“A game?” I stammered. All coolness had gone out the window.
For one, I’d never been to a pro football game. I had damn sure never been invited to one by a professional athlete. Was this his way of flirting? With me??!
“Yeah, a game. One of the home games. Well, I guess I should ask if you’re single before I invite you to come watch me play.”
My entire body grew warm, and my cheeks felt flushed. More than likely, the rise in my body temperature had nothing to do with the tequila that I was consuming. “Yes, I’m single. Very newly single. I was with the same man for seven years, and I’m not sure I’m ready to date.”
“You’ll be in the stands, and I’ll be on the field, so that’s not really a date.”
Every ounce of sense I possessed told me that it was too soon to even entertain the idea of another man. And an athlete? Isaac may have been a good guy, but I truly believed he was a unicorn. However, the man wasn’t asking me to marry him and, in a way, his invitation stroked my ego real bad. There were other women present that had everything I didn’t. Faces full of makeup, perfect bodies, the desire to be on the arm of an athlete. I was feeling myself just a tiny bit.
“Okay. When is your next Sunday game?”
“Tomorrow. But we have another the week after next. We have one next week too, but it’s in California.”
“Thank you. I’d love to come.”
We exchanged numbers, and I walked back over to Josie stunned. The closer I got to her, I saw the look of awe on her face, and she appeared to be just as shocked as me.
“Sister!” she hissed in a low tone. “Who was that fine ass man that had you blushing and smiling?”
“That’s Hymn. Isaac’s teammate.”
Josie’s eyes widened. “That’s the guy that every time he scores a touchdown, they say take ‘em to church. Sister!” she squealed lowly and drummed her feet against the ground.
“We’re not getting married, silly,” I giggled. I had to downplay the situation or the what if’s would make me lose my mind. I would overthink and scare myself into not going to the game and pretending that he didn’t exist. That was the safest thing to do. It had to be the tequila that had me even considering that it could be anything else.
“You don’t have to get married. You know how epic getting your lick back with a football player is?”
“I guess it would be epic if I was trying to get my lick back. If Corey didn’t want me while we were together, then what am Isupposed to do? Give my body to another man just to make him jealous.”
“First of all, that dumb sack of shit wanted you, and he still does. Like most idiotic men, he just wanted a new toy to play with. He took you for granted and figured when he stopped playing around, you’ll still be there as always holding him, the house, and the girls down. You get your lick back by either finding someone that appreciates what he didn’t, or you do like I have. You create the life you want to live, and you live that shit like you’re going to die tomorrow.”
On the inside, my heart was heavy. I had no idea how long I would be heartbroken, but I wanted it to be over soon. It felt like someone died. My life changed in the blink of an eye, and there wasn’t anything I could do but accept it. On the outside, I smiled because my sister had given me some really good advice. Finishing off my drink, I swept the yard with my gaze, so I could make sure the girls were still within eyeshot. When I saw them in the pool wearing life jackets and playing with the swimming instructor, I smiled wider. Those girls were going to keep me going even when it hurt too bad for me to fathom how I would do it. They deserved that much.
Inadvertently, my eyes danced around the vicinity until I located Hymn. Some big boob chick was in his face talking a mile a minute, but he was watching me over her shoulder. When I caught him, he smirked and brought his cup to his lips to take a sip. Biting back a smile, I looked away. Maybe getting my lick back wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
CHAPTER 7
HYMN
My phone vibratedin my pocket. Surprised that I even felt it over the vibration of the bass from the music blasting in the club, I saw that it was a notification from my alarm system. Swiping the notification, I unlocked my phone and opened it. Huncho was coming in the house. He entered the passcode to shut the alarm off and walked into the kitchen. He had indeed been expelled, and I wasn’t sure if he was going back to Atlanta or if he was going to stay in Diamond Cove. His grades were trash and without being able to play football, he lost his scholarship. The university was done with his ass.
I wanted to tell myself that he was an adult and that his life was his to live. He had to learn his own lessons and walk his own path. But I couldn’t be one hundred percent okay with that. I didn’t want Huncho in the streets. If I could keep him out of them that’s what I would do. It had been on my mind to call my manager and see if they could find a way for me to try and get him connected with a team overseas. I doubted the league in this country would reach out to him. He was good, but he wasn’tthatgood. The NFL had enough bad boys in it and unless a man played his ass off and was guaranteed to take his team straight tothe Super bowl, I doubted many coaches would be arguing over which bad boy to sign.
I pushed my phone back inside my pocket just as a pretty ass dark-skinned chick sauntered over to me. Her friend had come to the club with one of my teammates, so they had access to our section. Most times when we were in different cities, we left right after the game, but our flight wasn’t leaving until five AM, so we decided to step out for a bit. It wasn’t the entire team. There were only about six of us present.
“Hi, Hymn. You played really good tonight. The game was good and intense.” While shorty complimented me on the game, her eyes screamedfuck me. I for sure didn’t have anything against influencers or Instagram models, but I stayed away from the ones that had been passed around too damn much.
I didn’t know shorty’s face, but when I asked her name, if it was one that I’d heard too many times, I wouldn’t be busting a nut with her.
“’Preciate that. “What’s your name?”
“Samantha.”
I checked my mental Rolodex and didn’t recognize the name. My eyes poured over her frame, and she was a baddie for sure.
“You live in California, Samantha?”
