“Loosen up. You’ll be fine.”
I turn my head to stare at Tyson, “I’m not up for fake flirting and having girls all over me.”
“They won’t bite,” he teases. “Well, some of them do, but I like it.” Tyson winks.
“Gross.”
“Really? You findthatgross?”
“Okay,” I hold my hands up in surrender. “You probably find what I do gross, too.”
“Actually, I don’t think about what you do.”
“Good point. I normally don’t think about what you do, either.”
We clink our glasses and I take a sip of my club soda. It’s not very good, but at least it looks like a vodka soda or gin and tonic. No one is going to question me. As I sip my drink slowly, making it last as long as possible, I watch my teammates. Some are already making out with girls, others are going shot for shot at the bar, and a few are in smaller groups, talking and laughing. If I wasn’t so wound up, it might be fun.
Mark Sharkey, our tight end, saunters over with two girls. He pulls up three more chairs and offers one to each girl before dropping into the third one.
“This is Tawny and Crystal,” he introduces us. “That’s Tyson and that’s Isaac.” He points to each of us as he speaks.
The brunette is sitting closest to me and leans in, “Nice to meet you, Isaac,” she purrs, running a hand up my leg. My whole body goes rigid. I scoot my chair back a little, turning it toward the table, causing her hand to fall. She gives a dirty look then sits back in the chair and turns her attention to Mark, who is looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Damn, you really are an old man,” he snaps with a shake of his head. “Tawny here’s a sure thing. She’ll give you a blow job in the bathroom right now. Just say the word.”
For a split second, I considered this option. It would get the guys off my back and if I close my eyes, I can imagine it’s a man. I mean, a blow job is a blow job.
“Yeah, baby, come on. I already took care of Marky once tonight. I can show you a good time, too.”
Those words shatter all thoughts of taking her up on the offer. “No thanks.” Getting a blow job in the bathroom right after she gave one to my teammate isn’t happening. Disgusting. “I don’t want his leftovers,” I bark.
Pushing up from the chair, I don’t wait for her or Mark to respond. I’m downstairs and almost at the exit when Tyson catches up to me.
“You okay?” he asks, grabbing my arm and stopping me from leaving.
“I’m fine, but I’m not doing this tonight.”
“Mark always goes too far.”
“That’s who he is and that’s fine, but I’m not pretending to be interested in any of the girls, and I’m sure as shit not taking one to the bathroom.”
“Come on, let’s go get a bunch greasy food and watch a movie at my place,” he offers.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing some of the tension in my body. “Nah, you go get yourself laid. I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
With a smile, Tyson turns back to the club and rushes up the steps while I walk to my car. It was nice of him to offer to keep me company, but I don’t need to be his charity case. I pull out of the parking lot and head in the direction of my favorite drive thru. Tyson is right about one thing; greasy food sounds a little like heaven right now.
SEVEN
EVAN
Sandy’s been gone a few weeks and I’m slowly starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of the job. Hope is a godsend. She knows this job and stadium backwards and forwards. I definitely would have been lost my first few weeks without her. Sandy taught me a lot, but by the end of the week, she had checked out. Hope filled in the gaps Sandy left out.
I’ve been so busy trying to learn the ropes I haven’t taken time to move into Sandy’s old office. I guess I can start calling it my office. Hope laughs at me every time I call it Sandy’s office. Maybe once I get settled into the space it will start to feel like my office. Saturday should be a relaxing day, but I know if I don’t take time on my day off to get set up in my office, I never will.