Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance

by Kristen Flowers

  Ivy scoffed. I could tell I was having an effect on her. She looked away from me and focused on the floor. She probably figured it was just a lame line and I was just having fun messing with her, both of which were true. I loved the way her cheeks turned red whenever she felt embarrassed. The book slipped out of her grasp and fell to her lap to reveal her cleavage yet again, but now she didn’t bother covering back up.

  I noticed everything. I knelt down to lean in closer to her. She held her breath. “You probably can’t stop thinking about kissing me now, huh? Back here in this secluded corner of the library…”

  It was my typical cocky attitude that always got me everything I wanted. She was looking at me like I was a madman, but I still noticed when her tongue quickly ran across her lips. Yep. I had this one in the bag.

  Feeling bold as ever, I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder. She froze at once before slowly looking up at me. She looked confused in a million different ways.

  “I’m certainly not thinking about kissing you,” she finally spoke up. “That would never…” Her voice trailed away as she looked deep into my eyes. I moved in closer and closer to her.

  I continued to lean in until I was mere centimeters from her lips. I knew she could feel my hot breath fanning out across her skin. I heard a nervous gulp come from her as her eyes flicked between my eyes and my lips. I imagined every voice in her head was screaming at her to run away as she waited on bated breath. She was probably wondering if I was actually going to go through with it or if I was just teasing her?

  But I knew the real reason why she didn’t run away. She wanted it as bad as I did. I could see it in her eyes and the way her chest rose and fell nervously. I had no problem hooking up with someone like her, sure it wasn’t the type of girl I normally went for and that was a little strange. But I didn’t mind it. Her on the other hand—she probably hated guys like me. And she probably hated the way I made her feel.

  I swiftly bridged the small gap between us and kissed her hard.

  In that moment something changed inside of me. I was just having fun before. Why not hook up with a nerdy girl? So what, she’s hot. But the moment my lips landed on hers was the moment I felt something. Something real.

  I kissed her like I meant it, not like I was just provoking her to have a good time. I ran my hand over the side of her neck until I was holding the back of her head, moving in to deepen the kiss. I bit her lips and dominated her mouth, kissing her in a way she’d probably never experienced before. It was something I had never experienced before either. I could only imagine how much she was protesting inside her head.

  Ivy reached forward to place her hands on my shoulders. I thought she was going to finally push me away after coming to her senses, but she shocked me yet again. She actually pulled me in closer! My hand locked tighter at the back of her head as our tongues found each other. I couldn’t remember when was the last time I had been so turned on by just kissing.

  As soon as my hand landed on her hip she abruptly pulled back, looked at the clock, and gasped. She quickly scrambled to gather all of her things and dashed off without a word, leaving me feeling frustrated and angry. I tried to make sense of what the hell had gotten in to her. Why would she just bolt like that? After such an electrifying moment?

  “Guess she ran off to her boyfriend,” I muttered, feeling a little bitter.

  I had completely lost track of time and it was all because I allowed myself to get carried away kissing Landon. I felt my face and the skin on my chest warm with a blush. It was too much to deal with, but the question constantly in my mind was, how?

  How did I allow myself to kiss him, of all people? I barely had any time to think about it as I rushed home. Which was probably a good thing since I would have berated myself even more. My mother was alone. Who knew how long she had been waiting if she needed help. I burst into the house sometime later to see her sitting in an armchair in the living room. She looked at me like I was a crazy person.

  “Why are you so out of breath?” She asked as she looked over at me. I was disheveled, panting, and an all-around mess. I took a moment, leaning against the wall and placing my hand flat on my chest as I steadied my breath.

  “I’m so sorry,” I finally choked out. “I’m sorry I left you for so long, mom. I didn’t mean to.” I scurried over to her and knelt beside her, placing a hand on her frail knee. “Do you need anything?”

  She chuckled and shook her head, placing a thin hand on my shoulder. “Take it easy, dear,” she said slowly. A bit of tension left my shoulders. “Today was a good day,” she happily informed me. “You know, I was actually able to get some work done around the house!” She grinned, bringing a smile to my face as well. She pointed at some plants on the living room’s window sill. “I repotted those,” she told me proudly.

