Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Chase
"I should go."
I barely registered that Ashley spoke, but I nodded.
"Right, yeah."
She stood and hurried past me. I caught a whiff of her perfume.
Something floral and soft. A pleasant contrast to the strong fragrance Brandi preferred.
I ignored the way my dick twitched in response.
Now was not the time to think with that head.
Or about another woman, while Brandi was right in front of me.
I wasn't that kind of guy. I thought Brandi wasn't that sort of girl.
I got to my feet, stood my ground while Brandi sashayed toward me.
We met right here, I realised, with a start. Brandi sat on my lap and fed me chips. We'd shared a few beers, then she dragged me out the door and into an alleyway a street or two down.
I tried hard not to think about what we did to each other there. If I did, I might forget how mad I was at her.
"Hi, lover," she purred. She put a hand on my arm and looked me right in the eyes.
I pulled my arm away. "Is it true?" I asked.
"Is what true?" Her eyes shifted uncomfortably. I knew she knew exactly what I was referring to. I think she hoped she was wrong, that Ashley and I were just having a friendly chat.
"That you slept with Kris." I wasn't in the mood to pull any punches. If Kris was here, I might throw a few. Not at Brandi though. Now matter how angry I was, I'd never hit a woman.
"Is that what she told you?" Brandi gave a tinkly little laugh. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear."
"That wasn't a no," I pointed out.
Brandi shoved me back into my seat and straddled my lap. Her breasts were almost in my face.
"Why do you always want to waste time talking, when we could be having fun instead?" She kept her voice low and husky.
I forced my eyes up, to look her square in the eyes. "Why are you changing the subject? Yes or no, did you sleep with him?"
Brandi pouted. "I get lonely when you're away. If you let me come with you—"
My shoulders sagged. I tilted my head back, moving my face as far away from hers as I could get.
"You know I'm working when I'm away. I don't have the time to focus on someone else. It wouldn't be fair on…" I was going to say 'on her.' Apparently she didn't give a crap about being fair to me.
"So you did it because you were bored," I concluded. "Did you know he had a girlfriend?"
She sat back and shrugged. "He might have mentioned that. What do I care? If he's going to cheat, he's going to cheat. It's not my fault."
"You were there for him to cheat with," I pointed out. "And you were cheating. Did I mean nothing to you? I thought we had something good going." Ouch, this fucking hurt.
"We did," she agreed.
It took me a moment to get my head around that. "You went to the past tense pretty quickly."
She didn't look the slightest bit sorry either.
"I know over when I see it." She slipped off my lap and into the chair opposite me. "Things were getting dull anyway, don't you think?"
I blinked a couple of times. No, I hadn't thought that. She was hot and exciting and seemed into me.
Then I realised what she was doing. She was trying to put the blame on me. It was my fault she cheated because she was bored.
"I guess it was," I replied at last. "Seems like you did us a favour."
She looked surprised, but covered it quickly with a smile.
"Of course I did." If she was a bird, she'd be preening her feathers right now. Congratulating herself for a job well done.
How did I not see right through her from the start?
Brandi was all about Brandi. Dating a guy from the Humpbacks was a shiny piece of glass to add to her pretty nest. If it wasn't me, it would have been another one of the guys.
Bam, Ollie, whoever. She might try to move on to one of them now we were done.
Or worse, she might try to sell her story to the press. That reporter guy, what was his name? Harvey Danbury. He was always sniffing around for dirt on the team. He'd eat this up.
"Well, um, thanks," I mumbled. I'd have to do whatever I could to end this amicably. Angry Brandi could be vengeful Brandi, and I couldn't afford that to happen.
"Do you and Kris have any plans?" I asked.
Brandi laughed. "Oh hell no. It was a one time thing. There's a couple of guys I might give my number to, if you don't want it."
I did want it. I wanted to write it on a piece of paper and flush it down the toilet and far away. I wish I'd never met the woman in the first place.
"I just want you to be happy," I said as sincerely as I could. I wasn't a good liar, especially when I was pissed, but it sounded legitimate. More or less.
She looked genuinely surprised. It might be the first real reaction I had from her since we met.
"You're not mad at me?" She seemed confused.
Yes, you lying, cheating bitch, I thought. I never want to see your overly made up face again as long as I live.
I forced a smile. "I was away a lot. I can't expect a girl like you to wait around for me. Now the season has started, I'll be busier with training and all that. You deserve a guy with a lot more time on his hands."
She cocked her head and her fake lashes fluttered. "I do, don't I? I guess I had no clue how busy pro ball players got."
"Very, very busy," I agreed. My teammates could thank me later when she didn't go after any of them. If she didn't.
"Yeah." She toyed with her earlobe. For a moment she looked like the young woman behind the wannabe social media influencer, or whatever her angle was.
There were rare times when she let down her guard and just acted like herself—smart, savvy, took no shit from anyone.
I hoped she discovered that woman some day, before she was lost under a layer of lipstick, eyeshadow and followers.
