All In:Playing the Fool(10)

"Please just leave," I said, not wanting him to see me upset. I didn't open my eyes until I heard the door close again.





Chapter Four




Will



Jesus. H. Christ. What were the odds of running into Lacy again, and  here of all damn places? I was stoked to see her, but could I possibly  fuck up anymore with her? Nope, it was impossible. Now that she knew I'd  lied to her, and that I had a video of us on the elevator, she'd never  speak to me again.

I went to say goodbye to Jess, and maybe get her advice on whether or  not I could fix the mess I was in with Lacy. She had experience with men  who fucked up. Lord knows my good friend, her husband Tyler, did it on a  regular basis.

I knocked on her open door and Jess turned around from her computer, then frowned. "No luck?" she asked.

I shook my head and then took a seat in the chair across from her.

"Why is it that when I finally meet a beautiful woman like Lacy I not  only lie to her, but basically run her off the morning after we're  together? Oh, and did I mention I just made her cry?" I asked, pointing  my thumb over my shoulder to Lacy's office.         

     



 

"No! What the hell is wrong with you, Will?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew. I can't stop fucking up."

Jess laughed. "Sounds like Tyler when we first started dating. Do you  remember how bad he kept screwing up? But I still ended up with him  anyway, because no matter what he did, I couldn't help falling in love  with him."

"I give up," I said, rubbing my hands over my face in defeat. "There's  something I need to give Lacy though. You think you can get me her  address? I won't stalk her, I promise. This's something I don't want to  drop off here."

"Yeah, I can probably get it and text it to you," Jess said.

"Thanks," I told her, standing up to leave.

"Hey, Will. How's it going with Lacy?" Joe asked when he walked in and joined us.

"About as well as you and your prosecutor."

"What prosecutor?" Jess asked. Joe shook his head and gave me a pleading look.

"I don't remember her name. Gorgeous, petite redhead, sassy, and cut Joe down in about two sentences."

"Katie!" Jess exclaimed.

"Oh, is that her name?" I asked, laughing when Joe winced.

"So when do you want to head back to Sin?" Joe asked.

"Hell, I need to get a certain woman off my mind … so whenever you want."

"Tonight's college night," he said with a big smile.

"You really want to go out on a Wednesday night?" I asked. "And aren't you too old for college girls?"

"I'm only twenty-eight, jackass, which means I'm finally about the  maturity level of college girls. Sadly, you've still got a few more  years to go."

I laughed at his logic. "Then by God, let's go to Sin."

...

"Let's go" turned out to be famous last words.

"Is that … is that Zack Bradford. Holy shit, it is!" I told Joe with a  punch to his shoulder. The two of us were sitting at the bar, and I was  drinking like a fish tonight since I could cab it home.

"No way," he said, shaking his head in disagreement before taking a swig  of beer. "What the fuck would the Wildcats starting quarterback, the  best quarterback in the entire league, be doing in Greensboro on a  Wednesday night?" Joe responded, before turning around to look for  himself. "Holy fuck, that is him!" he exclaimed.

"Told you!" I laughed.

Women (and even a few men) were falling all over themselves to get to  the huge, famous man, but he was undeterred. He headed straight towards a  blonde on the dance floor. Not just any blonde, but one with long,  strawberry tinted golden hair …

"Wait. Is that Lacy?" Joe asked. "Zack Bradford just kissed Lacy!"

Then it hit me. She said her ex's name was Zack, and I heard her tell  Jess I was his opposite. You couldn't get any more opposite than me and  football God Zack Bradford. "Fuck. That's her ex."

"No way! Her and Zack motherfucking Bradford dated? But they don't look like exes. My exes don't let me kiss them like that."

"That's real helpful," I told him with a glare.

"Hey, you know what you need to do - make her jealous."

I laughed even though my gut was twisting. "Right. Lacy's the hottest  woman in here and she's with a fucking NFL quarterback. How the hell am I  supposed to make her jealous?"