  I slid down to sit on the floor, a feeling of relief sweeping over me. Despite that and my mother being in such high spirits, I couldn’t help the guilt I felt creeping up inside of me. I had gotten lucky this time, but what if mom had experienced an exceptionally bad day and I wasn’t around to help her through it? I needed to be more careful. Kissing a boy wasn’t worth the risk of putting her through more pain and discomfort than she already was.

  Mom touched her hand to my cheek and asked, “Why are your cheeks so red, dear?”

  “Oh, uh, must be because I ran home,” I tried to reason. I knew that wasn’t the reason. “Are you sure you don’t need anything, mom?”

  “No, dear, you go on to your room and study or relax,” she reassured me. I smiled sweetly, leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek, and grabbed my messenger bag to trot off to my bedroom.

  As soon as I stepped inside I dropped it on the floor, locked the door, and flopped down onto my bed. I rolled over and let out a heavy groan against my pillow. I still couldn’t wrap my head around everything that had just happened. He was the last person I would have ever thought this would happen with. I remembered my mother asking why he’d gotten under my skin. At first I blew her statement off. I didn’t think he had gotten under my skin at all. Now I knew it was true. My mother was right. But he had bothered me in a way I could have never anticipated.

  I shut my eyes and took several deep breaths, counting the seconds in my mind. It helped to calm me down when I started to feel overwhelmed, but the thoughts of Landon and his kiss wouldn’t disappear. I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, that kiss was easily the best I ever had. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was as good at other stuff as he was at kissing.

  “That certainly would explain some of his insufferable confidence,” I mumbled.

  I sat up and started to really think about the repercussions of kissing him. Maybe for him it was all a big game and something he could joke about in the locker room, but it was a huge deal for me. It jeopardized my job. It was against the academic handbook for a tutor to be involved with one of his or her students. That meant anything with Landon was strictly off limits, including fiery kisses in the library. If someone saw us or somehow they found out, I would surely lose my job. It didn’t help that Landon Bryce was such a big name and came from a powerful family, either. If anyone found out it would spread like wildfire.

  I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. “How could I be so stupid?” That was it—things were going to be completely professional from now on. There was no question about it.

  The next tutoring appointment I was filled with dread. I had no clue how he was going to act with me, but I already made up my mind to take it as just one of his little games. Like I told him in the library, he didn’t take anything seriously and I couldn’t think of a single reason why kissing me would be the exception. I had to make it clear that he was ONLY my student. I couldn’t risk losing my job. The stakes were far too high.

  Landon walked in a few minutes earlier so he decided to kill time in the lobby by playing on his phone, making it a point not to look over at me. This wasn’t lost on me and I felt a bit nauseous. Things were goin
g to be even more awkward than I had anticipated. When it was finally time to start, he walked over to the desk and took his seat. He seemed pissed off and dismissive. It was almost like he was angry with me. Instead of paying any mind and figuring it out, I found it easier to assume he was just the asshole jock I pegged him as from the start. He had his fun kissing me, now he’d moved on to the next poor girl.

  “Let’s start where we left off with your term paper last meeting,” I began.

  “You think?” He responded sarcastically.

  I glanced at him sideways, but he was staring straight down at his notebook. He pulled out the notes from our previous tutoring session and started tapping his pen on the desk.

  “Well, we were talking about–”

  “I know what we were talking about, thanks,” he told me with a derisive smirk. “Just tell me what you want me to do next to get this thing done.”

  “Well, it’s not about what I want, Landon.” He was making me feel beaten down. Although I had prepared for a less than pleasant experience I never banked on him being quite like this.

  “Sure,” he told me with a scowl. I jerked my head back and stared at him. He still hadn’t looked at me even once. He was being cold and particularly difficult. I didn’t know where to go from there and I felt my stomach sink. Kissing him had been nothing less than a huge mistake.

