Page 57 of Sideline Play

Do you have a minute?

I could really use some advice

Reeves, come on. It’s the offseason, I know your phone is within reach

Seriously, I need help

It’s an emergency

Before I can even clarify that it’s a girl emergency, my phone starts to blare with “Danger Zone,” Reeves’s walk-out song since college.

Answering his call, I don’t even have a chance to greet him before he’s saying, “I’m looking for my pants right now, Sugar. I won’t even stop to get Roman, I’ll call him on the way. Where are you?”

“Okay one, rude!” I start. “I’ve been blowing up your phone to no avail. Two, not that kind of emergency but it could’ve been, and you dodging my texts is not cool. So again I say, rude! And three, why do you need to find your pants?”

I hear a feminine voice in the background and Reeves promising to come right back, before he chuckles and responds into the phone, “I'm with Savannah; and Scarlet,thank you. I owe you the biggest present this Christmas. As for why I need to find my pants, I refer you to my company.”

“Ew! TMI! Actually, I take that back. Share a bit more so I can call it quid pro quo.”

“Well, those piercings Ro and I got when getting hazed—wait, what do you mean quid pro quo? Sugar, what’s going on? Why’d you need me and not Ro?”

Huffing out a breath as I gracelessly plop myself on the floor, I lament, “Remington is taking me out tonight and I have no idea what to wear and it has to be perfect because I’m in love with him and want to lose my virginity tonight but I can’t do that if we don’t go on the date and I can’t do that if I don’t put on clothes but I don’t know what clothes to put on or even what underwear to wear because I don’t know where he’s taking me so I’m sitting here naked in just a robe with everything from my ankle to my vag waxed and trimmed in preparation to have sex for the first time tonight and I need to be ready by six and oh my God, Reeves, HELP!” sucking in a large breath at the end.

“Whoah, okay Scarlet, first, you need to breathe. Where’s that not so menacing attack dog of yours?”

“Winnie is plenty menacing!”

“Maybe from a distance, but Sugar, she’s scared of her own damn shadow.”

“Keep talking shit about my baby, Reeves; see what happens.”

“At least you used punctuation when speaking this time so I’ll call it a win. Now answer my video call.”

No sooner does he tell me than is my phone chirping at me. Pulling it away from my ear, I tap on the camera icon and give Reeves a pathetic smile when he comes into focus.

“Wow, okay, Sugar, Imma need you to fix that robe before you flash me your perky little tits and RoandTate want my hide.”

Glancing down at where the silk has gapped open, I tug the ends together and mutter, “Happy now?”

“Well I don't feel like a shotgun is about to be pointed at my face, so yeah. Now tell me, what has your pretty doll face all pouty?”

“I told you, Remington asked me?—”

“Tate isn’t an idiot or blind, so he knows you’re the prettiest thing in easily six counties and wouldn’t care if you showed up in a potato sack. He’s a fuckin’ fool for you, and I saw it plain as day on the conference call. Seriously Scarlet, you’re stressing over nothing.”

“You’re not helping,” I cry.

“Then get a girlfriend. I don’t do that hand holding, joint commiseration shit. I fix and bounce.”

“And where should I get one of those? Aisle 3 of Target?”

“Nah, seems more like a thing you’d pick up at Hobby Lobby,” he easily retorts, making me laugh.

Continuing to chuckle, I say “Thanks, I needed that.”

“I know; it’s why I was your first call, Sugar.”

“Actually it was because?—”

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