Page 46 of Afterglow
“Yeah,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat. “That day is ingrained in my brain,”
Jazmine averts her gaze. “I never apologised for lashing out at you that day,”
“You don’t—”
She holds her palm out to stop me. “No. I do need to. I was in a terrible head space, not only on that day, but for most of my freshman year. I guilt trapped myself into thinking I was a failure because in my senior year of high school I studied most of the subjects you cover in freshman year.
“I thought it would give me a head start, but I burnt out and became a mess.” Jazmine pauses. “That’s another reason Jay and Willow fight a lot. I never told Willow about my struggles that year, so we partied straight after freshman year ended. Which, if you’ve been running off caffeine, energy drinks and no sleep isn’t good. I was hospitalised for a week—”
My eyes widened. “What the fuck Princess?”
“Yeah, I know. I’m fine now. But Jayden blamed Willow. I told her it wasn’t her fault, but she always took it to heart,”
“Jesus Christ,” I shake my head, not knowing what to say. “I felt so bad after I earned the internship. You looked terrible and it seemed like it was my fault,”
“It wasn’t.” Jazmine took a deep breath, but before she could speak a waitress interrupted. She places our drinks in front of us and minutes later brings out our food.
“What were you saying?” I ask.
“I see a psychologist. She has helped me work through some things,” I smile. “But, enough about me. Let’s eat while you tell me about your life,”
“There isn’t much to say,” I reply before eating a slice of my toast.
“Not much to say, aren’t you a future NFL prodigy? Since your father played,”
The mention of my father makes me choke on the remaining bite of food in my throat. “How do you know that?”
Jazmine's shoulders raise, tension filling her muscles. The blush on her face has fallen down her neck, while she places her hands against her cheeks in order to hide it.
“I may or may not have googled you during freshman year,”
I smirk, that makes me feel slightly better. “I’m flattered Princess,”
Jazmine glares. “It was for research purposes only. I needed to know who my competition was,”
A chuckle escapes my chest. This girl. “Yeah, well.” I shrug, unable to think. “We don’t have the best relationship at the moment.”
Short and sweet, hopefully Jaz won’t ask too many questions. It is probably hypocritical of me, but I don’t want to unpack my childhood trauma in a campus cafe.
“Oh, sorry. We don’t have to talk about it then,” Jazmine eats another pancake, taking sips out of her drink in between bites. She lets out a quiet moan. “This is so good,”
“Princess,” I whisper harshly. “This is a familyfriendly space,”
Jazmine rolls her eyes. It seems to be her favourite thing to do around me. “What about football? When is your next game?” she asks.
Who is this? And what has she done with Jazmine? She has never acted like this before. I was worried after our last meeting for the research project, thinking my comment was out of line and made her uncomfortable. But her reaction seemed like the opposite. The tension was palpable, only dissolved by Jazmine’s phone ringing.
Maybe my charms are wearing her down. Now, that’s the dream.
I clear my throat, realising Jazmine is waiting for an answer. “We have a home game tomorrow, do you want to come?” I can’t believe it is the middle of the season already. The games are becoming more intense and scouts are increasing in numbers.
Jazmine tilts her head and resumes her usual thinking face-pinched eyebrows and squinted eyes. Jazmine has never seen me play before and the idea of having her in the stands makes me want to win even more. It would be better if she wore my jersey too, but I won’t push my luck.
“I’ll think about it,” Jazmine says, drinking the last mouthful of her coffee. “Athena is going so maybe I’ll tag along,”
“I will beg if that’s what you want Princess,”
Jazmine’s eyes snap back to mine, darkening as they flick down to my mouth and back to my eyes. I can feel my cock harden under the intense gaze while I lick my lips at the thought of being on my knees for Jazmine Allen.Thatwould be a dream come true.
