Page 18 of In The Game

“Wanted to ask about your player initiative. You get it squared away yet? We need to do your photo shoot.” She rubs her hands together.

“I’d rather do a funny mascot one or something, it’s for kids. I don’t want to do the half-naked shots. That’d be fuckin’ weird.”

She pouts. “I think this would garner more responses. How about we discuss it over dinner?”

“Sure, I’ll invite Sully. He wants to invest, he might have some ideas.”

She sits back in her chair and crosses her arms. “Yeah, but this isyourplayer initiative, not his.”

No more beating around the bush. “This isn’t a date, Julia.”

She rolls her eyes and gets a big fake smile on her face. “Oh my God, B! I don’t want to date you! Calm down! It’s casual, why don’t you meet me at Grasa at seven?”

“Six,” I answer and walk away.

“Okay, six. Mister Bossy.”

* * *

When I arrive at the restaurant, I’m dressed casually but Julia is not. No surprise. That dress is so low cut, it looks like she’s dressed for open-heart surgery.

The restaurant is buzzing, it’s a nice night and people are out on the town.

“Hi, Julia.” I keep my distance from her grabby hands.

“B!”Ugh, stop calling me B.“Would you like a glass of wine? I got us a bottle.”

“Sure, I guess.” I’d rather be drunk for this.

Four glasses of wine and one steak later, I’m toast. Pretty sure I’ve outdrank Julia. At least I hope I have. Shit, I’m not a wine drinker. But it’s made tolerating her bullshit a hell of a lot easier, that’s for sure. Though the wine has only made her advances more confident.

“So”—she swirls her finger on the tablecloth—“why aren’t you into me?”

Sigh.

“You’re a nice girl, Julia, but honestly…”Shit, I’m sleepy.“...I’m interested in someone else.”

“Who?”

I smile saying her name. “Raleigh.”

She sits up in her chair. I’ve offended her. “And what does this Raleigh girl have that I don’t?”

“It’s nothing youdon’thave, she’s just…her. We had this date, where literally everything went wrong. We were out with the team and this shitty charcoal-black pizza came to the table. She and I were the only ones that ate it, it became this funny thing. Then our Uber broke down, I forgot my wallet…” I chuckle remembering all the weird shit that went down. “God, it was bad. But no matter what happened, I had the best time with her, we had this connection that was so refreshing. I can’t explain it. She was funny, smart, cool. Not like any other bunny I’ve met. No, she’s not a bunny, that’s the wrong word.”

“I see.”

I smile, reminiscing while playing with my fork. “And Ral used to be a varsity goalie in high school, she was really into the sport, and she’s so smart—”

“You already said smart.”

Her annoyance doesn’t even register with me as I push the leftover food around my plate with a fork. “She was awesome. I mean, when I was with her that night, it was like…well, nevermind. I dunno, Julia, I just wanna see her again. Ineedto.”

I’m sloshed and I miss her. Shit, if I had her number, I’d be drunk texting her so hard right now. Probably best that I’m not.

“So why don’t you?”

“I never got her number. It’s been six weeks. She’s like my Cinderella,” I say, chuckling.

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