Page 63 of Playing to Win
Uh huh. Why? So he can collect what I supposedly owe him? Is he one of those types of dudes?
Me:I can’t tonight.
Stowing my phone in the center console, I try to ignore it as I leave the parking lot and drive back home. It’s not until I’m pulling into my parking spot at the apartment complex where I live that I finally check my phone to see I have more texts from Ace.
Ace:Whatever time you can meet, I’m game.
Ace:I just really want to talk to you again, Red.
Ace:There’s something I want to ask you.
I stare at the three texts he sent, confused. What does he want to ask me that he can’t via text?
He’s not making any sense.
Shoving my phone into the front pocket of my backpack, I make the short walk to our apartment, grateful when I spot Natalie sitting on the couch when I open the front door, shoveling a mouthful of Lucky Charms cereal into her mouth via a giant spoon.
“Oh. Hey.” The guilty look on her face stops me in my tracks and I start laughing.
“Hungry much?” The bowl she’s eating the cereal out of is one we usually reserve for making a salad in.
She sets the silver bowl in her lap, crunching away until she swallows. “I was starving and nothing else sounded good.”
I walk over to the kitchen table and drop my backpack on top of it, deciding to get right to the issue. “I have a dilemma.”
She takes another big bite of cereal, her teeth loudly crunching. “Please explain.”
Taking a deep breath, I tell her mostly everything that happened last night. About Ace being drunk and trying to hit on me. How I explained that my meeting him at Logan’s didn’t make it a date and how I don’t have sex with anyone until at least the fifth one.
Nat’s mouth hangs open in shock at that reveal.
Then I tell her how I ended up taking him back home and that he gave me an O—I don’t go into too many details about that—and that I tried to slip out and he woke up. And lastly, how he needed to talk to me at practice today and how he’s now claiming that I helped him so much.
“…he said he played better because of me.” I throw my hands up in the air, flopping down in the recliner my parents gave me. “That he wants to see me tonight. He has something to ask me.”
“What did you say to him in response?” Natalie asks.
“I haven’t responded,” I admit.
“Ruby!” she practically shrieks, leaning forward to set her disgustingly giant bowl of kids’ cereal on the coffee table. “Girl. You need to answer him.”
“I was waiting to talk to you.” I climb out of the chair and grab my phone before I sit down again, staring at Ace’s last texts. Wondering if he’s waiting by his phone right at this very moment, anxious for my response. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell him you’ll meet with him tomorrow. Like for coffee?”
“I mean…I could meet with him tonight. I don’t have plans.”
“Why did you tell him you couldn’t meet tonight?”
“I don’t want to look like I’m desperate and boring.” I turn my phone face down and rest it on my thigh, closing my eyes. “This is a mess.”
“What are you saying? It’s agreatmess. The best kind of mess. He’s chasing after you. Claims he has something to ask you that must be important because he wants to say it to your face. Right now, you’re a queen and he’s put you on a pedestal, ready to worship you,” Natalie explains, her eyes flashing.
“You’re being really dramatic.”
“I’m speaking truths! Ace doesn’t chase after girls. He never has to. All the women flock to him wherever he goes. He has a fan club for God’s sake.”
“You know about the fan club?” I ask incredulously.
