Chapter 5-1
742 Words
5
Bryna and Stacia were going to be perfectly on time for the flight out to Oregon even though Stacia was complaining the whole way about Bryna being late. Her head was up in the clouds though, and she was tuning out Stacia’s comments. No wonder she had thought the situation had all the right characteristics for her to be interested. The man was Hugh Westercamp.
Just the thought made her skin tingle with excitement. She would have to play this right. A man like that wouldn’t accept just anyone. She was shocked he had even given her his number. He must have been so f*****g confident that she would call.
Déjà vu hit her something fierce. She remembered leaving her number with Jude, knowing that he must have been interested after the incredible night they had spent together with their intimate deep connection.
She rolled her eyes. What bullshit!
There had been no connection. Just hot s*x and a whole lot of deception. At least she could take what had happened in her past and make it work for her here. If Hugh was used to something happening, then she’d need to be unpredictable. The card weighed heavily in her purse, but she vowed to ignore it for as long as she could. Absence made the heart grow fonder. Or at least she hoped it would make his wallet fonder.
“So, tell me about the hot stranger,” Stacia said. She hoisted her cheer bag out of the back of her SUV. “I see you have new bling. Atlas Collection. Obsessed!”
Bryna shrugged. She wasn’t ready to reveal all her secrets yet. The girls knew how she was, but Hugh felt like an investment she would have to take seriously or else it could all slip away.
“It was nothing. He was cute.”
“Older?” she guessed.
“Much. But I like that.”
“I know. I think you want a guy who already has a job and a career, so you can fit into his life.”
Fair assessment. “Nothing wrong with coming to college to get your MRS degree.”
“Don’t let Trihn hear you say that,” Stacia said with a giggle.
They walked into the airport where they were meeting the team.
“We’d both get a lecture on how college is about more than just finding a husband.”
“Of course it is. There are football, parties, drinking, dancing, cheer,” Bryna rattled off.
Stacia giggled in agreement. “So, did you give the guy your number?”
“Nope.” That was true. Stacia hadn’t asked if she had gotten his number. “I told you, it was nothing.”
“Well, you know what is something? Blaine,” she said with a sigh.
Their eyes were drawn to the quarterback, who was laughing and making jokes with his friends.
“You are not hooking up with Blaine this weekend.”
“Maybe. But my options are open. I bet we’ll both find someone sexy to hook up with,” Stacia said confidently.
Bryna’s eye caught on Andrew Holloway, who was standing near Blaine, and he smiled broadly at her attention. Yeah. She was pretty sure she could do that in the meantime while her plans came together.
* * * *
LV State beat Oregon by a field goal in overtime. Bryna screamed at the top of her lungs and excitedly jumped up and down. Stacia barreled into her and hugged her tightly. Leaving Stacia behind, Bryna threw herself at her base, Daniel.
“We won! We won! We won!” she screamed.
He picked her up and threw her into the air as if she weighed nothing. To him, she supposed she probably did, considering he hoisted her into the air with one arm pretty regularly.
“So f*****g awesome,” he said when she landed back in his arms.
The girls cheered on the sidelines toward the LV State fans who had made it out to the away game. The players raced past the cheerleaders and jumping over the barrier into the stands. The crowd clapped them on the back with congratulations. The press was all over it like a field day, snapping pictures and rolling the cameras.
In the mayhem, Bryna felt someone circle an arm around her waist. She looked up to see Andrew smiling down at her.
“Hey, Bri.”
“Andrew! Congratulations! That was an amazing game!”
His hand moved a little lower, and he winked. “Maybe we can make it an amazing after-party?”
She smiled. “Maybe.”
She wished he were someone else—Hugh preferably. But Hugh was a game, and this was just for fun. Stacia was right when she’d said Bryna should hook up with people while she waited for the prize. Some fun wouldn’t hurt anything.
“Find me later.”
- Writer
