Page 37 of Heart of Gold
“Sounds romantic,” she sighs. “Meanwhile, I can’t even get a guy to invite me to a party and not be fucking some girl by the time I get there.”
I growl in frustration, “Guys are dumb.”
“That one guy from Voltage with the glasses, though, what was his name again? You know, perfect teeth, perfect attitude, perfect ass?”
I can’t help but grin as she rambles, “Remi?”
“Yessss,” She drawls. “Rem-ing-ton. Nowthatis a man.”
I can’t help but smile as she gushes on about him.
“Quinny, we should go to the football game this weekend. I bet there will be loads of muscular, sexy men there.”
I tilt my brows in, “By loads, you mean one? Remi?”
“Okay, fine. Yes, Remi.”
I cross my arms over my chest to argue, “I don’t want to go. Grayson will be there.”
She cocks her hips out, “So? You can’t spend the entire semester hiding, Quinn. Fuck him.”
I lower my eyes at her shorter frame, “Fine. You’re right.”
“I am?” She smirks, batting her eyelashes dramatically. “I love when you say that.”
I shove her arm, knocking her off balance, “Don’t get used to it.”
The entire week flies by and after ignoring every single one of Grayson's texts, he’s finally made it an entire twenty four hours without one, but it’s not lost on me that today is game day. Football always comes first.
I won’t lie and say that I had held out a minuscule of hope that he would for once just follow through with all of these empty promises and put me first. I know that sounds childish because football is his future, but there was a time when I thought I was his future, too.
I toss my phone to the side, and my mind goes back to the cruise. I bet Phoenix wouldn’t have made me question anything like this. He was different. I shake the thought from my mind. He might’ve been different, but he’s gone.
“You ready?” Ava asks as she pulls a black dress with obnoxious sequin gold stars over her head. Her matching black cowboy boots grace her feet, along with a gold headband.
I shake my head, “You look like boutique vomit.”
She tosses an M&M at me from the bag as she crams a bunch in her mouth, “Shut up, Quinn. Get dressed.”
I look down at my jeans and Golden Eagles sweatshirt. “I am dressed.”
She tilts her head to the side, and I can tell she’s thinking about arguing with me but decides better of it. I know that these games are a big deal on campus and, yes, most girls are all decked out like Ava, but that’s just not me.
She rummages through her closet and walks to me, pulling my hair half back in a gold clip. “There. Festive.”
I roll my eyes, and grab my clear bag for the stadium. “Let’s go.”
Walking through the giant black iron gates into the stadium, It’s like a sea of black and gold. I try my best to ignore it but I see several jerseys with Grayson’s number on the back. He’s justa freshman but I’ve seen the articles and people are hoping he helps turn this program into something great.
We slip into the student section and it happens to be right behind the home team bench. I watch as the guys run drills and instantly find Grayson. He looks irritated and when the team takes the field, Grayson doesn’t leave the bench. Halftime comes and goes and there he sits, while a few of the fans around me are yelling things at the coach wondering why they don’t give him a shot. I glance at the scoreboard. We are down by two touchdowns.
On the next play, a giant linebacker sacks our quarterback and I watch as he is slow to get up. The place goes eerily silent as he limps off the field. My heart starts to beat faster when I realize they are going to put Grayson in.
Why am I so nervous for him?
I shouldn’t be nervous. I shouldn’t even care.
Wishing I could tame my pounding heart in my chest, I cover it with folded arms, staring intently at the field. I watch as Grayson pulls his helmet down over his head and stalks out to the huddle. The team claps and they all line up on the ball. Ava takes my hand and nervously squeezes it.
