Page 24 of Hitting the Goal Line
He gives me a nod. “As long as you are here and not walking home alone in the fucking dark, I’m okay with that.”
I give him a curt nod and walk around him to head into the house.
If I’m going to get through the night, I’m going to need a drink.
CHAPTER NINE
BLAKE
This isthe last time I take advice from Lennie.
I don’t care that one day she might be my sister-in-law, or that she is one of my favorite females on the planet or that she is sweet and quiet and shit. She sucks at giving advice.
If I hadn’t listened to her, I would have found a distraction by calling Sophia over so that we could binge watch whatever reality show that she wanted and pig out on pizza. But no, I had to listen to Lennie and go out to party, and now the night has turned into absolute shit and I’m blaming it on her.
Her and the damn skirt that Sophia is wearing.
From the second Sophia came down the stairs at her parents’ house to now, my eyes have stayed on her. I’ve watched the way she moves, the way she bends over, the way she laughs with other people that aren’t me. I’ve also been watching all the guys that have been starting at her all-damn night, looking at her and licking their lips as if she was a lollipop and they couldn’t wait to suck on her.
All my attention has been on her all-damn night and every part of me hates it. Not because Sophia doesn’t warrant myattention, she does, but she’s my best friend, I have no right to look at her the way I have tonight. I have no right to have thoughts about what she might be wearing under that skirt of hers. I have no right to picture the type of bra that she on because whatever it is makes her tits look absolutely perfect.
She’s my best friend. She has been at my side since I was five. She deserves to have someone at her side that will be there for her, to take care of her and protect her, not someone that is trying really hard not to have a fantasy about her naked body in the middle of a party.
Are these thoughts new? As much as I want to say yes, I would be lying to myself.
Thoughts about being with Sophia in a way that isn’t solely a friendship have definitely come up more times than I can count in the last three years.
Even while I was with other girls, thoughts of Sophia have been ever present. Thoughts of how she would feel under me. Of how she would sound be moaning out my name, or even how she would look if she were to wrap her full lips around my cock. Thoughts that are definitely making me out to be a horrible friend.
But sexual thoughts aren’t the only thing that pop into my mind when it comes to her. I also think about what she might say if I told her that I wanted to make her mine. I think about what it would be like to be in a relationship with her, to hold her hand or just go to sleep with her right next to me day in and day out. I think about how us being friends would make the best partners for each other. Just like my brother said when I was fifteen.
They’re just thoughts, though. Thoughts and never actions or spoken words.
Because even though I’ve known this girl, this woman, my entire life, I’m terrified of being with her. I don’t want to hurt her, I don’t want her to hate me and I sure as hell don’t want tolose her. So instead of growing some balls and telling my best friend that I’ve been attracted to her for fucking years and want to possibly try at having a future together, I hold everything in as tightly as possible. All so I don’t fuck it up.
Maybe she feels the same way.
I doubt it, but hey, I could be wrong. Unless she tells me, I won’t know otherwise.
I try not to let my mind drift back to Sophia by drinking my fourth beer of the night. Good thing Hunter and Selena are flying in because no way would I be able to call my mom or my stepdad to come pick us up.
The beer I’m drinking is fucking gross, but it’s the only thing that Landon was able to get his hands on, so it will do. As long as I don’t think about Sophia and sliding my hand under her skirt, I’m fucking golden.
A few of the guys come over where I’ve decided to chill for the night and talk about the draft. They’re all excited that one of our own has decided to go for the professional route. As much as I want to join in on their excitement, I can’t. Yeah, it’s cool and all but there is a high chance that things won’t work out how they think they are.
They all start talking about how they plan to meet up tomorrow to watch the draft and I’m about to add something about them possibly coming to my house if they want to, but I see something in my peripheral that takes my attention away.
Turning slightly, I check to see what it was, and the second I do, my jaw starts to tick. Sophia is walking with some guy toward the kitchen and from the looks of things, she doesn’t look all that happy to be anywhere near him.
I try to see who the guy she’s with is but I can’t get a good look at his face with this stupid ass lighting. Whoever it is, she wants to be as far away from him as possible.
I take my eyes off Sophia and the mystery douchebag mystery guy for a second and look around for her friends. When we got here, she instantly found some of her girlfriends and went straight to them, leaving me to hang out with my teammates if I wanted. I didn’t, I wanted to hang out with her, but she said she needed space from me, so I gave it to her.
But now she with some rando, and her friends are nowhere in sight.
I turn back to look Sophia and her new friend for a little bit longer, watching how the two of them interact, and how she tries her hardest to step out of his reach whenever his hand is only a few inches away. She starts looking around, like she is looking for someone, but when she doesn’t see whoever she is looking for, an expression of defeat coats her beautiful face.
I know for a fact that she isn’t looking for her friends, she’s looking for me, and because I’m basically hiding in the shadows, she couldn’t see me.
