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“Don’t you two play this for a living?”
CHAPTER 7
EMMA
I looked around the campus as the others wandered off in groups. I’d just finished my tour and it was beautiful and intimidating all at once. I was looking forward to starting classes.
I played back the casual tour as I started to walk to a group of buildings. I smiled as I looked around at all the grass and trees in this part of the campus. It was huge here compared to the small community college that I attended in Chattanooga.
I pulled out my phone to take some pictures for Willow.
“Hi. Emma, right?”
A girl from the tour was walking up to me with a smile. She reached out her hand and I shook it.
“I’m Bella. Want to grab some lunch in the cafeteria? It’s not too bad, believe it or not.”
“Yeah. Sure. Thanks,” I turned off my phone and followed her. Bella was chatty and talked about her upcoming classes, adding that she was majoring in literature.
We got in line and I ordered a turkey sandwich and she got a grilled cheese. We both grabbed iced tea, and I fought the urge to giggle as she bounced over to a table. Bella was bubbly, and I liked it. She was the first person I’d met on my own since arriving here.
A friend could get me out the apartment and away from the sexiness that was Jackson. At least I could keep away from him physically, if not mentally. I was finding myself thinking of him all the time.
Bella was wearing a Trojans cheerleader shirt that clung to her curves and I smiled a little as I looked down at my tray.
“Are you a fan?” Bella asked.
I laughed.
“I share an apartment with one of them. Second string, but part of the team. An old friend of the family.”
Bella raised an eyebrow. “The hottest backup I know is Jackson Cooper.”
I nodded and she gasped.
“You lucky girl. I went out with one of the other players for a brief minute. It was fun but with those guys, the team comes first. You will always be an afterthought. I mean, I wasn’t that involved to where I went through all that pain, but I’ve seen other girls do it.” She shrugged. “I’d rather just have fun. Are you dating Jackson?”
“No, not at all. He offered me a place to stay,” I replied as I thought about the reality of dating him. It would be great when he was home, and we were together, but there were so many away games and practices. There were the girls who would do anything to sleep with the players. I remembered Jackson as a teenager. I think that would be much worse being young and a pro player. I didn’t even know why I was wasting my time with this. It wasn’t as if he was interested in me. We were just friends.
I came back to reality as Bella was beaming at me.
“Are you in?” she asked.
I blinked, not knowing what she was talking about. How long had I been daydreaming? If it was about Jackson, probably since I was a young girl.
“Sure,” I said cautiously, wondering what I was agreeing to.
“It’s going to be so much fun. We’ll get to see all the games and travel with the team. Don’t get another job because you won’t have time for that. Are your parents paying for school?”
“Yeah. They aren’t rich or anything but staying with Jackson for a while is saving a lot of money.”
What had I just agreed to?
“No, you want to have fun while you’re in college. I imagine that Jackson does well and if he’s willing to take care of you, live there forever,” Bella suggested with a wink.
“I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure it’s just temporary.”
We talked about the school and Nashville, and traded phone numbers at the end of the meal. Bella sounded fun. She went out a lot and I needed someone light and fun in my life to hang around. She gave me a hug and ran off to see a guy for coffee.
When I got home, Bella sent me a text telling me to be at the Trojans stadium the following day at one.
Jackson wasn’t home, or at least, his truck wasn’t there, and I assumed that he was at practice. They were doing a lot of that right now.
I put my purse on the table and got some water. I looked at the contents of the fridge and pulled out some beef. I went to the pantry and got out a few cans of tomato sauce and pasta. I didn’t know when Jackson would be home but having some dinner ready might be nice.
As the sauce simmered I thought again about dating Jackson, or any of the players. Was it that hard? I knew some of the guys were married with kids. It was possible, but it was not even worth talking about since Jackson and I were never going to be anything more than roommates.
