Quarterback Blitz

by Frances Stockton

  Half an hour later, she was drying her hair. Kyran knocked on her bathroom door.

  “Hey, Anna, where should I have your car towed?”

  “Team practice is at the school,” she answered. “Remember the name of it?”

  “Sure do,” he said, footsteps walking away.

  When she was done, makeup in place, wearing workout pants and a tee shirt with her school’s name and logo, she went to find Kyran. He was waiting in the family room, flipping through TV channels.

  “Sorry my TV isn’t as nice as yours,” she said.

  “It’s fine. Ready?” He was distracted, probably because they needed to get moving. It was going on ten o’clock. Practice was at noon, but she’d like to get to school, talk to the coaches and the boys.

  Anna had an extra gym bag she used for school. It was already packed with what she’d need for the day.

  “Wait, I need one thing.” She hustled to the kitchen, plucking a bottle of water from the fridge. She stuck the bottle in her bag and they were on their way back to his SUV.

  The drive took all of ten minutes. She had him drive around to the gymnasium and team locker rooms. A few cars were in the lot, looked like Manny Sullivan’s, head coach, and Brian Givens, defensive coach. Anna made sure the offense knew the playbook cover to cover, implemented it during the game.

  Frankly, she thought she was a good coach. She hoped to be made the head coach when Manny retired.

  A few more cars came into the lot. Kyran parked. “You need me to come in with you?” he offered.

  “Nah, I can handle it from here.” She grinned at him. “You’ll call me later? I want to know how your meeting goes.”

  “Promise, not sure when,” he said. “Think about where you’d like to go tonight.”

  “A movie would be nice.”

  “Movie it is, dinner after?”

  “Sure, sounds good.”

  “It’s a date.” He sent her that cat that ate the canary grin. Her pulse lit up, thumping wildly. “Rest up later. I’ve got plans for you.”

  “Same for you,” she teased.

  “Come a little bit closer,” he bid.

  Anna leaned over the console, stretching a bit. She blushed, recalling how she’d leapt over the thing last night. She’d felt like a super hero.

  Kyran caught her chin, keeping her steady for his kiss. “Be good, love,” he said against her lips.

  She kissed him back, slipping her tongue deep into his mouth, letting him know she really did have plans for him later.

  Finally she eased back. “See you tonight.” With that, she grabbed her bag and hopped out.

  He waited until she opened the entrance to the locker rooms. She looked back, waving as he backed up. Inside, the hallway was concrete and cinderblocks, painted blue and yellow. The closer she was to the locker room, the more aware she was of voices in the team offices ahead.

  Manny’s voice carried down the hall, as usual. Feeling like something was wrong, she opened the office door.

  Manny and Brian were there, reading the Alexandria Journal. “Oh my god, you two know,” she said, grimacing as Manny chucked the paper to his desk.

  “Care to explain?” he asked.

  “That’s my business, no one else’s.”

  “Listen, Anna, we’re not faulting you for having a love life. But did you have to make the front page?” Manny punched his finger on the photo. It looked seedier than it really was, solidifying Brenda Jamison’s intent.

  “Look, guys, this will blow over.”

  “Are you dating Kyran Black?” Brian chimed in.

  “Um, yes, as a matter of fact.”

  “Strange, yesterday you were going out with some friends for your birthday. When did you start dating this guy?”

  “Brian, you knew about the mascot gig. I met Kyran a few months ago, just before the Griffins last game. We hit it off. He’s a good man, Manny.”

  “Good enough to protect you come Monday morning?”

  “Protect me from what?”

  “A Board of Ed meeting,” Manny said. “Superintendent wants you to explain your actions.”

  “I’m not a teenager. I can have relationships with anyone I want.”

  “Under normal circumstances, that’d be true. Today you’re front page news. It’s already brought reporters to the school.”

  “No way,” she gasped.

