Juked (19 page)

Lots of sex.

The kind of toe curling, mind-blowing sex romance novels are made of.

And Daniel apologized. A lot.

I’m slightly embarrassed by the whole thing, sure. I was nervous about meeting them and now, knowing what they think of me, I have no desire to see any of them again. But I’m not really mad. Geni has told me all about the “cleat chasers.” Why would his family assume I was anything different?

When I expressed that to Daniel, and told him none of it was a deal-breaker for me, he got the strangest look on his face. Almost a mixture of disbelief and awe. Maybe I’m not freaked out about it enough, but I have more important things to do with my time than worry about what his family thinks. I’m not marrying the guy. We’re just dating.

Actually, I don’t really know what we’re doing, except hanging out. And having awesome sex. We haven’t ever talked about it, so I’m not sure what our status is. But he’s become a good friend, and we enjoy each other’s company. That’s all I really need at this point in my life.

That, and more free tickets to see the Mutiny play, which is why I jumped at the chance when he offered me tickets to today’s game. If this is his way of apologizing, I’ll take it.

“I’m gonna guess that’s the end of dinners with his family?” Geni asks as we trot down the steps to our seats, yard-long margaritas in hand.

“No idea. I assume he doesn’t want to take me to his mother’s house anymore. Are we in the same row as before?” I ask, trying to balance my drink, nachos, and ticket at the same time.

“No, we’re down one more row.” She’s having no problem with the balancing act. “Right here.” We find ourselves sitting next to Tiffany, the groupie. Geni rolls her eyes when she sees her already sitting down, mirror in hand, putting on lip gloss.

“Hey, Tiffany,” I say politely. She glances at me, making no attempt to hide her once-over.

“You’re back,” she says in surprise.

“So are you,” Geni retorts, gazing at the players warming up on the field.

Tiffany leans over me to talk directly to Geni. “Yes, but I’m friends with the team.”

Geni glares at her. “If by friends with the team, you mean groupie whore, why yes, yes you are.”

“Geni!” I exclaim as Tiffany turns bright red and faces front again. “Stop it!” I whisper in reprimand.

“What?” she whispers back. “If she doesn’t want to be called out, she needs to not be a bitch.”

“She’s not being a bitch. She’s being… she… I don’t know! But don’t feed into it.”

“Whatever.” Geni replies dismissively and takes a long sip of her drink. “
Anyway
. No more dinners at the Zavaro household then. How is Daniel feeling about the whole thing?”

“He was pretty upset that night,” I say, licking nacho cheese off my finger. “But what’s he going to do about it? I mean, it’s his family. They’re just worried about him.”

“
Pfft
. They’re worried about
you
taking advantage of
him
? You told them you didn’t even know who he was when you met him, right?”

“I told them, but who knows if they believed me.”

“I totally get why they are worried about some gold-digging whore coming along”—she leans over and glares at Tiffany as she voices the insult without losing her train of thought—“and tricking him into marriage or something, but honestly, Quin, I’m more worried about you getting hurt than him.”

I look at her quizzically. “Me? Why? We’re not betrothed or anything.”

“Honey, I love you,” Geni says, putting an arm around my shoulders, “But look around this section of the stadium. You see all these beautiful women?”

I’ve never noticed there are quite a few beautiful, well-built, twenty-something women sitting in the stands. The ratio of hot to not is different over here, and it makes sense; this section is reserved for the people who get comp tickets from the players.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Tiffany butts in, “but she’s right. I know these guys pretty well. I can count on one hand how many of them are faithful to their women.” I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. I wouldn’t say it’s a feeling of dread, but it certainly makes me think twice about the fact that Daniel and I have never discussed what our relationship is.

Geni raises an eyebrow and makes a
hmph
sound. “I’m curious how you know that. Is it because you are the one they cheat with?”

Tiffany narrows her eyes at Geni. “Why are you so worried about my sex life, huh? Are you so hard up yourself you have to worry about mine all the time?”

Geni gives her a look. I’ve seen this look before. The verbal sparring is about to be taken to a whole new level. “I know all about you, Tiffany,” she says. “I’ve seen the pictures. It’s interesting how many times you’re in the background of candid pictures of the team, coming out of a hotel room. And yet you’re never, ever with the same player.” Tiffany scowls but doesn’t say a word as Geni continues. “The thing is,” she says, “the dynamic of a groupie fascinates me. I’ve done a lot of reading about them. It’s so funny the things you can find on the internet. Tell me, which is your favorite activity, blow job races, sex trains, or circle jerks?”

My jaw drops. “Are those real things?” I ask Geni.

“I don’t know,” she says, never taking her eyes off of Tiffany. “Why don’t you ask our friend here?”

I swivel in my chair. Tiffany is shooting figurative daggers at Geni. I can’t tell if her lack of response is because she’s in shock over the idea of this type of activity or an admission that it actually happens, and she’s been a part of it. Before I can think of any questions to ask, Tiffany’s friend grabs her by the arm, pulling her out of her chair. “Come on. You don’t need this,” she says, and they walk away.

I swivel to Geni again. “Is that true?” I ask. “Does that really happen?”

“According to multiple bloggers who used to be groupies, it happens all the time.”

My brain is spinning. “But… why would Daniel… I-I mean.” I stutter, not able to bring my thoughts together.

