Playing to Win: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by Romi Hart

  “It’s no problem. Enjoy.” Phil vigorously waved goodbye. “Good luck with the girl.”

  Glancing at my iPhone, I saw that I had twenty minutes to get back to the Food Science building to meet Jasmine. I ran across campus again in anticipation. After Jose Fontaine came out that night to tell me Jasmine was too busy for dating, I was sure I’d never see her again, especially after seeing the look on Fontaine’s face. I could tell he was trying to keep it together, but his anger of me asking his daughter out was palpable.

  I kind of understood where Jose was coming from. My father was protective of my two little sisters, Trista and Carmen, but they were still in high school. I wondered if my dad would continue his iron grip over their whereabouts and activities when they were no longer teens.

  With five minutes to spare, I made it back to the Food Science building. Out of breath and dripping with sweat, I sat on a concrete bench, trying to look as relaxed and casual as possible.

  When Jasmine came out, I jumped up to greet her. “How was class?”

  “It was wonderful.” Her green eyes shone with enthusiasm. “Introductory to Food Science. I’m so excited for this semester. I already love all my classes.”

  “I thought we’d have lunch in front of Liberty Pond.” Gingerly, not trying to freak her out about it, I took her hand in mine, leading her to the pond. She did notice though, and I caught her looking at our clasped hands with a quick glance, but she didn't protest which I thought was a good sign. "It's right next to the Reitz Union, not too far from here, so you won't be late to your next class."

  Jasmine smiled as she cocked her head, coyly. “Ok. That sounds fun.” Her hand in mine had me walking on air. Girls usually didn’t affect me so much. It was all new to me, but a great kind of new. A new I wanted to fully experience. If she’d let me.

  We sat down on a grass step in front of Liberty Pond. She sat upwind from me, the cool breeze moved her sweet scent through the air, finding my nose. I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, pulling her essence into my lungs, my body.

  If I had thought for even half a second that she’d let me kiss her, I would’ve done it right then and there. The same way I had done with dozens of girls. But I wasn’t about to try to move too fast with Jasmine. I could tell there was something so innocent about her. If I moved too fast, I’d scare her off before I even got to know her, and I desperately wanted to get to know her.

  So unlike my usual approach to the female gender.

  I put my old ways to the side, deciding to go with humor. She seemed like she’d fall for humor rather than my usual seducing ways.

  I handed her a mineral water and held out the turkey and Cubano sandwich. “I had to run halfway across the world to get these. I have a turkey and brie on a toasted baguette and a Cubano on a Cubano roll? First pick is yours, my lady.”

  “I’d love the Cubano please.” The way her dark eyes twinkled made it hard for me not to grab her, toss her onto her back and kiss the ever loving shit out her. But I was going for a bit more than a roll in the hay with this one. I gave her the sandwich she asked for. “Is this from Phil’s?” She peeled back the wrapper, giving the Cubano a good look.

  Mimicking the man, I heaved a fist in the air, Phil’s signature move. “Ya!”

  Her laugh rippled on the breeze. It was sweet, charming, and it very inappropriately made my cock thump. “Phil is such a sweetie. I love his sandwiches.” She took a dainty little bite then moaned as she chewed it. “I love this, Alex. Thank you so much. You’ve made my first day something to really remember and cherish.”

  “Awe, it’s nothing, really.” I felt a little rush of excitement that I’d made her day simply by bringing her lunch. “You know Phil?”

  Jasmine shrugged. “Well, yeah. Everyone in the food biz knows my father, you know? Especially after that Netflix documentary. Like, literally, everyone knows my father.”

  Just then, Dr. Dupree walked her way up the grass steps. “Alex!” She waved, smiling at me. Looking at Jasmine, she stooped to hug her. Jasmine jumped up to hug her back. “Jasmine! It’s good to see you!”

  “Hi, Rebecca.” Jasmine hugged her. “Good to see you too!”

  “How is your father?” Rebecca jokingly elbowed her in the ribs. “Still ornery?”

  Jasmine was all smiles. “Of course!”

