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Alex ran through her first article about Cane again. What had she missed? He obviously wasn’t going to tell her. She was going to have to figure it out for herself. America’s Corn Fed Farm boy...that part was right. His nickname was smiles. She had that right. Everyone called him smiles back at UT. He’d had that moniker since he was a kid. Probably always had that big dumb look on his face. Except he wasn’t as dumb as she had thought.
He challenged her and was able to deliver his own comebacks without a script. He was good at that but this could be from typical guy banter. Players are always one upping one another on and off the field. Alex had witnessed this first hand as a reporter. Her phone vibrated on her desk.
“Send me a pic.”
Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Shouldn’t you be practicing?”
“Taking a water break. Send me one. Come on.”
“You send me one. I know you like taking selfies from all your social feeds. You’re worse than a teenage girl.” She had his page pulled up on one of her browser windows. Alex had only checked it out a few times this morning. Just a couple of scrolls over some of his photos. Cane almost always posted a daily pic of himself working out. Which would then be reshared thousands of times.
“Sweetheart, I’m happy to hear you’re stalking me.”
Alex rolled her eyes. Before she could respond a picture popped up on her phone. Cane’s lips were puckered and his hand was open. He had sent her a kiss.
“TTYL ;)”
Alex laughed. He was so ridiculous. She put her phone back on her desk.
“Hey, got a minute?” Mason Martinez knocked on the outside of Alex’s door.
“Yes.” She always had a minute for her boss.
“You working on a good story?”
Alex raised her eyebrows. “I’m just going over the Clayburn story, he says I got something wrong and I can’t find it.”
Mason nodded. “Keep looking. You did a great job with that story. Got tons of shares and reposts. Keep up that kind of reporting and you’ll be moving from the papers to the screen in record time.”
Alex’s chest tightened. An on-air spot was every side line reporter’s dream. “Will do.”
“Make sure you get a quote from Clayburn tomorrow. It’s the last pre-season game. If you get another good one, we’ll be sending you to the away games.” He rubbed his ginger-colored beard. “Ask him about Ms. Texas, whether he does good or bad. Egg him on.”
Her throat constricted. Alex didn’t want or need to ask what he meant but she knew there was a reason for the Ms. Texas comment. She forced herself to speak. “Why would I ask about Ms. Texas?”
Mason clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Alex, you’re a reporter you should be on top of this. He was kissing Ms. Texas last night. It’s all over the gossip mags.”
Alex’s heart squeezed tight. “Last night?” she asked.
“Yea, outside of Masraff’s.” He scratched his head. Like he needed to contemplate her skills. No, he did not. She was ready for on-air. She was ready for anything. Alex did not let her guard down for a second. Other than with Cane. But she would remedy it as soon as Mason left.
“Okay. I’ll check that out.”
“Make it a good story, Alex. You’ve got this.”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned on his heel and exited her office. Alex pulled up her search bar and Googled Cane Clayburn and Miss Texas.
Two hundred and eighty-six thousand results were two hundred and eighty-five thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine too many. Alex picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Cane had typed boyfriend when he had entered his number into her phone. Edit. Scroll. Delete. Goodbye farm boy. She was right about him. It was fine. He was good in bed. They had some good sex. Scratch that. Amazing sex. But that was it. Nothing else and nothing more would come from it. He was being placed on permanent suspension. Cane Clayburn would not be going near Alex’s body. Even if every single one of her fingers were broken. That sliver of what they were was now absolutely nothing. The last particle of sand had dropped into the glass and it was a reality check. He wasn’t the brains she desired and she obviously wasn’t the blond trophy he wanted. It was fine. She was a fool to think that time had changed either of them.
Alex put away the articles on Cane. She didn’t need to figure out his mystery anymore. She would get her quote from him tomorrow and do her job. She was a professional. Her sights were set on greater heights. Being on-air. Focus on this and forget him. He is a football player. She knew this.
***
It was fifteen after six as Alex pulled her car into the garage of her apartment. She was famished. The fumes from the Chinese take-out on her passenger seat were intense. If the lo mein wasn’t so messy she would have eaten it on the way home.
