"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you," Olivia began. "After you left game night, Rush walked in on me and Wilder kissing in the kitchen and seemed like he was suddenly in a bad mood. He said something about how not everyone gets to be with someone so freely, like he was really annoyed at us."
"Huh, that's weird."
"Or is it?" she asked.
I lifted an eyebrow at her. "What are you insinuating?"
"What if he was talking about you?" she exclaimed.
"Why would he be talking about me?" I questioned. "He had a chance to be with me and he didn't want it."
"Yeah, but what if there was a reason why?" She continued to push.
"There was a reason why," I said, trying to ease the bitterness out of my voice. "I wasn't who he wanted, and he didn't want to give up going from girl to girl."
"Then why can he never keep his eyes off of you?" she countered.
"He admitted to liking my looks, but that's as far as it goes for him."
"I don't know," she said, sounding unsure. "I think there’s more to it."
"Fixin' to make assumptions always leads to wrong answers," I said. "He didn't want me, there isn't anything else to figure out."
We continued to talk for the remainder of the car ride, but nothing more was said about Rush or anything to do with him, which I was grateful for. I’d already spent way too much time thinking about him, wondering if I was going to run into him, or analyzing every little thing that happened during the times that we'd spent together. I needed a Rush break. Not that going to this away game was going to help that. I'd watch the game and then hang out with some of the football team after, which would include him since he was friends with Wilder, Olivia, and Slate.
Sometimes it felt like the universe hated me.Oh, you like Rush and have never experienced being with someone like him before? Well, too bad, you can't have him. But you do get to see him all the time and deal with the fact that he didn't want you.
Yeah, thanks universe. Bring on the freakin' weekend.
* * *
Being the coach's stepdaughter and being on the school's newspaper had its perks. I'd gotten to be on the sidelines and have a front row seat to the game. It had been a nail-biting game, and we'd only won by one touchdown, but a win is a win, so we were out to celebrate.
A group of us had found a nearby diner, and I was seated next to Olivia with Wilder on her other side. Slate sat across from me and Ryan, another football player, sat on my other side. We'd pushed several tables together, creating one long table, and thankfully Rush was seated on the opposite end from me. Keeping distance between us during these types of hangouts was how I'd stayed sane this long.
"So, Scarlet," Slate said to me with a cocky grin. "Do you want to get an exclusive from one of Waterford's devilishly handsome and extremely talented linebackers?"
"I'd love to." I leaned in and pretended to be interested. "Too bad none of them are here," I pouted.
The people closest to us laughed.
His grin quickly fell, and a feigned look of hurt was now on his face. "Why do you enjoy bruising my ego?"
"I feel like it's my calling in life," I said in mock seriousness. "I'm one of the very few who isn't affected by your looks and charms. It's like I'm a unicorn."
Slate leaned back in his chair and let out a loud laugh. "A unicorn. I like it."
"Hey, you guys down there," Brayden yelled down from the other end of the table. "What's the plan after this? If we're done eating, let's move this party to somewhere a little more exciting."
Brayden was always trying to be the life of the party, but no matter how hard he tried, Wilder and Slate got all the attention. He was loud, though, I'd give him that. He was a decent football player but was definitely riding the coattails of the better players on the team. Olivia knew him a lot better and assured me that once you got to know him, he was a nice guy, but I wasn't convinced yet.
"Let's hit up the pool and hot tub at the hotel before they close and kick us out," Wilder said.
The crowd yelled in agreement.
"We're going to have to rustle up some more women for that plan," Slate said. "No offense to the ladies that are here," he said to all the girlfriends and me.
"You can't go one night without a woman?" Olivia asked.
