Chapter Five

Sean

“So, whatever happened to that chick you almost ran over, Sean?” Evan asked as he spotted me. I grunted a little as I lifted the barbell over my head. Honestly, I didn’t need a spotter to bench press 250 for only two reps. But ever the worrywart, Evan insisted he spot me so nothing dangerous would happen. Like, I don’t know, I lost my grip and the bar fell on my neck and suffocated me or something.

“I don’t know. Why ask me?” I said, slowly putting my arms down.

“Dude, you almost ran her over,” he stressed.

“Yeah, and?” I asked, not following where he was going with this.

“Are you serious? It’s your responsibility to check if she’s all right,” Evan pointed out.

“Well, I’m pretty sure she and that dog are doing just fine. Besides, how am I supposed to check on them?” I asked.

“Didn’t you get her phone number or something?”

“No!” I said, a little too quickly. If that chick and I had met somewhere else, under entirely different circumstances, I would’ve totally asked her for her digits. But unfortunately, I was so preoccupied by my smarting foot and need for escape that it completely slipped my mind.

I finished my set and placed the weights back before sitting up. I grabbed my towel from the side and proceeded to wipe the sweat on my brow with it. I could feel Evan staring at me, but I ignored him, pretending that I didn’t notice it.

“Not cool, bro,” Evan finally said, and I grimaced as I turned to look at him.

He didn’t need to tell me I’d messed up on that one. I should’ve given that girl my number, or at least told her my name so she could look me up and tell me if she needed something because of that almost accident. Which reminded me…

“You dumb jock…”

Her voice had echoed in my brain a couple of times that day. I’m sure I didn’t give her any outward indication that I was a football player, which meant…

“She knows me,” I muttered, my eyes wide, surprising myself at how I hadn’t realized it sooner.

“What?” Evan asked, raising one eyebrow.

“She knows me,” I repeated, smirking as I swept my hair up with my fingers and feeling a surge of confidence rising inside me. “She called me ‘a dumb jock’ that day, and I never told her who I was. I guess I’m more famous than I thought, huh?”

Evan blinked a couple of times as he stared at me before bursting into laughter. I frowned at him as I waited for him to finish laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, annoyed.

“It’s funny because of course there’s a huge possibility that she knows you, and yet you seem so utterly surprised about it!” he pointed out. “I mean, come on, Sean. After being part of the Giants for a couple of years now, plus all those endorsements you’re doing? Your face is practically mainstream on television. It’s not exactly a stretch to think she knows who you are.”

The massive ego boost that I’d felt earlier burst.

“And you know the best part? You’re actually happy she thinks you’re dumb!” Evan chortled.

I scowled and looked away, ignoring Evan as he continued to laugh at me. I never thought I was the type to get easily bruised by words, but he didn’t have to laugh so hard about it. I didn’t think I’d be so happy a girl knew who I was right off the bat, and that thought was unsettling. She was affecting me more than I thought, and it wasn’t good, not when there was a remote possibility of me ever seeing her again. I should nip this in the bud before it got worse.

Desperate for a change of subject, and you know, to get Evan to shut his trap, I asked him about the one thing I’d been meaning to talk about.

“How’s the orphanage going?” I asked him, and just like that, Evan’s face lost all its humor.

He sighed. “It’s not doing so well. The building’s old, and it’ll cost more to repair it than to tear it down or renovate it. But we can’t do that unless we find a place to relocate the children. Other than that, there are a whole mess of problems.”

Ever since his mother, Aunt Judith, got sick with breast cancer, all their money went to paying for chemotherapy and hospital bills. The money to keep the maintenance of the orphanage was used up as a result, and the place started to decay. The roof started leaking, pipes rusted and burst, floor panels started to creak and break off. I told him I would pay for everything since I knew he was still working on paying for his student loans, but he was having none of it. The idiot said his pride as a man was at stake and told me that he was going to take care of it himself.

I told him that Aunt Judith was like the mother I never knew and that I had to help, if only to show them how much I appreciated them taking me in. They were the only family I’d ever known, so it was natural I felt the need to help. This convinced Evan to let me help, but only a little, as he said that it was still his main responsibility.

“Shall I hire a real estate agent to look for a temporary place for the kids? I don’t want to risk them getting hurt when the place is so rundown,” I suggested.

Evan shook his head and he heaved another sigh. “I’ve actually started getting offers to sell the place. One wanted to tear it down and put an apartment complex on it. Another wanted to use it for a parking lot. The money’s pretty good and I was thinking–”

“No,” I said, not letting him finish.

“Why not? The orphanage isn’t doing so well, and the money I could get from selling the place could go a long way,” Evan said.

“That orphanage was my home – me and all the kids who wound up there. It’s where I met you and your mom. It’s your second home, too. And you’re willing to sell it off to the highest bidder who’s going to turn that home into a fucking parking lot? We’ve already got thousands of parking lots here in New York!” I cried out.

“Okay, okay. I’m not going to sell it. Money’s going to be tight, but I’m not selling Our Place,” Evan said, raising his hands up in surrender.

“I already told you that if you need money, ask me! I’m practically a walking bank account! Hell, I’ll put a five percent interest rate if it makes you happy, I don’t fucking care,” I said, trying to convince him of my point.

He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before nodding. “Okay, I’ll think about it. Thanks, man,” he said, giving me a soft smile.

I shuddered violently. “It’s cool, man. Now enough of this emotional drama, sitcom bullshit before I grow a fucking vagina. And quit smiling at me like that. I don’t do guys.” I scowled.

Evan scoffed at me. “And here I thought you could keep a serious conversation for once,” he said, shaking his head.

“Come on, man. You know being serious gives me hives,” I joked. We chuckled and headed for the showers.