“Not like that. Not the way he explained it,” I said, feeling a little naive.
“I’ve heard it’s not easy. I have a couple of friends who are with professional football players. The perks are great, but the rest of it takes a toll.”
“Yeah. Chance was very realistic about it all. Did you know his dad had cheated on his mom?” I asked, just remembering that he had mentioned that.
She shot me a weird look. “Everyone knows the story of Jack and Cassie Carter.”
“I don’t.”
“Maybe I should rephrase,” she said. “Everyone who’s from this area knows their story. You can look online. I’m pretty sure it’s all on there. I think there might even be a book about it.”
As much as I wanted to satisfy my growing curiosity, I decided against it at the moment. I knew that I was only distracting myself from what I really needed to do. “What do your friends say?” I asked, and she looked confused. “The ones dating the football players. What do they say about it?”
“Oh. They say that the females are one thing, but the grueling schedule and the fact that it has to be their number one priority is another.” Sunny offered me a shrug, like, What did they expect?
The buzzer dinged, and she reached for an oven mitt.
“Could you do it?”
She glanced at me while she pulled out the baking sheet and shut the oven door. “Could I do what? Date an athlete?”
“Yeah. Seriously. Do you think you could do it?” I had never even considered or thought about this kind of thing before tonight. I’d stupidly assumed that anyone could date a ball player, but I was starting to realize that maybe that wasn’t the case at all. It seemed like it would take a certain kind of girl to handle the pressure and stress that went along with it.
“I mean, you know how much I love the players at this school.” She winked, and I laughed, thinking about her and Mac. “But I don’t know. I want to say yes, but I’m kind of insecure and jealous. I think the other girls alone might drive me insane. I’m not sure I could handle it.”
I swallowed and blew out a long, slow breath as I thought about myself and Chance. Other females wanted him, and they made that fact known, but I’d never really paid them much attention. And I knew that was because Chance didn’t either. No matter what any other girl said or did, he couldn’t care less, and it made me react in the same manner. I couldn’t even think of a time when some other girl had caused chaos between us.
“I think it would depend on the guy,” Sunny said, breaking my train of thought as she hopped up onto the counter across from me, a cookie in her hand.
“Huh?”
“About the girls and my jealousy. I think it would depend on the guy. Like Mac, for example. I’d be going out of my mind anytime I couldn’t reach him on the phone or if he was out of town for away games. I wouldn’t want to live like that day in and day out. Always wondering. Always worried. Always insecure,” she elaborated as she took a bite.
“I wouldn’t either,” I agreed because if Chance had made me feel that way when we were together, I wouldn’t have entertained being with him in the first place.
“So, what are you going to do?”
That was the million-dollar question. “I don’t know yet.”
“Are you going to talk to Jared about what he said to Chance?”
It was funny how little Jared’s opinion seemed to matter to me anymore. When we’d first started dating, I couldn’t have imagined not caring about what he thought. But I wasn’t that girl anymore. I felt more like my own person than I had in years.
“Honestly? I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.” I knew that if I reached out, Jared would pat himself on the back after realizing that he had come between me and Chance. “I don’t want him to think he has that kind of power over my relationship. Or me,” I added before pushing off the counter.
Sunny’s face turned serious, and it looked so odd to see her so expressionless when she always seemed to be smiling. “He hit on me once,” she spat out, and my jaw dropped, her eyes focusing on her hands in her lap.
“What? When?” I asked as I took a step toward her.
Months ago, I would have been furious, hearing this. But now, I just felt shocked more than anything else.
She looked up at me, concern written all over her face. “It was last year. Around the football-player incident. He tried to kiss me one night while you were in your room,” she said.
All the pieces started clicking together. The way Sunny had stopped liking me and Jared being together, calling us names, and encouraging me to break up with him. And how her face always soured whenever I brought him up. Or how she’d disappear into her room on the rare occasion that he actually came over. Which, now that I thought about it, he had stopped coming over here, always insisting that I go to the frat house instead for whatever reason.
“Are you mad at me? I’m sorry I never told you. I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. You two had so much history, and you’re from the same place. And I didn’t want to be the reason you broke up.” She was babbling, but it didn’t stop. “I don’t know … it was a crappy position for me to be in, but I should have said something.”
I reached for her hands and held them. “I should have known.” I glanced up at the ceiling before focusing back at my best friend. “You changed around him, and he stopped wanting to come over here. I should have put two and two together, but it never occurred to me.”
“Why would it?”
“I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me,” I said because I understood that she must have felt so shitty this whole time, keeping this information from me. It must have been eating her up inside. “Chance has never hit on you, right?” I asked with a small chuckle, and her smile returned.
“No way. He’d never do that.”
“You’ll tell me if he does?” I asked.
“Promise,” she said, pulling her hands from mine and extending her pinkie.
I wrapped my pinkie around hers, and we shook, the pinkie promise made even though I hoped we’d never have to use it.
Propositions
Two Weeks Later
Danika
I hadn’t meant for so much time to go by without seeing or talking to Chance, but it was just the way things ended up being. In my defense, Chance had been out of town for half of those days, traveling with the team, so it wasn’t entirely my fault. We had texted a couple times, basically saying how much we missed each other, but that was it. He gave me the space I needed, and I took it begrudgingly, knowing that it was for the best.
I kept my distance, wanting to make sure that my decision—when I finally arrived at one—wasn’t one I’d change my mind about one day down the road. I needed to be certain—about everything. And it took me some time to figure out exactly how I could make this work between us and still have something of my own.
Because at this point, that was what I wanted—both Chance and a career.
Which was why I was currently pacing a hole in the carpet of my living room, waiting for my dad to call me back, thankful that Sunny was still at class for the next hour. Nerves raced through my body. Even though my dad had never been anything other than supportive of me, this was a very serious topic, potentially life-changing for us both. It involved his company, and that wasn’t something my dad took lightly, no matter who was propositioning him.