HOTSHOT

by Bishop, K. M.

  And I hoped that this might include me. Wow…she was beyond stunning. She looked back at me and her eyes locked onto mine. Yes… she was gorgeous and locking eyes with her made my heart stop in my chest and I felt a bit faint for a second.

  Then the moment passed and I tucked my head back down to the ball in front of my feet. This was interesting. Who was that girl? Where was she from? What classes did she have?

  Now, all of a sudden I just wanted to know everything I could about the enticing, beautiful woman I had just locked eyes with.

  I had a feeling our paths were meant by destiny to cross.

  Chapter Three

  Jamie

  “This is an intense crowd!” Rosie said in my ear way too loudly. I pulled away and stuck my finger in the ear canal to help numb the pain that had suddenly occurred as my eardrum was blasted by noise.

  “Wow… that sucked,” I giggled looking at Rosie.

  She smiled sheepishly and leaned away from me a little. “Sorry…”

  “Yes, it is an awesome crowd. I mean, how could you ever want to be anywhere else on a day like this?” I asked.

  We’d gotten the best tickets, right on the front row. Being part of the press did have its advantages. I was able to make sure I got right up close and personal so I could do an article about the game. It was going to be a double piece. Half would focus on the actual game, and then the rest would be an interview with Chance.

  Yes… just hearing his name whispered in my own head made me blush and yearn for him inside of me. The shower I’d taken earlier had taken me somewhere I had never imagined it could. I really wanted him to be my first. If the opportunity presented itself, I was going for it. I wondered if it would be as good as my fantasy had been? I hadn’t come that well in so long. It almost hurt when my pussy erupted in climax. I thought my heart was going to stop and I was going to pass out. Dying in the shower from natural causes at twenty-one… that was a bad way to go.

  “I don’t know,” Rosie said. “But I should be studying. I’m going to flunk my exam this week.”

  “Well, you should have studied this week,” I said.

  “I put off everything until the last moment,” she said. “It’s a weakness. I don’t think I can change it now.”

  “Hey, isn’t that Chance?” I asked.

  I pointed to the side entrance of the field in the corner. Chance was jogging out on to the field. He went to get a football and began to warm up with it. Wow… just watching him play by himself was exciting.

  Almost as exciting as watching him play with himself would be…

  I felt the blush welling up inside of me and I tried to calm it down. I was getting wet just from the thought. Damn, I had it so bad for this man. And the more I thought about it, the more nervous I became about the interview that would take place just a few hours from now.

  “Yes! Wow, he looks good,” Rosie said. “Check out the legs in those shorts… my, that boy has some muscle.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be down there with the cheer squad?” I asked.

  “No. I officially start my duties as an alternate next week. I have to play a bit of catch up with the routines and so forth. Basically, I have to learn what they’ve had six weeks to learn, but I have to do it in one week. And then I have to keep it fresh just in case someone gets hurt.”

  I laughed at the predicament. “You sound very down about that.”

  “Well, it stinks. I might end up doing a bunch of work for no reason.”

  “Why don’t you use it as an opportunity to get better so that next year you can be on the squad instead of just an alternate?”

  Rosie looked over at Collette and then back to me. “No. I don’t think there is a silver lining here.”

  I laughed. As I looked back at the field I saw Chance staring at me. Our eyes locked. Yes… he was definitely staring at me. Oh… this was great… I felt like there was some energy migration from him to me and then back again. It was like my internal sense was fluctuating back and forth. I felt almost dizzy with it.

  And then he looked away and it was over.

  “Did you see that?” I asked after a moment.

  “No, what?”

  “Chance looked right at me.”

  Rosie looked down at him on the field and then back to me. “You’re crazy. He isn’t looking at anyone.”

  “No, he did it. He looked at me. We locked eyes,” I said. “I think we might have had a moment or something…”

  Rosie’s eyes flashed at me as she tried to think about how crazy I was and probably the best way to approach this subject. “You’re crazy.”

  Well, that was one way to do it.

  “I am not crazy,” I said. “I clearly saw him there. We had a moment. It was interesting…”

  Rosie shook her head and gestured over to Collette. “You think this girl is totally in love yet? She wants a chance with Big Chance?”

  I blushed lightly. Those two were so good at getting under my skin. That was ok. They could have all their fun that they wanted to. I wasn’t going to let it bother me.

  Collette smiled. “Yeah. I’d say she wants it really bad. I’ve seen that look in the eyes of so many women who have fallen under that boy’s spell.”

  “Which women do you know that have dated him?” I asked.

  Collette shrugged as she thought to herself. “Well, I wouldn’t say that they dated him.”

  I laughed hard. “Wow, so you know all these women who are basically hook ups with Chance?”

  “I don’t know them personally, but I’ve heard a lot of things. Far too many things for it to be based on jealous gossip from frustrated college girls.”

