Chapter 34
An Auction
Olli
“All right, big guy, how’re you feeling?” Brooker asked, clapping my shoulder as we all waited off stage for the bidding to start. The doors for the event opened well over an hour ago, but the one person I wanted to see, the reason I was doing this whole thing, had yet to arrive.
So my limit for dealing with Brooker’s bullshit was at an all-time low.
“Brooker, leave him alone,” Christenson said, taking him by the elbow and pulling him away from me. “I can’t believe y’all bullied him into this. Kean, if you want an out, just say the word and I’ll cover for you.”
“No, I signed up for this willingly,” I grumbled, narrowing my eyes to search the crowd by the door. I wouldn’t say I’d be pissed if Kodi missed this event, but I’d be pretty damn close.
“Seriously?” Christenson gaped.
“I’m offended you thought I was bullying him,” Brooker mumbled. “I came over to give him a pep talk like a good teammate.”
“Oh.” Christenson turned to me. “I’m sorry, Kean. I didn’t realize you needed help. I’ve been … trying to keep the peace between the owners and Coach and it hasn’t been going well.”
“And if you had to put money on them selling or firing Coach, which would it be?” Brooker asked and Christenson gave him an exhausted look.
“That’s a little too close to insider trading for my liking.”
“I wouldn’t bet with anyone outside the team,” he said with a shrug.
“I still don’t think that’s —”
“Hey, Kean,” Jimenez cut in. “Rosa and Kodi just got here. Checking their jackets and shit. You still want us to encourage her to bid on you?”
“What?” Christenson looked between us, but I focused on Jimenez, shaking my head.
“No. I … I told her she could use my money to bid already. If she doesn’t, then …” I paused to shrug. “Then all the shenanigans and the setup attempts end.”
“What the hell is going on?” Christenson said, mostly to himself.
“Based on what Rosa said, I don’t think you need to stop.”
“Wait, what all did she say?” I asked, because all Jimenez said when he reported back was that Kodi didn’t feel like I was her boss in terms of social pressure. If anything else had been said, I sure as hell wanted to know about it.
“Oh, um … I’d rather not say,” he said, fighting a laugh.
“All right, gentleman, are you ready?” Lacey, the event coordinator for the gala, asked, not looking up from her clipboard as she motioned us to the stage.
“Wait, what —”
“Good luck, man.” Jimenez clapped me on the arm as Brooker pushed me towards the stairs.
“You got this. Just, you know, smile a little bit, yeah?” Brooker advised and I immediately elbowed him in the stomach.
“If no one bids on me, I’m taking it out on you,” I grumbled.
“How?” He drew back, forehead furrowed.
“I don’t know. I’ll get creative.”
Brooker made a weird, anxious noise, but I tuned him out. Him and the announcer that went through a five-minute spiel about the history of the gala and what this charity meant to the organizer and a bunch of other pompous fluff that made stuffy events like this all the worse.
Other than Brooker and me, there were four other guys doing this date auction thing, Christenson, Sosa, Derderian, and Marshall.
Our bids would happen after they went through all the other auction items, like season tickets, memberships to the science center, and whatever other local donations they collected.
So I had a lot of time to stand there awkwardly and stare out at the crowd.
It took a few minutes of scanning, but before the first item was sold, I found Kodi.
She was with Rosa and Jimenez at a table a few rows past the stage, the girls whispering while Jimenez looked tense. But I didn’t spend much time looking at the other two or trying to read their body language, because the second my eyes landed on Kodi, I couldn’t look away.
She was in a long, maroon dress with thin straps over her shoulders and a scooped neckline, the fabric folding over itself. And the waves of her hair had been piled up on the top of her head, a few strands framing her face.
She was stunning. Well, she was always stunning, but seeing this type of stunning made everything ache, like I was physically missing something and I wouldn’t feel right again until she was in my arms, or at the very least by my side.
But seeing her also calmed my nerves some. From the second I put this suit on, I felt out of place. Like my skin wasn’t ‘on’ right. But seeing her dressed to the same level as me, everything fit again.
“Dude, you’re definitely not gonna get bid on if you keep drooling over Kodi like that,” Brooker whispered, but before I could snap back at him, Christenson clicked his tongue at both of us like a mom getting their kids in line.
“Just keep your tongue in your mouth,” Brooker said out of the corner of his mouth, speaking quieter to not get chastised.
“My tongue isn’t hanging out.”
“Coulda fooled me.”
“You talking about how hot Kodi looks?” Sosa cut in and I turned to him in a panic, glaring like I was daring him to keep going. But the guy had the gall to laugh and say, “Guess that’s a yes.”
“And now for the big prizes,” the announcer cheered. “Ladies get your paddles ready, because it’s time to bid on a date with one of our Dastards.”
The crowd applauded as we all stepped up, some women whistling and hollering.
“Oof, not a fan of this energy,” Brooker mumbled to himself.
“What’re you talking about?” Marshall said with a little huff. “This is the exact kind of energy you should expect as hot athletes.”
Brooker made a noise of discontent and Marshall rolled his eyes but didn’t take the disagreement any further.
“We’ll start with the team’s goalkeeper, Olli Kean! This is Kean’s first time up for auction and we’re super excited to have him here. He’s …”
I stepped up next to the announcer and tuned them out as I walked to the edge of the stage.
They’d told us during the line up to softly gaze out over the audience.
But I didn’t have a clue what a soft gaze meant and the only person I wanted to look at was Kodi.
So that’s what I did. I kept my eyes on her, watching as she looked me over, licking her lips.
If she gave me a sign, I was going to kiss her tonight. I had to. I needed to. If I didn’t, the gaping hole in my chest would only get worse.
So when I got to the edge of the stage, I mouthed ‘please’ to Kodi. Please bid on me. Please kiss me. Please remember me. Please stop this ache in my chest. Just please.
Then I turned to walk back to the announcer and the bidding began.