Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
She lifted her head in my direction before swiftly putting it back down again when she caught me staring, but this time I got a better look. I’m into beautiful faces, sure, who isn’t?
But after a while, especially if you’re the star quarterback both in high school and then college, things start to look the same; they become boring and mundane. I’m not jaded yet, but I have yet to meet anyone who sparked my interest enough to make me want more.
I’d made up my mind long ago that when I became an adult, I’d behave like one. Dad was always drilling it into my head that I must treat all women the way I’d want my own mother to be treated. It’s not something I walk around with in my head all day, every day, but it comes in handy when I need it.
I don’t have enough hands to count the number of females who’ve thrown themselves at me in one way or another since I turned fourteen and shot up to six feet tall. It only got worse when I gained two more inches at around sixteen. Add the uniform, and nothing was out of my reach.
Thankfully I’d had my game plan in line long before then, and though I’ve dabbled in the love game a time or two, I’ve never lost my heart to anyone and, quite frankly, wasn’t interested in anything that would get in the way of me fulfilling my dream.
If the campus gossips knew this about me, they’d probably lose all interest. But instead, they seem to see my cold disinterest as mysterious and alluring. The more reserved I am, the more they come after me. At least my teammates are having a good time using me as their way into as many shorts as they can handle.
But now, this one, there was something different about her, something I can’t quite put my finger on. Other than the graceful way, she’d seemed to glide across the floor when she walked. Or was it the way she seemed so out of place, the way I feel more often than not?
I’ve always been a sucker for things like that. I’m the guy who’d fight the bully for picking on someone weaker. I hate to see anyone being left out in the cold or looked down on because of their differences.
Somehow that’s the feeling I got as I watched her. Not so much that she was different in looks, but there was just something about her; it was as if she wasn’t quite part of her surroundings.
I pulled my cap down lower over my eyes so I could continue watching her with no one being the wiser. She seemed like a timid little thing, the way she constantly flipped her hair behind her ear and kept her head down as she picked at the lettuce on her plate.
CODY
“Dude, where’d you go? You in or nah?” I turned back to Steve, a little annoyed at the interruption. I was having fun watching her fight to avoid looking back at me, enjoying the way she seemed so flustered under my steady gaze.
“What?” I almost took his head off.
“Neely’s, you coming? It’s going to be lit.” To think that only yesterday, I would’ve been all over that shit. Now just the thought of taking even a sip of beer left me feeling cold and empty.
“Nope. I’ve got a field test coming up.” He looked at me like I’d lost my mind or fallen and hit my head. “So, since when has that ever stopped you? You’re not going back to your old ways, are you? I noticed you’ve been acting kinda strange these last few days.”
He leaned in closer so the others at our table couldn’t overhear. “This isn’t about that Susie girl, is it? Because I don’t see the same thing happening twice. Everyone knows you don’t mess around when you have tests and shit, but you can at least hang out with the guys. We were just getting used to the new you.” He made a pouty face and wiggled his brows at me.
I just shook my head as I knew I would be walking my new, less traveled road alone again. I was about to make another switcheroo on my boys, which I knew was not gonna go over well with any of them. They’re not a bad group of guys, but they do have their priorities twisted.
During my first two years here, they knew not to ask me along to their nights out; I always had something else to do. Because I wanted to graduate early, along with being drafted, I’d had to buckle down hard. When I had my life together, those two goals had kept me focused.
But since I’d decided to give up on myself, I’d become the star of the party, and I know it’s going to be hard for them to accept me going back to the way things were. It couldn’t be helped though and now was as good a time as any to start pulling back.