Settling The Score (BBW Romantic Suspense Contemporary Romance)

by Diane Blake

  "That's unusual for someone past traditional college age. I've heard the college has housing for older students. Aren't you in your mid twenties like me?" she asked.

  "Mid twenties? Aren't you sweet? As of a couple weeks ago, I turned thirty."

  "Oh, I didn't know. Happy Birthday!"

  Gus grimaced and flipped his scarf over his shoulder. "Happy? Honey, in my world, that practically makes me a senior citizen."

  Jasinda shook her head and laughed, partly in sympathy and partly in horror. Her natural reaction would be to project herself into the situation. She'd obsess about what would happen when she turned thirty and remained single. Then, she remembered she'd been on a date with Craig. That brought a smile of contentment to her face.

  As if he were reading her mind, Gus said, "Enough about me, let's get to the good stuff. So, I heard about your brush with fame and more importantly, the famous athlete What's his name?"

  "Craig Wilder. And I thought I was the only person in the world who didn't know who he was."

  "I don't follow basketball."

  Jasinda nodded an acknowledgment. "Actually, he's a football player. One of the Jefferson Tigers."

  "Oh, OK. I've been to Jefferson Stadium – but for concerts, not games." Gus grabbed Jasinda's arm. "Wait a minute. I wonder if he's here today."

  "Here, where?" she asked with a confused look.

  "On campus. I know I saw something on the website." Gus pulled his phone out of his pocket. He tapped the screen and scrolled. "Yep. Here it is." He showed her the screen as he spoke. "Tigers campus rally. In preparation for tonight's game." He scrolled again and read some more. "Chance for college players as well as other students and faculty to meet the pros. Come on, it just started. Let's get over to the gym."

  Chapter 13

  Jasinda and Gus pushed their way through the noisy, crowded gym. Vendor tables selling all kinds of Tigers gear lined the walls. An artist at a face painting booth made up fans' faces in the Tigers team colors of black and orange. One table had raffles for sky booth VIP tickets to that evening's upcoming game. Players and cheerleaders posed for pictures and signed autographs in another area.

  "Is your new boyfriend here?"

  "We've only had one date."

  "You have to start somewhere."

  Jasinda scanned the crowd. "Craig is 6'4" so we'd be able to see him if he was standing up. Let's walk along the tables and see if he's sitting there."

  "Why don't you just text or call him?" Gus asked.

  "We've only had one date. I think he should call me first. I'm old-fashioned that way."

  Gus rolled his eyes. "Try figuring that out when you're talking about two guys."

  Jasinda paused. She'd never thought about that before.

  They walked along the entire length of the tables with no sign of Craig. His absence mildly disappointed Jasinda, but she decided it was better than seeing him there. That would have meant he was visiting the college she attended and didn't even care to tell her about it.

  Gus excused himself to find a restroom. While she waited, Jasinda watched the college guys making fools of themselves with the Tigers cheerleaders. In addition to the leering from a distance, those that got up close became all tongue tied when the gorgeous cheerleaders asked them their names for the autographed pictures.

  Two jocks waited in line to have their picture taken with one of the cheerleaders in front of a Jefferson Tigers logo. The two young men were just the type Jasinda had pictured while telling Craig about movie plots. Their discussion fit right in with her assumptions.

  "Wow, I can't believe the college let them wear those skimpy, two piece outfits," one guy said.

  "I'm not complainin'."

  "Me neither, man."

  The two young men high-fived each other.

  "That top sure is tight in all the right places."

  "Yeah, and she's got plenty to pack in there!"

  When their turn came, the two guys approached the cheerleader. She inserted herself between them. With a pom-pom in each hand, she tried to drape her arms around the guys. The difference between her height and theirs presented a challenge even with the cheerleader's one and a half inch heel, almost thigh-high boots. "I'll leave my arms around your shoulders. You guys each put an arm around my waist and lift me up," she ordered.

  The young men needed no coaxing to get their chance to put their hands on a professional cheerleader's waist! She had to brush her long and flowing blonde hair away from one guy's face. He didn't seem to mind.

  When they hoisted the cheerleader up, Jasinda got a good look at the woman's body. In addition to her beautiful face, one feature the young men failed to remark upon stood out to Jasinda. The cheerleader's impossibly flat stomach! Jasinda looked down at her own blouse and just sighed.

  After the picture was taken, the cheerleader gave each guy an innocent peck on the cheek. The men left grinning like fools.

  Groans of disappointed protest went through the line when the cheerleader announced she needed a break. She dropped her pom-poms on the table. She turned away from the line.

  From the angle she'd been observing, Jasinda saw the expression on the woman's face change. Her appealing professional smile disappeared. Sheer determination took its place.

  Jasinda wondered where the cheerleader was headed as she marched in her direction. Jasinda turned around to see what unknown interesting destination or person must have been located behind her. She saw nothing of interest.

