Love, Bets and Football

7.0

~Cain~

There were a total of five times that I had seen Racheal cry. The first time was 'becaude of me.', the second was after she had woken up to the news of her father's death. The third time was when she had signed the papers that had her mother legally locked up in the mental hospital.

The fourth time was when her brother had publicly shunned her, denying her custody for him and now. . . this.

She shook uncontrollably in my arms, her sobs muffled and her tears slowly making a wet patch on my shirt. I didn't mind at all.

Although we hated each other, I knew this wasn't probably the best time to bring out our differences. She needed the comfort, and I was the only person present to give her what she needed.

It took a strong person like her to breakdown. That way, I could tell that whatever had happened was serious and although it wasn't something I could control, I felt guilty about my newly injured foot. If it wasn't for this, Coach wouldn't have yelled at her.

After a few more minutes, she finally pulled away from me, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. Reaching for a handkerchief in my pocket, I handed it to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, not meeting my eyes as she received it. I got it. She was probably feeling a little embarrassed at this moment. I reminded myself not to upsent her.

"Would you like to eat something ?" I asked as soon as she was done wiping her eyes dry and erasing her snot. She simply shook her head no.

We both stayed quiet after that. I wasn't sure what I should say, but I didn't have much to worry about initiating a conversation between us, because she was already getting up and headed for upstairs.

When I thought she wasn't going to completely ignore me, she turned to me. " Thanks for. . .you know. And I'm sorry I ruined your shirt."

I nodded, letting her know her thanks was appreciated.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your leg." She continued, "I'm sure nothing would have happened if I was here."

"There's no need to blame yourself or feel guilty about this. I should have been more careful." I brushed off her apology. It was absurd that she was even blaming herself for my recklessness.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm."

She looked at me like she hadn't expected that. Nevertheless, she gave me a small smile and then she was climbing the stairs.

I stayed back, recalling the day's events. How had we gone from fighting each other, my clumsy ass slipping in the bathroom and almost reinjuring my foot which could have resulted into ending my football days and then Racheal breaking down?

"What the hell happened when she left?" I muttered loudly to the wide living room, but I knew I could only get the answer from Racheal herself.

Asking her was out of the question though. I'm sure that even if we were the last people in the universe, she wouldn't never open up to me.

I leaned back in my coach, left with my own thoughts.

****

After a couple of days, Racheal and I had settled into a somewhat mutual peaceful routine. Unlike before where we ignored each other unless necessary, we now mumbled few short sentences, none filled with malice.

I hated to admit it, but it was actually a welcome breath of fresh air. It wasn't bad at all, and it was clear Racheal felt the same. Perhaps a little anyway.

I smiled, thinking about how smoothly today's therapy session had gone, with almost no flights or complaints.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice the shadow that was hovering over me, until the person was standing in front of me.

"I see you must be having very happy and entertaining thoughts, sitting her and grinning all by yourself."

I opened my eyes, catching Jeremy as he hovered over me. I wondered what he wanted this time.

"Hi Jeremy. How may I help you?"

"Help me? You don't have to do any of that all. Even though I'm quite impressed by how fast you move, I can't help but take it in as a challenge."

What the hell was wrong with this guy? Every time I spoke to him, he always spoke in riddles like it was supposed to be some cool s**t. It irritated me every time.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I'm going to steal Racheal away from you."

I couldn't help but arch an eyelash. Seriously? Is that what he wanted to say all this time? Looking at him though, I could tell he was serious but everything else still confused me. What was Jeremy trying to get to?

"And what does that have to do me?" I smirked, wondering what he was thinking.

"Well, isn't she currently living with you?"

I froze. Nobody was supposed to know that.

"How do you know about that?" Now this was something I hadn't expected him to know. Only Racheal, Coach and I knew about that.

"That's something you don't need to know. She's afterall the girl that you secretly like."

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't have held back the sudden laughter that came out of me. "I could never like Racheal even if she was the last woman left in the universe."

He frowned, his brows narrowing in a rather unpleasant manner "You don't have to deny it West. I have seen the way you watch her, subtly looking her way when you think nobody's looking. "

Me? Like Racheal? Yeah, hell would have to freeze over first. I can't believe I was letting this guy spew bullshit just because he wanted to.

"Look, believe whatever you think you know. I would get those ideas out of your mind if I were you." I told him, still laughing a little.

"Laugh all you want West, but you and I know that I'm telling the truth."

"I don't care what you think or who you think you are, but I'm going to have my revenge and I'm going to make sure I'll hurt and ruin her the same way you did to me."

With that, Jeremy stormed off, got in his car and then he was driving off. I was left dumbfounded, wondering what lengths he would actually go to to do as he had promised to go through.

And the nonsense he was spewing about revenge? Now what the hell did I have to do with that?