Page 5 of Jake Forever
And there it was, that warmth again, creeping downward at the memory of Jake's lips grazing my navel, just before drifting lower. Damn it. I gave a little shake of my head. This wassonot the time or place.
Deliberately, I turned my attention to the stage, where the regular awards were finally winding down.
"And now," the emcee was saying, "it's time for the one we've all been waiting for." Dramatically, his voice boomed out, "College Athlete of the Year."
I looked to Dorian's table, where the brunettes were laughing at some secret joke. Dorian ended his latest phone call, shoved the phone into his pants pocket, and turned to glare at the girls. "Shut your pie-holes," he said, glancing toward the stage. "Can't you see the guy's talking?"
The girls stopped laughing and frowned. The nearest one made a pouty face and said, "But you told us it didn't matter."
Dorian gave her a withering look. "It matters now, so shut it." He looked toward his brother and called out across the table, "This is it, bro. Be ready."
Ronnie shoved his own cell phone back into his pocket, and then, with a self-satisfied smile, turned his chair toward the stage and waited.
The lights in the audience section grew dim, while the lights on the stage grew just a shade brighter. From some unseen source, dramatic music – the theme toRocky, maybe? – swelled out of the shadows.
Two tables over, the waiters were delivering covered plates. Next to me, Jake looked easy and relaxed. On my other side, Trey gave something like a laugh.
I turned toward him and asked, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." He gave an evil chuckle. "Yet."
Up on stage, the emcee was still talking. "And, as we all know, it's an honor just to be nominated."
Dorian gave a loud snort. He called out toward his brother, "Even better to win." He roared with laughter. "Right, Ronnie-boy?"
Faltering only slightly, the emcee announced the name of each athlete who'd been nominated. Other than Ronnie North, I recognized none of the names. But then again, I hadn't expected to.
Finally, the emcee reached into his jacket pocket. With a flourish, he whipped out a silver envelope, tore it open, and pulled out a small slip of paper. He looked down at the thing and froze. A slow, confused frown settled over his features. Near the back of the banquet hall, someone coughed.
Into the silence, Dorian bellowed out, "Go on, read it!" He gave a bark of laughter. "Food's gettin' cold, man!" Everyone at his table laughed. Other than a few nervous chuckles, they were the only ones.
On stage, the emcee cleared his throat and gave the paper another nervous glance.
At Dorian's table, Ronnie North pushed back his chair and leaned forward, obviously getting ready to head up on stage.
God, what a dumb-ass. Rigged or not, couldn't he at leastpretendto be surprised?
The emcee took a deep breath and leaned closer to the microphone. "And the winner is…" He gave a stiff smile. "Becky Summers of Tri-State University."
