The Player

Brielle

9:30 AM

I fiddled with my hands nervously as we sat in his convertible. An awkward silence filled the car around us. Now that I realized how I felt, I couldn't act the same around him. I couldn't bicker with him without turning beet red, and whenever he touched me even a little, I jumped in surprise. He had tried to make conversation, but I had given him short answers, afraid that I would say something embarrassing. I was second guessing everything that I did, and I hated it.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" he asked, taking his attention off the road for a second to glance at me. I silently nodded my head yes, my face getting flushed once more. He shot me a weird glance before turning towards the road again.

I settled on looking out the window instead, not wanting to embarrass myself anymore. I zoned out so much that I didn't realize that we were at the restaurant until Christopher opened my car door for me, waiting for me to get out.

I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, making eye contact with him before quickly looking down at the ground. "You didn't have to do that."

He flashed me a pearly white smile that nearly took my breath away. "I know, but I like to act nice every once in a while. Keep you on your toes."

Instead of doing my signature eye roll, I just nodded my head and began walking towards the entrance of the restaurant.

It wasn't fair. He had never opened the door for me before, and now that I had decided that I liked him, he wanted to be even more charming than usual?

His quick strides allowed him to get ahead of me and hold the door open. He placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me inside. It felt as if his hand was burning a hole into my skin, until I had no other option but to brush his hand off me.

A look of hurt flashed across his face. However, before he could say anything, a waitress walked up to us, interrupting him. She was a leggy blonde with platinum blonde hair and an impressive amount of cleavage.

"Hey, how can I help you today?" she purred. While the question was supposed to be geared towards the both of us, she seemed to only be asking Christopher.

"Just two," Christopher responded, flashing her a smile that made my heart sink. This was just one of the many reasons why I shouldn't like Christopher. I could compare to any of the girls that were constantly flirting with him. He dated girls like Melanie and the waitress, not girls like me. Based on his previous ex's, I was willing to guess that my dull brown hair and murky brown eyes weren't exactly his ideal type.

The waitress seemed to just realize that I was there, because she flashed me a dirty look before leading us to a booth. She practically threw a menu at me before carefully placing one in front of Christopher. As she did it, she bent down in front of him, practically shoving her chest into his face.

She leaned into his ear, whispering. "So what do you want to drink?"

face grew hot. Even though me and Christopher weren't together, she didn't know that. I didn't deserve to be treated like dirt just so that

I interjected. Her head snapped towards me, annoyed. "And judging on how thirsty you're acting, you might want

before looking towards Christopher for support. He avoided her gaze, looking anywhere but at her. His hand scratched

me one last glare, before stomping away from us. Once she was out of earshot, we busted out laughing. As I sifted through the menu, I looked up at him to see that he was staring

"What?" I giggled.

at me. "I was just wondering if you were

I protested defensively. If he thought that I was jealous, then he would know that I had feelings for him, which

me knowingly. "Then why did you snap on her

crossed my arms over my chest. "I just didn't appreciate

"If you say so."

switch with her, because he was now taking out order. When I handed Christopher my menu to give to him after we were done ordering, our hands brushed against each other's. I had never felt the sparks that people had described, but if I had to guess,

of water in front of me, spilling ice-cold water onto

cheer me up. His attempts only made me more annoyed, because they made

know right," I nervously laughed, getting up and wringing my shirt. "I'm just going to use the bathroom." I quickly scrambled to

leaned my head

Calm down Brielle.

shirt. I stood under one of the blow dryers, allowing it to dry up the spill. While I waited I typed in Sam's number, hoping that she would

noisy to the point where I could barely hear her. After a while

what's up?" she questioned.

ears, before resting my forehead in the palm of my hand. "You were right," I admitted, letting out a sigh. "I have

busted out from her side of the line followed by a round of claps. "I knew it, I knew it." She said in a sing-sing voice. "You should

serious, Sam? I had a crush on Tommy for six months and I never told him. There is no way that I'm saying a word." I sat down on the floor, the

I'm can't date him. Especially not after Derrick." Sam let

hurt you, but you have to stop letting what happened between you two affect you now. He doesn't deserve to have that much

again." My voice cracked, as all the raw emotions I tried to repress rose back up. I quickly pushed them back down before continuing. "I just