  She was Rebecca to Jasmine, but she’d always be Dr. Dupree to me. She turned her attention to me. “Alex, I just read your lab report on your bugs. It looks like they’re coming along spectacularly. Keep up the good work. You have the meticulousness and patience of a scientist. You should consider a career in academic research.” She paused as if just remembering that I already had a career in mind. “If you ever decide not to pursue soccer professionally that is.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Dupree. I love working in your lab. And it does help me pay the bills.” Even bad boy jocks have bills to pay. But I doubted most of my conquests knew I was a lover of bugs.

  Dr. Dupree stepped back to look at us both with a sly grin on her face. I knew she had to be wondering what we were doing together. We couldn’t have been more opposite. “I’ll leave you two to lunch.” She gave us a wave as she climbed up the grass stairs, leaving us alone once more.

  The disgusted look on Jasmine’s face had me laughing. “Bugs?”

  “A man has to make money, girl.” I shrugged. “I work for Dr. Dupree in her lab, studying how diet impacts female mate choice in leaf-footed cactus bugs.” I took a sip of my mineral water to let her digest that little tidbit about me.

  She nodded as she contemplated what I’d said. “Wow. I never considered diet having any impact on mate choice.” She took another bite of her Cubano, looking genuinely interested in my research work.

  With that interested look on her pretty face, I decided to go on, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Leaf-footed cactus bugs feed on the prickly pear cactus all year long, but the bugs eat different parts of the cactus depending on the season.”

  Jasmine nodded her head while chewing, encouraging me to keep talking about my bugs. “Go on Alex. This isn’t something I’ve ever thought about. But I have to say I find it interesting. You’re a lot deeper than I first gave you credit for.”

  And with that compliment, I went on, “In the spring, the cactus bugs eat the cactus flowers, by June they’re eating on the green fruit, and by Fall, the bugs feast on high quality ripened green fruit. What we’re trying to answer is: are the females choosing their mates based on the mate’s quality, you know like body or leg size, or the quality of the cactus the males are feeding on?”

  Her smile told me she was impressed with my brain. Not a thing I often showed girls. “That’s fascinating. Food and mate choice. Who would have thought?”

  “Exactly, right? So when you talk about food science. I’m sort of studying the same thing in a way. Dr. Dupree believes that not only should we study the bug, but we should study what the bug is eating and how that food source affects behavior.” I pulled out a mini cheese board and offered it to Jasmine.

  She grabbed a Camembert piece. “That’s so cool. I can’t believe you’re doing research as an undergrad.”

  “I really enjoy Biology.” I popped a piece of Drunken Goat cheese into my mouth. “You could just as easily get an undergrad research position too. Especially, with your knowledge of food products and preservation.”

  Jasmine’s face dimmed. “I just wouldn’t have the time. I’m working at my dad’s restaurant every moment I’m not in classes.” Her gloom only lasted momentarily. “Anyway, I’m just glad I’m here!” She glanced at her watch. “Shoot. I’ve got 8 minutes to get to Biochem.” Hurriedly, she stood, gathering her sandwich wrapper and tossing it into a nearby trash can.

  I scrambled to my feet, chucking my lunch trash too. “I’ll walk you.” I took her hand. “So you know, you don’t get lost on the way. I’d hate myself if I heard they had to put a search party out for you if I left you on your own.”

  Jasmine gig
gled, stopping me from my rambling. “I’d love for you to walk me back.”

  We walked back to the Food Science building. It loomed ahead of us, and I hated our first date was over. Not that either of us called it that, but that is what it was.

  We stopped, our joined hands swinging only slightly between us as she turned to me with a bright smile on her sweet face. “Thank you so much for lunch.”

  Pulling her hand out of mine, I already missed her. She began to walk away when I suddenly remembered I had forgotten something very important. “Can I have your number?”

  She walked back to me with a gigantic smile on her face. “I thought you’d never ask.” We exchanged our phones to type each other’s contact info into them then giddily swapped them back.

  Jasmine briskly walked away, calling over her shoulder, “It was the perfect picnic, Alex. Thank you.”