  When she turned back, the cheerleader had stopped right in her face!

  "Oh, excuse me," Jasinda told her.

  "Not likely." The young woman plastered on a convincing enough smile for anyone who might be observing from a distance. She kept her volume level low enough to keep the conversation private. However, there was no mistaking the modulated tone which sounded like it was on the edge of erupting at any moment.

  "Is something wrong?"

  "Is something wrong?" the cheerleader mocked back. "You have some nerve showing up here. Do you get some perverse pleasure out of stalking me?"

  Jasinda looked genuinely bewildered. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "Come on, you can do better than that. It's a little silly to play shy and innocent when you've been caught with your picture plastered all over the Internet."

  Jasinda cringed internally. Not from a sense of guilt. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong. The reaction was more about her sense of privacy being violated. "That picture was taken without my knowledge and distributed without my consent..."

  "What difference does that make, bitch?" the cheerleader interrupted.

  "In any case, what business is it of yours?"

  The Tigers cheerleader put her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes and explained, "I'm Kandi Chambers. The man you were kissing in that picture - Craig Wilder - is my boyfriend!"

  Chapter 14

  The team photographer called Kandi back to the photo booth. She stormed away, leaving a shocked Jasinda staring after her.

  Gus tugged on Jasinda's sleeve. "Sorry it took me so long. I bumped into someone from one of my classes. So, did I miss anything?"

  Jasinda turned to face him, holding back a flood of tears behind her eyes.

  "You poor thing. What's wrong?" Gus asked.

  "I can't talk about it right now. I'm sorry. I have to go." Jasinda excused herself and high-tailed it out of the campus gymnasium.

  Later that day, Jasinda looked through the keyhole in her apartment. Trudy stood there holding up a grocery bag within the line of sight. "Oh, no, he didn't!" Trudy announced as soon as the door swung open.

  "That was nice of you to come over, but as I said in the text, I don't feel like talking about it."

  "Nonsense!" Trudy countered as she pushed her way by. "Do you think I'm really going to let my friend sit here and wallow in grief over a guy by herself? Especially when I have supplies..." She held out the grocery bag with a gesture that dared Jasinda to peek i
nside.

  Jasinda's eyes betrayed her true feelings. "My favorite candy bar...hand packed pints from Biggie Scoops..."

  Trudy reached in the bag and shifted the pints around revealing one more item.

  Jasinda's taste buds tingled just looking at the big white box. "And fresh chocolate covered pretzels from Madame Moreau's Chocolates at the mall!" Jasinda's stomach rumbled. "I hate you!" she said with mock-seriousness.

  "And yet you love me!" Trudy smiled triumphantly as Jasinda stepped out of the way to let her friend enter the apartment. Jasinda retrieved spoons while Trudy unpacked the bag. "Here's how I look at it. We can be single, miserable, and commiserate about how jerky guys are on an empty stomach. Or we can be single, miserable and commiserate about how jerky guys are while enjoying these decadent desserts."

  Jasinda signaled her agreement as she handed her friend the spoon.

  The two young ladies plopped on the couch and got down to business - both kinds including delving into the sweets and the latest twist in the Craig Wilder saga.

  Jasinda downed a spoonful of ice cream. The dark chocolate base held chocolate covered cashews, colorful chocolate candies, and chocolate chunks! "Mmmm, this is heaven," Jasinda sighed. "Do you think anyone would notice if I just moved into this ice cream container?"

  "I hear that, girlfriend," Trudy agreed as she slid her own spoonful between her lips. "Now start at the beginning..."

  Jasinda related the whole story of how she came face to face with the cheerleader Kandi and her revelation about Craig not being so single after all.

  Trudy tapped her fingers aside her face to think. "I suppose he never actually said he was single, right?"

  "That's like the guy who forgot to tell his girlfriend he already had a wife! I think flirting, making a date, and kissing me in the middle of the mall pretty much implies he didn't already have a girlfriend."

  "True."

  "And rescuing us from the robber," Jasinda added. "I should have known it was too good to be true. Since when do gorgeous men drop into my life out of nowhere? Make that a gorgeous professional athlete with countless adoring fans. That only happens to skinny girls in movies."

  "Not to mention his billion dollar fortune. You always leave that out of the story," Trudy joked.

  "Actually, it's funny you mention that. When we were having lunch, a girl actually approached Craig with that article you showed me from the magazine and asked him to autograph his picture in it. After she left, he told me he thought that article was a little over the top."

  "Really? You mean the media lied about a celebrity? Shocking!"

  "Well, not so much lied as didn't tell the whole story. Craig said it was true that he did invest most of his salary in his brother's tech company. The value of the stock did hit a billion dollars once, but it fluctuates. Besides that, he'd have to sell off all that stock to actually have that much money in hand."

  "I'd like to have problems like that," Trudy said.

