Love, Bets and Football

3.0

~Cain~

As soon as they had both arrived, Coach had dipped as soon as he had confirmed that she had 'settled'. He hadn't even sat his ass in my sofas for thirty minutes. The tension had been a little too much for him, so he took the coward's way out.

And now it was the two of us.

Neither of us had said a word to each other, and the silence was beginning to weigh down on me. I still couldn't believe that she was actually going to be living with me. While it was temporary, I was probably sacrificing my freedom being with her.

I couldn't stand her, but I guess I had to bare through this. It was afterall only six weeks.

"Alright. Since we're going to be staying together, I suggest we set up some rules."

She rolled her eyes at me, but she coplied nonetheless.

"It's only reasonable to be civil towards each other. We're afterall going to be living together."

" Sure."

These were the first words she had muttered to me since Coach had left.

"Alright. We need to come up with house rules." I hoped around on my crutches, opened a drawer and then drew up some pen and paper. "Here's the thing. Your room is just across the hallway from mine, just incase I need you."

"You don't have to worry about cleaning, cooking, laundry and the likes. That's pretty much taken care of."

"That's great." Racheal sounded genuinely impressed. "What else?"

"You'll occasionally see two ladies in the house. Bertha and Grace. Bertha is in charge of the meals and everything kitchen related. Grace is in charge of house cleaning, laundry and the likes."

"Alright." She nodded, trying not to look amazed. I held back my smirk.

"Anything else? Any questions?"

"Just one. Is there anything else I shouldn't be doing?"

"Keep out of my space, and we won't have any problems."

"Roger that."

After that, we both kept to our own rooms, and we only saw each other again when dinner was ready.

24 hours had breezed fast without any interesting events going on. So far, Racheal and I had avoided each other like the plague and neither of us had said a word to the other unless it was necessary.

Morning had come, and we both sat down for breakfast when we both received texts from coach. I told Racheal we would drive there in my car and she hummed back a response. We were quite again till we were both finished.

For the first time, I was really grateful that my parents had gotten me such a big house. That way, I had no worries of running into her all the time.

Not long after, Racheal and I made it to the athletic center. Coach had contacted both of us, and thankfully, Racheal could drive and since I was nursing an injury, I handed her my car keys.

It only took about thirty minutes to get there. I had been on the phone with Coach and he had let me know that he was going to announce to the team that I wouldn't be able to join in the next game. At the same time, he was going to introduce Racheal as the new team's nurse.

The basic introductions were done, and the boys were working much harder to make up for my absence. This only meant there was much more pressure on them but that was to be expected.

Coach had also added a ton of new workouts and the guys were obviously giving it their best to adjust. We really had a short time to the next game and so as a team, we had to give it our all to make it to the semi-finals.

Two hours later, practice was complete. Using my crunches as aid, I made it to the locker rooms. The guys warmly welcomed me, showing concern for my injury and wishing me well for my recovery and what not.

Just then, Coach sauntered in, Racheal following behind him. I guess he had decided this was the best time that he was doing the official announcement. When he was done, the guys were surprisingly not that affected.

After that, he then introduced Racheal to the team. He also warned them to 'keep their hands off' of her, as she was his niece. Racheal just rolled her eyes at that. I could only imagine her silent mutter. I can handle them for myself, Uncle. No need to worry about me.

After all formal introductions were done, both Coach and his niece marched out.

As soon as there were out of sight and hearing range, Derrick, one of the guys on the team let out a long whistle. "We have got ourselves a hot piece of a nurse. Too bad she's off limits."

"Who said she was?" Another voice rang out. I flinched as soon as I heard it. It was Jeffrey Stinger one of the guards on the team. While he got along with pretty much everyone in the team, I always kept my distance from him.

The guy gave off troublesome vibes, and that was a lot coming from me. He just rubbed me the wrong way.

"Didn't you hear what coach said? She's his niece and he'll break your legs if you even get about an inch close to her." One of the guys murmured and a few guys nodded along with him.

Jeffrey rolled his eyes, smirking, "I didn't realize that you guys were a bunch of p*ssies. That girl is a looker and I would use this great opportunity to get in her pants."

"I would like to see you try." I snorted, earning myself all the attention from the guys. "Coach's niece is a natural hermit. She would rather die than get in bed with a guy on this team."

"Wanna bet on that?" Jeffrey arched an eyebrow as he challenged me. I stirred uncomfortably in my seat, not liking where he was going with this.

As much as I hated Racheal, treating her like she was an object at an auction was not my piece of cake. I wasn't a great person, but I still had a conscience.

"Well, I'm betting on behalf of a good friend here. I'm sure he's right about what he said." Xavier suddenly chimed in, loud enough for everyone to here him clearly. Now what was this asshole getting at this time? I eyed him warningly but he shrugged me off.

"West says I can't get in her pants by the end of the month. I'm betting 300 bucks on that." Jeremy continued with his charade, urging on the other guys.

"400"

"600"

"700"

The numbers kept on growing and I realized the situation had completely spiraled out of control.

I glared at Xavier once again, but he continuously ignored me. He was the sole reason why Jeffrey had wanted to prove a point and now I was tied in this mess. And now he was acting like he hadn't done anything wrong. I would deal with him later.

At the moment, Jeffrey was fully gloating, smirking at me like he knew something that I didn't. Maybe I was overthinking everything, but did the guy having something against me?

Later on when everyone had left, I marched out of the locker rooms, heading straight for the parking lot. Racheal had texted that she was waiting, and to be honest, I was exhausted. I was trying my best to hurry, but my way was suddenly blocked.

It was Jeffrey. I held back a sigh as I stared at him, making sure that I remained expressionless, almost appearing not affected.

"Hey man," I greeted, " Could you please wrap this around quickly? I'm already tired." It was true. I wasn't just trying to get him off my back.

"No worries, West." He smirked. "I just wanted to let you know that I know your tiny little secret."

"What are you talking about?"

"Relax, man. I won't be telling anyone. For now."

"What bullshit are you spewing now?"

It was that annoying smirk again, and then he was sauntering away. I watched him, wondering what his problem really was. I shrugged off and then matched on to my car where Racheal was waiting.

We sped our way out of there.

Soon, the weekend came to an end and classes resumed. Because of that bet, I was paranoid and I was always walking on eggshells around Racheal.

She too had noticed my mood change, but we had both ignored it and brushed it off. I had no way of tipping her off. Knowing her, she would probably tilting this whole thing on me. And so, I shut my mouth.

The week rolled by, and my anxiety rose with each day that dawned. I was waiting for that guy to make his move, but he hadn't. I wondered what he was actually waiting for. The right timing?

It seemed like I didn't have to wait that long. He made his move on a Saturday night. Everything would have definitely flown over my head if I hadn't been watching.

Apparently, he had back up and had convinced one of his friends to join in his charade. The guy had deliberately harassed Racheal and Jeffrey had swooped in like the hero he was portraying himself to be.

It was a ploy Racheal would instantly fall for. Good guys, heroes and gentlemen were definitely her type.

Jeffrey, obviously successful with his plan, looked my way, as if he had known I was watching him the whole time. We made eye contact and he actually smirked, pissing me off completely.

What the hell was he planning?