  Collette was kind of joking, but I knew her well enough that I could detect the shreds of seriousness in her voice. And I’d also heard a lot of the rumors and gossip surrounding Mr. Chance Atkins. He was basically the king around the campus. He was the top athlete in the top sport. And he had a lot of other great qualities that women tended to drool over. So, no surprise he was going to have as many opportunities as he wanted with women.

  But was he just not ready to settle down? Or had he finally been given the keys to the kingdom and he was having as much fun as he possibly could?

  It was tough to say.

  “Well, I don’t care about that. I don’t listen to rumors and gossip mills. I just observe with my own eyes and make my own decisions. Besides, I didn’t say that I had some thing for him. I just made an observation that he caught my eye. That’s all. You don’t have to be so weird about it.”

  “Who is being weird?” Rosie teased. “I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that interview. The sexual tension will be thick enough to cut with a knife.”

  “Well, I’ll be recording the whole thing on audio, unless he objects. You are free to listen to it if you want.”

  Rosie’s eyes lit up. She and Collette grinned at each other. “Oh, wow. That sounds like fun. Now, watch. I guarantee that there will be so much flirting and tension going on that Jamie won’t let us see it. Wouldn’t that be rich?”

  I smiled. “Well, I do have the right to refuse.”

  They both burst out laughing.

  It was a fun fantasy to think about, but at this point that was all it was. It had been a while since I’d dated anyone. Most guys were not ok with waiting until I was ready to finally have sex. I just hadn’t met that guy yet, or if I had met the guy he didn’t wait long enough for me to be ready. It was getting frustrating, but I was determined to not waste this valuable first experience.

  But if I had a shot at getting Chance Atkins, I knew I would take it. There was just something about him; it put him a big cut above the rest of the guys around. I wasn’t sure if it was just because he was a great athlete, or if it was a combination of qualities. I hated to feel like I was one of those women who either consciously or unconsciously sought out high valued mates based on athletic ability and social status. But maybe it was beyond my control.

  Whatever it was,
I knew that I wanted Chance Atkins. Ever since I’d first seen him earlier this year, I’d wanted him. He was kind of on the scene last year, but there were so many other stars it was easy to get buried. But now he was the king. In doing my research I saw his skills had improved and I didn’t see anyone who could take him down a notch on that field.

  I couldn’t wait to meet him, interview him. It was going to be an exciting article.

  And I wanted to see what he would actually think of me…

  Chapter Four

  Chance

  I saw the opening and I took it.

  Without hesitation I flew across the field as hard as I could, I held the ball in front of me, sidestepped two defenders, and then I gave the ball a hard throw. The air collided with the ball and sent it quickly spiraling past the defenders and into the hands of Wilson Piers, moving almost inches from his outstretched fingertips before he grabbed it and pulled it into his chest, seconds before his feet carried him across the goal line.

  We won.

  The crowd was on its feet screaming and cheering. The rumbling in the stands was so loud I could barely hear myself think. My mind felt almost numb. The adrenaline was flooding my body. I was still running, but I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet. The seconds had ticked away the last moments of the game. It was all over.

  We’d won.

  The biggest game of the regular season was in the bag and we’d beaten our biggest rivals. And I’d hit the game winning touchdown. The final score was thirteen to ten. I’d scored the first touchdown and then the winning score pass. I was definitely the hero of the game, at least in everyone’s eyes. This all became apparent the instant I was suddenly hoisted up on a couple of teammate’s shoulders and carried off the field.

  The crowd was now running onto the field now. It was all like some kind of beautiful dream. Beautiful, but somehow terrifying. Why? Maybe because I wasn’t used to being worshipped like this. That was what you might call it. Everyone was giving me adulation and trying to get at me. I was still riding on top of Mike and Daniel’s shoulders as we headed towards the sidelines.

  I looked around at the fans clamoring at me and calling my name. It was a strange, twisted sight. Yet, I knew that I’d always wished for it. I wasn’t sure what it was in me that had always wanted this level of approval, but now that I was getting it, I wasn’t so sure I wanted or needed it. There was something wrong with having this much attention. It was power. And it was on a scope that I was no longer comfortable with. What would happen if I turned pro? Would this type of thing be a constant?

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever really get used to it, but playing pro ball was the only thing in the world that I knew would ever make me truly happy.

  After we got settled down a bit with the celebration, we shook the other team’s hands and then the coach led us towards the locker room. We tried to hurry off the field as fast as we could because the fans were all clamoring for us. It wasn’t just me anymore; the entire team was being besieged by wonderful fans.

  And of course there were several reporters from the local news outlets all trying to get our attention, especially me. But coach had warned us to ignore them at this time and to do press after if we wanted to.

  “Chance! What were you thinking as you kicked in that last goal?”

  The voice was from a beautiful, local reporter. I’d seen her on television a few times. She was striking, that was for sure.

  I was tempted to respond to her, but I didn’t. Instead I just looked at her and smiled. And she blushed in response to me.

  Yeah, that was always fun.

