Everything But Read Free

him Mr. Gill, so Riley wouldn’t have to worry anymore.  Better yet, Mr. Gill insisted that Riley call him Ron .  Basically, Riley would be reading off note cards to introduce each of the girls, but even beforehand, the co-captains of the football team were giving a PowerPoint presentation full of pictures of the cheerleading squad together, along with separate pictures of each young woman.  Then Riley would take over, playing emcee-slash-auctioneer.
    Gill was bending his ear, trying to impr ess Riley with his stage, lights , and sound setup, but Riley just kind of wished he was curled up on his mom’s couch, riding a high , watching DVDs.  Hell, if he’d been smart, he would’ve smoked a bowl before attending this shindig.  Too late now.   Gill finally showed Riley where he could hang out next to the stage until it was his time to shine.  Riley sat in a chair next to the platform and looked out over the audience.  And then it hit him.  It was in this same fuckin ’ place he’d begun the path he was on now.  He and four of his buddies had participated in a Battle of the Bands during his senior year in high school.  Looking out over the audience now, he wondered why he hadn’t been freaked out.  But then he remembered.  Part of his calmness was thanks to his overwhelming confidence; part of it was because of several swigs from a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, his drink of choice back in the day .
    He wasn’t freaked out now, just bored as shit.
    But then he spotted her .  A fucking gorgeous blonde sitting on the bleachers next to the cheerleaders.   Was she the substitute cheerleading coach and, if so, could he spend his week at home getting to know her a little better?
    Well, that was a stupid idea , but maybe they could hang a little.
    Once he’d spotted her, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.  She was wearing an ivory dress, but from where he was sitting, he couldn’t tell if it was long or short , demure or sexy.   And her hair was pulled up and back wit h just a few wisps of hair flow ing out here and there.  She wore long, dangly silver earrings.  What struck Riley, though, was how nervous and stressed she looked.  Yeah…that had to be the coach.   His mother had mentioned the stand-in coach was reluctant.
    Maybe a little dose of Riley would make her feel better about the whole thing.
    He almost laughed out loud at how the old Riley cockiness just never left him.  He’d become quite a good actor, almost believing the character he portrayed.  Yeah, there’d been no doubt he’d really been that way early on in his career, but life had changed him.  He was no longer the cocky, arrogant, self-assured man he’d been ten years ago.  In fact, if people knew how the real Riley was…well, they might not be fans anymore.
    Thus, the act had to be maintained.  He could only be real when he was by himself.
    Fortunately, most girls dug the act.  They liked the alpha male, confident vibe he threw off, even when they knew it meant he probably wouldn’t end up with them.  It was one of those qualities that had helped him lead his old band Spawn to superstardom.  A confident frontman was worth his weight in gold.
    God, he was glad he’d kept the sunglasses on.  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.  Her dress had thin shoulder straps, so he could appreciate her lightly tanned shoulders and how the dress tried to show just a little cleavage, but from here he couldn’t appreciate it as well as he knew he could close up.  And her makeup wasn’t overdone.  It was obvious she cared about her appearance, but she looked natural.
    Riley took a deep breath.  Had to stop thinking that way.   Of course, he couldn’t expect a high school teacher to act like a groupie.  No way could he get that fine piece of ass in his bed tonight.  Wasn’t happening.   Had to stop getting himself worked up like that.
    The PowerPoint was finally over and the jocks introduced Riley.  He slipped on his rock star