Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“No joke.”
“Why do you compete in these games, then?”
“I don’t really have a choice. When you meet my parents, you’ll understand.” Skylar accelerated to join the flow of traffic on I-95. “My stepdad’s name is Doug, by the way. My mother is Vivica. They both grew up in Rhode Island.” A tickle of discomfort made itself known in her throat, spreading as she spoke. “They both attended Brown, though they didn’t meet until much later in life. Everyone in my family, including Elton, has attended Brown. Except me.”
“You wanted to shake things up?”
It took her a breath to respond. “No, I didn’t get accepted.”
“Oh.” Robbie shifted his attention to the windshield, as if he knew she didn’t want to be scrutinized in that moment. “Guess they made a mistake, so.”
“You don’t have to say that,” Skylar rushed to say, deftly blocking the feeling of gratitude. Nope. She’d blown her opportunity and she needed to own that. “Anyway, unlike me, you are googleable. I memorized your bio on the Bearcats website, so I know you grew up on Long Island. Attended Quinnipiac. Drafted in the second round last year by the Bearcats. Can eat a breakfast sandwich in three bites.”
“I can eat a breakfast sandwich in one bite. I was being polite.”
She made an interested sound. “Could there be a gentleman lurking in there after all?”
“If there is, I doubt we’re going to find out this week.” He reached up and took hold of the handle over the door. “Not when there’s an aluminum can trophy on the line.”
“That’s the spirit.” She realized her lips were turned upward at the corners, but the fledgling smile froze in place when she remembered the plan she’d formulated. Was this her opening to bring it up? Was he going to hear this idea and immediately ask her to turn around, drive him back to East Cambridge? Because Skylar had worked on her proposal in the shower and the whole thing sounded a lot crazier out loud than it looked on paper. Everything looked better on paper. “So, I have a tiny little proposition for you, Redbeard . . .”
“Thank God you said something. Yes, I’m hungry. I’ll stop anywhere.”
“In a while. It’s something else.”
“Fire away.”
“Okay.” She flexed her fingers on the wheel. “Okay, I just want to preempt this by saying, you can decline. Obviously. No hard feelings. If you say no, we’ll just move on and pretend like this never happened.”
He turned in the seat to face her. “Holy shit, I’m so intrigued right now.”
“It’s definitely intriguing. I’ll give it that.” Deep breaths. In, out. “The objective of this week is not only to win the Page Stakes, but to make Madden notice me, right? Well, here’s the thing. What if he actually does? Notice me.” Needing something to do with her hands, she fiddled with the radio, flipping through various Sirius XM stations and landing on some alternative. “I don’t know how to seal the deal. I’m not great at flirting. My, um . . . physical encounters with guys have been kind of awkward. So even if we do manage to get Madden’s attention, I have no idea how to keep it.”
Robbie was quiet for a full ten seconds. “Okay, like, this is serious. You’re being serious. You don’t think you’re enough to keep someone’s attention.”
He sounded so incredulous. Why? “I mean, I haven’t kept anyone’s attention before, so . . . the proof is in the pudding, isn’t it?”
“Maybe you just haven’t liked any of the guys enough to bother. Have you thought about that?”
Did he sound a little pissed off? No. He was likely just irritated that she’d lured him on this trip under one pretense, then sprung a totally new game plan. “Whatever the reason is that I’ve been single my whole life, I just want to make sure I’m ready. Really ready. In case this ruse works. You know?”
“Where do I come in?”
“Well . . .” The temperature of Skylar’s skin started to elevate, her scalp prickling. “We’ve established that you like women and women like you. Hooking up is pretty much your specialty.” In her periphery, she noticed Robbie’s shoulders slump ever so slightly, but couldn’t imagine why. He’d bragged about this exact truth a matter of days ago. “Maybe you could teach me to do the things . . . that women do to attract you?”
She glanced over to gauge his reaction, but found his expression blank. The only telling movement was the heavy rise and fall of his chest. “I thought . . . I mean, I want to be better than how I’ve been, Rocket—”
“Oh, I hope you didn’t misunderstand me before,” she rushed to say. “There’s no shame in having as many partners as you want, as long as they’re treated with respect, you know? And, um . . . well. There’s also no reason all that experience and knowledge in your head couldn’t be harnessed for the greater good, right?”