  “Security ran them off. And I’ve been fielding calls for you. They want to interview ‘The Cougar’ who snared ‘The Rebel’.”

  “Not going to happen,” she said, channeling Kyran. “If the board wants to talk to me, so be it.”

  “Until then, go home,” Brian said.

  “Practice starts at noon. Besides, I’m stuck here ’til my car arrives.”

  “No practice for you,” Manny decided. “If the players see this picture of you two, they’re going to ask questions. And they may not see you as their coach anymore.”

  “I’m a good coach. This is wrong. Those boys see far worse on TV these days than that.”

  “You’re an excellent coach,” he amended. “But I still can’t let you work today.”

  “Can I stay here in the office for a while? I’d like to make some calls.” It was unfair of the board to require her to explain herself as if she were a kid caught shoplifting. She wondered if they’d ask the same of Manny or Brian if they were caught with their pants down.

  Her pants, or in this case her griffin costume, was down. Kyran had shoved the thing to her feet. Her back looked bare because of her flesh-colored leotard, they were clenched together. He’d been about to tear it, she recalled. Uncertain now when he’d actually done so, she was glad that the sound at the door slowed them down for a bit. Good thing Brenda hadn’t gotten a shot of what happened after her shower.

  Anna remembered the way Kyran’s cock had pushed between her thighs, catching her clit. He’d made her so wet she’d dampened the leotard. She got wet now thinking about it.

  “Take all the time you need, Anna.” Manny stood up, folding the paper and sticking it in his desk.

  “You guys think the players saw that photo? I mean, really, that paper is the Journal. It’s not a Baltimore press.”

  “This was sent to me here by an overnight courier. Article claims the Cougar, a forty-year-old physical education teacher and football coach for Baltimore County, snagged veteran Griffins quarterback Kyran ‘The Rebel’ Black. Someone did some checking, found out where you work.”

  “I read the front page. Brenda Jamison, she’s the reporter who wrote that trash, claimed to have a source within the Griffins, from the stadium. Someone there gave her the means to take that photo and verify her sources for the article.”

  “She also managed to get this here at the crack of dawn,” Brian warned. “You might want a lawyer to talk to her.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “This isn’t right. Kyran and I have a right to date.”

  “Normally, I’d agree with you.” Manny walked up, tapped her on the shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I did talk to the superintendant before you arrived. I told him you were a fine coach and teacher.”

  “Ha, isn’t it ironic that a member of the school board is my ex?” Anna laughed bitterly.

  Until Kyran, she never told anyone about finding Will with his grad student. She’d thought she was the reason he’d cheated, had been embarrassed. He was a political science professor at a local college and joined the school board before they’d broken their engagement. He was still on the board as a silent way of getting back at her for giving back his ring.

  “Maybe he’ll come to bat for you,” Brian suggested.

  “I doubt it.” Anna didn’t want Will’s help. Fact was, she’d have to see him and the board Monday. She’d deal with him then.

  Right now, she had a piranha to catch and stop. The men left her to make some calls. She had no idea how long she worked, but by the time she talked to a lawyer, the locker room was filled with students.


  Manny and Brian kept the boys from the office. From time to time, they looked in, stared, poked at each other. She couldn’t hear their whispers, but knew they were talking about her. The football team knew about the story.

  The day after her first night with Kyran had turned into a freakin’ disaster.

  ———

  Kyran was ready to punch a wall!

  The article in the paper was a catalyst that had him and Alex turning away interviews. If they’d wanted to talk to him, he could have written up a statement repudiating Brenda’s take on his relationship with Anna. He’d admit they were dating, but the rest was not up for speculation or reporting.

  But rag magazine paparazzi wanted to interview Anna to find out how she’d gotten him. Worse, he’d gotten a text from Seville on his cell phone half an hour ago.

  He hadn’t heard from her in months. He’d spent the better part of the summer in California, ten miles from Seville’s trendy Beverly Hills condo. He’d avoided crossing her path and refused her calls when he was in there.

