by Eva Luxe
“This is not the same thing. You had a fantasy crush on the guy. Brad and I had dated for a long time before we had broken up.”
I shrugged. Maybe she was right. I sighed, insecurity setting in.
“What’s up?” Carly asked. You’re not regretting it, are you?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all. But Nick really doesn’t recognize me. He has no idea who I am. I let things go really far last night, and I don’t know what to do about it now. It’s not the same as running into each other at the party, you know?”
Carly nodded. “I hear what you’re saying,” she said. “And I think you should tell him.”
“But what if he doesn’t want me anymore?” I asked.
“Then, he’s not the guy for you. But secrets have a way of getting bigger and worse, and before you know it, they bite you in the ass. Don’t go there with him, not if you like him this much.”
I sighed. She was right, of course. Carly had always been very realistic with her advice. But saying it was something I had to do and doing it were two very different things.
My phone beeped with a text. I unlocked my screen and smiled.
“That smile can only mean one thing,” Carly said.
“I want to take you out on Friday. I want to see you again. Nick,” I read out loud.
Carly squealed. “He likes you!” she cried.
I couldn’t help but smile and agree. It seemed that he did like me if he wanted to see me again. A part of me that I had pushed very far down was glad it hadn’t been a one-night stand. I had prepared myself for the worst, but I was so relieved it hadn’t come to that. Not after my first time.
“So? What are you going to say?” Carly asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Or does that come across too easy? I don’t want to look overeager now.”
Carly shook her head. “I don’t think it comes across wrong. He’s a nice guy, and he’s doing it the right way.”
I nodded and typed my reply.
Sounds great. X
Not too much. I was happy with the text.
“It can’t be so bad to tell him who you are if he’s serious enough to take you out on another date,” Carly said. “Better that you get it out there now than you sit on it, and it bothers you. If you tell him straightaway, then you can relax and know where you stand and enjoy your time with him.”
I nodded. “You’re right,” I said. “I should just tell him.”
But I was hesitant. It was so easy to say I had to do it, but what if it did push him away? What if he decided he didn’t want to see me? I liked him, and I wanted him to take me out on dates and show me a good time. I didn’t want him to reject me solely based on who I was in my past. If he was that type of person, Carly was right. I wouldn’t want to be with him. But he had been my crush for years, and I finally had the chance to make my dreams a reality.
Did I want to risk it all ending again so soon?
Chapter 8
Nick
At six in the morning, it was already so hot and humid, I was sweating. We hadn’t had a rainstorm in a while, and the earth needed it, gasping for relief.
We stood on the field. It was early, and I could think of a few places I wanted to be right now, one being my bed. But I was on the field, ready to train because football was my dream, and if I wanted to be a first-string for the Florida Sharks, I had to make sacrifices. I would do anything to get where I belonged.
Coach Daniel called us together, and we huddled around him. He had coach Rudi, the first-string coach, with him. It was the reason we were here so early. After a pep talk with us, Coach Rudi would return to training his own team for practice. Coach Daniel folded his arms over his chest, making eye contact with each of us.
“We need to work on a few things to get you boys in shape. We can’t replace the Sharks with any of you when they need you if you’re not on form, and I noticed a few of you lagging a little during our practice yesterday.”
Coach Rudi nodded. I respected the hell out of the man. He was a great coach, one of the few who had been assigned to a football team for as long as he had. He seemed laid back in his sweats and T-shirt. He could be a soccer dad for all the general public knew, but he was a gold mine of experience and information. I knew the team played the game, but the coach was as responsible as the players were, and Coach Rudi took his role very seriously.
“That’s right,” Coach Rudi said. “We work hard and play hard, but if someone gets injured, they go down hard. We need to know that everyone single one of you has what it takes to fill the Sharks’ shoes once you step onto that field as a replacement.”
We all nodded. We weren’t playing games anymore. It was serious.
“I have a list of names here,” Coach Daniel took over from Coach Rudi, “and I want each of you to focus on the areas that need work. For most of you, it’s stamina. We need to bump that up. But Maddison, Cotswold, Whittaker, and Bruce, strength training. Harper and Lopes, agility and Blake,” he lowered his clipboard, “learn your left from your right.”
We all chuckled, and Will Blake shrugged his shoulders. Coach Daniel carried on, and I was happy when I realized my name hadn’t been called, that I didn’t have anything I particularly needed to work on. I had worked so damn hard the past couple of weeks, I would have been disappointed in myself if I hadn’t shown improvement.
“Coach Rudi video recorded training yesterday, including the game we played at the end. I want to show it to you so you can see yourself, so you know what you have to fix.” Coach Daniel looked at Coach Rudi to find out if he had anything to add. When Coach Rudi shook his head, we walked toward the training center.
We piled into a meeting room where a projector had been set up. Someone hit the lights, and the room plunged into darkness with the moving images appearing on the white wall.
We watched as Coach Rudi ran through everything he had recorded, pointing out where he noticed mistakes or great plays, criticizing and complimenting as we went along. He understood the value of positive feedback along with the criticism.
