Sweet Surrender [18+]

s i x

"Thanks for taking care of April," Lauren said as she laid on her side with a hand propping up her head. The bed sheet and comforter covering the lower half of her body. "I didn't realize you're a big deal at school."

"I'm not," Josh muttered, laying on his back with his head tilted to watch her. "I just play football."

Lauren and Josh returned to bed after cuddling for a few minutes and cleaning up for the night. Though both were tired, they weren't quite ready to sleep but unsure what to talk about besides sex and relationships. The small lamp on her nightstand cast a soft glow around the bed.

"Everyone at the bar talked about you and Mikey and that quarterback guy – Scott? Steven?" Lauren didn't mention she had not watched the game because football didn't interest her in the first place. Just because she banged two of the players didn't mean she was automatically their number one fan.

She caught enough snippets from various bar patrons to piece together the Ravens crushed the Bulldogs, Josh scored three touchdowns and Mikey scored one, and the quarterback was on fire with his plays.

"Shawn." Josh corrected. "Shawn is the quarterback."

"Everyone loved him today."

"Do you watch football?"

Lauren shook her head slowly and shrugged. "Not really. I get the logistics of the game, but I'm not a diehard fan of a certain team or anything."

He suddenly looked nervous, twirling part of the bed sheet around his finger and keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

"Josh." Her curiosity overtook her patience. "What's going on?"

"Would you go to the next game? To watch me play?" He was so embarrassed he couldn't look at her because he had never needed or even wanted to ask anyone. His previous sexual partners proudly admitted to watching him play – either on the TV or at the university stadium.

"Can I still buy a ticket?" Lauren silently prayed for one of two things: either the game be sold out or tickets cost less than fifty bucks.

With the way the entire state worshipped the football team, she doubted tickets were cheap even for students. After paying rent and other bills and buying groceries, extra money went to her savings account. Lauren's one weakness was dining out with April because neither liked to cook. If given the choice between attending a football game or ordering Chinese takeout, Lauren would rather spend her money on crab rangoons, egg rolls, and sesame chicken.

Not that she or April were ashamed to attend the university, they weren't the type of students to show school pride by attending rallies and other related events. They went to school and lived a normal life off campus.

Josh finally met her gaze and smiled widely. "Oh, don't worry about the ticket. I can get you and April into one of the clubs."

"April?"

"Or whoever you want," he amended quickly. "I figured you wouldn't want to go by yourself."

When the fan base grew exponentially over the past decade due to the team's new leadership and winning streak, the university demolished the previous dinky stadium and built a bigger and fancier one, which included exclusive club seating.

Students with money usually watched the game from the third tier, which offered free food and drinks and seats in a glass enclosure. The second and first tiers were available for high-ranking faculty members, wealthy donors, and other important city and state officials that had the funds to spend a small fortune to be pampered with artisan beer, top-shelf alcohol, and high-end food.