  Here she was, texting him again. With a few easy clicks, he blocked her from contacting him. He couldn’t deal with Seville when Anna needed him more.

  He was falling in love with his school teacher. In one night, they’d made up for the time he’d been in Los Angeles. He’d had to stay there for rehab, but they could have worked out a way to see each other if he’d gotten off his ass and asked her out again.

  Kyran had been wrong about that. He wasn’t going to back out now or make the same mistakes.

  “Kyran, tell me about this picture,” Alex said, breaking into his thoughts.

  “Think it’s obvious, Alex.”

  “Okay, it is. But in the locker room?”

  “Told you, Anna’s one of the team mascots, part time. I’d found out she was working last night’s game and went to find her. We were alone, things got carried away.”

  “This is the woman you’d met late last winter.”

  “Yeah.”

  “The same one who gave you the wrong number,” Alex said.

  “What’s the point?” Kyran didn’t like the questions.

  “You sure she didn’t set you up?” Alex asked.

  “No, fuck no. Anna’s not like that.” He knew Alex had been burned in a relationship when he’d gone to Europe. Since he was a few years older than Phalen or Kyran, he’d graduated before them and suddenly needed to explore the world. But whatever happened to him then, he refused to talk about it. Unfortunately it made him seem distant when he really wasn’t and neither Kyran or Phalen pressed for answers. If he ever offered, they’d listen.

  “You say that with conviction, yet here you are on the front page. How’d it happen that you were in that room and a photo came out this morning?”

  “We heard a click. I was dodging Brenda when I got there, she could have followed me. She followed us halfway home last night, remember?”

  “You really like this one, huh,” Alex stated more than asked.

  “Anna’s amazing.”

  Alex was Kyran’s polar opposite in an Italian business suit, short blond hair and clean-shaven face. When he went in to make a deal or talk to a client, he was always dressed as Alexander Grant, professional from head to toe. Whatever happened when he’d been in Europe had hardened him, but he was a competent, business-savvy agent.

  “So how’d this picture come about? That’s what I want to know,” Alex said.

  “Looks to me like Brenda took it from the door.”

  “You’d mentioned a break-in at the stadium. Maybe she tripped the alarm to catch you two alone. She’s tenacious, I’ll give her that.”

  “Maybe, makes sense. A guard came and got us later, he was a nice guy. Let’s call the stadium and talk to him.”

  “Will do, pronto,” Alex agreed. “How long were you two in there?”

  “Not sure, about an hour or so. Wasn’t thinking about the time,” Kyran said.

  He didn’t say anything about why they’d stayed there. Alex figured it out. “Let’s hope no more photos show up. Until we talk to security, stay low.”

  “And avoid the Journal,” Kyran said. “Find out why they’d print an article like that on the first page.”

  “Already know why,” Alex answered. “Money, always look at the money. The Journal bought out the Sentinel, which is more about gossip, but has a good following online. The Sentinel can be read from anywhere and the Journal wanted more business. I checked and that same photo is headline news on the Sentinel’s home page.”

  “Cancel my subscription to the Journal then. They print shit like that, I’m not reading it.”

  “Done, did the same. Talked to the Griffins’ owner this morning,” Alex continued. “He’s contacted his legal department and is having all ad spots for the team removed from the Alexandria Journal. They’re also checking the Sentinel.”

  “You work fast, Alex.”

  “There is that,” his friend agreed. “Derek Billings likes you enough that he doesn’t want his team to associate with this kind of publicity. No one’s saying the Journal can’t run the stories they choose. Management wants to make a deal with you to get into coaching. I’m still negotiating the contract. Billings doesn’t want that to interfere with this season. He was also concerned about your Ms. James and her role in this whole thing.”

  “This’ll blow over by Monday,” Kyran said. “Anna doesn’t deserve that photo and headline. I wouldn’t have gone after her if I thought for a second she’d set up a story like that.”

