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

eyebrows skeptically. “Warm one up? I
thought all you had to do was look in their direction, and they’d
fling their clothes off and fall over.”
    Jake laughed. “Usually…but not this girl. She needs a
little work, and trust me, it’s sexy as hell.”
    I had scoffed at the thought and dropped the subject.
Funny, how the most ridiculous conversations could have some deep
seeded meaning. Now that I looked back, it was a private moment
between two friends—one I wasn’t willing to share.
    So, I looked at Mr. Nelson and shook my head.
    He opened his mouth to say something, but the
doorbell rang. Mr. Nelson rolled his eyes. “That would be Pastor
Dan,” he grumbled.
    Dan Parker was the pastor of the church Mrs. Nelson
attended, and the one Jake had been court-appointed to attend after
one of his sophomore year stunts. Well, the judge hadn’t actually
mandated he attend church—just the rehabilitation program that
Pastor Dan ran for wayward teens who did dumbass things like get
drunk and drive a lawnmower naked down to the school and mow grass
into the shape of a penis on the football field.
    I handed the velvet box back to Mr. Nelson. He
glanced at it and then back up at me. “Don’t say a word about the
ring to my wife, Noah. Not until we get through all this funeral
bullshit.”
    Asshole. “Whatever,” I mumbled.
    As I went out the doorway, I glanced back at Jake’s
room one last time, and then I followed Mr. Nelson downstairs.

    Standing in the foyer alongside Pastor Dan was a girl
who looked just like an angel. No shit, she was decked in a flowing
white summer dress. Only her dark brown hair contrasted against her
pale skin and attire.
    I skidded to a stop on the bottom step and stared. It
was then I realized she wasn’t really an angel. I’d seen her around
school many times before. I may have even had a class or two with
her. She’d transferred to Creekview when I was junior. That was the
year her family moved to town, and Pastor Dan became the pastor of
one of the local churches.
    Mrs. Nelson smiled. “Noah, I’d like to introduce you
to, Pastor Dan Parker.”
    “Nice to meet you,” I said, as I shook his hand.
    “Nice meeting you too, Noah.” Pastor Dan turned to
the angel. “This is my daughter, Maddie.”
    At the sound of her name, Maddie dutifully raised her
head.
    I reached out and took her hand in mine. “Yeah, I
think we know each other from school,” I said.
    She nodded. “Yes, we do.”
    Mrs. Nelson put her arm around Maddie’s waist. “I
don’t know what Jake would’ve done without Maddie. She’s been such
a help to him this year. Why I doubt he’d earned enough credits to
graduate without her.”
    I noticed tears glistened in Maddie’s eyes. She
leaned over and hugged Mrs. Nelson, and they both wept. I shuffled
back and forth on my feet and glanced over at my mom. She had tears
in her eyes, too.
    If there was anyone more uncomfortable with people
showing emotion, it was Mr. Nelson. His face darkened. He
interrupted his wife and Maddie by thrusting the duffel bag of
Jake’s things into Mrs. Nelson’s arms. “Noah and I got the things
you asked for.”
    She wiped her eyes. “Thanks, dear,” she replied,
pressing the bag against her chest.
    Mom cleared her throat. “Noah, I told Mrs. Nelson
you’d be happy to take those items down to the funeral home for
her.”
    I shot my mom a look. The last thing on earth I
wanted to do was go down to the funeral home. I didn’t like to
admit it, but I kinda had this thing about funeral homes.
    “Sure, that’d be fine.”
    Mrs. Nelson smiled and then reached over to hug me.
“You’re such a good boy, Noah.”
    Pastor Dan peered out the window. “Uh-oh, if that’s
your SUV, we’re blocking you in. Maddie, why don’t you give Noah a
lift down to the funeral home real quick?
    Maddie and I both stared at him in disbelief.
“W-What?” Maddie stammered.
    Pastor Dan nodded. “Sure. I was going to have to drop
off Mr. St. Clare’s