Touchdown Baby: A College Football Romantic Comedy

by Tabatha Kiss

  “She’ll take one,” Junior says, looking smug.

  Frank pulls the bear off the wall and hands it to me. “For the lucky lady.”

  I chuckle and squeeze it in my hands. The fur is light brown and incredibly soft, far higher in quality than I would have expected at a place like this. It might just make a decent pillow or cuddle companion. “Thank you,” I say.

  Frank nods and excuses himself to go help another customer nearby.

  “Do you like it?” Junior asks.

  I shrug and hug it against my chest. “It’s not bad, but I bet every girl you bring here leaves with a teddy bear.”

  “Them? No.” He points through the glass countertop at the cheap prizes on display. “They get pencil erasers and friendship bracelets.”

  “Oof!” I chuckle. “Harsh. Something tells me second dates aren’t that common for the great Junior Morgan.”

  “How’d you guess?” he jokes. “Actually, first dates aren’t that common, either.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugs. “Most girls aren’t worth the trouble.”

  I recognize the obvious line, but I play into it, anyway. “So I’m worth the trouble?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  His eyes go softer as he leans closer, licking his lips and gazing down at me. “I just know.”

  I hold back the scoff.

  Junior squeezes the ear on the teddy bear with playful fingers. “Wanna get out of here?”

  A shiver rolls down my spine. I hesitate as it reaches my core and stays there.

  Yes. Emphatically, yes, I do want to get out of here, but I don’t want to tell him that. I don’t want to tell him that rolling a damn ball down a lane toward plastic holes was the most fun I’ve had in forever, or that just looking into his eyes makes me want to bend over for him.

  He’s a player, and he’s not just playing football. Everything he’s done tonight has been designed for one thing and one thing only.

  I can’t exactly let him get away with it, can I?

  “Sure,” I say, smiling softly. “Let’s get out of here.”

  CHAPTER 9

  JUNIOR

  As I drive Alyssa back to campus, I have trouble keeping my eyes on the road.

  She’s just so… stunning.

  I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the way her blue eyes sparkle beneath the street lamps as they pass over us or how her hair shines like gold if you look at it just right. It could even be the adorable way she clutches that teddy bear — as if it’s the first one she’s ever owned.

  “Can you drop me off at my car?” she asks, breaking the long silence. “I’m parked in E lot. Near the quad.”

  I navigate through the center of campus, avoiding groups of jaywalkers shuffling across the streets. E lot is the largest lot on campus, meaning there will be plenty of witnesses around, which doesn’t bode well for me getting Alyssa into the back seat. But that won’t stop me from trying.

  Perhaps Alyssa Pierce has a bit of a voyeuristic streak in her.

  Fingers crossed.

  Alyssa points out the window ahead. “The blue car,” she says.

  I spot it at the back of the lot, surrounded by nothing but empty spaces. Excellent.

  I park. I turn off the engine, but I keep the internal lights running. When I look toward her, I find her already turned in her seat to face me. Her eyes shine with nervous excitement.

  I feel it, too.

  “This was fun,” Alyssa says. “Thanks, Junior.”

  “Yeah, it was.” I nod. “I’d be up for doing it again sometime, if you are.”

  Her face falls but her lips curl, an obvious yes. “Maybe,” she says instead. As she glances up again, her eyes twitch once toward the back seat.

  She wants it.

  “You know, it’s still early…” I hint. “How about we sit in the back and talk for a while?”

  “Right.” She snorts. “Talk.”

  “Talk.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “You, obviously.”

  “Not you?” she asks.

  “I’m not nearly as interesting.”

  “And I’m not as interesting as you think, either.”

  “Fine, we won’t talk,” I say, taking the risk. “How about we sit in the back and stare at each other until we get bored?”

  Alyssa bites her bottom lip, showing some sweet hesitation. Her dimples. Her pointed chin. Her thick eyelashes and colorful irises. Truthfully, I could stare at her all night and never get bored.

