Hard to Love You
Page 6

“I see you’ve finally got your balls back, hmm?” He asks while taking a swig of his beer.
I roll my eyes, “I’ve always had my balls, Asshole.”
He laughs, “Is that so? Ever since you and that hot piece of ass got together a few years ago you stopped hanging out with us.”
This guy is your typical player. He has a wife and a kid back home, but every night while we are on the road he’s hooking up with someone else. Most of the guys do. They claim they are lonely and ‘what happens on the road, stays on the road’. No one ever got in anyone else’s business, it was just guy code.
“Yeah, I just got some stuff going on so I haven’t been in the mood to hang around and bullshit.” I answer. I am not about to spill my guts to this guy. Hell, none of my teammates other than Cooper, who thinks I kissed Lily, knows the reason behind my split with Hailey.
“I think that chick over there might be interested in helping you forget about your stuff you’ve got going on.” He lifts his chin to the girl sitting across the bar from us. I look up and there is indeed a cute girl sitting there with three of her friends. She doesn’t look like a cleat chaser. She has this innocent look about her and she looks uncomfortable, out of her element.
Maybe she’s my out for the night. I can act like I’m picking this girl up and bringing her back to my room; helping her out of whatever situation she’s in and helping myself, too.
I grab my beer off the bar and turn on the stool to make my way to her. Pat slaps me on the back and says, “There’s my boy.”
I laugh just to play along. As I walk up to the girl, her friends all walk away in the direction I just came. I take the seat next to her, “Hey,”
She blushes and I’ve only said two words.
“Hey,” She manages to say after she’s taken a sip of her drink.
“You look like you need some help.”
“Was it that obvious?” she asks. She is tearing a napkin into pieces, trying to keep her eyes off mine.
“Just a little. I’m Mason by the way, and you are?”
“Cammie. Nice to meet you, Mason.” She has a southern drawl.
Now that I take her in I see that she’s wearing a pair of cowboy boots with her white dress. “Let me guess, all your friends are trying to hook up with the guys from the team and you’re just not into it?”
“Yeah, I was brought in here kicking and screaming.” She replies while nervously laughing.
“I’m about to start kicking and screaming if I have to stay in here any longer. What do you say we get out of here? Make them think we’re leaving together?” I offer.
“I think that’s the best pick up line I’ve ever heard.” She laughs.
She finishes up her drink and we go say goodbye to her friends before we leave. I gain a few hoots and hollers from the boys on my way out. Now maybe this will get them off my back for a little while.
We step outside and I hail down a taxi. One pulls up to the curb and I open the door for Cammie. After she sits down, she looks up at me, “You can come hang out for a while if you’d like; just to talk.” She fidgets with the end of her dress. “I don’t see my friends coming back tonight.”
If I wasn’t so hung up on Hailey I would have hopped into that taxi and had my way with her all night, but I just can’t seem to do it. “Nah, I’m gonna head back to the hotel. We’re out of here first thing in the morning. Take care of yourself, Cammie.”
I reach into my pocket and hand the cabbie a few bills to make sure she gets back safe and sound. “Thanks Mason.”
I smile, shut the door and pat the roof twice before stepping back. I wait until I can’t see Cammie’s cab anymore and hail my own. I jump in and tell him what hotel I’m staying at. As we’re approaching I realize I have no f**king clue what room Coop and I are in. I send him a quick text before I pay the cabbie and make my way into the hotel. The front desk is closed for the night and I’m close to banging on all the doors at this point, just to find his ass but I don’t want to piss off the coach any more than I already have. I’ve been showing up hung over for practice and training since the split but it’s the only thing I can do to keep myself sane. My phone beeps just as I’m about to sit on the bench near the elevator. I swipe my finger over my phone, unlocking it. It’s Coop telling me he’s in room 517. I hit the up elevator button, step in and head up to the fifth floor.
I knock once and wait. No answer so I bang again, after a few minutes the door opens and Cooper is standing there wearing only a towel and his hair is wet.
“Thanks for taking a shower for me.” I laugh as I step around him into the room. He smacks me upside the head.
“What the f**k was that for?” I grit out.
“You deserved it.” He replies calmly.
“Well, if you weren’t up here jerking it to Jaylinn then you wouldn’t have needed to shower.” I quip back. “It was Jaylinn right?” I probe.
He sighs loudly. I’m bound and determined to break his wall about that girl.
“Do you remember that spring break that we spent at Hunter’s? The year we waited too long to book flights out?”
Cooper snaps his head in my direction. “What the hell made you bring that up?”
I shrug, “I was just trying to remember that girl’s name that I was hanging out with. I met some girl at the bar that reminded me of her.”
Cooper looks straight ahead at the TV that isn’t turned on. “I was too f**ked up to remember anything at that party, dude.”
Maybe he was telling me the truth. Maybe he really doesn’t remember sleeping with Brittany, or maybe it really wasn’t Brittany at all. I sit on the bed, rest my elbows on my knees and look over at Coop, who is lying up against his headboard. I let the conversation drop for now. “Why the hell did you let me go out tonight?”
“I didn’t let you do anything. You chose to go with them.”
Groaning, I fall back on the bed and cover my face with my hands. I don’t know what else I can do to fix this mess with Hailey. “What am I supposed to do about Hailey, Coop? She’s avoiding my calls, texts, emails, Facebook messages, everything. I can’t eat, sleep, or think. Coach is pissed at me. It’s only a matter of time before he kicks me off the team. I don’t want that but I’m so screwed up. I can’t get my head in the game.”“