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Besides, now that I knew he was a famous tight end, things seemed different. He wouldn’t want me. I had been around the Warrior players enough to know the drill. They were multi-millionaires. They kept their distance from the squad, and I knew the Wranglers wouldn’t be any different. If I remembered, they had their own dance squad, the Fillies, who probably filled the same role we did.
I pressed my forehead on the vanity table, taking deep breaths until the stadium was silent and the only thing I could hear was the sound of my breath. I had a month to forget about last night and get my shit together.
15
Sam
One month later
My name was engraved on a gold plate over my locker. I wiped a finger across the letters. I remembered the first time I walked in the locker room as a rookie and saw my name with my uniform set up in the mahogany cubby. Hard to believe that was over a year ago.
Everything was here ready to go. My cleats, my shoulder pads, my helmet were all sitting out lined up. I picked up the helmet. The W emblazoned on the side was shined, reflecting the lights overhead. This place was immaculate. I loved it. Every square inch of it. It was always my dream to play for the Wranglers.
How could a kid grow up in Texas and not want to play Texas football? My grandfather played. My dad played. And now I played. This was my legacy. It was my birthright to be a Wrangler.
Some days, it didn’t feel real. But here I was, about to suit up for today’s game against the Warriors.
Cavan dropped his bag next to me. “Can you believe we’ve won four in a row?”
“Nice being on a championship team, isn’t it?”
I only had one season under my belt, but standing next to the rookie, I felt experienced. I was on the winning team. He hadn’t earned that honor yet.
“Yeah. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“Today will make five.” After we ran up the scoreboard on them last month, we felt confident today’s game wouldn’t be a problem. I liked starting the season five and O.
“You going to be at the Dean, right?” he asked.
I nodded. “Of course. Wouldn’t miss it. But I doubt you can do better than what I pulled off last year.”
“Heard you had more women than we have guys on the team and a high-dollar poker table.”
“There was more than that. It was epic. Last year goes down in the history books. They say it was the best Dean ever.”
“I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
I pulled the parts of my jersey out of the cubby. “I’ll be there.”
“I’ve basically asked everyone about the Deans from back in the day. Even the first one Larry Dean threw, and it’s going to have a little bit of everything.”
“You talked to some of the old Wranglers?”
He nodded. “You should have heard them talk about the first Dean.”
“Damn.”
A few of the other guys began to trickle in while we talked about the party. I knew what it was like to organize the event. It was a bitch at best. But it was a Wrangler tradition the guys loved.
I’d make a quick appearance and get out of there. I wasn’t going to get trapped into breaking my rule again. I’d already made that mistake once this season.
I had almost forgotten. Almost.
And then I saw her from the corner of my eye. She was behind the Warriors’ bench, cheering for the small crowd of fans assembled on the opposing team’s side.
Her hair seemed longer. It was down around her shoulders and her arms waved wildly in the air with pompoms. She looked beautiful. Gorgeous. I wanted to run across the field and tell her what she was doing to me. I wanted to tell her she was the reason I had forgotten the next play I was supposed to run. She was why I had forgotten the last play I did run.
I saw her and I remembered the night we spent together last month. I thought I had found a way to keep it from interfering, but one glimpse of Natalia and my hard work was over. I was so fucked, there weren’t words for it.