  She’s gorgeous.

  Her voice quivers. “All right,” she says.

  Ladies first. I sit still and watch her go, shifting from her seat into the back, leaving the teddy bear behind. I follow behind her, settling onto the pillows beside her as she gazes around.

  Alyssa chuckles. “Wow.”

  “What?” I ask.

  She bounces on a pillow. She taps the soft floor. “Okay, this is more comfortable than I thought it’d be.”

  “Of course.” I laugh. “The ladies get only the best out of me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well, what else you got for me, just Junior?”

  She really fucking wants it.

  “Come here and I’ll show you,” I whisper.

  Alyssa doesn’t move at first. Her gaze gently scans mine for a few moments before she finally shifts closer. She takes a few trembling breaths, her chest rising and falling. She presses her lips together, wetting them.

  I’ve got her.

  She’s mine.

  I reach out with one hand, wondering how she’ll react. I touch her face, softly crawling my fingers up her cheek, burying them behind her ear. She inhales sharply through her mouth, and I tremble at the brief sight of just half an inch of her pink tongue hidden inside.

  I take it slow. As badly as I want to crush our mouths together, I wait. I prolong. I suffer. I brush my lips against the edge of her cheek, tempting her to steal a kiss first.

  They always do.

  Warm breath passes between us. Any second now, she’ll cave. She’ll kiss me. Only then will I kiss her back. Then, she’ll be—

  Her hand touches my hip, firm and forceful. I flinch in surprise, her fingers mere inches away from my groin. Heat bleeds from her, spreading through my thigh like a chemical burn and I— no.

  Don’t kiss her.

  It’s hard. So very hard, but I fight the urge to give in. Alyssa’s playing her own game here, that much is certain. But I’m no amateur.

  And I have home field advantage.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  A smile twists her mouth. “You say that to all of us, don’t you?” she asks.

  “I mean it.” I really do. “I could get lost in you, Ally.”

  She blinks once, the doubt in her bright eyes shifting slightly in my favor. She’s seen the effect she has on me already. I didn’t get sacked at practice on purpose, for instance. She knows how dangerous she can be. How dangerous we can be together.

  But I get the feeling she doesn’t care about that, either.

  Alyssa kisses me first. Her lips find mine in the dark. I feel them part for mine. I taste her sweet tongue emerging. I pull her closer, unable to hold back any longer. A moan passes over her breath as a deeper kiss takes over both of us.

  God-fucking-dammit.

  It’s better than I thought it’d be.

  It’s so much… more.

  There’s no moment of awkward pause or hesitation. From the first breath, there’s only passion and lust. Her lips, firm yet pliable. Her breath, quick yet deep. Her touch, finding its way closer to my belt.

  I shudder. I smile, unable to help it. I risk everything all over again, reaching beneath her sweater to cup her breast. She sighs, her hand coming to rest on mine, urging me to squeeze harder as she rolls her head back. My lips naturally fall to her neck. My mouth waters, blissfully intoxicated.

  Alyssa
shifts even closer to me, sliding her knee up to my side, fitting us together. My erection presses between her warm thighs. She grinds herself against it, and I let out an insatiable groan. I wrap an arm around her, resting my hand along the small of her back to pull her even closer. She quivers and shakes in my arms, her lips never leaving mine for more than a second.

  “Junior.” Her voice, so small. She tugs at my belt. “Do you have a condom?”

  Jackpot.

  “Yeah,” I answer, kissing her even harder.

  Alyssa pushes my jacket back over my shoulders. I let it slide off, tossing it away as she grabs my shirt. She eagerly pulls it over my head to get rid of it, her eyes laser-focusing on my Delta Xi tattoo as she exposes it.

  Hell yeah.

  I move to undress her, but she guides me down and straddles me, holding me down with both strong hands on my bare chest. She towers over me, grinding and leaning down to kiss my neck.

