“Hey.” I smile.
“Hey, Randy,” a cute-looking woman says as she squats beside him in the aisle.
“Hey, Tess,” he greets her.
“I need a date to the upcoming Raptors fundraiser, and I was hoping you might want to come with me? I’m guessing you have to make an appearance anyway, so I thought we could go together—and I’d make it worth your while,” she adds with a wink.
Lewis whistles in front of us having heard the proposition, but his head stays facing forward. I listen to their conversation, my eyesight boring into my laptop and not making eye contact with her. Not that I think she would care anyway since I’m sitting right next to him, and she just asked him out right in front of me.
“Ahh, Tess—not this year, lovely.”
“No worries. Here’s my number if you change your mind,” she says, passing him a folded-up piece of paper. He looks at it, then slides it into his pocket.
Reilly swings around in front of me. “If Harrison won’t take you, I’m free,” he says, emphasizing his offer with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
“Thanks, Reilly, but if I ask you out, Alex will hate me forever.”
“Alex?” he asks. “Which one’s that?”
“The brunette with the massive rack,” Mitch says beside him as he types in his password.
Randy flicks the back of his head.
“Ouch,” Mitch grumbles, rubbing the spot and turning to face us. “What? She does—and now everyone knows who I’m talking about.”
Reilly loudly clicks his fingers and nods. “Yep, I know the one.”
“See?” Mitch says in his defense, turning back to the front and tapping at his laptop.
“Bye, guys.” Tess laughs as she stands and leaves.
“Wait, Tess! Get me her number?”
“I’ll text it to you.”
“Thanks, beautiful!”
“Sorry about that,” Randy says to me.
“That’s okay.” I smile.
“Want to come to the fundraiser with me?” he asks, winking. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
I can’t help but laugh, instantly at ease again. That’s what I like about Randy. He knows how to control a football with skill and precision, but just as easily, he knows how to read people. I liked how respectful he was to Tess—it’s never easy asking someone out, but he turned her down with tact. And then, just like that, he eased my discomfort without making a big deal of it. I’m not sure if it’s confidence or ego that fuels those instincts, but either way it works for him.
9
Randy
“Geez,” I groan the following morning as I walk into ‘The Raptors Room’. It’s the place our team meets and where Coach yells at us…I mean, he goes over our plays. We watch our latest games, our opponents’ games, and study every detail of every player. In particular, the Cyclones, who we are predicted to meet at the championship game.
There has never been love lost between our teams. They are our longest rivals and our biggest competition for the trophy. Luke Cole, their quarterback, and I got into a fight at the end of a game last year. The whole team got involved, and since then the animosity has just grown tenfold, with verbal taunting on and off the field.
I grumble again, rubbing at my shoulder as I fall into the chair next to Christian. “You are so lucky you got shot,” I grimace. “That training session fucking hurt,” I whine.
Christian turns to me, a frown creasing his brow and confusion flickering in his eyes. “The fucking bullet hurt. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but it’s over now,” I say, rubbing my throwing arm. “I have to do that again tomorrow. Plus, my bedroom is across from yours. So, I know your girl has more than mended that suffering. You’ll get no more sympathy from me.”
