Page 14 of Not that Impressed (Houston Pumas #3)
WILL
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to just go for it with Ellie.
It could be the high that I’m on that we held the Rays to only three points the whole game when they’ve been averaging over twenty. It could be that we beat them twenty-eight to three.
Ellie intrigues me, she challenges me, and maybe it would blow up in my face, but I think giving it a shot could be really fun.
I might even strut a little as we leave practice Monday night. “Ask me to do anything, Baldwin,” I tell Charlie as we head for our cars. “I’d say yes.”
He laughs and shoves my shoulders. “You deserve that big head of yours right now. Keep playing like you did yesterday and MVP is in the bag.”
“Championship has to be in the bag first. That takes the whole team, bro. Rising tide and all that.” I hold out a fist for him to bump, and he knocks his against mine with a grin. “I’m just saying, if you wanted to invite the Bennet sisters over for a dinner re-do, I wouldn’t even argue with you.”
He shakes his head. “Janelle’s feeling better, but we’re going to hang out at her apartment tonight. Low-key. Maybe watch a movie. ”
I swallow disappointment. That wasn’t an invitation to join. “You’ll just have Ellie as your third wheel?” My fishing for information about Ellie is obvious, but that’s how much I don’t care right now.
Charlie shakes his head. “Nope. She’s filming at their parents’ house. Janelle got out of it since she’s still pretty tired. Ellie said she was going to make sure no one tried to push to get Janelle back.”
It doesn’t surprise me to hear that Ellie’s covering so her sister gets all the recovery time she needs or that she’s helping Janelle and Charlie have alone time.
She’d do anything for her sister. That much is already clear, especially the way she looked out for Janelle by making sure no one saw her car at Charlie’s overnight.
“That’s cool of her.”
“She’s not all bad. In fact she isn’t anything like how people portray her online.” Charlie’s voice holds censure, which means I wasn’t as obvious in fishing for information as I thought. All the better.
“Okay, okay.” I hold up my hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“See you.” His grin returns and he hops into his truck, clearly eager to get to Janelle.
I get my chance to see Ellie the next day. I know from her Instagram account that today is a rare occasion when Ellie will be at the Pumas service project. It’s a flag football camp she’s organized for girls ages eight to sixteen, and the Pumas players will be helping teach the skills.
The Being the Bennets camera crews will also be there, but now I recognize that as Ellie leveraging her fame for a good cause. Usually I skip the service projects that are featured on the show, but I make an exception today .
I keep to the background as much as possible anyway, and not just to avoid the cameras.
The less I put my foot in my mouth around Ellie, the better chance she’ll hear me out when I ask her to dinner.
It’s just a bonus that I enjoy showing one of the groups of girls some of my defensive drills that keep me quick on my feet.
One thing is disheartening though. Despite how good some of these girls are, despite how fast or how strong, their intelligence on the field, whatever—the pro football leagues for women aren’t the same as the recognition that comes for the men.
Most people don’t even know those leagues exist. I’ve believed all my life if I hustled hard enough, put in the work, did the reps, that I could achieve my goals.
They can do all of that and never see the kind of success I have. It sucks.
I help with the clean up as much as I can while staying in the crowd so I don’t attract the camera crew’s attention. Once people start to leave, I head to my Expedition and wait there like a stalker for Ellie to leave as well.
She’s one of the last. Everyone from my team has gone, and, as far as I can tell, not a camera left in sight, which I’m grateful for. She’s talking to a woman who works in the front office for the Pumas, but then they split up and head to their cars. I slip out of my SUV and hurry toward Ellie.
“Ellie!” I call out as she starts up the sidewalk toward her car.
She turns to see who called out to her, and I’m close enough that I catch her tensing. Her expression turns to a scowl.
That’s not a great sign.
Did something go wrong during the event to put her in a bad mood?
I thought our connection had shifted at Charlie’s.
I know I haven’t won her over completely, but that’s what I’m here to do.
Give us a chance to get to know each other better so I can show her that I am a nice guy, and our connection is worth investigating.
I take a deep breath and plunge in. “Great event today.”
