didn’t I see you talking to her after practice this afternoon?” Evan asked. I was sure he was setting me up for something, but I let him run with it anyway.
“Yeah, we’ve got a project together in one of our classes.”
“Oh shit,” Mo said. “You’re working with her? That ought to be interesting.”
“I’d let her do all the work if I were in your place, man,” Nathan said, turning up his bottle of beer and taking a good long drink from it.
“I could do that,” I admitted. “She actually offered to do that…but that would waste the opportunity, bud. Take it from me.”
“Yeah,” Evan agreed. “Plus when the hell have you ever taken the easy way out of a group project?”
“When you’re this good,” I told the guys, “you do your own damn work.”
They just laughed, but it was true. I kept my grades pretty high, the highest in most of my classes. I wasn’t just good on the field or in bed. I was that rare athlete who took the coursework reasonably seriously. I just didn’t brag about it. There was a world out there beyond football, and I had to be ready for the off chance that I was forced at some point to walk into that world.
Evan leaned in. “So what I’m hearing, if I read between the lines, is you plan on capitalizing on this project to get a piece of her…say like bend her over and show her the ropes. Am I right or am I right?”
I narrowed my eyes and allowed a grin to creep across my face. “When it comes down to it, no sane woman can resist me. Cassidy is no exception. She avoids me because she wants me to work for it. Why do you think she won’t come to our frat parties? She knows if I get her alone it’s game over.” I leaned back in my chair, confident of what I needed to do. “And I will. Slaughter’s gonna melt some Ice Princess ass, fellas. Just watch and learn.” Talking about it just made me more positive it was bound to happen, especially now that I had something to prove to the boys.
“You really believe that bullshit?” Tre asked, rubbing his beard as if he was planning something maniacal.
“Damn straight.”
“Twenty bucks says you don’t have a chance in hell,” Evan suggested.
I shook my head. “Twenty? That’s it? Hell no. Bagging up that goodie is worth way more than that pocket change. I say we make this interesting. Nothing less than a hundy if you want in on this wager, my friends. Because I plan on winning all your cash.”
Evan nodded. “I’m in.”
“Sweet.” I looked around the table. “Who else?”
