There were a hundred women in the stadium right now that would love to have a cup of coffee with him, see a movie, have dinner, or anything else he could possibly dream up. He couldn’t stop staring at Kendall on the opposite side of the field, though. If he didn’t knock it off, one of his teammates or the coach was going to notice, and he’d be in deep shit.
She’d told him “no,” and he should accept that. She wasn’t the first woman he’d ever met, and she wouldn’t be the last. His eyeballs didn’t seem to get that memo, though. He kept glancing over to stare at her. He forced himself to pay attention to the game instead.
The first two quarters of the game went faster than usual. The Sharks’ defense wasn’t allowing the Miners to advance the ball, which was always a plus. He’d sacked the Miners’ quarterback twice. He wanted their unprotected quarterback to remember his name as the kid limped off of the field. Maybe the Miners should have spent some of the money they forked out for his overpaid ass on some decent offensive linemen instead. The Sharks’ defense was manhandling them; the score was 14–3. The halftime whistle blew, and he joined his teammates and coaches for the jog into the Sharks’ locker room.
He snagged a few orange sections and a cold bottle of Gatorade off of the cart that sat on one side of the room. If he could manage to get a few calories down while he listened to the coach, he was always better off during the second half.
Seth plunked himself down on the bench next to Drew and elbowed him in the side. “Trying to burn a hole through the Miners’ GM with your eyes or something, McCoy?”
Drew had crammed an orange section into his mouth. “Mhmm?” Shit. This would teach him.
Seth leaned closer. “You stared at her after every play. She’s staring at you too. Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”
“Fuck, no.”
“At least you have something to look at. Damn, this game’s boring. I could be jerking off out there and they still wouldn’t get a first down,” Seth said.
Derrick choked on what looked like half a bottle of Gatorade. Drew pounded him on the back until he quit coughing.
Seth shook his head.
“The Miners will make second half adjustments,” Derrick warned Drew. “We both might have something to do. Stick with us, will ya?”
Drew was saved from a response by the coach’s beginning his typical halftime instructions and two minute motivational speech. Twenty minutes later, he’d managed to down a few more orange sections, drink the Gatorade, hit the bathroom, and jog back out onto the field with the team.
Kendall was gone from her spot on the sidelines. Maybe she was getting a bite to eat or taking care of some business. He’d liked the idea she wasn’t hiding in the suite, and he was oddly agitated that she wasn’t on the sidelines right now. For a woman he was determined to ignore, she was sure taking up a lot of space in his head. He took his place for the warm-up exercises and put himself through the stretching routines he could do in his sleep. He glanced over at the Miners’ sideline again just before the second half kickoff. She wasn’t there.
He glanced up at the visiting team’s suite a few times during the second half as well. He didn’t see her.
Derrick sidled up next to him while the second-string offense was schooling the Miners’ defense in the fourth quarter. Coach wasn’t going to play his starters when the score was 28–3 and the Miners hadn’t succeeded in getting a first down since the second quarter.
“So, you’ve been looking for someone the entire game. Want to tell me about it?”
“No.” Drew concentrated on the field once more.
“I will find out who she is, dawg,” Derrick said.
Drew continued to ignore him. Derrick chuckled and moved away.
The final score remained Sharks 28, Miners 3. Drew had showered and dressed in his street clothes. He’d made a short appearance in front of the media to address the two sacks and eight tackles he’d made during the game, and he signed some Sharks merchandise that would be taken to the Miners’ locker room by request. Someone’s son, daughter, niece, or nephew would end up with a team-autographed T-shirt or football. All teams did it; the Sharks had already received the bag of autographed Miners merchandise for distribution a few minutes ago.
Typically, Drew would be joining the group of players making their way to a local restaurant for dinner after a win. He enjoyed celebrating as much as the next guy, but right now, he wasn’t in the mood. He was happy about the win. He was always happy after a win. He was frustrated over his inability to be a little less obvious with the staring at Kendall for starters. No matter how intrigued he was by her, nothing was happening between them until he was out of the league.