Page 36 of Scoreless Nights

Ididn’t expect Cruz to come home so early, and was planning to read a book on the balcony until I couldn’t hold my eyes open anymore. Maybe have some decaf and soak in the sound of the ocean below.

Instead, Cruz was on the balcony waiting for me, and had poured us each a glass of wine, setting them on a table between the two loungers. Even though I didn’t drink, I didn’t want to tell him that, so when I opened the door and he motioned for me to take one of the stems, I graciously accepted with a smile.

We sat quietly on the loungers, and I crossed my legs, carefully holding the glass so I didn’t spill the wine. Then I looked up to him and smiled, biting the side of my lip shyly.

“Well, cheers!” He lifted his glass and waited for me to tap mine against it. As I did, our eyes locked and I brought the wine to my lips knowing I shouldn’t have. One taste wasn’t going to hurt, though, at least I hoped it wouldn’t.

Tilting my glass up, I sipped just enough to touch my tongue. There was no telling what alcohol would do to my body since I wasn’t a seasoned drinker, but I knew after seeing Cruz come in the other night with Tripp that it would treat me 10 times worse. I needed to start talking before he expected me to drink more.

“Great game tonight.”

“The worst game of my career,” Cruz groaned, leaning back on his lounger. His legs were crossed at the ankles, his glass was being held in his lap, and his head was turned toward me while he spoke.

“But you kept them scoreless, just like you wanted. Right?”

“It wasn’t so much that I kept them scoreless, as it was that my team did a good job of keeping the ball on the other end of the field.” His eyes flicked around a few times, like he was still debating on something else he wanted to say, then they landed back on me as he shrugged. “Once I saw you in the stands, it was all I could think about.”

My cheeks felt warm and my hand went to my forehead checking for a fever I knew I didn’t have. I’m sure he didn’t mean for his words to sound so sweet, it was probably more of an annoyance for him. But knowing that I had some sort of effect on him was enough to make me shift in my chair, and my mind to start racing.

“I saw you twice tonight when I least expected. I guess maybe Miami is a small world after all.” It was supposed to be a joke, but my delivery was off and the only thing funny about my words was how strained they were when I said them out loud.

“I guess it’s safe to assume that your friends have no idea that you know me.”

“My friends have no idea,” I confirmed. “And I know that sounds awful, to lie to them like that. I really don’t want to hurt you, either, but I’m trying to start a new life. Something fresh. I don’t want friendships based on who I know.”

I expected him to understand and to agree with me, but his smile seemed sad, and his nod didn’t feel approving. He leaned back on the chair and took another sip of this wine. His eyes were on the moon and I heard him take a few deep breaths. It felt like forever, but he eventually turned his head back to face me.

“Are you ashamed of me?”

My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened. I was shaking my headnobecause I wasn’t ashamed of him. Maybe I was ashamed, but it was only at myself for the lies I had been telling.

Before I could respond, his lips quirked up, and I could tell he was trying to suppress a laugh. “I’m just kidding, Lil. You’re doing the right thing. You don’t even know those girls very well, and they’re already using Deon the same way.”

Pushing my shoulders back, I scoffed at him, ready to defend my friends. For some strange reason, it was important to me that he approved, and liked my friends, but he wasn’t wrong. At least not about Jackie. She admitted to using Deon to get to Cruz, and I recoiled at her words on the spot. I was just glad Cruz had realized it without me having to tell him. I had already been a shitty friend, I didn’t want to tack on bad mouthing Jackie to the catalog of wrongs I had committed.

“Speaking of my friends. Jackie is under the impression you’re going to call her. What was that all about?”

“I have a thing Friday night and need a date. When Deon called for the tickets for a few girls, I thought maybe he knew one of them well enough to play the part for one night.”

“I don’t think Jackie would mind playing the part for more than one night.”

“I caught on to that,” he grimaced. “Not sure I can handle that while trying to land the Archer Athletics contract. Plus, when I called Deon about not giving her my number, he seemed relieved, like he half-ass told her the plan because he’s into her himself. I wouldn’t do him like that. He should have said something to begin with.”

“Did you tell him she was using him?”

“No,” he sighed. “It would sound shitty coming from me directly. He may not even believe me. But he’ll figure it out, he's smarter than he’s acting right now.”

Taking another fake sip of my wine, I processed everything he said. Cruz was smart, and caring. Add that to good looking, athletic, and charming, and I was shocked he was even single. It didn’t make sense–unless it was intentional.

“Why not go solo?”

“Because my advisor for Archer Athletics told me the head honchos will take my commitment more seriously if I present that I’m capable of commitment in their faces.”

Suddenly, my lies didn’t feel so bad. Not because Cruz’s was worse, but because it seemed as though we all fibbed a little when we had to. My lies started as lying by omission, but then there were the residual lies in order to keep the questions from being asked.

Which reminded me…

“Before I forget, thank you.”

---