It was great seeing the men in action. Being on the field with the dirt and the sweat, with bodies colliding was a dream come true, but seeing us from the outside gave perspective. We understood who we were as a team this way, what we looked like when push came to shove. And we were spectacular. We needed work, but we were like animals in peak physical condition and ready to eat the opposition for lunch.
“Right,” Coach Daniel said, clapping his hands together when the recording was finished. “Coach Rudi is off. Divide into offense and defense. We need to talk strategy.”
“What do you think?” Ryan asked, coming to me before going to the defense group.
“I think this is great,” I said. “We’ll be moving on and up in no time.”
Ryan nodded. “Coach Rudi is awesome.”
We went to our respective groups, and we were called to silence. Coach Daniel stood with us while Assistant Coach Michael handled the defense team. Coach Daniel talked to us about game strategy, about our role in the game, about staying in formation and taking advantage of another team’s weakness.
The meeting wrapped quickly, and we were sent out to the field to start our practice runs. We ran drills, focused on agility and speed and stamina. I pushed as hard as I could. I wasn’t only pushing during the games when I could prove myself, but out here when I trained as well. I wanted to prove how hard I was working.
I loved playing on the offense. I had always been a go-getter, and to sit and wait for trouble to come to me wasn’t in my character. I wanted to get out there and charge and as the wide receiver, it was exactly what I did. When I got that ball, I gave it my all, and as the fastest member of the team, my all was a hell of a lot.
Was I arrogant? A little. But only because I knew I was good. Good enough to be a part of the first-stringers, to be a fully-fledged Florida Shark. It was only a matter of proving myself to them, and that would take time.
But I had time. All the
time in the world.
Finally, our first session ended. I was drenched in sweat, and my muscles trembled slightly, exhausted. I joined up with Ryan. His cheeks were flushed, and he limped slightly.
“Knee to the thigh,” he said. “It will pass.”
We walked to the change rooms together to get out of our dirty gear and shower up. We had a three-hour lunch break, a time where we could recover before we headed to the gym and coach ran drills with us to build strength.
In a restaurant near the training center, a waitress brought us plates loaded with pasta with red meat sauce, grilled chicken, salad, and fruit. We could have gone to the cafeteria at the center, but sometimes, it was good to get out.
“She’s hot,” Ryan said when the waitress walked away.
I shrugged. “I guess,” I said.
Ryan frowned at me. “What’s up with you?” he asked. “Normally, you would be all over that. God knows I would.”
“I went on a date with Hailey,” I said, not answering Ryan’s question.
“And? Did you fuck her?”
It hadn’t been about that with Hailey, even though it usually was for me. But I didn’t say that to Ryan.
“Of course,” I said. “It was good too.”
Ryan high-fived me across the table. “That’s my boy,” he said, proudly.
I pulled up my shoulders. “I think I want to take her out again.”
“Are you in love?”
I laughed. “What? Why?”
“Because you never want to see them again. Or was the sex that good?”
Again, it wasn’t about that, but I wasn’t going to tell Ryan how I felt, that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I had a reputation to protect—Ryan and I were always competing about who got the most ass.
“She is a great lay, but I do know I want to see her again.”
Ryan teased me, carrying on about how this never happened to me, and I zoned out, not really paying attention to his banter. The thing was, I didn’t know why I wanted to see Hailey again. Something about her drew me in a way I had never experienced before. The attraction alone made me want to pursue it, to find out who she was.
“She’s visiting, isn’t she?” Ryan asked.
I nodded. “She’s staying with Carly and Brad.”
“Where’s she from?”
I laughed. “You know what? I don’t know.” I hadn’t asked Hailey where she was from. Trivial questions had seemed pointless. Everything about her was deep and meaningful.
“So, you don’t know anything about the woman?” Ryan asked.
I shook my head. “Not little details like that.”
“That’s more like the Nick I know,” Ryan said, looking pleased again. “You had me worried there for a second.”
I laughed and let Ryan believe what he wanted to believe about my intentions with Hailey. If he thought she was just a quick fuck like all the others had been, let him believe it. I wasn’t about to tell him there was more to her, that I wanted more than I had already gotten. Until I figured out what I felt, I would keep it all to myself.
A murmur rippled through the restaurant, and Ryan and I both looked at what the fuss was about. Brad and Liam had walked into the restaurant, and everyone recognized them for the famous football players they were. God, to have that kind of reaction walking into the place had to be amazing.
Brad and Liam spotted us and walked toward our table.
“Can we join you guys?” Brad asked, and Ryan and I nodded, shifting over to make space. Liam and Brad sat down, and our waitress hurried over to serve the two famous players. When she took their order, she hung around for a little while, fluttering her eyelashes and smiling at me.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked. “Like my number, perhaps?”
The men around the table laughed, and she blushed. She was hitting on me in front of everyone. I should have been flattered, but I wasn’t in the mood for meaningless flirtation.
“Not for me, but Ryan here thinks you’re pretty damn hot,” I said.
