Page 19 of The Quarterback Sneak

“What’s up, guys?” I raise my chin, keeping my lips straight while I pretend nothing strange happened.

Brett waltzes over with a bitter laugh before pushing my chest. “What the hell, man?” His jaw tightens, and there’s a flash of anger in his eyes. “When did you put the moves on Honey? Didn’t you know we had a bet?”

I grin back, looking between Kyle, Jamie, Connor, and Brett. “Of course I knew about it.” Then I reach into the back of my pads, throwing down the brown envelope onto the central wooden bench. “I want in.” I stare directly at Jamie as I speak, and his eye twitches and his chest rises.

Jamie steps toward me. “You really think you can keep Honey’s attention for longer than five minutes?”

Keeping a straight face, I reply, “I already have. Just because you had trouble captivating her attention for longer than a few seconds doesn’t mean I have the same problem.” I glance down at his football pants to make sure he gets the innuendo. Richboys can be a little slow, after all. “Now, will you let me in on this bet or not?”

“Whoa, what, wait. That’s not fair.” Brett raises his hand, pointing at me. “He’s already got something going on with Honey. That’ll make it easier for him to ask her out on a date if he hasn’t already.”

Jamie keeps his eyes homed in on me with anger still burning behind them. “Let him join the bet. We’ll up the ante, and having him in will make it interesting. He may have kissed her once, but I know Honey, she doesn’t keep strays. She’ll get bored when she realizes how little her daddy cares that she’s dating him. Besides, Brett, you’ve got hometeam advantage. Once she’s through with Scholarship Kid, she’ll be begging for something familiar. Something more like me.”

I try to keep a straight face. Brett’s as dumb as a box of rocks and doesn’t see how this plays to Jamie’s advantage. Something familiar? Yeah, Jamie thinks Honey will crawl back to him once she’s done with me. I may not know Honey that well, but if her impassioned speech earlier was anything to go by, she seemed pretty ticked off at the people around her.

“If you’re so sure, then it should be easy for you to take my money.” I goad the room. “Do you know how hard I had to work to get that ten grand? Won’t it feel good to watch me flitter it away on something so frivolous when I could have used it on something more important?”

Eyes connect around the room in an invisible conversation I’m not invited to. They’re deliberating, but after stoking the fire with Jamie, I know I’m in.

Jamie leans forward, grabs the envelope, and opens it, counting to make sure I’m good for the money.Dick.He shoves the envelope in his bag before stating, “Okay, New rules. Honey is fair game the rest of the season. Whoever is dating her by the end of our run, which should be until we win the championships—” The team cheer at that. “Will win the full fifty thousand dollars. If none of you are dating her, then I get the money.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait.” Brett raises his hand. “Before, it was just one datefor ten thousand. Now I have to actually get her to date me?”

Jamie raises a finger to his temple, tapping it ever so slightly. “Think it through, my man. You have to be dating her by the end of the season, not the whole time.”

And there it is. Jamie giving way for another unfair advantage that Brett is too dumb to see. As Brett stands there, Jamie raises his eyebrows in my direction, helping him figure it out. When it finally clicks that none of them think I can keep Honey interested for that long, Brett grins widely. “Nah, you’re right. Let’s do this. You in, Scholarship?”

With pursed lips, I nod and hold out my hand. “Sounds good.” Putting up with Honey for the football season can’t be that bad since I’ll be busy for most of it anyway. “Good luck, fellas.” While shaking on it with the rest of the guys, the whole room mutters and laughs, wondering who will win this bet. Too bad they’re all too dumb to see the whole thing is fixed.

“Dude, you might want to wipe that smile off your face.” Mike points to my lips, shaking his head. When I swipe my hand across my mouth, I laugh at the red stains on my palm. Well, I’ll be damned; I had Honey’s lipstick all over my face while talking to Jamie. No wonder he was so pissy and hellbent on bringing me down.

I’m the last person in the locker room by the time I’ve finished changing. Everyone else has made their way to some cheerleader’s house for an after-party. I wasn’t invited, but it wasn’t like I’d attend. It’s late, and I’ve got to get home to Tiff and Ella.

I still feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins when I think about tonight, and it’s not just because we won against oneof our biggest rivals. It’s because Honey did something selfless and agreed to help me. Granted, she’ll be getting some revenge and cash out of this, but winning twenty-five grand will mean so much more to me.

Walking out to the parking lot, I already know I will see Mike before he clasps my shoulder.

“Hey.” Typical Mike. Always there waiting to offer me a ride even though he knows I’ll say no. But tonight might be the exception when I see the pensive and thoughtful look on his face. Tonight, I might actually say yes to his ride. “Please tell me you and Honey have some kind of deal, and I’m not going to have to punch you in the face for entering that stupid bet.”

Slapping his shoulder, I laugh and shake my head. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Come on, let me explain in the car.”

“The car?” he asks with raised brows.

“Yeah, take me home, Princess.”

Mike smirks, using his hand on my shoulder to lead me to his car, and I follow, ready to explain everything.

Chapter Seven

Honey

Why the hell did I agree to do this?

I’ve asked myself this question countless times as I sit on this wooden picnic bench, staring at the scene before me. The weather is great for October. Sunny with a slight breeze in the air makes it comfortable, and the birds chirping make the whole thing downright pleasant.

But then I hear it.

Crunch.

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