“Hey there,” Dustin said.

She looked over and gave a shy smile. “Hi.”

He stopped beside her and she stopped, too, adjusting her bag and looking away often. Aww, he thought. How sweet. She’s nervous. This would be easy.

“I saw you practicing today,” he said. “You’re really good.”

“Oh.” She chuckled. “I’m okay. We have a really good squad.”

“Yeah, but I think you’re the best they have.”

She chuckled again. “No. But thank you.”

“Well, certainly the prettiest.”

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No.”

“What’s your name?”

“Claire. What about you?”

“I’m Dustin.”

“Oh.” Her expression changed from being flattered to being surprised.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Well, it’s just that…” She looked around, then continued in a quieter voice. “We’ve been warned.”

“About me?” He pointed to himself and tried to look innocent.

She nodded.

“Was it Brooklyn?” He hung his head. “I was trying to play around, have some fun. I messed up big time and scared her. I didn’t mean to. I told her I was sorry, but she didn’t want to hear it.” He blew out a breath. “Well, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me.” He turned and took a step away.

“No, wait,” she said. “I… She’s a little strict when it comes to dating football players.”

He stopped and turned back around. Man, she was easy. “Why?”

“She says it might interfere with our game or we’ll be distracted.”

“I guess that makes sense. It’s just a shame. I mean, we spend all this time together, we travel together, and we don’t have a lot of time off the field. It makes it really hard to meet women.”

“I’m sure you don’t have any trouble.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I don’t really like the typical bar scene. Too loud and rowdy. I’d rather have a nice meal and just sit and talk some place quiet. But I guess I’m not like most guys. Most guys just want to get girls drunk so they can sleep with them. I’m just not like that.” He shrugged.

“You sure don’t seem like most guys to me.” She kicked at a stone with her pink running shoes.

“And you don’t seem like most girls.”

“Really? Why not?” She pulled her eyebrows together.

“Oh, it’s a good thing.”

Her face relaxed, and he leaned in as if to tell her a secret.

“I know most guys like the loud and outgoing types, but I prefer girls who are quiet and keep to themselves. When I was watching you today, it just seemed like you were so full of mysteries, like there were so many deep thoughts running through your head that you want to get out, but you probably feel like you have no one who really gets it that you can share it all with.”

She blinked at him for a moment, then said, “You’re exactly right.”

“I thought so. Well, if you would want to share with me sometime, I’d love to hear what goes on in your amazing mind.”

“Okay.” She gave him a small smile. The nervousness was back.

How in the world this girl ever had the guts to try out to become a cheerleader was beyond him. She didn’t seem the type at all. Well, that was something he could talk to her about—get her to open up and share her feelings. Girls liked all that junk.

“So maybe… tomorrow night? We have off the next day, so we wouldn’t have to get to bed super early or anything. We could get some dinner and just talk all night if we wanted to.”

“That sounds great. Oh, but, don’t let Brooklyn know. I’m afraid I might get in trouble.”

“Cross my heart.” He made a sign on his chest. “Can I have your number to text you?”

“Sure.”

He took out his phone and handed it to her so she could enter it.

“Thanks, Claire. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you.”

She giggled and turned away. “’Bye,” she said, waving as she opened her car door.

He waved at her and watched her until she drove off. Then he went home.

He felt good about their conversation. She’d been easy, but he needed easy right now. Get one down to get the score going. Hopefully, he’d jump ahead of Alex and Hayden. If he didn’t start winning at something soon, he’d lose his mind.

Before he went to sleep, he looked at a few restaurants. Something with a cheap bar so they could drink a lot. He’d make sure he had wine at home, and he always kept the liquor cabinet fully stocked. The only other thing he needed was a mental list of things to ask her, to keep her talking about herself, and he’d be set.

Before he turned out the light, he opened the drawer in his bedside table. A box of condoms sat there waiting. Good. No point in taking chances, and in case she was insistent on using them, he didn’t want anything to get in the way. He flipped off the light, turned onto the side with his good ribs, and drifted off to sleep, feeling like finally things would start to go better for him.

In the morning, he wasted no time getting started. He woke up, showered, and texted Claire, “Can’t stop thinking about you. Looking forward to tonight.”

After a few minutes, she responded, “Me too! Have a good practice!” And she even added a smiley face emoji. Too easy.

He tucked his phone in his bag. He’d have to remember to text her again later, just to keep her interest going. He wanted her thinking about him all day, letting her desire for him build up, believing he was truly interested in her. That’s how he’d get her.

When he strolled through the locker room, feeling better than he had in days, he walked right over to Hayden and Alex, who were watching a video on Alex’s phone.

“Whoa, that’s a sick play!” Hayden said.

“Told you,” Alex said. He put his phone in his pocket and nodded at Dustin. “End of week one. How you feeling?”

“Getting there,” Dustin said. “I want to see how many places I jumped in the rankings.”

Hayden nodded. “You gotta get up there fast or you’ll get cut.”

Dustin felt his eye twitch. Cut? He would not be one of the ones to get cut. No way. No how. “I’m also about to get on the board with our little bet.”

“Oh, yeah? Who?” Alex asked.

“Got a date with Claire tonight.”

“I don’t know,” Hayden said. “Holly and I might beat you to it.” He winked.

Dustin pressed his lips together. Was Hayden just going to win at everything? Not if he could help it. “What about you?” he asked Alex.