Without skipping a beat, she turned her fluttering eyelashes to Ryan and scribbled down the number on a napkin for him.
“Call me,” she said before shimmying away.
“Well, that was weird,” Ryan said.
“You can’t think it’s weird. Women go after you,” I said, clapping him on the back.
He shook his head. “No, you turning down the woman was weird.”
Brad and Liam both laughed.
“I have to agree,” Liam said. “This is not how we know you.”
I shrugged. “I wanted to play wingman for Ryan. Nothing wrong with that.”
Brad and Liam glanced at each other.
“Are you sure it’s nothing to do with Hailey?”
I shook my head, but Ryan and Liam both laughed, commenting they didn’t believe me.
“Friday’s date had to be something, huh?” Brad said. “I heard from Carly she only came back on Saturday morning.”
Liam was still laughing, and Ryan waggled his eyebrows. I shook my head and looked out the window, irritated that they were putting me on the spot. But they were right. It was strange for me to push a woman away, to want to see someone again when I was always such a player. Well, who said I always had to do the same thing?
“Well, now that Ryan has her number, I want to know how he’s going to go about it.” I turned to Ryan. I was putting all the attention back on him, unwilling to talk about my unexpected feelings for Hailey. “I got you the number, so you’re going to have to play the game.”
“Watch me,” Ryan said, and we started talking about his reputation with women, laughing about the times he’d been rejected. I didn’t care what the conversation was about as long as the attention wasn’t on me anymore.
Chapter 9
Hailey
Carly and I met Kina and Lacey for lunch. Since the dinner at Carly and Brad’s house, the football women had all tried to make contact with me, to pull me into the group. I wasn’t sure why they were doing it. I was leaving again soon, but I appreciated the effort. Carly was part of an amazing group here in Miami, and a part of me could see why she didn’t want to come back to Colorado.
“How are you enjoying Miami?” Lacey asked after we had placed our order.
“I’m loving it,” I admitted. “Carly is showing me around, and I’m sure that helps. I wouldn’t have known where to start if I were here alone.”
Lacey nodded. “Miami can be great if the right people are showing you around,” she said. “And with us, you’re in great hands.”
I nodded. I agreed. I was having the best time, and Lacey and Kina, as well as the others, were going out of their way to make me feel at home and connect with me.
“I heard you went on a date too,” Lacey said.
I nodded, unable to hide my blush. “Nick asked me out at the dinner party. I didn’t have a reason not to accept.”
I glanced at Carly who nodded imperceptibly, telling me my secret was safe. The group of friends Carly belonged to now, all the football players and their wives, had no secrets from each other. I didn’t mind it, but I didn’t want them to know I’d already known Nick, that we had gone to school together. I was scared that if they knew, and Nick was a part of the group, he would hear it from someone other than me. But Carly had kept my secret as I had known she would. She was a friend in a million.
Which was why I missed her so much when we were apart.
“When are you headed back to Colorado?” Kina asked.
“In two weeks,” I said. “At least I could fit in a long visit.”
“Pity. The season will start then, and it’s a blast.”
The women started talking about preseason, how the games built up and generated excitement for the football season starting in early September.
It sounded like a lot of fun, the way they talked about it. They talked about spending time together watching games and going to parties afterward. I had to give it to Carly. She mig
ht have ditched me to come all the way to Miami, but she was living the life. It was a pity, like Kina had said, that I would be leaving it behind.
“Sometimes, we get to watch games with the guys,” Kina said. “The second-string games are a lot of fun, too, and then our husbands and boyfriends can join us. It’s such an experience to watch football with a pro player. They speak a different language.”
Lacey nodded, agreeing. “I’m sure you’ll get a chance to watch it with us before you go,” she said. “Nick might have a preseason game coming up. The second-stringers are always trying to prove themselves to the first-stringers to see if they can get onto the team.”
It sounded great, but I felt a little embarrassed that it kept going back to Nick. Yes, I liked the guy. I had been crushing on the guy for a long time. But everyone was talking about him now like he and I were a sure thing, and I wanted to be sure I felt that way. I didn’t know what I felt, but he didn’t know who I was.
“Why don’t you stay here for the semester?” Carly asked, turning to me.
I shook my head. “I can’t miss an entire semester. This is my last year. You know that. I’m not giving it up now.”
Carly shook her head. “You don’t have to. I didn’t. I’m studying online.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“There’s still time to apply for online classes,” Carly said and looked at me expectantly. The other two were also looking at me, expecting an answer. I pulled up my shoulders.
“I’ll have to think about it,” I said. “I don’t know if I can.”
Staying in Miami sounded great, though. Everything was different here, and I had a glimpse into the life of the rich and famous. But this wasn’t my life, I reminded myself. And this wasn’t my home. I had family back in Colorado, and my life was there. I had come to Miami because I had hoped I could convince Carly to come back home with me. Instead, she was asking me to stay, and I was in danger of agreeing. I wanted to be here, I realized. This world was magical, and I could see why Carly was so happy here and why she wanted to stay. But I couldn’t get sucked in, even if I failed to bring her back home.