  I sigh, relaxing against the mattress. If Alyssa Pierce wants to dominate me for a while, who am I to resist? She travels down my chest, peeking up at me with those perfect eyes, licking her lips as she tugs at my jeans. Laughter strikes me down as happy visions of her head bobbing fill my head.

  “Damn, girl.” I chuckle, eagerly kicking off my shoes.

  Alyssa pulls my jeans down, sliding them all the way to my ankles, hooking my boxers, too.

  “Close your eyes,” she says, her voice full of lust.

  Aw, she’s shy. That’s all right.

  I close my eyes, completely naked, as she moves over me. Her lips crash down on mine and I cup her ass. She wiggles free, sliding downward. I wait patiently, jonesing for the moment when her warm kisses grace my throbbing—

  The van door slides open. My heart stops.

  “What—”

  Alyssa yanks the blanket out from under me.

  “Wait—!”

  I lunge for her, but she easily slips free and steps outside into the lot… along with the rest of my clothes.

  “What the hell, Ally?”

  “What kind of girl do you think I am?!”

  She lurches backward, baiting me to follow her outside. I stay back in the van instead, struggling to process the situation with all of my blood still throbbing through my dick.

  “I… don’t understand the question,” I say.

  “Did you think I was easy?” she asks, shouting. “That I’d get down on my knees after a little bit of Skee-ball? That I’d suddenly forget how much of a narcissistic, ego-maniacal jackass you are?”

  She takes several steps toward the… very crowded quad.

  “Ally, what are you doing?” I ask.

  “Something I’m honestly surprised no one on has ever done to you before, just Junior.”

  “Give me back my clothes!”

  “Come and get ‘em!”

  “Yeah, no. Whatever. I don’t need them.” I smirk. “I’ll just drive home naked.”

  Alyssa raises her hand… and jingles my keys.

  I spin around, glancing back to confirm that my keys are still in the ignition where I left them.

  They’re gone.

  She took them. When the fuck did she do that? That’s… impressive, if not infuriating.

  “Ally, come back,” I say.

  She pretends to consider it. “Nope.”

  “Alyssa.”

  “Junior.”

  “Ally!” I gesture to the blue sedan beside me. “You’re just going to leave your car here?”

  She twists back around to grin at me. “That’s not my car.” She tosses her hood up. “Goodnight, Junior Morgan.”

  My chest sinks as she leaves me with nothing to cover myself with other than a few crappy pillows.

  Well, shit.

  Alyssa reaches the center of the quad and drops my clothes on the ground, along with the blanket and my car keys. She abandons them, drawing a few odd looks from Northies scattered about on the brightly lit grass.

  I heave a sigh and grab the nearest pillow before stepping outside the van.

  I underestimated Alyssa Pierce. I’ve never been above admitting when I’m wrong. It doesn’t happen often, but I know when to bite that bullet. Tonight is definitely one of those times.

  You got me, Ally.

  The giggles start before I even reach the grass. Fingers point, girls cackle, and guys whistle at me. I throw on my sincerest grin, owning every step of my magnificent failure before bending over to retrieve my things.

  “Lookin’ good, Morgan!”

  “Thanks!” I say.

  I guess that’s it. It was fun while it lasted, and I mean that. Unfortunately, this little date with Alyssa was the most fun I’ve had with a girl in a long time, but in the end, she’s right.

  I am a jackass.

  CHAPTER 10

  JUNIOR

  I park the van in the driveway of my house on the corner of Shanice Street, or Shanty Row, as it’s affectionately known by Chicago North students. It’s not the nicest neighborhood in town, but it has been home to me and Ty since we moved out of the Alpha Delta Xi house. The rent is cheap, the parties are legendary, and no one would look twice at the dejected quarterback licking his wounds from the driver’s seat of a converted sex machine.

  Walk it off, jackass.

  I force myself to get out of the van, putting one foot in front of the other and shaking this feeling out of my gut.

  I feel… wrong.

  Off.

  Twisted in a way I’ve never felt before.

  I think I really liked her.

  Oh, well.

