Page 45 of Go Deep (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)
The crowd went crazy.
We’d pulled the carpet out from under our opponents, and we won the game, coming back from behind and pinned up against our own end zone.
It was time to celebrate.
Fans, teammates on the bench and cheerleaders surrounded us, all wanting to give us a pat on the back and congratulate us. I saw Cassidy nearby on my left, smiling and shaking pompom in my direction. I don’t know what got into me, but I took two strides around the people crowding me, put my hand around her waist, and planted a kiss right on her lips. It was a real fucking kiss, right there in front of everybody on the field.
“I don’t care who sees it,” I said when I pulled back.
She grinned. “Maybe you earned that one.”
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried. “Hey, I think it’s time you make an exception tonight and come to the after party. For me.”
“Are you sure it won’t disappoint all your little groupies?”
“I don’t care about them,” I told her. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
She thought about it for a second. “Sure. Get me before you leave.”
“Good.” Some fans pulled me back into the crowd, and after a few minutes I joined the rest of the team heading into the locker room.
The locker room was upbeat—all high-fives and fist bumps when we got back there. The energy was unreal, coming back to show everyone week after week that we still had it. That loss from weeks ago was long forgotten, and even my teammates knew now that when it came down to it, I could run the damn ball.
“Good job, man.” Mo patted my shoulder pads as I walked by.
“Okay, okay, guys. I didn’t get that win by myself. You fuckers played hard as hell tonight.”
Evan shouted out, “They aren’t talking about the win, son. They’re talking about you nailing Cassidy. And you did it before Thanksgiving.”
“Congratulations, bro.”
I raised my arms to get everyone to settle down. “Yeah, we talked about this already. The bet’s off.”
“I didn’t hear about that.”
“Yeah, but your sorry ass should know it’s off now that way too many people took it outside the fraternity.”
There were collective groans, grumbles and profanity.
“Next time remember the code, brothers. Keep that shit tight.”
Evan was the one who wouldn’t let up. “Come on, man. You stand to earn a lot of money off of this bet. You earned it, so you might as well get the cash. Do you have any idea how many people have put money down?”
“Too many, and they were all supposed to have had their money returned by now. Who’s taking care of that? Whoever it is, make sure it gets done. Fast.”
“That’s so many people, bro.”
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s the problem. It should have stayed just between the few of us who were there that night. Now it’s damn near everybody on campus. You’re just damn lucky Cassidy didn’t find out about it, loose lips.”
“Oh yeah, about that. You can’t let your girl around me when I’m drinking, dude. Not a good idea.”
“That was fucked up, man.”
“You mad, bro?”
I took off my pads and started getting ready for the shower, smiling. “Not anymore. Besides, other than out there on the field, I don’t expect much at all from your crazy ass.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Remember that.” He walked over to his locker and started pulling off his gear.
With the bet now off the table, there was less to stress about. The only question left was how long it would take for everyone to forget all about it. Cassidy would be with us tonight. I didn’t want some drunk-ass schmuck running off their mouth to her now of all times. All I could do was hope that everyone would keep their wits about them long enough for me to get her up to my room and away from the crowd.
I caught up with Cassidy as everyone was heading out. “Hey. Are you still coming?”
“Yes. I need to make a stop at the dorm so I’ll come with Miranda.”
“Cool. I’ll see you two later.”
Miranda stepped up beside us. “Hold on.” At first, she stared at us in wide-eyed shock, and then the expression morphed into a wide grin. “I just want to officially tell you two lovebirds…Iknewit. I fucking knew it!”
Shaking my head, I patted Miranda on the back and ran off to catch up with the rest of the team.
