AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fifty Yard Line 8
Brady
Attheendof this dinner, I had to just face the fact that I was interested in Poppy Zeigler and no amount of denial was going to convince me otherwise. It was disgusting, sad, just…pathetic really. In a lot of ways, she was the enemy. A journalist. Affiliated with everything I hated about being a good football player. Everything I hated about the man my mother ran off with.
Poppy had a lot of information about me up to this point and yet she held true to her word not to share. In fact, she didn’t so much as acknowledge me in passing some days which really hit my ego. Then today, there she was. And the fence. I knew she was having flashbacks. The first time I got really hurt on a field it took me a minute to go get hit again.
I looked up and smiled. I didn’t really know the woman, but the short amount of time I spent with her had me missing her when she was gone. It was confusing me.
She wanted to ask me something. I could see it clear as day. She didn’t do a great job of hiding her thoughts and her light brown eyes told me everything she was thinking when they practically molested my chest earlier. I asked, “What?”
“It’s not my business.” She looked at the plate and then up to me again. “How is your cousin?”
I tilted my head and said, “Okay. Not really happy about moving into the dorm if she comes back next semester. Candy has been…pulling away lately. The more Priscilla makes decisions based on what she wants, asks for compromises, stuff like that, the more they argue. I give it another month, max. I don’t think she’ll come back to this school next year.”
I really hated that for Priscilla, but I was also really proud of her for owning her own life and realizing that a relationship takes two people. I wasn’t sure I wanted a relationship either. I just…wanted to spend more time with Poppy.
“I’ll be here.” She looked at her plate again. I waited and she looked up at me and I smiled. “I mean, I still have two years left, so…if she stays, I can…check in on her. She has a friend…if she wants one.” She was blushing again. It looked good on her. So did that jacket.
“Thank you.”
I looked up as the server stopped at our table and asked, “Dessert?”
I looked at her, she looked at me, I laughed and said, “This one, two straws.”
The shakes were way too big for one person and I was full, but I had seen her eying that every time they carried one to another table. She was blushing again and said, “I didn’t—”
“I wanted one.” I shrugged. “And you keep eyeballing them, so now you can try it.”
“Is it football?” she asked. I blinked, felt my brow lift. “The reason you’re single. Like…dedicated to the sport or—”
“Not interested in long term relationships.” Except saying that to her felt weird for some reason.
“Oh.” She nodded. “Me either.” She was totally lying. “I mean, unless a spaceship is involved.” Totally trying to cover up the lie with an exaggeration.
I was the one who said it, so what was I going to do now? Say I didn’t mean that. I meant it, but after I said it, heard it, I changed my mind? I asked because I wasn’t really sure if I understood my own feelings on the topic right now, “So you would be okay just hanging out with someone. Hooking up?”
She considered this a moment and then the expression she got right before she said something crazy lit her eyes, so I was interested in every word that came next. She said, “I am totally interested in hanging out with someone. When it comes to hooking up, I mean…I have fairly unrealistic expectations thanks to those books, so—”
I laughed and she giggled. I nodded. “Got it.”
“I’m just saying if the line from friends to benefits gets crossed, it better be…out of this world.” She shrugged, but she was blushing so deeply I knew she was tapping into some bravado.
“Okay.” I nodded and she laughed. Message received. I needed to read some new books.