  I watched as she entered the building, already dreaming about when the next time I would see her again. Jasmine was drop-dead gorgeous, grounded, and mature. Someone that I could talk to, even about my bugs. Against everything I had learned about dating, I immediately texted her, -Hi again. Have a good rest of the day… Alex.-

  I figured she was already settling into class and had powered her phone off, but I couldn’t help but text her right away. I couldn’t wait to talk to her again. So not like me.

  As I walked away, I got a text from Jasmine, -You, too. Jasmine :)- I floated the rest of the way to Dr. Dupree’s lab, excited to tell my bugs about our first date.

  5

  Jasmine

  A week had passed since our first fantastic lunch date. To my delight, Alex had taken me to lunch every single day. Surprising me, he always had something new and exciting to show me on campus.

  When Friday rolled around, I was dying to see him. First, I was excited to see what new adventure he planned to take me on. Secondly, and more importantly, I hoped Friday we would finally kiss. We hadn’t kissed yet. We’d held hands and hugged. But no kisses.

  Tuesday, Alex took me to McGuire Hall to the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit. We wandered around the lush simulated rainforest landscape. We sat on one of the benches eating our sandwiches from Phil’s as the butterflies flitted around us. Alex named all the butterflies we saw: Scarlet Peacock, Gold-banded Forester, Emerald Swallowtail. So many butterflies that I didn’t even know existed, but Alex knew the names of all of them.

  It was magical, the perfect moment for a first kiss. Just when he leaned in to kiss me, a class of preschoolers trundled by. A few of the little kids knew Alex and screamed, “Coach Alex! Coach Alex!”

  Alex walked over to the kids and talked with them. He pointed out the nearby butterflies to the wide-eyed kids. Watching Alex with kids was incredibly adorable. It made him even more gorgeous than I thought he was if that was even possible.

  When the kids’ teacher led them away down the path, Alex sat back down on the bench, smiling. “Who are those kids?”

  With a crooked grin, he shoved his hand through his dark hair. “I coach soccer to some kids in town.”

  Omigod. Can Alex get any dreamier?

  For lunch on Wednesday, we went to the Asian Rock Garden in the Harn Museum on campus. The garden had a footbridge and trickling waterfall. Alex pointed out to me that the garden served as a backdrop for the art in the central gallery, emphasizing the interaction of art and nature. It was a perfect romantic place for our first kiss: art mixed with a nature landscape.

  As we walked across the footbridge, we stopped to look at the waterfall. Gripping the wooden railing, I turned my head to look up at Alex. He bent down toward me. I screamed inside: This is it! This is it!

  My internal screaming threw me off my balance. I shifted on to my tiptoes to try to reach his face, but the toe of my right shoe inadvertently got stuck in between the wooden slats of the footbridge. Luckily, as I tumbled to my right, Alex grabbed me, saving me from a dip into the lovely water exhibit.

  “Whoa there!” His strong hands wrapped around my waist.

  The hilarity of the entire situation made me laugh. I felt like I was a complete dork in front of Alex, but he still wanted to hang out with me. I started giggling hysterically. “If you weren’t here, I’d have to go to class all day in sopping clothes! I’m such a klutz!”

  Chuckling, Alex said, “No. Don’t be embarrassed. You kinda did this pirouette thing.” He put his index finger on his head and extended his other arm while spinning around; his mimic of a ballerina. “Looked professional. You study ballet or something?”

  We laughed for a good ten minutes at my clumsiness, but we didn’t kiss.

  On Thursday, we headed to the Plaza of Americas for Krishna Lunch. “For the last thirty years, the Krishna House has served all you can eat vegetarian meals on the UF campus. It’s a Gator tradition. I had to take you,” Alex said as we waited in line.

  Alex and I ate basmati rice, spinach and veggies in cream sauce, and halava with hundreds of other students sitting in the grass. As the daughter of Jose Fontaine, I rarely ate vegetarian meals, but this lunch was absolutely delicious.

  Out in the grass with so many other students, I began to feel part of the university community. It was a wonderful feeling. This was what the college experience was all about, but surrounded by so many students; it wasn’t a great place to smooch.

