Playing to Win: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by Romi Hart

  “Interception!” Dylan howled.

  “Dude! That’s messed up. You came out of nowhere,” I called out to Hatchet.

  “That’s how I work. You don’t see me and then,” he clapped his hands loudly, “Bam! I’m right there!”

  “No way. Let’s do that again,” I said, picking up the football and backpedaling a few feet.

  “There are no do-overs in real life, Gun,” Dylan said teasingly.

  “Come on! Carl! Hammer! Go long!” Carl and Hammer sprinted away from me. Dylan took off for Carl and Hammer while Hatchet barreled towards me. I ran to the right to evade him and then threw the football to Carl. Carl snagged the ball as it flew to him while Hatchet pushed me to the ground.

  “Victory!” I screamed from the ground.

  Hatchet extended his hand and helped me up. “We’re even,” he said. “Let’s go again!”

  I suddenly remembered Laney. She hadn’t come back from the bathroom yet. Without saying a word, I ran back toward the house.

  Hatchet called after me, “Hey! Where are you going?”

  “Bathroom.”

  Inside, I found Laney surrounded by a group of girls in the front room. My chest tightened. I recognized the girls: Jane, Samantha, Sadie, and Teresa. All girls I’d gone out with but just didn’t gel with in the way I did with Laney. This was not good.

  “Jett is nothing but a player. You seem really sweet,” Jane said, shaking her head with a tense look on her face.

  Samantha added, “You’ll get hurt sooner or later. It’s inevitable. So what’s the point?”

  Sadie said with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, “Break it off now. Save yourself the heartache.”

  Teresa twirled her hair with a finger. “He will definitely leave you. No doubt about that.”

  Before they could say any more, I charged in between them. I was pissed. “Okay. Stop it! You all don’t have any idea of what Laney and I have.”

  “That sounds familiar,” Samantha laughed.

  “So you’re giving her the you’re so special script? That’s sad, Jett.” Sadie twisted her mouth angrily.

  They were taking my history out of context. It wasn’t my fault that I never developed deeper feelings for any of them.

  I took a deep breath to stop myself from saying anything hurtful to them. Instead, I went with the truth. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out with us. All of you are incredible girls, but the truth is, there wasn’t a spark between any of us.”

  The girls’ eyes were on me, including Laney’s. Teresa’s eyes looked to be brimming with tears. I hated that I’d hurt them, but the truth was the truth. My feelings weren’t as strong for them as they were for Laney. I continued, “I’m sorry I hurt all of you. I’m a different guy now because of Laney. All I can hope for is that each one of you will move on from our disappointing experiences together and find someone that you will share a spark with too.”

  Sadie’s eyes were on the floor, not raising them to look at me. Samantha, likewise, stared at the wall. Jane looked right at me; her face was blank and indecipherable. I remembered Jane had been hard to get to know.

  I looked at Laney. She seemed shocked by what I’d said. “Laney, you make me a better man. I hope that you will be my girl and no one else’s. And I promise you; you will be my one and only too.”

  I stepped closer to her, wanting to put my arms around her and kiss her in front of everyone. I wanted to prove to her how much I cared for her. Before I knew what was happening, Laney ran out of the room.

  Her actions shocked me. I stood there frozen for a moment. Then I knew I had to go after her. Stop her. I went after her, trying to sidestep all the partygoers as quickly as possible, but the party had tripled in size. People were streaming in. When I finally got outside, Laney was gone.

  I stood out in the driveway, looking out at the view Laney and I had been enjoying together earlier that night. University Avenue was lit up brightly with cars’ lights driving towards and away from campus. I was confused. More than that, I was terrified. Maybe I had lost Laney for good.

  13

  Laney

  Jett’s question spun around in my head as I chewed and swallowed down my Oreo. He said he wanted me to be his one and only. It was unbelievable. Was he truly being sincere?

  He expressed his feelings for me in front of all those people, even the girls he had a past with. I took a handful of Cheetos and shoved them into my mouth as I lay on my bed in a serious funk.

