Page 49 of Sneaking Around with the Player
I waited until after ten, hoping I’d be able to see Beau one last time before I left, but when he finally texted me back this morning, it was to say he was practicing with Scottie and wasn’t sure what time he’d be done.
Saying goodbye sucks. I think I’m going to drive back tomorrow and see him off at the airport. It’s a lot of driving for a short amount of time, but I already miss him.
When I get back to Valley, I head straight to my brother’s to help set up for the party later tonight.
I knock and then walk through the front door. Holly and Teddy are on one end of the couch, Emmett the other.
“Hey, Stella,” Emmett calls when he sees me.
“Hi.” I give a small wave to everyone. Felix is standing in the kitchen, drinking a protein shake. He nods his welcome. We’re still not in agreement about Beau, but we stayed up late last night playing video games and talking until the weirdness between us faded.
I really, really like Beau. I’m not willing to give him up, but I don’t want to keep fighting with my brother, either.
“I thought the place would already be decked out for tonight,” I say, taking a seat in the empty armchair.
“We’re picking up the keg later,” Emmett says.
“Wait, this is it?” Holly asks, voice rising in disbelief. “What about decorations?”
The guys share a confused look.
“Oh my gosh, you need decorations!” She throws her hands up in the air.
The guys laugh, but fifteen minutes later, the five of us are hanging up streamers and blowing up balloons.
It takes very little to get Emmett excited about the prospect of decorating. He and Holly take the lead, Teddy follows Holly, of course. I don’t know how she ever didn’t see how crazy he is about her. I find myself alone with Felix as he picks up the kitchen and goes through their liquor stash to figure out what they still need to buy.
“Are you expecting a lot of people tonight?” I ask as I sit on a stool in front of the counter.
He nods as he places a dusty handle of Wild Turkey in front of me. “A decent number of guys on the team are back, so I expect we’ll have a good turnout.”
“I got you something.” I slide off the stool and go to my purse to retrieve the gifts I got him. I hand him the leather key chain with his name and football number on it first. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to wrap it.”
“Thank you. This is awesome.”
“I also got you this.”
One corner of his mouth lifts as I set down the beaded shot glass necklace. He puts it around his neck and turns on the flashing neon light. “Thank you, Stell.”
He takes it off and sets it on the counter next to the liquor.
“Beau helped me pick both of them out.”
He avoids my gaze as he asks, “Did you see him before you left?”
“No. He was helping his younger cousin practice some football drills this morning. I’m going to drive up tomorrow and see him off at the airport.”
He nods slowly and then braces both hands on the granite between us. “I’m sorry about how everything went down this break. I know you were hoping we were going to be BFFs.”
“I didn’t hope that.”
One of my brother’s dark brows lifts.
“Okay, I kind of did. I thought if you got to know him, you’d see what a decent guy he really is, but you wouldn’t even give him a chance.”
“I heard him out.”
“Not really.”