  “Ok, men,” the coach said when we got to the locker room and gathered around. “Today you all did well. You should be very proud of yourselves. Despite what the media wants to spin or what people like to see, or what those damn bloggers love to rave about—this is a team sport. There are no heroes; only members of the team who perform at their best. When everyone does that the team does well. I hope that is understood. I don’t care who scored how many goals on what day, the team gets the credit. Everyone worked together to make that happen. Not one man.”

  The coach was looking straight at me. Was he implying that I was getting a swelled head? Or just making sure that I didn’t get one. I wasn’t sure, because I wasn’t aware of giving him the impression that I was getting that big.

  I maintained the eye contact until he dropped it. Coach or not, he was a jerk and a bully. He couldn’t bully me, he couldn’t control me, and he needed me. Yep, Coach Smith hated my guts. And I couldn’t care less. The guy was a schmuck.

  He ended the meeting and we all hit the showers. It always felt great to get the dirt and grime off my body, but mostly to alleviate the tension of the game. A hot shower afterwards just helped me to center myself again. A lot of the guys would whoop and holler in the shower; I never did. I was quiet and kept to myself and my own thoughts. It was important to me. It was kind of like a nice, little meditation.

  I was just starting to undress when my phone buzzed. I groaned and thought about ignoring it. For some reason I didn’t. But I wished immediately that I had.

  It was Lucinda. “Hey, babe. Congrats on the game. WE HAVE TO TALK. It is an emergency! You do not want to let this go…”

  The writing was a bit cryptic and strange. She never used all caps like that. Maybe it was important. Fine. I decided to go. It would only take a few minutes anyway.

  I walked outside behind the locker room and there Lucinda was waiting for me. She looked a bit nervous. I hadn’t really seen her this way before and instantly my stomach sank down.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” I asked.

  “Hey, baby,” Lucinda said. She reached for me to pull me close. I stepped back and held my hands up with a smile.

  “No,” I said. “What do you want?”

  “Well, I am here to tell you that I want more. I’m tired of being treated this way, like I don’t matter to you. Honey, you act as if what we have isn’t real. This is not right. You can’t take me for granted this way anymore.”

  I looked at her in disbelief. What was it going to take with this woman?

  There were a few people walking by, several of them pointing and waving.

  “Chance! Yes!”

  I nodded and waved back. But then I got the idea that might just work for Lucinda. She wasn’t crazy. She had to know this was unusual behavior and it wasn’t going to work on me.

  “Lucinda,” I said loud enough to be heard by people walking past us. “We are not a thing. We have been over for a while. I do not want to have anything more with you. I’ve told you this time and time again. I don’t see how much clearer I can make it. Please; just stop.”

  Lucinda was looking around now. She was getting embarrassed.

  “Stop it,” Lucinda said. “We can talk about this. But keep your voice down. This is private.”

  I spoke louder. “What’s private? We are done. What part of this can you not get? There is no more us. We are not together anymore. I don’t want to be with you. Does this register?”

  I was being a jerk, and I knew it. But I was at the end of my rope with this woman. I hoped that maybe shame might get her to realize that she wasn’t going to annoy me or strong arm me into anything. She was a spoiled, rich girl and she was used to getting her way about everything. Well, it wasn’t going to work this time. I was over her. It was a bad idea for us ever to be together. I had moved on; she’d better do the same.

  Lucinda glared at me. I saw fire and hatred in her eyes. It was kind of amusing. I had finally pushed her buttons, and they were pushed well.

  “You bastard,” Lucinda said. And with that she slapped me hard across the face.

  I didn’t flinch. I didn’t respond at all. Instead I just stood there looking into her eyes.

  Lucinda shook her head. “You are going to be so sorry,” she said under her breath. “Mark my words.”

  She walked away ignoring the people who were now watching this unfold with thei
r mouths open. I didn’t see anyone with a camera, but it might have been on film. Damn. I hoped not. It would just give the coach something else to ream me out about.

  I went back into the locker room.

  “Hey, man. Are you going to Bobby’s party?” Raymond Gillis asked me.

  “Um… sure. I might stop by.”

  “Cool, it’s going to be off the chain!”

  Raymond and a few of the other guys headed out of the locker room and waved to me. They were right; it would be a fun party. Bobby’s place was always out of control. It was certified party central for the college, especially when it came to the athletes.

  The locker room was pretty much cleared out now. I’d wasted a few minutes with Lucinda. I didn’t feel much like partying, but I was going to try to make it to Bobby’s. It might do me good to have some friends around me. I hadn’t been sleeping well and I just wanted to curl up somewhere and take a big nap. But I needed to stay connected to people.

  I stepped into the shower and let the warm water take me away. My head kept going to thoughts of Lucinda though. I wished I’d handled that better. It was a jerk move on my part, but what else was I supposed to do? The woman was making my life miserable. She was always around and always trying to make me feel guilty for not being with her. I was not her boyfriend. I was over it.

  Maybe now she would leave me alone.

  But what if it didn’t? Hell, what if it made things worse somehow…

  That was a frightening thought.

  Suddenly, I heard something behind me. It sounded like a gasp or a moan.