First Down (Beyond the Play, #1)(13)
I sigh. “Yeah. I think that’s shitty of them since they’re so strict about it.”
“You obviously know what you’re doing. I need your help. I need you to tutor me.”
“There’s a TA. You can go to office hours.”
“Can’t.”
“Can’t?” I repeat.
“I have practice all of those times,” he says. He looks genuinely frustrated, which almost makes me say yes, but I give myself a little mental shake. I really don’t have time to be someone’s tutor, even if he paid me. Not to mention the attraction to him that I can’t seem to turn off. Being alone with the guy to tutor him? That sounds like heaven… I mean, torture.
He scuffs the pavement with his shoe. “I’ll pay you for your time, of course.”
“I have a full course load too. Six classes. Plus my job.” And running home whenever the diner needs help, I think but don’t say aloud. There’s always something wrong at Abby’s Place and it’s never my mother who can fix it.
“There’s nothing I can offer to convince you?”
“Nope.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Everyone has a price.”
“Everyone but me, apparently.” I check my phone and curse softly at the time. I need to hustle to get to my shift on time. “Sorry, I need to go.”
“I’ll figure it out,” he calls when I’m almost up the next hill.
I look over my shoulder at him. He has a smile on his face, but there’s something else in his eyes. A challenge. I’m suddenly aware of one very important fact: he’s an athlete. And athletes don’t quit.
“Oh yeah?”
“Whatever your price is,” he says, taking a deliberate stride forward, “I’ll figure it out, Bex.”
I try to swallow, but my throat is as dry as a desert. Some small, traitorous part of me wants to ask if that’s a promise.
“I doubt that. See you around, Callahan,” I manage to say, turning back on my heel.
I feel his gaze all the way to work, burning straight through me.
8
JAMES
I secure the football in my hands and step back, scanning the field up ahead. Even though this is just a scrimmage, the boys are playing hard; the defenders on the other side fighting to get past my blockers. I only have another second or two before someone breaks through and I’m sacked.
Twenty yards ahead, Darryl breaks free of his defender, hand raised. I fire in his direction. It’s a little high, so I expect it to go over his head, but at the last minute he snags it and hauls it close to his chest. He runs with it tucked under his arm, diagonal to hustle away from the defense, and out of bounds. Coach Gomez blows the whistle to end the play.
I jog over to where the offensive line has grouped together, wiping the sweat away from my face with the hem of my practice jersey. Darryl walks over to our huddle slowly.
Since that party, I’ve seen Darryl entirely too much and Bex entirely too little. Despite us clearing up the kiss situation, it’s never been more obvious that a guy hates my guts. On the field, he plays his hardest, but in the huddle, on the sideline, and in the locker room, he acts like I don’t exist. After our win against West Virginia this past Saturday, in which he caught two of my touchdowns, I thought he’d chill out, but nope. You’d think he caught us fucking on top of the pool table, not kissing once when it was clear I didn’t even know who she was.
I’m convinced he can read my mind and knows I can’t stop thinking about her. I managed to get her number last class, and we’ve been texting, but no matter what I offer her in exchange for tutoring, she turns me down. Doesn’t mean she’s not on my mind all the fucking time. I was almost late to practice this morning because I got caught up jerking off in the shower to the thought of how her soft curves would feel against the hard planes of my chest.
“Great catch,” I say when Darryl finally reaches us.
He chews on his mouth guard. “Thanks.”
Okay then.
“Let’s all come around, gentlemen,” Coach Gomez says. He spits, hands on his hips, as we form a circle. He reaches out to slap Darryl on the back, and a genuine smile crosses the guy’s face. “Good catch, buddy. So, boys. I think we’re beating out some of that sloppy play that slowed us down last week.”
We nod in agreement. Last week was a win, which is all that matters at the end of the day, but there were times where we could have taken a commanding lead of the game and didn’t.
“We keep playing this crisp and we’ll walk out of the home opener with a win. I want you all back bright and early tomorrow to go over film. Their new left tackle is a big fucker and we need to shut him down if we have any hope of getting to Notre Dame’s QB.”
From across the huddle, Darryl gives me a look. I meet it stone-cold, but inside, I’m rolling my eyes. I don’t care if he hates me as long as he leaves Bex alone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying.
Most of the team heads back into the showers, but I stay put. So does Darryl.
“You got something to say to me?” I ask. I cross my arms over my chest. Fuck, I’m sweaty as hell and want nothing more than to take a shower before heading home, but I’m tired of this shit. We’re teammates, which means we’re brothers, and if I have to tell him to his face that I’m not going to make a move on Bex, I guess that’s what I’ll do.