“Hey baby,
Some friends and I are in town for the game and I wanted to see you. I’m in room #365. I have a bottle of wine and I’m already feeling frisky. Come join me and we’ll have some fun.
Ready for you,
Sadie”
Derek burst out laughing. “Wow, that’s some crazy shit.”
Crumpling up the letter, I threw it in the trash. “Tell me about it. The girl’s a fucking head case. I don’t know what to do.”
“Just go talk to her and tell her you’re not interested anymore. You have to do something or she’ll keep coming around,” he advised.
I didn’t want to see her, but it was looking like I had no choice. “Fine, I’ll talk to her,” I grumbled.
Derek laughed again and wished me luck before hanging up. Again, I wanted to kick myself in the ass for being so fucking stupid. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and marched to the elevators. When I got off on her floor, I knocked on her door, hoping like hell she wasn’t there. Unfortunately, she opened the door wearing red, see-through lingerie with her blond hair down around her face.
“It’s about time you got here,” she murmured seductively. “I was about to have to finish business myself.” Normally, the thought of any girl masturbating could make my dick hard in a second, but hearing her say it did nothing for me.
She tried to pull me into her room, but I slammed my hands on the sides of the door. “I’m not staying, Sadie.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Why not?”
Here goes the truth. I’d earned many slaps in the face from women, so if Sadie was so inclined, it wasn’t going to be my first. “I’m sorry, but I’m just not interested in it. Don’t get me wrong, you’re sexy as hell, but I’m a one-night kind of guy. I don’t get attached.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you used me like that.”
“No more than you used me,” I said in all seriousness. “I seem to recall you approaching me, not the other way around. You can only blame yourself for getting involved with a guy like me.”
That seemed to stun her into silence and I took that as my cue to leave. That night at the restaurant, I would have gotten in my car and left if she hadn’t stopped me. All in all, it wasn’t my fault; it was the first time I could actually say that.
—
Derek and Aaron met me in the lobby, but this time Evan was with them. He nodded at me as I approached, and I was thankful it wasn’t a scowl. “Did you get the situation fixed?” Derek asked.
I shrugged. “Fuck if I know. At least she didn’t come back down to my room.”
“Do I even want to know?” Aaron asked.
Derek slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “Not unless you want to talk about pussy.” Evan stifled a laugh and Aaron rolled his eyes as we started out of the hotel to the parking lot. I hopped in the backseat of the SUV alongside Aaron, while Evan sat up front with Derek.
“Have you ever had sex with a girl?” I asked Aaron.
He slammed the door. “Yes, jackass, I have. I just don’t prefer it. Can we please stop talking about me? I’m not the one having issues.”
“He’s got a point,” Derek agreed, glaring at me through the rearview mirror.
I held up my hands in defeat. “It was just a simple question.”
“So what’s going on?” Evan asked, glancing back at me and then to Derek.
Derek was the one who answered. “Don Juan back there met a girl last weekend and gave her the ride of her life. Now she wants to slob on his dong. She showed up at his room last night.”
Evan’s eyes widened. “She came all the way out here to watch the game?”
I nodded. “Yep. The girl’s a little crazy in the head if you ask me.”
“Do you not ever get tired of fucking random women all the time?” he asked.
All eyes fixed on me and I averted my gaze to the window. “Sometimes. They don’t expect anything from me and I don’t expect anything from them. It’s just easier that way.”
“Sounds to me like you’re afraid,” Derek said.
I snorted. “Of what?”
“Of finding the right girl. I think we all had these issues at one point or another.” Aaron cleared his throat and Derek glanced at him in the mirror. “Or finding the right guy. Sorry, Grainger.”
Aaron waved him off. “No apologies necessary.”
We pulled into the stadium parking lot and headed inside. Derek walked next to me while Evan was deep in conversation with Aaron. “One of these days, you’ll get tired of fucking around. When I met Hayden, she was oblivious to who I was and I liked it. I think that’s what drew me to her so strongly. We all want to be loved for who we are and not what we are. You’ll find someone like that one day.”
That was easy for him to say; everyone liked him. I had a shady past. “There’s not much for women to like other than my dick and my money, D.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “And whose fault is that, I wonder? You’re the one who made a name for yourself. It’s up to you to choose who you really want to be.”
As much as I hated it, he had a point. Unfortunately, my reputation was tainted to the point where no one could ever love me; it was too late.
We got into the locker room and everyone was pumped. There were times when I wished I played a different position so I could get more time on the field. However, my strength was in my legs and in my precision in kicking the ball. I was determined to kick the longest field goal in NFL history one day.
Once we were all dressed and ready for the game, everyone rushed out of the locker room except for Delaney. He hung back and stood by the door before I could get out, his face a stony mask.
“If you’re trying to make a move on me, it’s not going to work. I don’t swing that way,” I told him.
He didn’t even bother with a retort. “I don’t think we ever got a formal introduction.”