Inside her house she popped open her chopsticks from the paper wrapper and dug into the greasy noodles. Her phone buzzed on the table.
Alex eyed the screen. It was an unknown number. Normally she might pick up but given that she recognized this number there was no way she was going to do that. She hit the red button to decline the call. No thanks.
Her lo mein was on point. Very tasty. Just enjoy this. Everything is fine. Good meal. Really a good day. Work couldn’t be better. She nodded to herself.
The phone vibrated and a text message popped up.
“Where are you? It’s time for an away game at my house.”
Alex’s eyes squinted. No way. She would never step foot in his house. Even if it was for an interview. Nope. All their chats going forward would be on the field.
She placed her chopsticks down. Her appetite had disappeared. Alex sighed and tossed it in the refrigerator. The ice cream he had brought was in the freezer. She almost wanted to eat it. All of it. Instead, she put the carton in the sink and filled it up with hot water. Little chunks of caramel floated to the top. Bye, bye sweet cream. We are through.
Her phone vibrated on the table again.
“You better not be on a date. I was serious. I do not share.”
Unbelievable. What a complete hypocrite. He really was an idiot. Did he honestly think he could hook up with other women and then show up at her house and she would be okay with that? And then all his couple conversations. What was that about? Was that a joke to him? Ah. Now it made sense. Yes, she was a joke to him. There was no way he was actually interested in her. Maybe he even knew or had figured it out and this was just some stupid game. Her eyes filled with tears. Not going there. She wiped them away.
“Alex, are you at home?”
She rolled her eyes. She pulled up her search bar on her phone and typed in the same words as earlier. With a click of three buttons, she forwarded the photo to him. Alex did not hesitate on her next move. She turned her phone off and went to bed. Her mind had had enough for one day.
***
Piece of cake. Piece of cake. Piece of cake. Alex blew the hair off her face. After tonight’s game she would reward herself with a piece of cake. A thick chocolate molten lava cake. No, she would get dulce de leche cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It was a shame she had melted all that ice cream down the sink but she didn’t want anything from him. Tomorrow she really would donate his jersey to Goodwill. She wouldn’t throw it away but someone else could have it. Alex shivered. No. No one else could have it. Not after everything that had happened while she had worn it. No. She would just have to burn it. Yes. Burn baby burn. It was not exactly the easiest days of her life. But her focus was on her work. She was not going to let Cane come between her success and happiness. She could be happy without him that was not a problem. She just needed to get through the work part of being around him and not being bothered. At all. Alex made her way through the parking lot and into the Fan Zone. The crowd had been there since five. Obviously, Cane was there with his pen in hand. He always met with the masses prior to the game. It was a tradition. Alex worked her way through the people. She kept her head down and her eyes focused on the exit. She needed to make it out of this room without being noticed. Cane had texted her several times over the past twenty-four hours but what he had said was beyond Alex. She had deleted all of them without even a glance. He had been deleted. If he texted again tomorrow, she would block his number. Technology was on her side.
***
Cane towered over the fans as he signed various forms of memorabilia. It wasn’t exactly a great move on his part. He should let his hand rest before a game. This made no sense. Well, it did, given it was Cane. Nothing about him made sense.
“Alex.” His voice boomed over the crowd. “Alex.” What in the world? Why was he doing this? She picked up her pace. All the fans parted as if he were a God, to allow him through to her. Alex pretended to be oblivious to his calls and made her way into the journalism booth. Distance that’s all they needed. She let the door shut hard behind her. This was a player free zone. It was against NFL regulations to have a player in the press booth. There were rules and Alex knew them. She assumed Cane did as well.
“Hey Frank, how’s the wife?”
“Good, when are you going to settle down? Give up the pen and make babies.” He chortled.
Alex laughed. “Hilarious. If your copy was as good as these jokes your article might actually make it past page eleven.”
