Quarterback's Secret Baby(19)

"I know you're not. You're talking about girls. What do you want me to say? I can't change how I've lived my life so far. Until I started hanging out with you I never even wanted to."

I turned towards Kaden and eyed him. "What does that mean?"

He shrugged and grasped the steering wheel in his hands. God, I even liked the way his hands looked doing that. "It just means I - damn, Tasha, I like you, OK? Do you not see that? Do you know how much shit I'm taking from my teammates for following you around like a lost puppy? I just mean that it never really mattered before - with the girls, I mean. It didn't matter who they were. Now, it matters."

"So you're basically just a man-slut is what you're saying?" I asked, intending my comment to be half-playful and then shutting up when it didn't come out that way at all.

"Yeah, I guess." Kaden replied. "I don't know if you know how guys are. We're all just like these horny animals. I never really thought there was any reason to turn down p-"

He stopped himself before the word 'pussy' came out of his mouth but we both knew what he'd been about to say.

"It's OK, Kaden. I'm not a church lady, you know. You can say the word 'pussy' around me."

"I know!" He said, loudly. "I know that, Tasha! It's just I don't want to. I don't want to talk that way around you. You make me feel different and I don't know why. I'm not blaming any of this weird behavior on you, you know. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me."

He leaned forward and gently banged his head against the top of the steering wheel a few times as what he'd just said sunk in.

"Is that true?" I asked.

"What?"

"What you just said, about wanting to be different around me."

He shot me a look. "Oh, it's true. Do you think I'd be saying all this embarrassing shit if it wasn't true? Jesus, Tasha, I sound like such a fucking wuss."

"No you don't." I told him. "You don't sound like a wuss, Kaden. You just sound like - maybe like you're kind of sick of being a man-slut?"

Kaden laughed that deep, rumbling laugh of his and shook his head. "Yeah, I think so. You want to hear something fucked up?"

"Uh, sure," I said, not sure where the conversation was going.

"One of the colleges that's trying to get me to attend - well, one of the people who works for them - basically offered me a hooker last week."

I felt my eyes widening. "Really?!"

"Yeah. I mean, he didn't say 'we have hookers for you' but he really heavily hinted that if I went for an orientation visit, there would be a lot of 'pretty girls.' I've heard about that kind of thing happening, but damn, even I was surprised."

We sat in the Suburban talking until the sun started to go down and I knew I had to get home and deal with dinner. I have to admit I was a little shocked by what Kaden had told me about being offered 'girls' just to pay a visit to a college. I was vaguely aware that college football players were treated like gods but that was so sleazy I could hardly believe it. Was that how it was going to be for him, even if they weren't hookers? Just like high school but with even more and prettier women? When we got to my house I leaned over to give Kaden a kiss on the cheek - I didn't know who was in the house or who might be looking out the window.

"Tasha." He said, when I went to open the door. "Hold up."

I turned back towards him. "What?"

"Go to prom with me."

He was trying to make it seem like he'd only just remembered to ask the question but I could tell from the look on his face that that wasn't the case.

I smiled. "Are you pretending like you only just remembered to ask me that? Like it slipped your mind or something?"

Kaden held up his hands and laughed. "Yeah, you got me. So what do you say? Go to prom with a football jock and make me look good in the photos?"

Prom. I had already planned to go to prom - with Lena and the rest of the girls. But they knew about Kaden and I knew they wouldn't begrudge me an actual date. Before any worries about prom-night clichés could enter my mind I just opened my mouth and said the word "yes" to Kaden. He responded by slapping the dashboard and yelling "Yesssss!" loud enough that I was pretty sure people in the house could hear it.

We just stayed there grinning at each other like a couple of idiots for a few seconds before I said I had to get dinner ready.

"Cool," he replied. "See you tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow."

At the last minute I climbed back into the front seat so we could give each other one last kiss. Kaden added another one right on my dimple and I practically floated the short distance up to the front door and into the house.