“Miller.” She sings his name, walking to him and getting chest to chest with him. “I am so excited about the auction.” I roll my eyes and turn to walk away, but not before hearing her beg him to take her home tonight.
I put my empty glass on a tray and grab another one when I hear Nico's voice fill the arena. “Testing one, two.” I look up and see that a spotlight is on him now. “Testing one, two.”
The chattering stops, and the room goes quiet. “If I can get everyone’s attention.” I look around now and spot Ralph and Candace sitting down at a table in front. I make my way through the crowd and find an empty chair beside Candace. I sit down and look over to see that Manning is sitting next to me, and his wife just glares at me. I smile at her and wave, but she turns her head, and I see Manning roll his lips. “Please help me welcome our captain Manning Stevenson.” The applause starts, and he gets up, and so does his wife, kissing him on the lips as though he won an award or something. He walks up the stairs while he wipes off his lips, and I giggle, which earns me another glare from his wife.
“How drunk are you?” Candace says, leaning into me.
“Not drunk enough,” I say, taking another glass of champagne. “Cheers.” I hold up my glass, and she grabs her own, and we click glasses quietly. I listen half-heartedly to Manning’s speech about why we are here, and my curiosity has me looking around the room to see who else is here that I haven’t seen.
I spot the owner of the station sitting at a table with a couple of the players and their wives. I look around and spot Miller standing with five other men on the side. Our eyes meet again, and this time, he winks. I roll my eyes and look away. What in the hell is wrong with you? This is the second time he’s caught you looking at him. And why are you looking at him? It must be the suit or the champagne. “I think this champagne is not good,” I whisper to Candace, who looks at me and smiles. “Can champagne go bad? Like, can it poison you?”
“No.” She takes a swallow from her glass. “Tastes fine to me.” She puts it down, and a waiter comes over and grabs the two empty glasses and puts two more on the table.
“Am I going to have to carry you into the house?” Ralph asks Candace.
I lean over Candace to whisper to Ralph. “Don’t pretend you don’t like drunk sex.”
“I like drunk sex,” Candace says, not in a whisper, making Ralph just shake his head. I sit up now, looking at the stage as they bring the bachelors on stage. They introduce a couple of the rookies, and then they save Miller for last.
“And it is my greatest pleasure,” Manning says with a smile. “Introducing my assistant captain, or what I like to call him, Mr. GQ,” he says. The applause starts, and a couple of whistles are blown as he walks onto the stage and shakes Manning’s hand and then looks out into the crowd.
“He’s so gross,” I say under my breath, and Candace laughs at me. The bidding starts with the rookie first. The highest bidder is five thousand dollars. The second one goes for the same price, and the third one goes for just a touch more. They all stay under five thousand dollars.
“Now,” Nico says, “it’s time for the last bachelor of the night.” The girls all cheer, and I look over at Candace, who laughs. “We are going to start the bidding off at—”
“Fifty cents.” I hold up my hand, and everyone laughs, even Miller.
“One thousand dollars,” one of the women on the side says, and Candace looks at me.
“Not worth it,” I say, drinking another sip. “So not worth it.” I look into the glass.
“Twelve hundred!” another woman shouts, and I look over at the woman who sits there with a huge smile on her face.
“Fifteen hundred,” another one says.
“Seventeen!” one woman shouts from the back.
“Ohh, this might be a hot ticket item,” Nico says, laughing. Miller just looks down and shakes his head.
“Two thousand,” the first one comes back with.
“Do I have twenty-one hundred?” Nico asks.
Now the girl who sang his name before shouts out, “Five thousand dollars!” The crowd gasps, and Miller just looks at her.
“Ten thousand dollars,” Nico says, pointing at the one who just shout out the highest bid, “Going once, going twice.”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars!” I shout. The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, shocking everyone, especially me.Chapter 4MillerThe hot light shining directly on me is making me sweat. I hear the bids coming in, and my hand tries to loosen the tightness of my shirt. Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea? I mean, the only time I felt okay about this was when Layla bid fifty cents for me. God, that made me laugh, and for one second, I forgot that I was in the spotlight. “Going once.” I hear Nico, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s not the end of the world. It’s a date one night for a couple of hours. What’s the worst that can happen? “Going twice.” Fuck, here we go. The worst woman I’ve ever met.