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)
It’s a good thing, too; otherwise, I would’ve fallen into Susie’s trap by now. What she didn’t know, and neither did the other hopefuls who’d tried finding their way into my bed, is that I had sworn off pussy for the next little while.
Once I left high school, it had been my aim to buckle down and focus on the future, so women were the last thing on my mind. I’d disciplined myself to be this way, to deny myself certain things for the time being. Not saying that shit is easy; it’s not. But when held up against the bigger picture, it was a piece of cake.
Mom and dad had drilled it into my head that I was here to study and play the game I love in hopes of making it into the league. They didn’t have to tell me, coach had already warned me from day one about getting distracted.
According to him, there’ll be time enough for dating and other pursuits in the future; right now, for the time I was going to be here, my only focus should be on doing my best, making the people who believed in me proud.
I need three years here at the very least before I can be drafted; I’ve only got two more semesters to go before I’ve fulfilled that requirement, and I’m already being scouted, so no worries there. If only time would hurry up so I could start playing, then I’d not have to worry about dad’s medical bills.
I’d been doing pretty good until dad fell ill. The past couple of years, I’d been as sober as a damn judge, which had gained me a reputation. For some reason, the more I stayed away from the female population, the more they seemed to want my interest.
My cold unchanging mood hadn’t swayed them, and without my intention, I’d become some kind of legend. The one, all the females, was trying to land like I was some kind of prize or a bone for them to haggle over. Though no one else has been as over the top as Susie, I’ve fielded my share of interested parties. I always let them down easy and never engage beyond the initial rejection.
I don’t think I’ve said two words to any of the girls on campus unless it was the girlfriend of one of my teammates. I find that it’s easier to keep them at bay that way; just never give them an opening, no mixed signals that could trip me up later.
Still, there was no lack of interested parties dogging my damn heels every day that I’m here. I’ve stayed the course so far, though, and haven’t really been tempted to veer off. So I’m pretty sure that if I give even a hint that I was looking, she will come under everyone’s scrutiny. More of interest to me at the moment, though, was what it was about her that had caught my eye.
There was no real startling difference between her and the others at first glance, but there was something in the way she moved, the tilt of her head, and that air of innocence that I hadn’t seen past the eighth grade. I think that’s when my problems with the female population of any close proximity first started.
It’s also when I realized how aggressive women and girls could be when going after something they wanted. You better believe I’d taken everything they threw my way; what red-blooded fourteen-year-old boy wouldn’t?
I’d overdosed on that shit, getting it anywhere I could. And when I made it to quarterback, that shit only got worst. It’s a bit cynical for someone my age to think, I’m sure, but I think I had way too much sex at an early age and was now pretty much indifferent.
That’s another reason my self-imposed celibacy has been such a cakewalk. But fuck if she wasn’t making my senses tingle, like they were coming alive after being in a deep sleep for a long-long time, or more like a coma.
I took in the scene at the table she walked to, read the body language of the males there but saw nothing to make my hackles rise. It was obvious that the blonde was her friend from the way they gravitated towards each other and fell into conversation while the others did their own thing.
Though she didn’t seem to have any particular interest in the guys sitting there, it was hard to miss the fact that they were doing some looking of their own. I was tempted, sorely tempted, to break my own rule.
But I’d just made that promise to myself to get back on track. I’d dodged the relationship bullet and anything resembling an entanglement, but what does it mean that she’s the first one to make me look with any real interest? And why now? Right after, I’d reinforced my will to steer clear of the opposite sex.