Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game Read Online Free PDF Page A

uber-jock,
too. He’d gone all the way in basketball until his senior year when
he’d busted his knee, and his hopes of the NBA and his scholarship
went down the toilet.
    I’ve never thought Mr. Nelson had much use for me
since I wasn’t an athlete. He probably considered me a failure to
the male species, and I’m sure he harbored questions about my
sexuality. To him, I was some artsy-fartsy guitar playing fairy.
Like I said, the man was an asshole.
    While Mr. Nelson blew through the door of Jake’s room
and started snatching and grabbing, I hesitated. Something just
didn’t seem right about going in there without Jake. Mr. Nelson
glanced back at me. “Coming?” he asked sarcastically.
    I nodded and stepped through the threshold. I might
as well be a pansy and admit that the memories hit me like a ton of
bricks. It was like a harsh kick to the gut—or groin for that
matter. I’d never been in this room without Jake. It was like his
presence was everywhere.
    My stroll down memory lane was interrupted by Mr.
Nelson’s gasp. “What the hell?” he demanded.
    Oh, shit! I thought. My mind was flooded with
possibilities. He’d stumbled onto Jake’s porn collection. Worse,
he’d found Jake’s stash of pot. Jake and I had once joked that if
something happened to one of us, the other was supposed to go get
rid of anything incriminating in our rooms. Great, I’d let him
down.
    I turned around. “What’s wrong?”
    The world slowed to a crawl as Mr. Nelson extended
his hand. I drew in a deep breath as he opened his fingers.
    I stared at a small, black box. I exhaled slowly
since it wasn’t pot, porn, or anything else shock-worthy. But the
look on Mr. Nelson’s face caused my breath to hitch. “What is
it?”
    “You don’t know what this is?”
    Duh, would I have asked you if I did, asswipe? I wanted to say, but I managed just to shake my head.
    Mr. Nelson sighed and stalked across the room to me.
He thrust the velvet box into my hands. I cracked the box, and the
sound echoed through the room. A glittering diamond stared back at
me. But it wasn’t just any diamond. It was two carats of commitment
in a platinum setting.
    Wow, even I could tell the man-whore had taste. I
didn’t know much about diamonds, but I did know it glittered like
it cost a fortune. That made me wonder where in the hell Jake had
gotten the coins for such a ring. He was probably dealing drugs for
all I knew. Mr. Nelson jolted me out of my thoughts.
    “Did Jake have a steady girlfriend?” he asked.
    I gave him a dumbfounded look. The words “Jake” and
“relationship” just didn’t mix unless it was combined with multiple sexual relationships.
    I staggered backwards. The mere fact I was standing
in the middle of Jake’s bedroom with an engagement ring in my hand
made me dizzy.
    “Noah?” Mr. Nelson questioned.
    “I’m fine,” I murmured. He continued staring at me,
so I cleared my throat. “No, Jake didn’t have a steady girlfriend.
I mean, he and Avery were off and on again, and he and Presley…” I
glanced up at Mr. Nelson, and he nodded.
    “What about this? Do you know what it means?”
    He handed me a piece of paper. It was the song lyrics
to You Were Always On My Mind . As I read over the lyrics, I
remembered a couple of months ago when I’d gotten into Jake’s truck
after one of the basketball games.
    When Jake cranked the car, music came blasting out of
the speakers.
    “Dude, what the hell is this shit?” I’d asked.
    “It’s Willie Nelson man,” he replied, turning the
heater on.
    “That’s freakin’ fabulous, but why are we
listening to it?”
    “Cause I like it.”
    “Don’t you think it’s a little hokey?”
    Jake grinned. “I like hokey. Besides, it’s my
song.”
    I snorted. “I thought your song was more 50 Cent’s Pimp or JT’s Sexy Back !”
    “Yeah, I am kinda a pimp, aren’t I?” Jake mused. Then
he laughed. “No man, you’re wrong. This is a song to warm a girl
up.”
    I raised my