AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'm fine to play. Life off this field is a bit fucked at the moment. This. This I can do." I looked between them, around at the rest of the team getting ready. "For them, for you. I'm not going to fuck-up out there." I shrugged. "Even if I'm a bit fucked-up in here right now."
I pointed to my head. Ripley snorted a laugh.
He said, "You're fucked-up right here, man." He poked me in the chest. "I know you. I fucking was you."
I laughed. Snorted a decent sound and said, "Oh, man. I needed that. You. You really don't know how right you are about that. See, the first time she brought you home was because I told her I was bringing someone home. Needed a buffer. Something. So. You showed up. Kept showing up. I loved you for that. Truly."
His expression reflected the question, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
I leaned in a bit and whispered, "Essie."
He tilted his head and said, "Your cousin? Okay. What abooout? Ooohshit." He shook his head. "No."
"Yeah. But that is so tip of the iceberg, man. Wanna hear the rest?" I looked at the clock. "We have a few. So, you know exactly how much I am not bringing on that field with me, I will share. I accidentally sexually assaulted Holly."
Titus looked at me, "What?"
They had moved over to where I was, so this was a relatively private conversation. "Yup. See, she was scared to death, so mute and unmoving, but she put her room on the list and I thought she was just being a... Diva. Turns out...nope. I reminded her of a guy who did hurt her, so all three times I gave her orgasms, she didn't even want one."
Ripley nodded. "Rough start, but I mean, she was with you earlier, though, so you figured that out, she knows you didn't know and... what? Good or, what?"
"She thinks I'm suicidal, so she and her little love interest, Winston, have been babysitting me." I smiled at them. "Guess you really didn't care enough to take your shift."
Titus looked at me and said, "Not if you don't care enough to step up. No. We are not fucking babysitting you. You think I don't know what you feel?"
"You have to see that girl every day?" I remembered him going through some stuff but not all the details.
"I see that girl every morning, noon, and night. So does he. So does Apollo. Look, this...I can help with this. The other thing. I don't want to invest my time if you're going to check out. Cruel, maybe. But you would be fucking all of us with that action, so fuck you if that's your choice." He was looking me in the eye and telling the truth as he saw it.
"I needed time to think, process. Then...yeah. I didn't care. Now...I don't know what I'm doing, but real or fake love on her end, I wouldn't want her to feel like it was her fault. Like she failed. So. I'm here." I looked him in the eyes and told him the truth as I saw it.
"Okay, then. You need me to babysit you, I'd be glad to." He smiled, nodded. I snickered.
I looked at Ripley and he said, "You want to hang out with Rip? He's five. I got a kid to take care of. Not adding to that roster anytime soon." Then as Titus left, he looked at me and said, "I don't blame you. Essie's hot. If she were my cousin, I'd probably still fuck her, too. But like, once. So... cut it loose. She's poison."
"Harper isn't?" I asked and for the first time in my life regarding that situation, felt some relief and not judgment.
"Harpy's the fucking devil. Don't piss her off, man. Apollo." He snorted a sound. "Let's just say he gets rid of her problems. Except us, but I think that's because she needs the rotation. Seriously. Two athletes and one psycho, and some weekends she's the only one still walking straight." I laughed because he pushed me. "You could partner with worse people than Winston. He could help that. Think about how much time you want to spend dealing with girl drama. Titus handles at that mushy shit. Teamwork makes the dream work."
We picked up running and putting our helmets on as we made our way to the field. When I had a chance to look around, I looked up in the stands in the XIX block, and Holly was there with Winston and some of the guys from the math team. She waved, and I waved back. He gave me a rock-on symbol with his hand, and I decided maybe Ripley was right. That guy had already done a lot to help me with that woman. Did I care about their connection? In fact, if they had each other long enough, they might not need me in the mix at all. It was time to consider the entire playbook. What path kept me alive. What paths provided an exit. I didn't lie. I was here...for now. This season for sure, but after that...I'd have to reassess as it went.
***
After the game, I remembered that I had a confusing—and probably confused—woman pretending to actually care about me waiting at my vehicle to take me home where she would be spending the entire weekend. I smiled. Well, it was better than the woman waiting on me before I could get out of the building.
Essie asked, "Does she know who I am?"
"Yup." I smiled as I looked at her horrified expression.
Ripley passed with Titus and said loudly, "Cut it loose!"
I shrugged, "He knows, too."
She stepped back. "You can't tell people!"
I started walking and said, "Then stop giving me something to talk about."
She stood there all mouth agape and shocked. Yeah. I should have said something long ago. I approached the vehicle and Holly was all lit up with excitement that didn't seem to fade as much as I anticipated it would upon seeing me. She said, "You won!"
