I scrunched my nose. "It wasn't my most shining moment."
"Uh-oh, what happened?" she said, concern filling her voice.
I glanced around and saw that everyone was focused on Wilder and Slate reliving moments from the game, not paying us any attention. "I messed up," I said, my shoulders sagging.
She turned her body to face me and gave me all her attention. "What do you mean? How?"
"I let my emotions get the best of me," I told her, my accent coming out stronger because I was upset. "I hadn't planned on asking Rush a question, but then he’d been sitting there relaxed and looking too attractive for his own good, and it made me angry all over again. So when it was my turn the words just popped out of my mouth. And then I couldn't just stop at theonequestion, I had to keep digging, turning the question personal, letting my frustration at him come out of me, finally, after all this time."
I quickly recapped my questions and his answers, her eyes getting wide as I finished the story.
"Um," she said, and I could tell she was trying to think of a way to make this better, but I already knew that wasn't going to happen. I'd totally embarrassed myself. "Maybe everyone thought you were really just talking about football."
I gave her a doubtful look. "Unlikely. The tension was palpable. I looked like some poor scorned girl, while he was the handsome highly sought-after football player. I still can't believe I let him get to me like that." I shook my head. "But it won't happen again. Next time I will be a complete professional."
Some of the people who were around us started to cheer. At the sound, Olivia turned to look at the door behind us. "Speak of the devil."
I glanced over, and sure enough, Rush had walked through the door. His brown hair was slightly damp from his recent shower, his black t-shirt stretched showing off his well-built chest. He scanned the room with his dark-brown eyes, and I could see the hint of end-of-the-day scruff appearing along his strong jawline.
Closing my eyes and letting out a heavy sigh, I wished I could go back in time and never have kissed him. Things would have been so much better for me. I would have probably enjoyed being with Mick more. Or maybe I wouldn’t have jumped into a relationship with him so fast to try to forget Rush, giving me a chance to possibly meet someone else.
But I couldn't take any of it back, so I would continue ignoring him like I always did, pretending I didn't know exactly where he was when we were in a room together.
Opening my eyes, I saw he'd reached our table, everyone high fiving him and slapping him on the back congratulating him on the win tonight. A girl in a short, tight dress was soon at his side, and I watched as he put his arm around her, leaning down to hear what she wanted to tell him secretly in his ear. A smile broke across his face, and my jaw tightened as I watched the two of them together.
Olivia placed her hand on my thigh. "You okay?"
I blinked a few times trying to clear the jealousy coursing through me. I sat up straight and pushed my shoulders back. "Yeah, of course."
Olivia looked between Rush and me before saying in a low enough voice only I could hear, "Are you sure? Are you crushing on Rush again?"
"What?" I asked her like she was crazy. "He could be the last man on earth, and I wouldn't give him the time of day," I said, dismissing her with a wave. "Again," I added. "Been there, done that, and I ain't doing it again. I just think it's ridiculous how girls fawn over all these guys just because they wear a Waterford football jersey."
She tried not to smile. "You do realize you were one of those girls last year, right?"
"Well, that was before," I said. "Before I learned that they are all womanizing pigs."
"What's all this about womanizing pigs?" Slate asked, interrupting our conversation. "Because I'm guilty as charged." His wicked grin made all the girl groupies giggle. Yes, giggle. They didn't even care that he openly admitted it.
Slate looked between Olivia and me. "I know you and Olivia don't approve of my lifestyle, but at least I'm honest about my intentions." At least there was that. He definitely wasn't leading anyone on. Girls knew exactly what they were getting with him.
Unlike Rush.
I don't know why I'd thought he would be different. He was a ladies' man like all the rest of the team. Not to the same level as Slate or some of the other guys, but he got around plenty. He was in no shortage of women's attention. Not that I cared. They could have him.
I had just started to relax when a hand landed on the guy's shoulder who sat across from me. My eyes followed the hand up the well-built arm to see that it belonged to no other than Rush, who asked the guy if he would move so he could sit there.
What was he doing?
The guy quickly moved, and Rush took his place, his eyes now looking directly at me.
I hurried to close my mouth, realizing that it had been gaping open in surprise. We never got this close, and we definitely never made obvious eye contact.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table and interlocking his fingers. "Hello, Olivia. Scarlet," he said, nodding his head to each of us.
"Hey, Rush," Olivia said politely. "Great game tonight."
"Thanks," he said, humbly. "I couldn't have done it without Wilder."