“Do I think Daniel is participating in that kind of thing?” she asks, saving me from my inability to speak. I nod quickly. “I don’t know. I’d like to say I doubt it, because he’s a nice guy. But you heard her. She can count on one hand how many of these guys are faithful to their wives. So why would any of them be faithful to someone they’re dating?”

Our conversation is interrupted when the announcers begin introducing the teams. When Daniel’s name is called, he runs onto the field, and the cheers in the crowd get louder. As he runs by our section, he makes eye contact with me and points at me in the stands. I smile and wave, but it’s more a forced response than genuine acknowledgement we know each other.

As the game starts, the drums and horns are so loud, Geni and I can’t talk anymore, which is fine with me. I don’t really feel like carrying on a conversation anyway.

Does he actually participate in group sex parties? More importantly, has he been doing it since we started sleeping together?

I’m not sure what I think of this bomb that’s been dropped on me. On the one hand, we’ve never established what our relationship is. On the other hand… ew.

My thoughts continue to spin, but the one thing I know for sure: I’ve got to confront Daniel about this, because this might be a deal-breaker for me.

W
e won. Took out the Galaxy five to four.

Except for our sweeper rolling his ankle when he came down wrong during a head shot, the game went fine. It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but we got the job done.

I might have had more enthusiasm if I hadn’t still been pissed at my family. It’s been a week since the showdown at my mom’s house, and the only two people to even try to apologize were Blanca and Geovany.

This doesn’t surprise me. Geovany isn’t just my big brother. He’s one of my best friends. He knows I’m smarter than everyone gives me credit for.

Blanca… well, she knows better than to believe everything you hear. Her ex-husband blasted her publically, not that most people cared, but she lost a lot of friends over his lies about her being a gold-digging whore and cheater. None of it was true, and he basically said as much in court when the divorce finally went through, but the damage had been done. Since then, she’s way less quick to judge people, especially other women.

Eduardo, though, is a totally different story. I know my brother. After my dad left, he tried to take over as the “man of the house.” Never mind that at eighteen, I was the youngest when he left. We were adults, most of us in our twenties, when it happened. Lalo decided someone had to take on that role. It has led to many arguments, but he can’t seem to ease up, and for whatever reason, my mother lets him get away with it.

We all deal with my father’s betrayal in different ways. Eduardo’s way of doing it always leads to a fight.

“You going to party with us tonight, Zavaro?” Mack Shivel asks, slapping me on the shoulder as he passes me on the way to his locker. “Tiffany’s bringing the girls to my place, so there will be lots of free pussy.”

Rowen, our rookie, tenses as Shivel keeps blathering on about the queen bee of the groupies. I hope there isn’t going to be a conflict there. Shivel’s an idiot, but he’s even worse when someone bucks up against him. This is why Coach and I have talked about quietly grooming the rookie to take his spot. If he catches on, coming to work is going to suck until he’s gone.

“Nah, man,” I say, tugging my jeans on over my hips. “I’ve got plans tonight.”

“You seeing your girl again?” Christian asks as he walks over, fresh from the shower.

“I wouldn’t exactly call her my girl.” I pull my shirt from my locker and roll it up before pulling it over my head. “We’re just hanging out. But yeah, she’s coming over tonight.”

“Awwwww,” Shivel yells. “No wonder you’re not partying with us. You’ve got yourself a sure thing, don’t you? Who needs a cleat chaser when you’ve got a classy act like that all to yourself?”

A locker slams in the background. “You’re a dick, Shivel,” I snap. “Just because I have plans with a woman doesn’t mean I’m going to fuck her. I can have fun with more than my dick, ya know.”

“No,” he says. “You can’t. None of us can. Soccer and pussy. They’re the only things we need.”

Several of my teammates snicker, and I wonder how I’ve never noticed what fucking cavemen half these guys are. I’ve never been one to party with them anyway, but I know what they do behind closed doors, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me pause sometimes and wonder why they think it’s okay to participate in activities like that.

Shivel makes his way around the room, inviting more of the guys to his place and I turn to Christian.

“He’s such a dick,” he says under his breath.

“Yep.”

“Please tell me we’re getting rid of him,” he whispers, knowing full well I’m not going to answer him. I look him straight in the eye and give him more information than I should. “Just keep doing your job, and it’ll all shake out the way it’s supposed to.”

Christian gives me a tiny thumbs-up and drops his towel to pull on his boxer briefs.

“So you and this girl,” he says as I find my shoes and socks and sit down on the bench to put them on. “You guys have been spending a lot of time together.”

“Yes.”

“You like her?”

“Of course I like her,” I say as I pull my socks on. “I wouldn’t keep hanging out with her if I didn’t like her.”

He nods and contemplates his next comment. “What’s the problem then?”

“With what?” I finish tying my shoes, stand up, and gather my stuff out of my locker, taking the cap off my deodorant and swiping some on under my shirt.

“You’re awfully quick to dismiss her as your girl. Just wanted to clarify.”

I slam my locker door. “No reason to clarify, man. She’s a great person. I like her. We’ve become really good friends. That’s that.” I hitch my bag over a shoulder. “I’m outta here. I’ll see you Tuesday.”

I say goodbye to the rest of the team and leave the locker room. Quincy is leaning against the wall, holding an overnight bag and looking at her phone intently. She doesn’t even notice me come out.

Once again, it strikes me how beautiful she is. Not glam like a lot of the groupies try to be. Just girl-next-door beautiful. I feel that familiar stir in my pants.