Page 52 of Who’s Playing You (In The Nick of Time #1)

NICK SOBA

T he next few weeks or so flew by after that first game.

The anticipation of my very first pro game along with Scottie meeting my parents and Nik had had us all stressed out leading up to it. Well, her more than me.

I knew it was all going to work out just like a dream.

And look at us now!

My mom had basically demanded Scottie’s cell number when we were saying bye to them after the game, and the two of them have been talking almost daily since then. About what, I have no idea. But I know having my mom accept us has made Scottie feel so much better about everything.

Same goes for Nat. We hadn’t intended to tell her that night, but were hoping to tell her in person when she came up to visit in a few weeks. Fate had other plans however, like having me pop off on the media on national television and broadcasting that I, the forever playboy bachelor, was married.

Yeahhhh, that had stirred up a shitstorm of attention.

The Diva and his new Mrs. Diva

That had been a fun headline, along with about a hundred others. They managed to dig up some info on Scottie, and she had some reporters stalking her on campus. But I squashed that real quick with legal action.

I was the only one who was going to be stalking her. Thank you very much.

Everyone else could steer-fucking-clear of my wife… or soon-to-be wife. Ehh . Semantics.

Scottie told me that besides the reporters who had tried to follow her that one day, she’d only encountered a few students at the university, primarily male students, who’d been eyeing her.

Probably sports fans or Rage fans. The most daring of which approached her and asked if she was “the chick dating the Diva quarterback.”

Being the beautiful and honest person she is, she of course said yes. But kept it at that.

I didn’t care though, because all I heard when she told me that story was that she called me her man, in public.

With all that commotion, it didn’t take too long for the paparazzi and some of the locals to figure out that it was me who had bought the Queen on the hill and that I was living there with Scottie. Not that it mattered too much.

The locals were considerate enough, especially considering Scottie was a well-respected professor at the college and was always highlighting the region with her artwork.

Plus she was a staple around town. The locals protected their own, so since Scottie was held in such high regard, it was like I was shoe-horned in with her.

It also helped that Joyce, my realtor along with my builder Bob and his entire crew fucking loved me. I’d worked closely with them and all of their staff, treated them with the respect they should always be treated with, and I was learning that that had made an impact.

That said, the locals were all being respectful of Scottie and me. The gate at the base of my driveway was what the reporters and paparazzi were being respectful of. Well, that and the signs about trespassers being shot on site.

Cue Beyoncé’s “This Ain't Texas”.

So that had been a whole thing in the aftermath of the game.

As for my best friend Nik, I hated that he had to lose his first pro game. He’d been a little down about it, but at least he’d caught a beautiful pass and gotten a touchdown for his team. I was so proud of him.

Nik and I hadn’t been able to talk or meet up after the game, because his team was heading back home and had their own press and team obligations. That made me even more thankful for the few minutes that we had had together before the game started.

But Papas was going to be alright. He’d already played his second game and crushed it once again. Meanwhile, Loving was being Loving down in Texas. His season was off to a good start as well.

Watching them play on television, and literally playing my first game against one of them, had my deceit coming to the forefront of my mind all over again.

I had been able to let it subside some over the summer while Scottie and I were in our little bubble, but once the season had started two weeks ago and actually playing against Nik…

fuck me! How could I have done what I did?

I’d betrayed the two people who have always trusted me. The two guys who I’ve been through everything with. The guys who have my back, no matter what, no questions asked.

I fucked them over.

Me.

I did that.

On the bright side, besides this secret that I was keeping from Papas and Loving - as well as the world - I was keeping fewer secrets from Scottie now.

Considering not-so-long-ago I had been keeping my true identity from her, as well as keeping our relationship a secret from my family…

all of those secrets were out in the open now and so I was down to only two- ish secrets.

Two… or maybe it was three or four? Ehh . It was all the same.

Regardless, I considered that a win.

I hadn’t yet fully divulged to her the extent of my obsession with her though: how long I’ve been pining after her and all the “stuff” I’ve done during my pining.