  "Better than finding out the perfect guy already has a girlfriend. Why wouldn't he? Of course, she'd be someone like Kandi. Can you imagine what it must be like with all those athletes after a game? All psyched up from winning...testosterone practically oozing from their pores! Then, in come the thin, beautiful cheerleaders throwing around their perky boobs in those tight outfits..."

  Trudy fanned herself. "I wish I had brought more ice cream. I need to cool down after that description!"

  Jasinda found nothing amusing in the situation. "By the way, this is all your fault," she accused Trudy.

  "Me? What did I do?"

  "You're the self-proclaimed expert on all things celebrity. How come you didn't know about the cheerleader girlfriend?"

  Trudy raised her chin. "That's the million, make that billion, dollar question. Is your wi-fi on?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Hand me your tablet, please."

  Jasinda broke off a piece of the candy bar and dropped it into her ice cream while Trudy typed and swiped on the tablet. She had the Tigers website on the screen in no time. A moment later she clicked on the cheerleader section. Kandi's smiling face filled the screen in the form of the cheerleader trading cards sold by the Tigers organization. A click on that led to various photos of Kandi posing in the skimpy, midriff-baring uniform.

  "Girl knows how to shake those pom-poms, got to give her that," Trudy commented with an arched eyebrow.

  Jasinda caught her friend's double meaning and huffed in response. Jasinda forced herself to lean over and take a gander at the screen. "Just look at her. Too cute for words. Kandi Chambers! Sounds like a porn star's name for heaven's sake."

  "And it describes her perfectly. Awfully convenient, don't you think?"

  "Just shows how much the universe provides some of us with charmed lives."

  Trudy's non-committal tone signaled her lack of agreement. "I guess."

  Jasinda excused herself to get drinks and bring the empty ice cream containers to the kitchen. When she got back, Trudy remained hunched over the tablet. "So what else have you learned about Craig's secret girlfriend?" Jasinda asked.

  Trudy looked up. "You mean Gretchen Blinderstrom."

  "Who's that? Another girlfriend?"

  "No. That's Kandi. Gretchen Blinderstrom is her real name. Kandi Chambers is her 'stage name' so to speak."

  "How in the world did you ever find that out?"

  "Believe me, it wasn't easy. She definitely tried to hide it. Internet search engines are a stalker's best friend."

  "OK, so she changed her name to match her image. That's impressive that you found that, but how did you miss the more important fact that they were dating?"

  Trudy pursed her lips. "That's just it. I didn't. Besides the fact that I never came across that info before randomly, I just searched for it very specifically. They've been in group photographs with other players and cheerleaders at public events. But there aren't any pictures of just the two of them. There is absolutely no reference anywhere online to Craig Wilder dating Kandi Chambers - or Gretchen Blinderstrom, for that matter."

  "What about them just hooking up?" Jasinda asked.

  Trudy shook her head. "Not even a whisper of that on gossip sites or somebody's unsubstantiated fan blog. Look what happened with that one picture of you and Craig out there. Thanks to the Internet, you'll basically be tied to him forever."

  "Great, Trudy. That's just what I need to hear right now." Jasinda added an eye roll in case her tone hadn't gotten her point across.

  Trudy ignored the sarcasm, "My point is, I don't think you have the whole story yet."

  Chapter 15

  "I don't think this is such a good idea after all. How do I let you talk me into these things? Plus, you know how I hate to go out of the house in a sweatsuit," Jasinda complained.

  "Because those Biggie Scoops aprons are so much more flattering! Besides, we have to blend in," Trudy responded as she surveyed the crowd on the sidewalk.

  "And you're sure she's here?"

  "A little social media sleuthing goes a long way. There!" Trudy pointed. "I don't remember that woman's last name, it was Missy something or other." The leggy blonde smiled at the crowd. Of course, anyone getting out of a limo automatically garnered the crowd's attention, but a beautiful woman wearing the Tigers cheerleader uniform certainly got more than her fair share.

  Jasinda couldn't argue with Trudy's tracking skills. Kandi Chambers soon stepped out of the same limousine too. The women mingled with the crowd in front of The End Zone, which Jasinda had just learned was the premier sports bar/night club/party destination for hard core fans, players and cheerleaders after the Tigers games.

  Jasinda assumed the same concept applied to The End Zone patrons as it did to those who went to the mall after football games – the rowdier the crowd, the more likely the Tigers had beaten their opponents. Judging from this crowd, the Tigers had indeed won.

  A rowdy bunch of fans confirmed her assumption when they started holding up big foam fingers with the Tiger
s logo and colors as they chanted, "Big Game, here we come!"

  "OK, here's the plan," Trudy whispered from their spot behind the tree. "We'll follow Kandi inside. I'll distract her friend and you confront Kandi. Then, we'll get back together and compare notes."

  "What if Craig shows up?"

  "Good, then you can talk to them both at once. Really clear the air."

  "And that doesn't sound like an awkward moment for any of us," Jasinda said with her sarcasm level blasted up to full.