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Badly.
I can’t talk, though. My pregame ritual for home games is looking to the crowd for my family.
I arch a brow. “And why am I lucky?”
“You are with someone who gets you. You two breathe in sync.”
“We’re best friends. We are supposed to get each other.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, this is different. She has always been there for you. You know for sure she isn’t here for the money or the fame. Just you.”
Whether it’s me or someone else, she would never use someone for what they have. She knows how to take care of herself, which is why I’m always inclined to take care of her. But he doesn’t understand our relationship.
If I’m being honest, I am starting to not understand our relationship. I love her as a friend. But the more time we spend intimately together, the more I feel more than just friendship love.
And it’s not the sex. It’s…her. She has always made me feel something. I’ve just refused to put a name to it besides friendship because that’s all we could ever have. It’s for the best.
He purses his lips and then shrugs. “You’ll realize it on your own soon. Just how special what y’all got is.”
“When are you getting your special someone?” I ask, trying to change the topic. If we keep talking about this, I’ll stress myself over something that isn’t real. That the way JJ looks at me as if I’m the only man for her isn’t real.
He tenses. “Maybe never. I haven’t met anyone worth my time.”
“That can’t be true. What about that model you dated last year?”
“No.”
“The doctor you had a brief thing with?”
“Nope.”
A thought pops into my head. “You were staring hard at JJ’s sister, Justine, during that barbeque a couple months ago. Weren’t y’all friends at one point?”
He glares at me. “Don’t bring her up,” he bites out.
I hold my hands up. “I’m just saying—”
He points at me. “Don’t annoy me before a game. You want to lose?”
“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Trevor sighs and gives me an apologetic look. “Nah, man. My bad. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I just…I don’t know.”
“Well, whenever you want to talk about it. I’m here for you. Always.” He nods, bumping my raised fist.
We finish our pre-game prep in comfortable silence. With kickoff in less than thirty minutes, it’s time to get everyone in the winning head space.
Trevor pounds on the locker to get everyone’s attention. All the guys turn to look at him, excitement radiating from everyone to play our first game of the season. With our orange and blue uniform already on, we know what comes next—Trevor’s game-time speech and chant.
“Alright, you boys. We did well last season, but it’s time to be better.” He looks around with narrow eyes. “Y’all look scared.” He points to our wide receiver, Jacob. “You scared?”
Jacob, a rookie, aggressively shakes his head. “Of who? St. Louis Lightning? It’s about time we show them what thunder sounds like.” We all stare at him, then burst out laughing, to which he gives us the finger as a response.
“That was lame!” Another player yells out.
Trevor points to another player. “Samuel, winning isn’t everything!”
Samuel yells back, “It’s the only thing!”