  I knew he had a past, but I hadn’t expected to hear all the lurid details. When I got out of the bathroom, those girls had swarmed me, telling me that they had something important to tell me. They took me aside, each girl with a grim look on her pretty face.

  Jane was Columbian with full lips and a heart-shaped face. She spoke brusquely without expression on her gorgeous face. “He picked me up at a party. He seemed like such a nice guy. Told me I was so beautiful. I bought it. I invited him over. We had sex of course. I fell asleep afterward. When I woke up, an hour later, he was gone.”

  “That same night,” Teresa added, “he called me up, asking me if I wanted to hang out.”

  “So, Teresa shows up to the party with Jett when I’d just seen him leave with Jane a couple hours before,” Sadie said coldly. “The week before, he took me out to a romantic picnic lunch in Golden Gate Park. He took me home where we screwed all afternoon.”

  Samantha was next to add to the linked story. “Later that night, he called me over. After he romanced another girl, he had me over for a booty call.”

  Their stories had my stomach in knots. Jett had done all that? “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible,” I said, looking each girl in the face to show my sincerity.

  Samantha gave me a sullen smile. “Just think, there is a girl somewhere who he hung out with the very same day he was with you.”

  My skin prickled. Could Jett do that to me? Could he have been with another girl that night we went to Chez Panisse? Were his lips on someone else after he dropped me off? Worse, were they kissing someone else before we saw each other? Revulsion washed over me as the girls stood around me, staring.

  I took apart another Oreo, smashed in three Cheetos, and then crammed them into my mouth. That night with Jett had felt special. It felt wonderful to be with him. So real and genuine. Could I trust that he’d changed his ways for me?

  Grabbing my notebook, I looked over my list of pros and cons about Jett I’d written out, right when I’d come home from the party. Pros: Handsome. Intelligent. Sweet. Thoughtful. Cons: Too many ex-girls. Known Liar. Jock. Player.

  In frustration, I chucked the notebook across the room. My list wasn’t working. Jett had been sweet and thoughtful to me, but how long was that behavior really going to last until he tossed me aside for someone else? A con was that Jett was a player, but maybe, just maybe he’d changed for me.

  Am I fooling myself to think that?

  I browsed through the Netflix interface looking for something silly and comedic. My orange Cheeto fingers lazily clicked and scrolled on my Mac’s touchpad. I scrolled quickly past the Romantic Comedies Netflix recommended to me. Mama Mia. 13 Going on 30. Legally Blonde. All adorable movies with happy endings. I slammed my laptop shut.

  Marsha walked in right then. She jumped at the sound of my laptop shutting and looked at me cautiously. “What did your laptop ever do to you?” She looked pretty in a short red dress and black stiletto heels. Taking off her shoes, she noticed my notebook haphazardly thrown on the floor and picked it up.

  Aloud, she read the list, “Pros: Handsome, intelligent, sweet, thoughtful…” She stopped reading, looking at me in confusion. “Who is this list about?”

  I grumbled, “Jett.”

  She flipped through the pages of the notebook. “Where’s Troy’s list?”

  “I didn’t make a list for Troy,” I said, taking an Oreo out of the package. “Honestly, I only see Troy as a friend.”

  Marsha threw the notebook hard onto my desk. It lan
ded askew; the pages bent and crumpled. “I don’t get it. Troy is clearly crazy for you, but he’s still not good enough. You’d rather waste your time with a bad boy who will only fuck you and leave you.” She turned away from me, slipping off her dress.

  “Marsha, why are you so mad?” I asked, covering my full mouth with my hand. It was difficult to talk with the Oreos and Cheetos.

  She turned around to me after she’d pulled on a Cal sweatshirt and sweatpants. Tears rolled down her face. “You are such an idiot. You know that? You don’t even deserve, Troy.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand.

  What is her problem?

  “If you think Troy is so great, why don’t you go for him?” I couldn’t figure out her deal. Why was she so invested in my relationship with Troy?

  Marsha slowly sat down on her bed. Sniffling, she looked at me and said, “I’ve tried.”

