Chapter 26
Football Games and Tailgating Parties
Scarlett
My phone rings, making me burn myself with the straightener. Hot damn. It's London calling me back.
Hey London. I'm glad you called me back. I've been worried about you. I haven’t stopped thinking about this girl since she told me her story.
She sounds semi upbeat. Hey. I’m okay, actually. I’ve just been studying, and I finally went out with some friends the other night.
I’m relieved. Oh, that makes me so happy. That's great. I just want you to know we're working hard to bring him down.
Thank you, Scarlett. I’ll talk to you later.
Talk to you later. Bye.
I’m glad London isn’t letting those assholes win.
As I’m getting ready, I can’t help but think about Axel and his dad.
His dad is in town, but Axel has kept true to his word and kept me out of the line of fire.
Some of the things he's told me about his childhood have broken my heart.
His Mama is a drug-loving bitch, and his dad is a power-loving asshole.
His grandad basically took him to a prostitute for his first time.
He had a terrible childhood. One without any love except from his nanny, who raised him and died too early.
The dislike and possible hate I feel inside for those people who should have cared for him is substantial. How dare they do that to my Ax.
It’s because of them that he thinks he's a villain, and while his moral compass is sometimes gray, he's still one of the best men I've ever met.
Axel is starved for love, and the whole stalking thing was because he saw the same thing hiding in me.
He couldn't find love in the arms of all the girls he'd slept with, and I couldn't find it hiding against the wall while watching everyone else live their lives.
Those three little words that hold so much power haven't been spoken between us yet, but that doesn't make them any less true.
We're in love. It's in the way he holds me, the way Axel looks deeply into my eyes when we're lost in conversation.
How he's bought me an endless amount of books, and how he kisses my forehead when he has to leave for early football practice and thinks I'm still asleep.
All the girls, minus Karen, Toby, and Jared, decided to get ready at Dani and Jake's tiny apartment.
We've not really spoken yet, but I have fallen in love with Granny Betsy Jean.
She is Dani and Toby's granny, but we've adopted her as ours, too.
She's the best, and since I never got to meet my grandparents, I’m stuck on Granny Betsy Jean.
Both my parents were older when they had me. Dad was 43, and Mama was 38.
Toby knocks on the door of the bathroom. "You done yet, Lou?"
I open up and he attacks me with a hug. Toby can be on the dramatic side, but something is definitely wrong with him this time. "What's wrong, Tobes?"
He sighs. "Everything." Toby pushes me back in and closes the bathroom door behind him.
"I need to talk to someone, and you and Jaxon are my go-to's.
Everyone else won't look at this subjectively.
Karen is acting strange. She doesn't want me to come over or even be seen with me anywhere.
She's also hidden her relationship status on all her socials. Am I being too sensitive?"
Oh, I will kick her ass because this does not sound good. "Have you asked her what's changed?"
He nods. "Karen says that I'm being melodramatic, that she needs space, and she's never had it visible on her profiles."
Bullshit, because I've seen it with my two eyes. "Has she clarified what space means to her?"
His face turns ghostly pale. "She says that we're still together but that we don't have to hang out all the time."
The resting bitch face I didn't even know I had comes out in full force. "Toby, if I'm out of line, please tell me, but has Karen, in the entirety of your relationship, ever asked you what you may want?"
He shakes his head. "No, but she's been through so much."
"Toby, a person's past doesn't give them an excuse for bad behavior. We've all watched how she's treated you these past few weeks, and it's not fair. Something else has to be going on." I gently squeeze his arm.
"She's cheating on me, Lou." He says it with such conviction.
My heart is literally being torn in two for him. I will end her. "How do you know?"
"I don't have solid proof yet. But when she's supposed to be at work, she's not, and when she says she’s with friends, she's not.
Karen will not leave her phone in the same room as me if she's not in there.
And we haven't had sex in months. She won't touch me or let me touch her.
No hugs, kisses, nothing." He takes a deep breath.
She's cheating on him. No other explanation will suffice. And what a bitch! "Toby, I wish I could explain away her behavior, but..."
"You can't." He sadly responds.
"I can't. Want me to help you catch her?" Because I will.
He shakes his head. "I'm not ready yet."
I open the bathroom door. "When you are, I'm here."
"Please, don't tell the others. I'm going to, but I'm not at that point yet." He whispers.
"Toby, I just want you to know, you deserve to be treated better. We never tell guys that, always girls, but it’s important you hear it.
You deserve better, and if you decide to take her back once the shit hits the fan, I will have your back and be in your corner.
" She's the worst of the worst to hurt this beautiful boy.
He nods his head. "Thank you, and I know. I'm just waiting until I'm okay with losing her and it not ripping my heart out."
I give him another hug. "Like I said, when you are ready, me, you, and Jaxon will do a steak out with all the snacks, and we will find out what she's doing." He nods again.
We head to the stadium to do some tailgating before the game. Granny Betsy Jean pulls a chair out and tells me to sit down. "Now, what's your name, baby?" Her Georgia accent is on full display.
"It's Scarlett." I smile back at her. Literally enamored with this lady!