Alex pulled his mouth into a crooked grin. “I’m not divulging my secrets. I’ll let you know when it happens, but not until then.”

So, he clearly had something planned. He wouldn’t be that cocky if he had nothing in the works. Which one could it be? He’d made a point of finding out the names of the girls on the squad so he could keep them straight and know who was who. Maybe Alex was after Annabelle. She was kinda feisty. They’d heard her shouting back at Brooklyn on the field more than once. If she was the rebellious type, she might be a good mark for Dustin next. Especially if they’d been warned about him. He might convince Annabelle that sleeping with him was the perfect rebel act.

There were a few others he hadn’t observed much. Lucy was another blonde—not too loud, not too quiet, not too much of anything. She was perfectly balanced. Rachel was the only redhead, and Eve was another brunette. Neither of them had done much to stand out in his mind. Melissa, he thought of as the sturdiest one. You couldn’t call any of them fat. Not by a long shot. But Melissa was the most muscular, the strongest, the one who tossed the other girls and was at the bottom of those crazy pyramids they did sometimes. But then, you never knew with that sort of girl. She might be juicing, or she might have been a man once. That could make things interesting. He’d never been with a transgender person before. He looked forward to being the first one to find out her story.

“Who are your top picks?” Dustin asked. What he didn’t want was to be in some battle over the same girl against Hayden or Alex. He’d either get to each girl first, or he’d wait until they were through with her before moving in. Direct competition, though, was not his best game. He just couldn’t compare to these two like that.

“You know mine,” Hayden said.

“Not telling,” Alex said. “Like I said, I’ll let you know when it happens, but not before then.”

“Just want to make sure I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes,” Dustin said. Let them think he was trying to uphold the bro-code. Better reason than to admit he didn’t think he’d win out against them.

“Well, who are your top picks?” Alex asked. “I’ll keep away.”

“I told you, I’m seeing Claire tonight. I’ve also talked to Kitty, Maddie, and Brooklyn.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Four? You’re going to claim almost half of them already?”

“I’m not claiming any of them,” Dustin said. “Isn’t the point for all of us to sleep with all of them anyway? Just letting you know who I’ve already talked to is all.”

“Well, you can both stay away from Holly,” Hayden said.

“Aww, you actually getting feelings for her?” Dustin said, mocking him.

Hayden shrugged one shoulder. “Too soon to tell. But I want a clear shot.”

“You got it,” Alex said. “I’m not talking to anyone either of you mentioned, so we’re good.”

Dustin nodded. He’d have to watch Alex more carefully, see who he was checking out, or if he was chatting anyone up.

During practice that day, several times Dustin almost got hit because he wasn’t paying attention. He kept checking out the ladies, trying to catch Claire’s eye. Later, he could tell her that she’d distracted him all morning. The few times he did make eye contact, she would bite her lip and look away with a slight smile.

When they broke for lunch, he found a text waiting from her. “Sorry I had to keep looking away from you. I didn’t want Brooklyn seeing me, but you looked like you’ve been practicing hard.” Another smiley.

He grinned and sent back, “I can’t keep my head in the game with you right there. You look so good. Coach is going to have my balls if I don’t stop staring.” He added a winky emoji.

After the long day had ended, he was looking forward to three things—getting out of his nasty, sweaty uniform and into a hot shower, seeing the new rankings for the week, and hooking up with Claire.

The shower happened first. The list wasn’t posted yet, so he peeled off his uniform and pads, tossed them in his locker, and let the hottest water he could get run over him. He scrubbed extra hard, knowing that all of him would be seen later. With fresh cologne and deodorant, he headed back out and saw the guys standing around a piece of paper taped to the wall. The ranking was ready.

He pushed one or two guys out of the way and started at the top. The same names were there. Kenny, Hayden, Alex. He had to fight rolling his eyes. But his name was still missing as he moved farther down the list.

His name had moved up just three spaces to number 46. Only five players would be cut this week, and those names at numbers 66 through 70 had a red mark by them. He was well above that mark, but still. Three spots? That was it? Of all these players, right now, he would be at the bottom of the team of fifty. How could this be happening?

He stopped by Coach’s office on his way out. “Got a sec?” he asked.

Coach Kent glanced up and jerked his head for Dustin to enter.

“Just wondering about the ranking.”

“What about it?” Coach didn’t even look up from what he was doing.

“I’m so far at the bottom. Why?”

“You didn’t get cut. Work harder next week.”

Dustin took in a breath. “I know I didn’t get cut, but what’s making my score so low? I was at the top of my team in college and high school. I’m not used to being at the bottom.”

Coach put his papers down and made eye contact, one eye giving him a slight glare. “Well, maybe that’s your problem. You’re used to not having to work for it. These guys are still working for it, and it shows. Maybe if you stop working so hard to impress the girls, you’d be a higher rank.” He went back to his papers.

Dustin decided to play this like he was innocent. “What do you mean? I’m not trying to impress anyone. I just want to do my best.”

“Then you better make your best better.”

Dustin pushed off from the desk to stand. He ground his teeth and held back the curse he wanted to let fly. That wouldn’t help him at all. “Yes, sir. I’ll keep working harder.”

Coach glanced at him one more time then went back to work.

Dustin stormed out of the locker room. So, his best wasn’t good enough? He was paying too much attention to the girls? He’d show him. He’d not only crush practice next week, he’d bang the hell out of this girl tonight. He’d prove his best was the best in both worlds. He’d win at everything.