"Well, uh." I didn't know where to look now. Preferably anywhere but at her. "I should head out."
"Oh no, you stay." She got to her feet. "I have an appointment at the salon." She went to turn away.
"Brandi," I said before she could. "You called me a few times, but didn't leave a message. Did you need anything?"
"Oh." She tilted her head. "I guess not. I just… I wanted you to hear what happened from me, before that woman said anything. Who knows what a scorned girlfriend might say?"
"Right," I said slowly. What did she think Ashley might have said that was worse than what actually happened? I honestly couldn't think of a damn thing crappier than sleeping with someone else.
I looked down toward the table and realised that wasn't it at all. Brandi was scared Ashley would tell me. She had no intention of doing it herself. If Ashley said nothing, Brandi and I would have gone on as usual, with her doing who knows what, or who, behind my back.
"Can I ask you something else before you go?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I started this, so I might as well finish it.
"Of course," Brandi said lightly. She looked as though she was getting bored.
"Was it the first time?" I asked. "Since we've been seeing each other."
She hesitated, then smiled. "You don't really want the answer to that." She turned on her high heels and sashayed out of the bar, guy's eyes following as she went.
"You really can pick 'em," I told myself under my breath. I shook my head and snatched up my helmet as one of the guys walked in.
"Bam," I called out. Abraham 'Bam' Clinton was the Humpbacks’ running back. Slightly shorter than I was, Bam was a whole lot more smartass.
"Chasey-boy," Bam replied. That was as close to a nickname as I ever got from anyone on the team.
I was okay with that. For a while they called me Hunt, but I ignored it and it didn't stick.
They tried Widey for a bit too, but then gave up on that too.
"You here for a burger?" I forgot about that while I was talking with Brandi, but my appetite came back with a vengeance.
"What the heck else would I be here for?" Bam asked with a grin. "I ain't poppin' in for your company."
"I'm hurt," I said with a chuckle. "My shining wit is going to waste around guys like you."
"Shining wit," Bam said slowly, "or whining shit?" He grinned even wider now.
Fuck, I walked right into that one. I should know better around Bam.
"Definitely the first." I patted his shoulder and followed him into the restaurant section of Waves.
Like the bar, it was nothing fancy, but the smell of stale beer gave way to grilling meat and chips.
"Didn't I ban you two?" John asked as he walked past, a plate in either hand.
"Probably," Bam agreed. "But you missed us so much, you let us back in."
John set the plates down in front of a pair of diners and moved to stand beside our table.
"Interesting theory," he said slowly.
"How 'bout this theory," Bam said. "We pay money in return for your fine food."
"That's a theory I can get behind," John said. "What can I get you?"
We gave our orders and I asked, "How's the new baby?"
John replied with a weary smile. "A handful, just like all the rest, and their mother."
"Don't let Vera hear you say that," Hawk Florence stepped out from the kitchen, an overflowing plate on one hand.
The Humpbacks' quarterback was Vera's cousin, and one of Waves biggest supporters and more frequent customers.
The whole team was here a lot, truthfully, but sometimes I thought he lived out the back.
Or had before he met his girlfriend, Bec. The pair were inseparable these days.
"She'll kick your ass." Hawk grinned and flopped down in the chair beside Bam.
"She'll kick my ass anyway," John said.
Hawk pointed a chip in John's direction. "True," he said.
While he was distracted, I grabbed a handful of chips.
"Hey, fuck off," Hawk protested.
"Who needs that many chips?" Bam asked, snagging a few himself.
"Me," Hawk replied. "I'm a growing boy."
"You're gonna be growing out if you keep eatin' like that," Bam said. "Now." He turned to me. "What's with the long face?"
Was it that obvious? I suppose it was.
I shrugged with one shoulder. "I broke up with Brandi."
"Awww, I'm sorry, man," Hawk said. He leaned over to pat me on the back, hard.
I winced and shifted to the other side of the chair, my body out of his reach..
"I'm not sorry," Bam said. "You're way too good for her anyway."
"He is?" Hawk asked, his eyes shining with mischief.
"Naw, it just seemed like the thing to say." Bam chuckled.
"With friends like you guys, who needs enemies?" I said dryly. "Or an opposing team."
"We're just razzing," Bam said. "I really do feel bad for you. This, right here, is why I stay single."
"That's not the only reason," Hawk said. "No woman will have you." He ducked when Bam scooped up a chip and threw it at Hawk's face.
"No food fights." John placed a plate in front of me. "You really will be banned then."
"You won't ban us," Hawk said. "You'll make us stay here and clean."
John looked thoughtful. "Good point. Food fight away then." He nodded and walked off to serve someone else.
"Seriously, I always got bad vibes from Brandi," Bam said. "Gold digger vibes."
Hawk murmured his agreement. "My gold digger senses were really going off around her."
"Yeah." I picked up my burger and took a bite, if only to change the subject. I got it, everyone saw it but me.
Maybe I should swear off women too.