"Are you the one dating that hunk of flesh with all that glorious long hair?" She asks, her eyebrows raised.
My laugh is so loud that it turns the heads of not only our party but the ones around us as well. "Yes, ma'am, I'd be her."
"Oh, I like you, and he's a good one. Now, where are you from, honey?" She asks sweetly.
"Louisiana, born and raised." She replied proudly.
"Oh, that's a fine state." Her tone is conspiratorial. "I had a beau from there one time. He taught me how to kiss, amongst other things." Go, granny!
Toby comes up and kisses his granny on her forehead. "Now, granny, you ain't trying to steal her man, are you?"
She laughs. "No, not this time."
Toby takes everybody's orders and fires up the mini grill.
A slew of burgers and hotdogs are coming up.
He's even brought some spicy chili just for me.
We load our Yeti cups with ice and beer and day drink away.
My nerves get the best of me after we walk into the stadium.
Axel has texted me a few times, and I've been the encouraging girlfriend, but honestly, I'm on pins and needles. What if they lose? But I choose to believe that they will win. Everybody stares at me because I’m wearing his away jersey, with the Creed name spread over the back.
Dani and Sasha are both wearing their men's away jerseys proudly too.
I sit in front of them as Toby and Jared sit at my sides.
Granny Betsy Jean has on Jaxon's t-shirt. He even signed it for her.
Axel sends me a text as the pregame countdown starts up on the Jumbotron.
Rabies: What do I get after we win tonight?
A dull ache starts at the apex of my thighs. Just one text from him can turn me into a horny idiot. A big, goofy grin spreads across my face because I am about to give into something he's been begging me for.
Me: If you win tonight, Axel creed, I'll sit on your face.
Immediately, the dots come up as he types a reply.
Rabies: Scarlett, I can't wait for you to fuck my face.
Shit, if I don't get some relief soon, I'm going to have to go into the bathroom and take care of my needs. Toby looks over at my phone screen and busts out laughing. "We're definitely going to win now." He yells out in true Toby fashion.
***
Scarlett doesn't know yet, but she's it for me. I've told my dad, and he laughed in my face, but I don't give a shit. She's mine, always. -Axel
Jaxon stands to my left. "What you smiling like a jackass for?"
"Because my girl is going to sit on my face tonight when we win." He gives me a high-five.
"And that's a beautiful thing." He yells out before Jake calls us all to attention.
"Okay, my brothers, you've seen the rankings, you've heard the commentators, they think last year was a fluke. Now let's show them motherfuckers what we know." Nobody can motivate a bunch of assholes like our captain can. I’m thankful to call him one of my best friends and brothers.
The crowd goes wild as we take the field. They win the coin toss, so we'll be up first. Jake pulls me to the side. "Axel, Dallas just told me that Jennings over there slid in Scarlett's DM's before the football game."
What? Is he messing with me? Dallas walks over. "Jake, I told you not to tell him."
That motherfucker. Hector stops me before I can get to him, and Jake gets in my line of vision. "Focus, you'll have your revenge, but do it the right way. Stop him, Axel. Show Scarlett."
I'm going to pound him into the ground. Their best linebacker is about to get his ass kicked. We get into position, and I smile at Jennings. "What the fuck you smiling about, Creed?"
"You'll see," I answer honestly. The ball is snapped and Jake throws it to Jaxon. I pulverize my opponent into the ground. "Scarlett sends her regards."
“Who?” He groans out as he gets up.
*
We shut out Ole Miss and won by 21. Jennings had to be carried off the field in the last half. Maybe next time, he'll think before trying to talk to what's mine. My girl meets me at the gate and gives me a big victory hug.
"So this is the Scarlett I've heard so much about?" My blood runs cold. Daddy dearest. Fuck.
She stiffens in my arms. "Hello, Mr. Creed."
"May I talk to you alone, honey?" He puts on the billionaire-bought thousand-watt smile.
"No, sir. Respectfully, whatever you need to say, Axel can hear. Although, he's already warned me about all you'll try to do. I don't want your money, and I'm recording this conversation, so don't try anything funny." She replies with her head held high.
That's my girl. "Dad. Don't."
"Or what, son? You won't make it a day without me." Yeah. I will.
She places her hand on my chest to calm me. Thankfully, it works. She steps in front of me. "Sir, what's so wrong with us being together?"
He laughs, cold and unfeeling. "Because people like you don't belong with people like us."
"D—n," she puts her hand over my mouth so I can't speak.
"Don't you ever put Axel in the same category as you? He's perfect, despite how you tried to raise him. And no matter what you think, I'm not less than because I'm not a size two. Beauty can be found in any number." She turns around and kisses me on the cheek. "I'll be waiting for you at the car."
I watch her leave with mixed emotions. Sadness settles in my chest because this may be the last time I ever speak with my father, but happiness eventually wins out.
As long as Scarlett is by my side, I have a future.
"Dad, you can cut me off or whatever you want to do, but she's a part of my future.
The ball is in your court. You decide where you belong in my life. "
Giving him one last look, shaking my head and walk in the direction of where my tomorrow is.