  “You have?” Her confession astonished me.

  I put the Oreo that I had in my hand back in the package and listened as she explained. “I’ve been in love with Troy since high school. We went to Los Alamos High together, but he never showed any interest in me there growing up.” Marsha’s tears kept rolling down her cheeks as she spoke. “I wasn’t very cute back then. I wore huge thick glasses. Pimples all over my face. I even had a mustache my mom wouldn’t let me wax off until I was 18.”

  My eyes widened as I looked at her. Marsha with a mustache. That must’ve been terrible. “How sad.”

  “I was a complete dork. When I found out he was going to Berkeley, I had to come too.” Marsha laid her head on her pillow, looking up at the ceiling. “And I thought I’d reinvent myself. Then he’d see how we were meant to be together.” Her voice trailed off. “But, even here, he just doesn’t like me.” Soft sobs filled her throat.

  I was completely confused. If Marsha was in love with him, why did she want me to be his girlfriend? That sounded counter-intuitive. “If you like him, then why would you want me to pick him over Jett? I don’t get it.”

  Marsha stopped crying and sat up. Looking right at me unnervingly, she said, “Because I want to see him happy. I’ll do anything in my power to give him what he deserves: happiness and love.” Her eyes were red from crying, but they were unflinching. “You don’t know him, Laney. He’s an amazing person. Troy deserves the very best.”

  I shirked under her stare. Pulling my comforter and sheets over me tightly, I had no idea what to say to her.

  14

  Jett

  I drove home from the party in a haze of confusion. What had the girls told Laney before I got there? Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good.

  When I got back to the apartment, I wandered around the complex, looking for who was around. Hammer was in his living room binge-watching ‘Luke Cage.’

  “Let’s go outside and throw the ball around,” I said, sitting on the couch as I looked at Luke Cage on the giant flat-screen TV. He was fighting a large group of bad dudes. And he was outnumbered, but Luke Cage was Luke Cage with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin. I needed unbreakable skin and an impenetrable heart. I used to have an impenetrable heart. What happened to me?

  “Nah, man. I’m on episode 6.” He threw a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

  On the outside, Hammer, Josh, looked like the stereotypical jock: dark buzzed cut hair and tall with huge imposing muscles, but inside he was a typical geek. “Come on. I need to let off some steam.”

  Hammer paused the video. “Okay.”

  The courtyard was outfitted with bright surrounding floodlights in case anyone wanted to come out and throw the ball around in the middle of the night. I found the light switches and flipped them on. The lawn filled with intense light.

  Hammer squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side with an expression of ‘Really?’

  “You’re right. We don’t need that much light,” I chuckled then flipped off one of the light switches. The lawn was bright enough for us to see the ball but not bright enough to give us migraines.

  I tossed Hammer the football. “Okay. So what happened tonight?” he asked, catching the ball. “Tell me.”

  “What makes you think something happened?” I asked noncommittally.

  He gave me that look again and sighed. “Okay. All right. Laney dissed me, man. It was terrible. You remember, Jane?”

  Hammer shrugged.

  “Samantha?”

  Another shrug.

  “Teresa? Sadie?”

  Yet, another shrug.

  “You don’t remember any of these girls from earlier this year?” I asked.

  He threw his hands up with that ‘Really?’ look on his face again. “I can’t keep track of your girls, Gun. I’d need a computer program to do that. Frankly, I’m impressed you even remember them.”

  “Okay, fine. True. Anyway, these are all girls I’d gone out with and dropped once I realized I didn’t like them as much as I thought.” I sailed the football to Hammer.

  He caught it and asked, “What’s new about this story?”

  “Well, these chicks were at the party. They cornered Laney and told her what an asshole I am.”

  Hammer laughed. “I don’t remember these girls, but I can only assume that you were a complete and undeniable asshole to them. Correct?”

  I challenged him. “Maybe.” He gave me the look that told me he knew damn good and well I had been an asshole to each and every one of them. “Fine! Yes! I may have done some things that many would consider unscrupulous,” I said. Hammer sent the ball over to me in a nice arched spiral. Catching it, I admitted, “Ya. I was an asshole.”

