PERSONAL: A Stepbrother Sports Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

It’s funny, there on the first line would say DAD.” I laughed hysterically at that. “Dad! Like hey dad! No first or last name. But she knew it was his dad’s house.  After spending a half a year there, he decided to come back to Texas and start a business. They used to live up in Little Elm off Lewisville Lake, but they’d keep an eye once in a while on this property. Anyway…”
    I trailed off as I realized I was talking a shit load. The truth was, with her, I wasn’t a football star. I was just a guy and I could shoot the breeze. I hadn’t taken anyone out here before; not even my best friend.
    “You know, you’re really easy to talk to.”
    “So are you. So, liiiiiike, your mom tracked your dad down?”
    “My grandparents’ house down. Since that’s where he wrote the letters. And she delivered me on the door step.”
    “Fuck, that’s insane.”
    “Yep… yep it is.”
    “And you haven’t heard from her ever since?”
    I shook my head no, the night breeze shaking off nostalgia.
    “What’s that like, having such a big role in your life, like a person that was meant to be there, to not be there?”
    I shrugged my shoulders, laughing because she didn’t make sense to my stoned mind in the moment and all I could do was laugh. She joined me and our laughter sang to the creatures of the night. 
    “You know, I don’t mean to sound all creepy, but you’re beautiful just the way you are, you know? You don’t need to change a thing about you?” I took the moment to look her in the eyes, briefly, before flitting them away into the distance.
    “Thanks, Ramon. I just want to, like really reach my full potential, you know?”
    I totally knew where she was coming from. I let her statement settle in the pre-spring air. I don’t know how long we remained quiet; when you’re high, everything seems like it’s a long time.
    “I know I have to change my eating. I mean, with my mom’s salon and her business partner having the gourmet cupcake store freaking right next door, well, I haven’t always made the best food choices,” she shared. “I grew up around women, gossip, and plenty of sweets and homemade pies and cookies.”
    “Man, you’re making me hungry.” My stomach threatened to rumble, another side effect of smoking.
    “My mom doesn’t gain weight though. She has such a high metabolism. My mom also has a very busy life, one that she leads by choice.”
    “You drive a pretty nice Audi.”
    “Thanks. Dad left a few things for me in reserves in his will. He had our house paid off before his… death.”
    The way she drew out that last part left me feeling like her open book was closing. I thought about changing the subject.
    “What about you, Ramon?”
    “What about me?”
    “What are your grand plans?”
    I loved talking to her like this. She was a girl who was actually fun to talk to. Relaxing like this out on this couch with the stars twinkling at us like this was something I couldn’t experience with another girl.
    “Work my ass off. There’s no other option for me, like I said back in the gym. This is my fate – well, I have to make it my fate. Football’s tricky; you can play the game, but you have to make the grades. I wish school wasn’t so damn hard.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I struggle bad with my studies. Barely even passed last semester. I feel so stupid, you know?”
    Her face was genuinely concerned. “I don’t think you’re stupid. Anyone who can remember all the plays like you do, that’s not stupid. It’s pretty freaking genius.”
    “I’m book stupid.” I took a deep breath, and all the memories of how I felt as kid in special ed class came flooding back to me. 
    “I know what it’s like to feel hidden, not seen for who you are, what you really are.”
    She gasped slightly at my confession. “You do? How’s that even possible? You’re like Channing Tatum. Hot. All the girls want you.”
    “I have a learning disability. I used to be in special ed