Page 15 of Matched By My Rival
“Figured I’d better be on hand in case I have to pull him off your sorry ass again. It might be the off season, but Coach won’t be happy if he loses another wide receiver.”
“He didn’t have to lose the first one,” I muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Just…you know I didn’t want Prentiss gone, right?”
Darnell considered me as he rolled to a stop. “Yeah, I know. That’s one of the reasons we’re still cool.”
I knew he was tight with Simon, so I appreciated that he hadn’t iced me out. I never should have shown my face with Kristin. I realized that now. She’d given me a song and dance about how distant and angry Simon had become, and how she just wanted to go out and have a nice break from their drama. We had a class together and had been friendly. I’d believed she was genuine at the time. Now, I was pretty sure I’d been a pawn to make him jealous.
It’d worked too. A little too well.
I rubbed a hand over my mouth, remembering the right hook that had laid me out flat and turned Simon’s scholarship to ashes. He had a temper, and I’d be testing it again by intruding on his project. Still, was there any other way to make peace than to venture out on that olive branch?
Darnell pulled up in front of the work site, an old two-story Victorian in very sorry shape. It was splotchy from where the paint had unevenly faded, and flaked away in some places, with the upper floors even worse than the lower. There were a number of rails missing from the porch, and some of the siding was torn away beneath it. But all that sort of faded when compared with the sheer amount ofjunkthat littered the front yard.
There was an abandoned porch swing with rusted chains sitting on the lawn, along with a tire, no fewer than three televisions, what looked like an old freezer, a rolled up rug, and a ton of rusted out tools and gardening equipment, including a lawn mower that probably hadn’t worked for a decade.
It looked like we had our work cut out for us.
D grabbed my shoulder before I could get out. “Keep your distance today. He ain’t ready to make nice.”
Well, crap. Had coming here been a mistake?
“Distance is my specialty.” I said lightly, waggling my brows. “I always leave those defensemen in my dust, don’t I?”
Darnell grinned. “Yeah, well, Simon is no slow-ass tackle. You’ve got nothing on him.”
Before I could formulate a comeback, he killed the engine and got out of the car. I followed him across the yard toward the small crew gathering for instructions. Despite D’s warning, I hadn’t volunteered for House Pledge to keep my distance…but maybe I could ease my way in. I also hadn’t come here to be a dick.
I could take it slow. I could give Simon time. I could—
Oh, damn.
My first glimpse of Simon Prentiss in months hit me in the solar plexus.
I forgot how gorgeous he is.
His hair was a little longer, more on the shaggy side than when he’d been on the team, and the dark strands danced in the wind. He raised a hand, shoving it back from his eyes as he talked with a guy beside him, looking as serious as ever. Simon had always had an intensity about him that was captivating. He’d poured that intensity into his game, working harder than anyone I’d ever known. If it weren’t for injuries, he’d have been one of the best wide receivers a place like Hayworth had ever seen.
He’d had shit luck, there was no disputing that.
I was a good wide receiver too. Faster than Simon, a little more agile on turns. I had the talent. What I didn’t have was the discipline. Football wasn’t my future, and I was okay with that. More than okay, I was eager. I wanted a life that involved more than weight-lifting, running drills, and keeping my sexuality on the DL. Football had been fun—until it’d become more work than play. Now, I was mostly over it. I had a whole life ahead of me.
My mom, on the other hand, was likely to be heartbroken when I stopped playing and moved on to other things. Which is why I hadn’t shared my feelings with her—or the thoughts that kept creeping in that maybe I should quit sooner rather than later.
Simon glanced up. “Okay, guys, today we’re—uh…” He faltered briefly as his brown eyes connected with mine.
Darnell hip checked me, tossing me a few feet aside and grinned. “Hey, Simon, hope you got enough work for me?”
Simon raised his eyebrows as he glanced from Darnell to me, but he didn’t seem shocked that I was here. Someone—most likely someone with a name starting in D—had warned him.
Simon glanced at the clipboard in his hands. “I don’t see your name on here, D.”
“Yeah, I’m just tagging along with Reed.”
Simon scrutinized the list, his lips pressing into a flat line. He didnotlike seeing my name there. Despite my plans to mend fences, something about his hostility caused my pulse to speed up. Would he try to punch me again, rather than accept my help? And why did that idea seem more exciting than scary?
