Page 7 of The Playboy’s Playbook

Chapter Five

MATT

S omething about Laila causes my stomach to knot, but I can tell that she could care less about how I feel about her. I could shower the girl with compliments like confetti and she’d still find a way to tell me to fuck off. I regret going out because all night, I thought about her.

I didn’t plan on going to Brody’s Bar last night, but when Clay heard one of my other friends say how they’d miss me at pool night, he said that it was okay to take him to his uncle’s house so I could spend time with my friends.

I told him absolutely not and that he and I would spend the rest of the night together. Clay, being stubborn like his dad, had already called his uncle and said he was going to stay with him for a couple of hours.

I lean over and check the time on my phone.

It’s early, so Luke should be here by now to get Clay.

Right on cue, Jen’s screams ring through the apartment.

I climb out of bed and make my way to the kitchen where Luke is pouring what I’m assuming is his second cup of coffee as Jen and Clay run in circles because they missed each other.

“Uncle Matty!” Jen shouts, running up to me. I pick him up and hug him tightly.

“What’s up, bud!”

Clay runs over to me and hugs my legs. “Guess what Pop-Pop got us, Uncle Matty!”

“What’d your grandpa get you?” I ask, looking down at Clay.

“A basketball hoop!” Jen says, bouncing in my arms.

“Will you play with us, Uncle Matty?” Clay asks, a twinkle in his eyes.

I look over at Luke and can tell he’s not overly excited about the surprise his dad bought the boys, but he won’t rain on their parade. He’s slightly grouchy now, but he’s about to be a damn grinch when I ask him for this huge favor.

“Yeah, sure. Let me talk to your dad for a few,” I say, setting Jen down. The boys nod and then take off to their room, leaving Luke and I in the kitchen. “I need your help.”

Luke drains the rest of his coffee before he cuts his eyes to me. “Are you dying?”

“No.”

“Do you owe someone money?” he deadpans and I roll my eyes in response.

“No, Luke. I’m being serious. I need your help.”

“What did you do now?” Luke asks, preparing to pour another cup.

“I’m trying to win this girl over and I don’t necessarily have it easy with –”

“Courting women instead of them wanting to take you to court,” Luke deadpans.

“Have I ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?”

“I will happily go to bed and you can watch the boys for the day,” Luke says seriously.

I huff. “Wait, you scrooge.”

“Be ready to go in ten minutes,” Luke says before walking off to the boys’ room.

“Jeez, thanks bud. I appreciate your help. Asshole,” I mumble to myself, walking to my room to get dressed.

After Luke finally calmed the boys down from their morning energy surge, he loaded them in his truck and said we’re having breakfast at Frank’s Diner right in the middle of downtown Oakridge.

Frank’s is like any other small-town diner, pictures adorning the walls of Frank and some of his customers over the decades. It even has a jukebox that still works.

We walk into the diner and the bell above the door dings and Frank’s wife, Ms. Eileen, looks up and greets us with a smile. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite boys! Have a seat wherever you’d like, I’ll be right over.”

We smile and nod before making our way to the back booth we’ve claimed as ours since our high school days. Clay and Jen are sitting in the booth next to us, giving Luke and I privacy to talk without them listening in.

“I’m gone for one night and you find yourself with girl problems. How’d that even happen?”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “Technically, I’m in this situation because of your son. He walked right up to the girl and I folded like a fucking lawn chair, man.”

“Just ask her out and go about your life. What’s the deal? ” Luke asks.

“The deal is I think she hates my guts,” I answer, keeping my voice low.

“Who is she?” Luke asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“An old classmate. Her name’s Laila.”

“The cute girl with the pink glasses? Always had her hair in braids. People teased her and called her Miss SGA?” Luke asks.

“Yes, except she doesn’t have pink glasses anymore, her hair is a gorgeous bundle of curls that I want to run my hands through, and I’m sure she found a way to become queen of a small country because people called her Miss SGA.

I saw her at the rodeo and then Clay saw me looking at her and walked right up to her and said ‘Do you know my Uncle Matty?’ and obviously she wouldn’t know some random kid’s uncle, so then he nodded at me and she turned around and the air was knocked out of my lungs because fuck, man. She’s gorgeous.”

Luke leans back in the booth, a smirk playing on his lips.

“What?” I ask, not liking how he’s looking at me like he knows something I don’t.

“Nothing, I just didn’t think it was possible for you to know how to describe a beautiful woman and remember her name. I’m impressed.”

“Will you help me or not, jackass?” I ask seriously.

“Eh, I kind of like seeing you squirm,” Luke states matter-of-factly, which I find extremely annoying.

“Luke,” I groan, dropping my fork on the plate, making it clatter.

“Alright, alright. I’ll help your sorry ass out. What’s she been up to since y’all graduated?”

“Uh, funny story.”

Luke sets his coffee mug down again and stares blankly at me. “You mean to tell me that you’re all up in arms about this girl and don’t know her from Adam?”

“Well, it’s not like we keep up with each other on social media.” I lean back and run a hand through my hair again. It’s my nervous tick and just talking about Laila makes me nervous.

“I guess you gotta start somewhere. First things first, get with the times and send her a friend request. Did you even speak to each other in school?”

I sigh and shake my head. “No. We were friends in elementary school, but then we fell off.”

“Why?” Luke questions, looking over to see the boys are engaged in a serious game of tic-tac-toe.

I never really thought of Laila and why we stopped talking. One day we just did – I lived my life and she lived hers. But obviously, there’s something I’m missing based on her reactions to seeing me.

“What if this is a mistake?” I ask, more to myself than to my best friend.

“The only mistake you could make is not trying,” Luke states. He nods at the red notebook next to me. “Give me a run down, Cap. What’s the play?”

I look down and shrug. I reach beside me and grab the notebook, setting it gently on the table. “When it comes to her, I’m not sure where I should start.”

Luke scoots forward a little and leans his elbows on the table. I can tell he’s about to give me his dad-voice like when he has serious talks with the boys.

“Your end goal is to win over Laila. That’s your end zone, that’s where you want to end up, alright. Before you go all willy-nilly and drive the ball down the field, start with studying your defense. In this case, study Laila. You need to learn everything you can about her.”

As Luke talks, I start drawing an outline of a field and making a list. “Maybe if I can convince her to meet me somewhere to just talk, that could be a start. Right?”

Luke nods and smiles proudly. “A short pass, I like it. What’s next?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to press her.”

Luke agrees by nodding. “Then stick to the basics. After she’s started opening up to you, let her into your life. Show her the amazingly annoying guy that I know.”

I roll my eyes and jot down another thing. “Okay. Then maybe if everything goes right, things might get serious for the final drive to the end zone.”

Luke nods in approval as I finish writing down the last play. He studies over them before sliding the notebook back to me and nodding in approval.

“With plays like this, you might just get the call to the big league,” Luke says before looking over the menu to order something to go.

Here’s hoping to be the number one overall draft pick.