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“Is that why there haven’t been any women stroking your stick? Your head’s been buried in the playbook? And hey, I’m not complaining, just so you know. You totally nailed that last play.”
“Thanks, QB. But yeah, and I’m starting to get antsy.” He slams his locker shut. “I need to go out, man. Let loose a bit. Try to meet a decent girl who might let me into her pants, for her benefit as well, of course. You got plans this weekend? Maybe you can be my wingman.”
“Nah, sorry, dude. I got some stuff going on.”
“What about next weekend after the Puppy Palooza?”
I’m not gonna lie, I was hoping to see Penelope next weekend after the charity event—and the weekend after that, and the one after that.
“I might have something going on, but it’s not set in stone yet, so I don’t want to commit and then back out on you, you know?”
“Yeah, I understand.”
The thing is, he wouldn’t understand because I don’t know if the guy has ever been addicted to a woman the way I am to Penelope.
Hell, at this point, I may as well just book out every night until the season starts because all I want is to be in her presence or talk to her on the phone, much like we’ve been doing almost every night since the event at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.
The woman is so much more complex than I thought in the best way, but I also know there’s something she hasn’t told me yet that’s a critical piece of who she is. Most nights, I can almost hear her contemplate going there—giving me the information that would make all of the pieces of her puzzle fall into place. But right before she lets the words free, she freezes and changes the subject. And it mostly happens when we talk about where we grew up or what we were like as kids.
But here’s the thing—I can’t be mad at her completely because there’s something else she doesn’t know about me, either, something no one does. It’s one of the few things I’ve been able to keep from the public eye, and I want it to stay that way—and giving her that information means taking a risk that she won’t use it against me if she ever flips a switch on me like Brittney, my ex-fiancée, did.
One day, I want to tell her. Hell, I want to tell her everything. But the timing isn’t right, and the last thing I want is for her to look at me differently, for her to share the same disappointment I have in myself at times, the guilt I try to mask every time I help a drunk girl get home from a bar.
There are so many other obstacles for us to face before we need to have that conversation, so for now, I’m letting things lie where they are—which includes focusing instead on the date I’m taking her on tonight.
I just hope she loves it and no one recognizes me while we’re out.
“Well, fuck,” Hayden says, running a hand through his hair.
“What about Jake, the rookie? Ask him.”
Hayden casts his eyes across the locker room where Jake stands, glaring at his phone. “I don’t know. He doesn’t exactly scream ‘let’s be buddies,’ you know?”
I nod. “I see what you mean. The kid could give the Road Runner a run for his money, but he definitely has a chip on his shoulder.”
“And not Ruffles, but more like those chips that stab you in the roof of your mouth and make you hate them for a while.”
Turning to face him again, I shake my head. “The way your mind veers off on tangents is scary.”
“I know.”
After we finish getting dressed and I say goodbye to a few of the other guys, I head home to take care of a few things before I pick up Penelope later from her house. But my phone rings before I can leave the parking lot, though the name on the screen has me instantly smiling.
“Well, well... you haven’t forgotten about us normal people after all.” Leslie berates me as soon as I pick up the line.
“Sorry. I have this little thing called a job that has been keeping me busy.”
“Nice try, but OTAs just started a few weeks ago, and I know they’re not nearly as intense as training camp. Besides, it’s not like you don’t have your phone glued to you like the rest of the world, so give me the real reason why you’ve been distant, Maddox.”
“Still a ballbuster, I see.”
“And I don’t plan on changing any time soon.”
I chuckle as I continue the drive back to my house. “Well, I’ve been spending time with Penelope, and that’s why I haven’t been calling you every day. There’s another woman in my life that’s been getting all of my attention. There. Now are you happy?”
She’s silent for a minute but then replies, “So it’s safe to say you didn’t follow my advice?”
“That’s the thing about advice... it’s mostly suggestion, which means I don’t have to listen if I don’t want to.”
