Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 111685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
“Really?!” Colby’s nostrils flared, but he had a shit-eating grin on his face.
Stone pushed off from the counter, coming to stand next to me. “Those two trash talk all the time. This is a snippet of the shit they say in the locker room.”
“All day, every day.” Jake held his arms out wide. He was bouncing on the back of his heels, as if getting warmed up for an actual game.
The oven beeped at that second, and I moved over to pull out the primavera.
“Damn.” From Jake. He leaned over me, breathing in the pasta. “That smells fucking good.”
“Looks fucking amazing.” Colby tapped Stone on the chest. “No wonder you ain’t been social lately. Got this to come home to now.”
Stone stiffened, his jaw clenching, but Colby didn’t notice.
Me, I got light-headed noticing that. I wasn’t sure why, but there it was.
He and Jake Bilson kept going back and forth, and as I finished with the food, Stone helped me. Plates were pulled out. Drinks were poured. He asked what I needed for the food, but I was done. We were ready.
After that, the guys insisted I plate first, and they followed behind.
I stood to the side, not totally sure what to do, but Stone came up next to me and motioned with his head. “Games are starting. You need me to bring your drink?”
I didn’t know if this was a ‘team’ thing, if I was ‘allowed,’ but as the guys headed to the theater room without hesitation, I knew they’d been expecting me to eat with them. Stone noticed my pause and put his plate on the counter. “What’s wrong?”
I shrugged, feeling all sorts of awkward. “Those are your teammates. You said watching the games was part of your job. I just figured…” I didn’t know what I figured.
No. I did.
I figured I didn’t belong.
I figured I was a secret.
The lines around his mouth tightened. “What you and me are doing ain’t anyone’s business. No. No one needs to know the details, but you’re a friend and I don’t do well with hiding shit. Lying is way different than just not offering information. Those guys don’t know shit about what I’m doing, and despite their ribbing, they don’t care. Every guy on the team has a situation, whether that’s family, a wife, or something else. We’re all just doing our jobs. That’s it.”
I wasn’t sure what to take from that, but I wasn’t something he was embarrassed about. I got that part.
“Okay.”
Warm sensations were filling my belly up.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I picked up my plate and went and watched two football games with the lead wide receiver, quarterback, and cornerback of the Texas Kings. Then once the quarterback and cornerback left, Stone scooped me up and I watched two more games half-lying on top of him.
All things considered, it was a fucking great Sunday.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Hey. So, um.”
This was Siobhan’s greeting when she slid onto the seat next to me in class. She glanced around, tucking some hair strands behind her ears. Then, ducking her head, she scooted closer and asked, her voice lowered, “Are you okay? I mean, with the coma and what happened in the library?”
Oh boy. That was a loaded question.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
Her eyes were searching mine. I knew she was trying to figure if she should push or not, but whatever she saw must’ve reassured her because her second question came next, and with a little bit more excitement infused with it.
“So who was that guy in the library?”
I hid a grin. “He was just a guy I know from back home. That’s all.”
“Really?”
That guy’s video had been released the day before. My phone’s alert went off last night when we were watching game three. You could hear everything. The guy asking me a question. Stone telling him no. The rest, and how pissy the fan had gotten. It wasn’t a big deal, but I got the alert because it hit on the college’s sports page. My name was out there, the other blogs knew who I was, but the college’s website hadn’t named me, saying it was to allow privacy.
Privacy, my ass.
Just walking through campus, I got thirty people looking at me weird. A guy looked like he was going to approach, say something, but I ducked into the biology building just then. I was hoping it’d all go away and so far, no one blinked an eye at even seeing me in class again. Except Siobhan.
“How are things with Trent?”
She got all red, sitting up, her eyes almost bulging out. And at that moment, Trent slid into the chair on my other side. “Ladies.” He paused, as if realizing who I was. “Oh, hey. Where’d you go?”
“Car accident.”
Siobhan frowned, her head jerking to the side.
“Really? I’m sorry.”
I dipped my head in a slight nod. “Yeah. I’m okay now.”