Page 36 of The Perfect Spiral
Then the Chargers run onto the field and I immediately lock eyes with Travis as he runs out. He waves at me, too. Knox sees this and glares at him.
They both smile at me and I take my seat. Kyle turns to me, “You know Travis?”
I nod, taking a gulp of my drink, “Yeah, he dropped off the tickets. Really nice guy!”
“He didn’t try anything with you, did he?”
I shake my head, and Andy butts in to discuss his visit.
“He gave her his number! He’s so hot! When is his Calvin Klein underwear commercial going to air?” she teases Kyle, who huffs in annoyance.
“Or better yet, when is your commercial coming on?” she winks, causing Kyle to grin and whisper something flirty in her ear. I can tell by the way she giggles at him.
Ugh, I hate being the third wheel! She’s definitely drunk and skipped a few stages. Let’s hope she doesn’t pick a fight tonight.
Settling back in our seats, we watch them warm up. Knox sneaks glances at us, though they’re not very sneaky.
Then he jogs over to one of the guys with an earpiece and speaks into the attached microphone. He maintains eye contact with me while Andy and Kyle are too busy to notice.
Trying to lip-read, I watch him for a while. He breaks our staring contest to watch someone jogging over to him with something in their hands.
He takes the items from the guy, smiling and thanking him.
He jogs over to the sideline, but keeps going. Oh god, he’s not coming over here, is he? Yep, he’s coming over. I see Travis watching him jog over and shift my gaze back to Knox.
“OH MY GOD, he’s coming over our way! SHIT! How do I look?” The girls behind me start to primp and preen as Knox heads in our direction. Desperate much?
He reaches us amid the screams of the girls, “Hey Knox!” “Knox! We love you!” You get the picture. Surprisingly, he ignores them, never breaking eye contact with me. I start to feel butterflies in my stomach.
Relax. This is definitely the alcohol talking.
“Here, baby doll! Put this on. Here, Andy,” he hands us two jerseys. I hold mine up and see the number 13—that’s his number—and turn it around to see Carter written on the back.
I gently set it back down, looking up to see him grinning at me. I’d always worn his jersey, having been born on the thirteenth of July. I used to pretend it was my birthday jersey, and I’d always wanted one that bore the name Thompson on the back.
I know, it sounds silly, doesn’t it?
“Put it on, baby doll,” he says, his grin widening. I pull it over my head, and Andy gasps.
“Oh my God! Alex, look up!” I glance up to see that I’m on the massive stadium screen with Knox. Damn! Now everyone watching this game knows I’m acquainted with Knox.
Embarrassed, I cover my face with my hands, and Knox starts to laugh. I part my fingers to shoot him a glare. He just stands there, smiling at me.
My heart starts to race a little. I’m not comfortable with this feeling. I notice his cheeks turning a bit red, and he averts his gaze to the ground. What’s going on with him?
“See you guys later! I gotta go,” he waves at us and jogs back to his team. I find myself unable to tear my eyes away from the back of his body, the way everything moves in sync with each step he takes.
Stop checking him out, Alex!
You’re not like the other girls! STOP IT!
This needs to seriously stop. I should just go ahead and check out the other players on the field. Before I manage to tear my eyes away from him, he reaches his teammates and turns back around to give us one last look.
But his eyes don’t leave mine until he breaks contact and focuses on his teammates.
What was in that champagne? Am I hallucinating?
I need to slow down on the alcohol! The halftime score is twenty-three to twenty-one in favor of the Giants. I honestly don’t have a clue what’s going on in the game. But I know that it’s a close game! I should learn, shouldn’t I?