  “Anything else I should tell him?”

  “Only that Anna’s a high school teacher and assistant football coach, full time. The mascot gig is for extra savings. I don’t want that article jeopardizing her jobs.”

  “Football coach, nice, not many female coaches these days.”

  “Yeah, she coaches the JV team, ninth and ten graders, offense.”

  “Okay, I like her. She looks real into you there,” Alex said, pointing to the Journal.

  “On the phone earlier, you said there were more pictures. Should we get a legal team to confiscate Brenda’s camera?”

  “First Amendment protects her right to run a story.”

  “First Amendment doesn’t allow her to write something that could lead to trouble or danger to Anna. You can’t just walk into a crowded room and shout ‘Fire’ as an intentional false alarm and start a stampede.”

  “That’s true enough. But while this is a nuisance, nothing threatening has happened to Anna as far as we know.”

  “I intend to keep it that way. In the article, Brenda claims to have a source at the stadium. Wonder who’d help her?”

  “You’re a professional football player who’s made news on and off the field. Some would say that puts you in the public eye, therefore photos are common. A fan straying down that way could easily capture a few digital shots on his cell phone.”

  “Doesn’t give Jamison the right to smear Anna’s reputation with them,” Kyran argued.

  “You’re technically on Griffins’ property. The cheerleader locker room should be off limits to press when the stadium’s cleared. I’ll speak to the lawyers, see what we can do.”

  “The photos you’d mentioned, where are they?” Kyran asked again.

  “The article continues in the sports section. There are a few of the mascot entertaining the crowds and a repeat of the headlining photo. Jamison revealed Anna’s the mascot. It also implies the two of you have a fetish for the animal costume thing,” Alex supplied.

  “We read that part. Her costume was stuck and I helped unzip it. This is blown out of proportion and we need to nip it in the bud, today.”

  “I’m on it. While we’re at it, call Derek Billings. Let him know about the costume. Griffins management prefers the identity of the people playing the mascot be kept secret. It’s possible Anna could be suspended or let go if she signed a contract for anonymity.”

  “Then I’ll fight that for her,” Kyran promised.
>
  Brenda’s article had turned the best night of his life yet into some sex fetish in the locker room with a Furry mascot.

  Aw shit, they’d fucked on that costume, but she’d been cold and they were too far gone to stop.

  The day after the best sex of his life had turned into a fucking disaster.

  Chapter Eleven

  Two hours later, Anna was home taking a long, hot bubble bath.

  Granted she’d taken a shower that morning and hadn’t broken much of a sweat since she couldn’t be part of practice, but she needed the bath. She took her time, letting the water cleanse and ease her tension.

  Not surprisingly, Tracey called when she’d finished. She assured her friend that she was fine and didn’t need to worry. Her best friend offered the assistance of her cop boyfriend. It was nice. It wasn’t necessary.

  She was making a sandwich when her phone played a rock song. Grabbing it from the counter, she saw it was Kyran. Her heart slammed excitedly. Part of her had been afraid he might not call.

  “Hey,” she greeted.

  “Hey,” he said back, a little distracted. “You got your car okay?”

  “Yes I did. Thank you. How are things with your agent?”

  “We’re wrapping things up soon. How about you, how was practice?”

  “Um, didn’t get much done.” Anna didn’t want to ruin the phone call. She’d tell Kyran about the school board meeting when she saw him.

  “Sorry to hear that. Tell me why later,” he said. “Was wondering if I could come and pick you up about five?”

  “Sure, that would work.”

  “Well all right, looking forward to it.” A man’s deep, cultured baritone broke through the connection. “Listen, Anna, I have to go. Do me a favor ’til I see you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Rest up,” he whispered.

  “Ha, you too,” she teased.

  Kyran ended the call with a promise to see her soon. Anna was glad. The day had been pretty crappy. Seeing him would make everything okay.