She sat down and took out her laptop and notebook. Her focus was on the field. The announcements began with a run through of each of the Houston Texans starting line-up and the lights went out for a second before Cane came out on the field with smoke billowing behind him. He did his signature elbow thrust and the crowd went wild. Of course, they did. Cane was a star from his sandy blond hair to his chiseled jaw. His massive shoulders combined with the pads, made him seem like an actual giant. The man was enormous. In every way. The apex of Alex’s thighs tingled. She bit the inside of her cheek. No. No more. That was over. She wanted an actual boyfriend that would lead to a fiancé and finally a husband. Alex was tired of dating. She wanted real love coupled with fun. Alex swallowed. Let it go.
The center, Stotzer, snapped the ball and Cane passed it down the field to Halfkinney. The man had speed. He caught it and made it to the forty-yard line. Not bad for the first play. The team moved down the field and set up for the next first down. Cane’s eyes were focused every time the camera panned on him. His face was serious. He was in the zone. He had been in the zone with her. God, he’d been in the zone. The man knew what he was doing. Stop. Don’t think about it. Let it go.
Three hours later the game ended with a final of twenty-three to twenty-one. Texans pulled it out with a safety. Alex made her way to the field, she had to get her quote. She blew the hair from her face. September in Houston was hot. Not like August hot, but still hot and she had on her tan blazer over her blue cami blouse. The hickey was gone, thankfully. She specially chose the blue that was more Cowboys than Texan if it wouldn’t have been against regulations, she would have worn a Cowboy jersey. Anything to further the idea that she was not interested.
Cane swaggered his way toward her. His teeth reflected the lights off of the stadium and his face was full of happiness. Yes, he did a great job. Perfect. But he did get sacked twice. Alex would need to mention that.
“Hey sweetheart, you ready to talk?” He towered over her with his words and his physical presence.
Alex bit the inside of her cheek to check herself. Game on. Game face. Play this right. She pulled out her recorder and hit the red button. Let’s do this.
“Great game. What were you thinking about in the last quarter?”
Cane smiled. “My girlfriend. She is really feisty. And even when the score is down, I know we’ll pull through.”
Alex clenched her left fist together. Focus. Ground yourself. Her smile was forced. Almost bright enough to show the falsity of it. She wouldn’t give hint the satisfaction. No, she was focused, too. “That’s so sweet. Is Miss Texas, please forgive me but I don’t follow the pageants, so I’m not sure what her name is, but is she here tonight supporting you?” Alex batted her eyelashes at him. She could play this any way she wanted as long as she quoted him verbatim it was all good. And she would. She would quote whatever Cane said and spin it to her own benefit.
Cane stared at her while he reached out and grabbed her recorder, hitting the stop button.
“Alex, let me explain. I’m assuming you didn’t read my texts?”
Alex reached for the recorder and hit the button. “As I was saying is she here tonight supporting you?” She tilted her jaw up at him. If he wasn’t such a giant, it might have been perceived as condescending but that was difficult to portray with the height difference.
Cane glared at her. “My girlfriend is here tonight supporting me and I think knowing that she was here made it all the more special.” He tapped his large finger over his mouth. His finger that had been inside her. Over the mouth that had licked her to the most amazing orgasm. No... Focus.
“That’s great. What happened with the two sacks? Would you blame Peterson or hold yourself accountable for your own actions?”
Cane’s eyes left her face for a brief second. He was good. She would give him that, but she had him where she wanted him. He wouldn’t out another teammate. Ever. That was fine. Alex needed something quote worthy. Go on Cane. Speak. Mess up. Do what you do. Choke under pressure.
She sighed. “Well?”
“The sacks are just part of the game. Everyone knows that things happen that are not planned. Maybe someone made a poor choice and then someone goes down. It doesn’t mean game over. It just means it’s time for another first down.” His eyes were a dark shade of blue. So dark, the color mirrored that of his uniform. She was not going there. She got her quote. Time to get out of there.
“Great. Thank you.” Alex turned on her heel and made her way back toward the press booth. She needed to get her stuff and leave. She had plenty of quote worthy material and she intended on using all of it.