“Surprised?” she snaps, putting a hand on her hip. She’s wearing a pair of wide-leg jeans with heels. They’re only a couple inches high, so they don’t bring her anywhere near my height, but she has an attitude that makes up for the height difference.
“No, no.” I’m confused, and I didn’t think about my tone with my quick answer. She’s still glaring at me, so maybe it came out wrong. Too tight or cold or something? Why is it that I can’t get anything right with her?
“What do you want, Will?” she says, openly hostile with me.
Warning bells tell me I should retreat. I’ve caught her at a bad time, and since our relationship is iffy already, it doesn’t bode well.
But I’ve already worked up the courage, and I’m here. I’ve never backed down because the other side looked intimidating.
I try to soften my voice. “I know we got off on the wrong foot. I thought I knew you because your whole life is out there online, and it’s not always flattering. I want to change that.”
She scowls. “You want to change how people see me?”
“No. No, that’s not what I meant.” I growl quietly, angry at myself that I can’t get across what I want.
That I want a chance to get to know Ellie.
For her to get to know me. Without all the judgments between us.
Ellie clenches her jaw. I need to get this out before she stomps away.
“I know—I know —it doesn’t make sense. You’re always in the spotlight.
Everywhere. And it’s obvious I hate that.
We’ve only really had one barely civil conversation.
It doesn’t seem to matter. I can’t stop thinking about you. Despite all of it, I can’t.”
Ellie scoffs and folds her arms, shaking her head like I’m an absolute idiot. “Are you asking me out, Pemberton? Because in spite of everything I am , you can’t stop thinking of me? When you’ve been critical of me from the first moment you met me?”
Can someone get me an Ellie Bennet translator?
Is that what I said? My stomach plummets as I run back through my words to her.
My brain flashes a red warning sign and screams Abort!
I have never run from trouble. On the field, I run into it.
I create the disorder. Ellie Bennet is a level of chaos that I’ve never experienced before.
“I shouldn’t have—” I start, but she cuts me off.
“You think you’re better than me because you worked so hard and I didn’t?” She laughs, cold and condescending. “Yeah, my dad is a billionaire, and my show puts me in front of millions. I’m not the only one who got a leg up.”
I clench my fists. I hustled my butt off to be where I am.
I deserve everything I’ve gotten, just like her.
I fold my arms and ignore the discomfort in my stomach over what she’s said.
“I worked hard every step of the way,” I grind out.
There’s more I want to say, more I want to acknowledge, but the words don’t come quickly or easily to me like they do for Ellie, especially when I’m trying to make sure I don’t sound like a tool.
“Of course you did,” she says, her voice so cold it makes playing in New York in January seem like a tropical vacation.
“Because you’re Will Pemberton.” She takes a step toward me, now with both hands on her hips.
“I should be flattered you even asked, right? Considering how I live my life. I’m sorry I’m taking up so much of your precious brain space.
” She huffs. “After everything he’s done … Wow.”
Everything I’ve done? Yeah, I screwed up and judged her unfairly. Worse, I did it in front of a lot of people. Is that unforgivable? Am I missing something?
My whole body tenses. I’m never the one standing still while the threat advances—I am the threat—so my footing feels off, loose, like I’m going to be overrun at any moment and there’s nothing I can do.
“Listen, I know I’m not the most charming guy in the world, and I say things wrong?—”
“Are you serious right now?” she barks.
I clap my mouth shut.
She folds her arms, drawing attention to the way her loose, sleeveless top shows off toned arms and shoulders. And I hate how attracted I am to her in this moment as she tells me off .
“Yes. I was,” I grind out.
“Exactly what part of your body are you thinking with if you believe I’d say yes?”
Heat sears my face. She’s diminishing all of this to me thinking she’s beautiful? I’m angry and embarrassed that I misread her completely. “So your answer is no?”
Her eyes flare and she presses her lips together before saying, “There is no grand gesture big enough to tempt me to say yes.” Then she whirls around, but her words still ring clear as she stalks away. “After what you did to Grayson Hollis, there is no way in he?—”
Her heel sticks in a break in the sidewalk and her words are cut off as she flails and cries out. There’s a snap that I hope is her shoe and not something else, and she falls backwards. I dive toward her, but not before her head hits the ground with a sickening crack.