Page 29 of The Keeper
Erin lets out a bark of laughter. “The Vic model with the sexy body? You’re really narrowing it down, there, Kris.”
Kristal makes a face but continues with her workout. “You know who I’m talking about. She has those huge boobs and recently did a movie.”
“Ooooooooh,” Erin says, recognition hitting her. “Are you talking about Ronnie Kade?”
My stomach plummets and I hear a slight ringing in my ears. His last girlfriend wasRonnie Kade?
“He dated Ronnie Kade?” My voice comes out a little harsher than I had planned, but neither of them notices.
“He didn’tdateRonnie Kade. HefuckedRonnie Kade. They’re like, friends with bennies or something.”
I stare at Kristal, unsure how to process that information. How did this not register for me? I went on a date with a guy who was so sweet. I remember how affected he looked by our kiss, how connected we seemed over bullshit texting. But there’s no way I even clock on his radar if Ronnie Kade is sexing him up on the regular.
“How do you know that? Is it still going on?” I grit my teeth as I throw the medicine ball against the wall. I don’t want to be affected, and Idefinitelydon’t want to seem too nosey.
“There are a lot pictures of him leaving her house early in the morning, looking rumpled and thoroughly sexed, but both of them say they’re just really good friends,” Kristal replies. It sounds like she has done a thorough check on his dating history. “Supposedly she’s dating a B-list actor, but there was a photo of her and coach together inPeoplejust a few weeks ago at a movie premiere in New York.”
“Hopefully Gina can’t sink her claws into him if he’s used to hooking up with people on that level,” Erin says, swigging from her water bottle.
Erin and Kristal shift away from Mack and instead begin discussing one of our other teammates’ recent flings with a player on the men’s soccer team. But my mind is firmly entrenched in picking apart my interactions with Mack in light of what I’d just learned.
I’m a confident woman. I’m comfortable with who I am. It has taken me a long time to get to a place where I don’t judge my life or my worth based on a man’s perception of me, in spite of my father’s constant barrages of insults aimed at my choice of clothing, body type, or anything else I do.
But knowing I’m following Ronnie Kade is messing with my stomach. She’s everything I’m not. Everything I told Mack I wasn’t. And what blows my mind is that he seemed tolikethat I wasn’t one ofthose girls.Was that all a lie? Was I just a girl that he thought would be easy to play with when he was bored?
My thoughts roam all over the place during the remaining ninety minutes of training. When practice ends, we join the team back on the field, and I know I’m in a sour mood that’s visible on my face.
As hard as I work to be unaffected, sometimes the Jameson attitude drips from my every pore and I can’t help the sass.
I keep my eyes from Mack’s as he addresses the team, letting us know we’ll be playing with the men’s team tomorrow in our regular pre-game day scrimmage.
When we finally wrap up, I turn quickly towards the parking lot. Hopefully some distance from Mack and a happy dinner with my brother can sort out my mind and help me get back to where I was before.
Comfortable.
Calm.
Confident.
I don’t need to measure myself to any model. That type of thinking is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the fact that it will get me nowhere.And you’re not even dating him!I roll my eyes at myself.
A quick honk yanks me from my thoughts, and I turn to see Jeremy’s SUV pulling up. My face breaks into a smile and I run to the passenger door.
“Hey Rach,” he says as I climb inside. I lean across the center console and land a smooch on his cheek. “Thought I’d pick you up for dinner instead of meeting you there.”
“As long as you don’t mind my funky sweat smell,” I reply with a smile.
About forty five minutes later, after sitting in traffic and shooting the shit about how things are going with the Galaxy and catching up on our favorite TV show -Fixer Upperis literally amazing-Jeremy and I pull into Ricardo’s. We rotate between our favorite restaurants every Monday, and Ricardo’s is this delicious little taco shop in Hollywood taking up a tiny lot space at the end of a long line of ritzy restaurants. It is literally twenty feet wide and only has about a dozen tables inside. But they have some of the most legit tacos ever. After placing our order, we take a seat by the window.
“So,” Jeremy starts, rubbing his hands together, “tell me about your first practice with the new coach.”
I groan internally. I need this dinner with Jeremy todistractme from Mack, not to sit and gab about him.
“It was fine.”
“That’s it? It was fine?” Jeremy’s eyebrow lifts up and I immediately realize my mistake. I keep my opinions guarded for the most part, except with Jeremy and Charlie. They’ve been witness to some of my most ridiculous rants over the years. Not having an opinion on Mack as my new coach is equivalent to telling Jeremy that I’m hiding something, so I scramble for a response.
“Okay it wasn’t fine. Coach Johnson doesn’t want to work with us anymore and we were split off from everyone else. I don’t like feeling segregated. It’s a dick move.” I grab my soda cup and begin chewing on the straw.