  I fish into my pocket for my house keys, but the door opens wide before I reach it.

  Ty pokes his head out and cocks it to the side. “Welcome home,” he says, his mouth raised with a smirk.

  “Hey,” I mutter, not wanting to say anything more.

  Ty blocks my way inside. “Date over already?”

  I release a grunt as I step forward, an obvious sign for him to get out of my way.

  He doesn’t budge.

  “It’s early,” he says.

  “Yeah.”

  “And you’re alone.”

  I exhale hard. “Yeah.”

  Ty squints. “Wanna talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then, do you want to talk about this?”

  He holds up his phone, and I stop cold. It’s a video of me strolling through the quad with nothing but a pillow to cover myself with, surrounded by laughter and… other phones. The entire spectacle was most likely caught by every angle possible.

  Fuck.

  “The date didn’t go as planned,” I say.

  Ty snorts. “You think?”

  He lets me pass. I walk into the house and he follows, but he keeps a respectable distance behind me as I charge through the living room toward the hallway.

  I turn right, entering my bedroom.

  “So, who was the girl?” he asks.

  “Some townie,” I lie through my teeth.

  “Named?”

  “Already forgot.” I glance back, realizing that one of those cameras may have caught Alyssa. My stomach clenches. “You couldn’t see her on the video?”

  “Nah. She’s in the background, but her hood is up,” Ty answers, swiping through the footage again and chuckling. “Seems hot, though.”

  I look away from the sounds of laughter and applause blasting through his phone’s speakers.

  Looking good, Morgan!

  “Whatever.” I clear my throat. “All over with now.”

  Ty pockets his phone, reading the room. “So, I was just on my way out, but I can cancel. You wanna hang?”

  “No,” I say, waving a hand. “You go.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. One of us should get some tonight.”

  He nods in agreement. “All right, then.” He steps back from my doorway, then pauses with a gesture toward my hand. “Hey, what’s that about?”

  I look down. The teddy bear I won Alyssa at the a
rcade rests in my palm, clenched in my fingers. I must have brought it inside with me. Don’t remember doing that.

  “Nothing,” I say, tossing it into the bin next to my desk. “It’s just trash.”

  Ty doesn’t reply to that. He nods and steps back into the hall. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Yeah. Have fun, bud.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  He disappears from the doorway, his stride creaking the old floor on his path to the door. It opens and closes. A few moments later, I hear his car start on the street outside my window.

  I sit still, listening and waiting for… nothing at all.

  I glance at the bear in my trash can. I let the night replay once again in my mind. Picking her up in the auditorium. Walking with her across campus. The arcade. Kissing her. Kissing her some more. Then… nothing at all.

  That’s what I’ll get if I dwell on this any longer. Nothing.

  I give myself one more minute, and then I’m over it.

  I am over Alyssa Pierce.

  I frown at that damn teddy bear again.

  Totally over her.

  CHAPTER 11

  JUNIOR

  I wake up early to hit the gym at the athletic center on campus. My sleep was fairly restless, but a cold shower and a stiff drink knocked me out for a few hours. A quick run on the treadmill should dislodge that deep frustration in my gut for a while — at least long enough for me to forget Alyssa Pierce ever existed.

  The gym is deserted, as it usually is this early in the morning. I push my earbuds in and crank some music, setting a fast pace on the treadmill before hopping on the belt and leaving my troubles behind.

  After a few minutes of forgetting Alyssa Pierce, I feel someone step onto the treadmill next to mine. I give a quick glance over from the corner of my eye and… dammit.

  It’s Alyssa Pierce.

  I yank my buds out. “What are you doing here?” I ask, nearly stumbling.

  She reaches behind her and grips her ankle, pulling it back to give her thighs a deep stretch. “This gym is nicer than the one at the rec center,” she says.

  “This gym is for athletes only.”

  “And my father is the football coach.” She shrugs, stretching her other leg. “I asked if I could work out here instead and he said yes.”