  I was glad Alex hadn’t tried to kiss me in front of so many people. My kissing experience was next to nil. I hoped that Friday he would take me somewhere with a tiny bit more privacy so we could finally kiss. All I could think about all week were his soft-looking lips and how they would feel on mine. I’d been religiously moisturizing every night with Burt’s Bees lip balm, readying myself for our momentous first kiss.

  After class, Alex was where he usually was on the concrete benches, smiling. I wanted to run up to him and kiss him right there, but I was much too shy to do anything that bold.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” I said, as I walked up to him.

  “I just like hanging out right here on this bench. I get the best view of the prettiest girl in UF getting out of class.” He gave me that heart-melting smile.

  I covered my face with my hands, giggling like a school girl. When Alex said things like that, it made me feel embarrassed and flattered at the same time. Whenever I had mixed emotions like that, the only thing I knew to do was laugh.

  He gently grabbed my hands and brought them down from my face. Amused, Alex looked intently into my face. I thought: This is it. He is going to kiss me! His face was inches away.

  I moved my face closer to his anticipating his lips to meet mine, but then I lost my nerve. I backed up, playing it off with another laugh. He chuckled and said, “We’ve got to get a move on, or we’ll never make it in time.”

  He held onto my hand leading the way. “I thought we’d go to Lake Alice today. Have a picnic lunch on the shore?” Looking at me, he asked, “It’s a little bit of a walk. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great,” I answered. Anywhere with Alex was amazing.

  As we walked, he squeezed my hand. “Lake Alice is kind of quiet this time of day. Shouldn’t be a lot of people around. Is that okay?”

  Yes! Of course, that’s okay!

  Not wanting him to know I was over the moon with the idea, I acted casual. “That should be cool.”

  Alex beamed. “Def cool. It will probably just be us… and the gators.”

  “Gators?” I questioned uneasily. Was he joking?

  “Yeah, but they’re harmless. I’ve done fieldwork on Lake Alice tons of times. The gators on campus are puppies.”

  I squeezed his hand as we walked. “Big green puppies with gigantic teeth and strong chomping jaws.”

  Alex laughed, putting an arm around me. “I’ll protect you from the big green puppies.”

  I laughed, loving the way his arm felt around me. We walked the entire way to Lake Alice like that. It felt so good to be so close to him.

  When we got to Lake Alice, Alex was right. We were the onl
y people there that I could see. He laid out an orange and checkered blanket on the shoreline. We sat on the blanket looking out onto the lake. Alex pulled out our sandwiches from Phil’s and our mineral waters. We were both creatures of habit it seemed.

  Normally, I would inhale a sandwich from Phil’s, but I was nervous about Alex kissing me with my sandwich breath. He handed me my Cubano, but I set it aside. Alex must have had the same thing on his mind. He put his sandwich to the side untouched too.

  He took my hand in his as he swept his other hand over the lake’s view. “This is one of my favorite places on campus. UF wanted to turn where we’re sitting right now into luxury student housing.”

  “Really?” I answered looking around. That would have been a shame. Lake Alice was so peaceful and beautiful.

  Alex nodded. “Yeah. There were eleven years of organized student protest against the development.” He grinned. “That’s what I love about it out here. People saw the beauty in it and fought to keep it just the way it is.”

  An adorable softshell turtle bobbed along in the water. “Thank you for bringing me here.” I paused, thinking over the entire week. “Actually, thank you for a whole week of fun lunch dates.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ve had a wonderful first week of school. All because of you,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  Blushing, I looked down at my lap. His fingers touched my chin, lifting my face up to his. Closing my eyes, I finally felt his lips on mine. They were just as soft as I had imagined they would be. He gently kissed me. His tongue caressed mine tenderly. It was gentle and sweet, and absolutely perfect.

  When our mouths parted, he looked into my eyes with a dreamy expression on his handsome face. “Our first kiss was out here on Lake Alice. Perfect. I’ve got a new reason to love this lake.”

  “I’ve only been kissed one other time before,” I confessed.

  “Really?” He leaned in to kiss me again. Our tongues swirled around together as I ran my arms around him. “I would have never known. You’re a great kisser. Who was the guy? Someone I should be worried about?” Alex joked.