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

eulogy for tomorrow anyway.” He glanced at Mrs.
Nelson and smiled. “You know, they’ve got to translate it into
French for all those Cajun relatives coming into town.”
    “Oh that’s right,” Mrs. Nelson replied.
    He reached in his briefcase and pulled out a large
envelope.
    Maddie reluctantly took it from his hand and started
for the door. I followed close on her heels.
    I slid into the silver Camry still clutching the bag.
Without a word, Maddie cranked the car. Christian Worship music
blared out of the radio. She flushed a little and quickly turned it
off. We started down the road as an uncomfortable silence hung in
the air.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I checked her out. I was
a guy—I couldn’t help it. I started thinking about why I’d never
really noticed her—you know the way a guy was supposed to notice a
girl, especially one as beautiful she was. Then it hit me. Maddie
didn’t wear low cut shirts and tank tops with her jacked up
cleavage winking at the free world, and she didn’t have her ass
cheeks hanging out of her shorts and skirts. She kept herself
covered.
    But it took just one glance at her long legs wrapped
underneath the steering wheel to make me imagine them in short
skirts. With my eyes roving upward, I realized she was also hiding
a fabulous rack underneath her dress. Damn, what a waste.
    My below-the-belt thoughts along with being in close
quarters made me blurt out the first thing that came to my
mind—after her amazing legs and Double D’s. “You smell nice.” The
moment the words left my lips, I cringed. Way to be an utter
lameass, Noah!
    “It’s Noa,” she murmured.
    “What about me?” I asked.
    A smile tugged at her lips. “No, the perfume’s name
is Noa.”
    “Oh, I get it,” I laughed.
    Maddie’s smiled widened. “Jake really liked it, too.
He used to joke about it being a biblical experience or something
silly like that.”
    “Yeah, I’d forgotten you were Jake’s tutor,” I
said.
    She glanced over at me. A dark look flashed in her
eyes. “I was his friend.”
    “Yeah, I know.” The truth was Jake had mentioned her
to me before, but I’d never really paid attention. Not to mention
he and I were both going in such crazy directions senior year. I
had just taken it as one of those random “Jake” comments—the kind
I’d blow off and then wait until he moved on to something else. But
the more I thought about it, he never moved on to anything else. I
remembered him stopping to say hey to her in the hallway or at
lunch. Hell, when we were with him, we all said hello to her
because everyone in the group knew better than to say something bad
about her or tease her. If they did, Jake would have kicked our
ass.
    Maddie brought me out of my ramblings with the tone
of her next question. “Are you sure?”
    “Sure of what?”
    “That you knew Jake and I were friends,” she replied,
an edginess creeping into her voice.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
    “You know.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “Um, no I don’t, so why don’t
you give me a hint or something.”
    She sighed. “I know I’m not part of the in-crowd or
one of Jake’s usual conquests. And I’m sure you don’t know how it’s
possible for someone like Jake to have given someone like me the
time of day, but he did. He was always a sweet and perfect
gentleman to me.”
    I thought about the way she’d been crying at Jake’s
house. She’d really cared about him. “I’m sorry. I really don’t
think that, I promise. Jake was…complicated. Even our friendship
was complicated sometimes,” I said.
    Maddie looked at me in surprise. “Yeah, I guess he
was a little complicated,” she agreed, softly.
    She didn’t say anything else, and thankfully, we
pulled into the parking lot of Whitfield Funeral Home.
    When we got to the door, I balked. The last time I’d
been there was when my grandfather had died. Suddenly, my mind
tripped out, and I was flooded with memories. I was afraid