Sure my folks and Nat had me admit that I fell for her instantly, but Scottie doesn’t know the lengths I’ve gone to…

She doesn’t know about my stalkerish ways.

She doesn’t know about my work as it pertains to marketing and promoting her work, let alone how many of her pieces I’ve bought.

Oh yeah, and she also doesn’t know about me desperately trying to impregnate her.

But, ehh, it’s all fine. As time goes on, as she falls deeper into our love and this relationship - as she catches up with me - she’ll learn about these little hidden gems of mine. I bet she’ll find it all endearing.

That all said, Scottie and my family are in the know about the things they need to be in the know about right now.

A few weeks back, my conscience had been a little overflowing and I felt such relief that we’d gotten to where we are today.

Sure, it had been risky - and rocky - letting Scottie know who I truly was.

My hope was that she was too in love with me at that point to question the relationship, and that by that point, nothing else but us mattered.

Turns out she wasn’t quite there when I told her. But being the lucky bastard that I am, she’d seen every part of my heart and how much my heart loves her. Her soul recognized my soul. And so, she took a giant leap of faith and gave us a chance despite my omission.

That was the biggest hurdle at the time, but it was quickly followed by my family.

She was freaking out over the moment we’d tell them, or they’d find out, but I wasn’t worried.

I knew it’d all be fine. Nat was the only wild card in that scenario because, well, Nat is Nat.

You never really know how things will hit her or how she’ll react.

As long as Scottie was okay, I didn’t really care what Nat thought. For so much of my life, it had always been “The Natalie Show” where it was Nat’s way or the highway, where we walked on eggshells around her. After Scottie came into her life, things had improved for and with her though.

But I still harbored some resentment towards my sister.

I was fully aware of it, as was she. And due to that resentment, I had long ago decided that I wouldn’t let my sister’s tantrums control any part of my life, especially not when it came to the most important parts.

Hence why I didn’t really care if she approved of me and Scottie or not.

For the most part though, Nat and I had hashed things out.

She and Scottie had also talked a bunch and seemed to be in a good place.

Although Nat had made some stupid fucking comment about Scottie driving the Escalade that I got her, so now she was car shopping after her insurance told her they couldn’t do anything after Bessie’s death .

I was not so low key furious with Nat over all of this. Scottie was safe driving around in the Escalade, and she was comfortable. But now she was looking at some used pieces of shit, all lemons probably, because she insisted that she needed her own car.

She had also tried to say she couldn’t “mooch” off of me and that she needed to look for another apartment after her landlord told her that her apartment building was now basically condemned. Oops .

But I wasn’t having any of that. The car was one thing, but there was no way in hell she was moving anywhere.

I told her that Nat could shove her comments right up her ass because she didn’t know our lives or our business.

I told Scottie that until the Super Bowl that my time at home would be limited and that I wanted every possible minute with her.

Also with the newfound attention she’d garnered due to my comment, she needed to be safe and there was no place more safe than our house.

I was able to persuade her with these facts , plus a ton others, so she conceded to living with me for the foreseeable future. She tried to make some point about pitching in financially. I told her absolutely not.

We were able to compromise though.

The compromise consisted of her continuing to give me painting and drawing lessons as well as teach me more about art, when I had time that is. She told me she would have done that anyway, and for free. So I ate her out.

She would have agreed to just about anything I asked in the throws of her orgasm.

That’s also how I managed the next contingency of our agreement, which was that not only would I continue to be her nude model, but she agreed to model for me too. Once she agreed to that, I was quick to order edible body paint.

What?

I hadn’t specified what I’d be painting, or how.

A deal is a deal after all.

As exciting as all that was, the possibility that Scottie was already pregnant seemed to be growing every day.

It had now been a few weeks since we first began having sex and she hadn’t gotten her period yet.

I was more than aware that her cycles were irregular, but I was carefully monitoring any signs that she could be.