bet on it - odell beckham jr.

chapter four

"c'mon!"

i grunt loudly. my arms feel like they were gonna break off any minute, but i push the bar up and down five more times, before letting it rest on the stand. sterling shepard just grins at me before moving from behind and replacing my spot on the bench.

"don't rush me. you know that." i see his eyes roll.

"whatever, man. my wife is scarier than you."

he isn't kidding. chanel was scary when she was pissed, and lately that's been all the time. "isn't that the damn truth. what did you do to her this time?"

he shrugs, leaning back and placing his hands on the bar. "hell if i know, she's just crazy when she's pregnant. crazier, i mean." he begins his reps, with me spotting, watching him grunt and sweat just as much as i was.

since it's storming like crazy, we can't get our normal practice going on outside. so we've all had to move indoors, some of us lifting and others downstairs in the indoor field.

sterling kicks my ass in reps before slamming the bar back down as his phone rings. "speak of the devil." he wipes the sweat off his forehead, answering like an eager schoolboy when he says hello.

i have to admit, while sterls' wife may be a little on the crazy side, he's in love with everything about her. they are one of the few couples that actually have it. they're so in love with each other. unlike some other guys on the team who are married. he's in love with his wife, plus his upcoming child, and i know he wouldn't do anything to fuck that up.

sterl is lucky, because what he has in this industry is not common at all. i've heard horror stories from the guys who have been married or are in serious relationships.

it takes a lot to be a players' wife, a whole nother level of trust that is hard to find in any relationship, but especially one that is constantly put in the public eye. last season one of my teammates, eli manning, came home to find his wife having a threesome with two different dudes in his own damn bed.

a few months later, he found out that their baby wasn't even his. she had been sleeping around on him the entire time, claiming that it was his fault for being gone for work too much.

the real kicker of this whole thing, was that he was already and clearly attached to the kid. so now, he pays a shit ton of money for child support just so that he could visit isaac. it's a new level of fucked up i can't imagine. that's why i'm so hell bent on staying single, the consequences that come with some women are unreal.

"spot me, beckham?" saquon barkley, our running back asks, plopping himself down on the bench. i nod and help him adjust the weights. he's bigger than me on my best day, and can bench me out all day, every day.

he lifts fifty more pounds than me with ease, barely breaking a sweat before setting the bar up. he sits on the edge of the bench, taking a big swig of water as a big scoff erupts from him. "look at that."

i watch as our new manager walks into the weight room, biting on her bottom lip as she looks around. but she quickly releases it and her entire face changes to one of pure stone.

"what was her name again?" i ask him, and he shrugs.

"i actually don't remember. i just hope she's as fun as the last one." he smiles wickedly.

i can only shake my head at him. "you're a dog, man."

every single mom that we've had always get passed around the team pretty easily. it's almost funny to me that ellis keeps hiring women to do this job, since obviously it never works out.

none of us like having to answer to a mom, so we devised a plan a long time ago to get rid of them quickly. by we, i mean, the rest of the team. i've never taken a part in any of it. it's just not right.

don't get me wrong, i hate having to answer to anyone. and frankly, it appears most of them have been hired for the sole purpose of being around us. they seem just as star struck as any fan in our games.

"whose taking this one?" i hear asked from behind me, as otto comes up to the group. "i nominate odell."

i spin around, glaring at him. "why me?"

he shrugs with a smile. "why not you, you worried you can't bag her?"

i scoff, and rest my hand on his shoulder. "i could bag anyone i wanted to."

"not gonna lie, man. but that sounds like a bet." saquon turns between otto and sterling before raising his eyebrows. and then the big devilish giant, landon collins, awakens at our conversation and sits up from his bench, cocking his head in our direction.

"dell's taking this one? never knew you had it in you brother." he chuckles at me, and i narrow my eyes at him. stupid ass.

"wait, hold up. i've never agreed to do this–" my words fall upon deaf ears.

they sit, contemplating the rules of the game. "you need this o, have you banged anyone since deja?"

"get off my dick."

saquon laughs. "so that's a no." he turns his attention to the mom, before nodding his head. "she looks tougher than the last two, you got a month to seal the deal."

otto seems to think about it for a moment before a smirk of smugness crosses his face. "we'll get you free alcohol for a year."

"a year? man, you're crazy."

"nervous?"

i glance towards the mom and observe her closely.

her whole outfit was black. she's wearing some smart trousers with a huge belt across her waist, a lace bodysuit and a blazer that droops across her shoulders.

her brown hair was bone straight down her back and her baby hairs were styled at the side. her lips are glossed and pursed as she stares us down. she was definitely beautiful, but while i will never admit it, she looks hella hard to get.

"yeah, that's just not gonna happen. what happens if i did win?"

they all glance around at each other, before otto grins wide. "your choice of any locker." my eyebrows raise, looking at sterl.

"no, no, no!" he shakes his head furiously.

"yeah. come on, sterling." saquon urges, smacking his shoulder. sterling has been with the team for the longest and has slowly moved his way up to the best locker in the locker room.

"this all doesn't even affect me." he argues. "i'm not the one who's gonna be running around acting like a asshole."

"no, i don't want a damn locker." i tell sterling, watching him relax. "all you fuckers have to wear my name and number for a week. that's my deal to you lot. if i win, you become my bitches." arms all cross, and glares level with me.

"a day." saquon interjects.

"two." i counter, hearing them all sigh.

"fine, two days. deal."

"for those who don't remember my name, i'm ira." she steps into the middle of the room. "and i'm here to apparently keep all of you men in line." all our attention snaps to her and several grunts and scoffs are scattered around the room, loud enough for her to hear.

"while i find it odd that grown men need a babysitter, still, just after a few minutes of research on your team, it's obvious that you do." she scans the room, eyeing certain people.

"first of all, let me lay out my ground rules. i've become aware that you've all made a game out of who sleeps with the, 'mom'," she makes quotation marks with her fingers. "–in order to get her fired. now lemme tell you," her eyes cut at us, and she licks her lips. "that under no circumstances will i be interested in any of you, so please get that out of your heads. i'm here to help you, mould you into the public eye, to something of a hero, someone for kids to look up to and not down to. and also may i remind you–"

she steps further into the room, her arms remaining crossed.

"that forty percent of your fans are under the age of 16. that leaves you guys with a job to do, and you're all shit at it."