"If she's the hottest woman here, and she wanted you, then you shouldn't  have a problem snagging another hot woman. And Jess said she heard that  the two of you had mind blowing sex! If that's true, which I still find  very hard to believe, then Lacy will be jealous to think another woman  is going home with you tonight to be the recipient of those … skills."

"You are so full of shit."

"Hey, my argument is sound. If I'm right, you owe me a beer. If I'm wrong I'll buy you one."

"Deal," I agreed.

"Look, there seems to be trouble in paradise," Joe said, nodding towards the couple.

Lacy didn't look happy, now that he mentioned it. Her face was turned  away from the quarterback and her mouth was set in a hard line, while  her palms pushed flat against his huge chest.

"It's on. Who seems a willing participant?" I asked, looking around the bar.

"Her. The brunette at the end of the bar," he nodded in her direction.  "She's on her third drink in like two minutes, so she's probably down  for anything."

The woman was pretty, not Lacy gorgeous, but pretty.

"Wish me luck," I said, then made my way toward the end of the bar. If  nothing else the location would make me more visible to Lacy.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked the woman as I leaned against the bar. She smiled up at me, which was a good sign.

"Better now," she giggled. "I'm Jasmine."         

     



 

"Will."

"Will what?"

"No, that's my name, Will."

"Oh!" she laughed, clearly tipsy. "Well Will, will you dance with me?"  she asked, then laughed hysterically again. Normally I wouldn't attempt  dancing, but tonight, all bets were off. I'd had enough liquid courage  that I'd try anything right about now.

"Sure. Let's go," I said, grabbing her hand to lead her to the dance  floor. We didn't even dance a full minute before she launched herself at  me, her tongue prodding my mouth while both her hands held my head in  place. I thought I was going to suffocate before she came up for air.  Jesus. Joe was right. At this rate she'd have my dick out and be riding  it in no time. Not that I cared. The only thing I was worried about was  whether or not Lacy had noticed, and if she cared.

When I glanced around I saw Lacy talking to Joe, and quickly looked  away. What was her name? Oh yeah, Jasmine was covering my mouth again  until I had to pull away to breathe. Looking back over I wasn't sure if I  should flag down Joe to save me or keep at it. He gave me a smile and a  thumbs up. What the hell did that mean? I broke away from the clingy  woman and told her I needed to take a break to grab another drink,  leaving her on the dance floor.

"What's up?" I asked Joe when I got back to the bar.

"Lacy is pissed at the quarterback. She told me she broke up with him  and he's an arrogant ass that won't give up. When she saw you and the  human suction cup she looked ill, and headed outside to get some air.'"

"Which way did she go?" I asked. He nodded toward the door leading to the patio. "Should I?"

"Hell yes. If nothing else she'll probably want you to help her get the message across to her football stalker."

I'd take whatever I could get, so I headed in that direction. Stepping  out into the stiflingly humid night air I found Lacy sitting on the  dirty ground. Her phone was in her hand, the backlight shinning on her  frown.

"Hey," I said when I approached her. She looked up at me and then away.

"Hey."

"You okay? It looked like some giant football player was hassling you.  Do you need me to have words with him?" I asked. She at least gave a  small smile.

"He's a giant asshole," she replied quietly.

"He the guy you're trying to forget?"

"Yeah, but it's hard to do when he won't leave me the hell alone."

"I bet Joe can get you a restraining order."

She laughed. "I might consider it."

"You want to dance with me and try to get the point across? I'm not much, but jealousy doesn't really have high standards."

"Okay," she said, and I reached a hand down to help her up.

"And I mean, if you think you need to kiss me, I'll suck it up and go along with that too," I told her with a smile.

"It might come to that," she said, with a nod of her head.

"I guess I can take one for the team," I replied as I intertwined my fingers with hers, and opened the door to go back inside.

She led us to the middle of the dance floor, then wrapped her arms  around my neck. I was damn thankful we'd caught one of the infrequent  slow songs, Ed Sherran crooning Thinking Out Loud. I slinked my arms  around Lacy's small waist, pulling her body tightly against mine. God,  it felt good having her in my arms again, smelling like those damn  cherries.