Page 52 of Steeling Her
And I see it from a distance. She’s talking with Haley while Danielle flirts with a guy sitting beside her. Both of them are laughing about something—something that I want to know. Watching her giggle and cover her mouth with her hand makes me smile too.
The light wind blows her hair around her face. Her cheeks are a rose red, probably from the heat. I feel like a creep admiring her from afar. I focus my attention back on the guys and see them all staring at me with huge grins on their faces, all of them except for Ryan.
“Glad to have you back, Jackson. Thought I was going to have to light a fire under your ass to get your attention back . . .” he mutters lowly. “I must say, I can see why you’re so distracted right now.” Coach bobs his head over to the girls. I feel the embarrassment in my cheeks. I apologize and listen to him talk to my team. “Good work guys! Training in the gym this Monday at nine! If you’ve got class, then report to me and I’ll reschedule it to the evening for you. We need to keep this momentum! That was the best I’ve ever seen all of you play! You in particular, Jackson. Your arm was unstoppable!” He slaps his hand on my shoulder pad making it dip. The guys congratulate me and I thank them.
Showered and ready to see the girls, I’m waiting on TJ, who is fixing his hair in the mirror of the restroom. I stand there and study him. This idiot is taking too damn long.
“TJ, hurry the fuck up! You’re worse than my mom!” I bellow at him and leave the restroom, grabbing my bag. He saunters out of the restroom and grins at me.
“I can’t have Haley fixing my damn hair again at this party, Nick. I’ll look like a kid walking out of Sunday school . . .” I laugh and agree with him. His hair is still a mess though. It always was, not that he ever cared, but for some strange reason he does now. “Let’s go.” He walks by me and out the doors of the stadium where I’m greeted by Haley and a hug, like always. She then moves to TJ and I focus back on Danielle and Carter standing there and watching this.
“You guys were unbelievable out there! NICK! Your arm was like a cannon! And TJ, you were like the Road Runner!” We both laugh at Haley and I see the two girls behind her nod their heads. We really did want to know what Carter thought though. She’s a football fanatic. The girl with the famous football name. The girl who’s name has so many ties in this industry.
“You guys were amazing!” Carter beams at both of us. “I was pleasantly sur—”
“Nick!” I hear an all too familiar voice behind me. I turn around to see Erin, or that girl I fucked a long while ago. I think her name is Erin. I groan, wanting to know what Carter thought of our game, especially about what she thought about me on the field.
Dammit, Erin. You had to come over, didn’t you?
“Hey . . .” I trail off, not remembering her name.
“Mia.” She points to herself and I cough a little, thinking I was way off with her name.
Whoops.
“Hey, what’s up?” I am trying to be polite, but I really just want to get rid of her. I see her eyes turn back behind her to a group of girls leaning against the glass of the stadium, waiting for her. Then her eyes wander to me, then TJ.
“We’re having a party at the sorority house tonight. You guys are welcome to come and join us, if you want?” she invites us flirtatiously. I remember her game so well. She flirts real hard, isolates you, gets you fucking wasted, and the next thing you know, you’re waking up next to her naked in her bed.
“Cool!” Haley smiles up at her but Mia looks at her like she has five heads.
“ I was asking them. We have enough girls at the house for the team. I’ll let you know if we need another, but for now . . . we’re good.” She sends her the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. Little does she know, she’s related to me. That’s her first slip up. This is what usually happens. When I’m with my sister, they think she’s a lost puppy, but when they realize we’re related, they act all sweet and look like they shit roses. I see right through them though. They just want one thing: me.
“Uh, excuse you. He’s my brother, and I most certainly do not need to cater for his needs . . . or anyone else’s for that matter.” She puts a hand on her hip while the other two girls stand there with their eyes darting back and forth between them. I catch Carter’s eyes and she sends me a small smile, then she averts them quickly.
“We’ll go”—I watch Mia’s face light up—“but they come with us.” I point to the three girls and she immediately drops her grin for a second. I see her nod and plaster back on the fake smile.
What the fuck did I see in her?
“Fine. Come find me later . . . if you want round two.” She winks and leaves us alone. I don’t bother to look at her, but I can see Haley’s eyes trained on her and then another scowl crawls on her face.
“What a social climber . . .” Haley folds her arms and rolls her eyes. If she rolls them again, they’ll probably get stuck; she does that so often.
“Come on, cranky pants, lets go.” TJ pulls her out of her funk and we all walk towards his car. It lights up as we near it. We place our bags in the trunk while the girls climb in the back, both me and TJ up front. I close the door as soon as Carter gets in. I slide in and buckle up.
“Here’re your heels, guys!” Haley pulls out numerous pairs of shoes and passes them down to the right person, each of them slipping them on, with me and TJ laughing as we watch them. They all peel off their tops to reveal what’s underneath, and we watch them with raised eyebrows. Both TJ and I swivel in our seats, watching this magic show unfold as we wait for another trick.
“Well, are we going or are you just going to sit there and stare at us?” Danielle points out the front window.
“We were waiting for the grand finale,” TJ teases them, and I chuckle at him. He starts up the engine and we drive to the sorority house. This will be my second party with Carter. This time there will be nothing happening to her, I’ll make sure of it.
Once we arrive, I step out and reach back to get her door. Her foot meets the pavement, and I get a glimpse of what she changed into. A yellow string top tucked into her black jeans with heels that spell out “come to me big boy.” I bite the inside of my cheek at how sexy she looks.
“You look nice,” I compliment her and I watch her eyes snap up to mine. A sincere smile appears on her face as she closes the door.
“Thanks. So . . . um . . . So do you.” She’s blushing, and I smile at how cute she looks when she does that. She’s so innocent and pure. I like that about her.
“Thanks,” I reply over the booming beat that greets us when the door opens up. We all look over to see Kelly standing there and checking TJ out as soon as he walks through the threshold.