  Hammer shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t change the past.” He put his hands up. I sent the ball back over to him. “What did Laney say?”

  “That’s the thing, man. She didn’t say anything.” I took out my phone and checked it again, making sure she hadn’t called, and I’d missed it. Nope. I shoved the phone back in my pocket. I continued, “I basically humiliated myself. In front of everyone, I asked her to be my girl. Then she just ran out.”

  “What do you mean she just ran out?” Hammer lobbed the ball high to me.

  I jumped up to catch it. “Exactly what I said. After I asked her to be my girl and promised her a full-on commitment, she straight up bounced. Houdini’ed out of there.” I tossed the football back to him. “I couldn’t find her.”

  He caught the ball. Twirling it in his hands, he said, “I know you like this girl, but dude, you gotta forget about her and move on.”

  I held my hands up. Hammer sighed, throwing the ball to me. I caught the ball, wondering if he was right. But would I be able to forget about her? After her, could I just move on to some other chick like I’d done before? I sailed the football back to Hammer while my thoughts raced. It seemed unlikely. It would take a long time for me to get over her.

  Out of nowhere, Brick House stepped out into the light. “Why do you want to break Laney’s heart so damn bad?” he shouted at me.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, looking around me startled. He literally appeared out from the shadows like a ghost.

  “How did you get in here?” Hammer roared.

  In the bright floodlights, Troy looked maniacal. His fists were clenched at his sides. He paced quickly back and forth into and out of the light. In the shadows, he looked like a large hulking beast. Speaking quickly, he asked, “Why do you want to break Laney’s heart so bad?” He repeated the question a few more times until he screeched, “Answer me!”

  "Troy, you have no idea how I feel about her. Just get lost, okay? You're pathetic," I said watching him pace and clench and unclench his fists. "She doesn't want to be with you. I can see it as plain as day in her eyes. Man, she just doesn't like you like that. Why can't you see that?" Troy stopped pacing to look at me. Half of his face was in the light. The other half in darkness. The lit half of his face began to twitch. "You should stop trying. Go for someone else," When I said that, the side of his face in the light tr
ansformed into a blaze of rage.

  He charged toward me and tried to nail me with a right hook, but I ducked out of the way. I landed an uppercut on his chin, sending him stumbling backward. He squeezed his eyes tightly, grabbing where I’d hit him with both of his hands. The blow only served to infuriate him even more.

  He came charging back toward me with his head lowered and body centered low, tackling me to the ground. As we rolled around in the grass, I hit Troy in his ribcage with my fists. Troy pinned me down with a knee and rained his fists into my face. I pushed my hands on his chest as hard as I could. Troy fell backward, so I scrambled up.

  Just as I raised my fist up to pummel Troy’s face, Hammer pulled us apart. “That’s enough!” he yelled at us.

  Troy sat up with wrath still in his eyes. I could tell he still wanted to fight. He picked himself up, blood running down his face then lowered his head, getting ready to charge us both. Hammer held his massive arm up. “I don’t have to remind you both the consequences for fighting, do I?” He pointed at Troy, “Do you want to be kicked off the wrestling team?” Troy relaxed his stance. Next, he pointed at me, “You have a chance at getting drafted. You want to ruin that?”

  I heaved an exasperated sigh. The NFL was my dream. What was I doing jeopardizing my chances? “No.”

  Hammer continued, “The two of you need to get your shit together. This chick is making you lose your damn minds.” He shook his head. “Listen, I’m sorry.” He indicated to both of us. “But, she doesn’t want anything real with either of you. You guys need to move on. Seriously.”

  I sat down in the grass. Troy turned away, crossing his arms. I noticed my bottom lip was puffy and bleeding. I touched it gingerly with my fingertips. “Ow…”

  Hammer watched the two of us moping. “See what you’ve done? You two pretty boys have fucked your faces up.”

  I laughed, but Troy looked so distant. He acted like he hadn’t heard Hammer. Slowly, he walked out of the courtyard without saying a word.