  “And what is that supposed to mean?” I finally mustered the courage to ask even if I was afraid of what he’d say next.

  He scoffed and shrugged. “Let’s get on with it.”

  “You don’t get to talk to me like that.”

  Landon finally looked up to meet my gaze and I saw anger in his eyes. I flinched. “I can talk to you how I damn well please,” he hissed.

  I slammed my hand down on the table, “No you do not. That may be the case elsewhere, but it won’t be here.” Now I was angry. His entitlement had gone too far, even for him.

  “Of course everything has to be to your convenience,” he shot back.

  I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, trying to figure out just what in the hell he was talking about. It was clear he was mad, but why he was escaped me. “What?”

  “You just took off!” He finally blurted. “Why?”

  “That’s what you’re so pissed about?”

  It was the last straw. He was so full of himself to think he could get away with behaving like this, at my job no less, just because he thought I snubbed his kiss? It was absolutely ridiculous. “Look, Landon, some of us have real problems to deal with. Unlike your perfect, little rich boy life, I have a ton of worries to occupy my time on top of school. You want to know why I left? I had to run home because my sick mother was waiting for me.”

  Landon blinked in disbelief. I wanted him to feel like the world’s biggest asshole. “I, uh, kind of assumed you had a boyfriend.”

  "I don't have a boyfriend," I barked angrily. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to understand that a bookworm-girl like myself doesn’t exactly go out and meet guys. Maybe he couldn’t fit that concept through his dense jock skull.

  As soon as I told him I was single my heart skipped a little. It wasn’t because of anything I said or did. It was because I thought I saw something in his face.

  I couldn’t be sure, but for a fleeting second I thought I saw his face light up with joy.

  “Lana’s hot yo!”

  “Nah, you really hooked up with Lana Sanders? Fool, it’s old news. I hooked up with her, twice, last year!” There was an eruption of laughter at the defeated look on the other guy’s face as that bit of news was broken to him.

  It was the day after my tutoring session with Ivy. I was in the locker room with the rest of the team after practice listening to them all joke and laugh about various girls.

  “Was she really that hot?” someone asked.

  “You know it; why else do you think Clive over here went in twice?” There was another eruption of laughter.

  “Hold up, hold up,” Luke interrupted the hoots. “She can’t have been better than Maya, you know, Ma-ya.” There was a consensus around the room and a couple different discussions on her broke out.

  Noah took advantage of the lull to point something out. “Anyone else notice superstar Bryce over here has been awfully quiet today?” he asked in his best announcer voice. He instantly got the attention of all the guys in the locker room. I felt all eyes on me. One way or another, Noah was going to pay for This.

  “Goin’ through a dry spell, Bryce?” Everyone burst into mocking laughter. I knew they were all eager to see it happen for the first time. I was usually the one with the most stories. “Come down to the Delta house party with me tonight and we’ll find a pretty one to get your dick wet.” More laughter erupted.

  I shook my head and everyone calmed down immediately. “I have to study.”

  I was met with cold silence.

  After an excruciatingly awkward minute Noah finally spoke up, “You’re actually going to study?”

  His completely baffled attitude was fair; I had never been the type of guy to “study”. All the other guys looked just as astonished. Noah smiled, looking genuinely happy. "You know, that's actually pretty great, man."

  There was a moment of silence before the rest of the team collectively went “Nah!” and started teasing me for being a “try-hard nerd.” I let them get it out of their systems for a minute before finally shooting back.

  “Better to be a ‘try-hard nerd’ than a ‘try-too-hard-to-fuck’ that lousy lay, Jamie. I don’t know why you’re so excited. I’ve had that and let me tell you, I ain’t goin’ back.”

  The room erupted with hoots and hollers, patting Jamie on the back in mock sympathy. As the insults continued to fly between everyone, I rushed to get dressed and leave the locker room. I was done with their bullshit for the day. As I walked out, I had a bad taste in my mouth. I shook my head and slammed on the gas, zooming off toward the house knowing I would get there before any of the other guys.

  I rushed into the house and ran upstairs, locking myself in my room. I walked into the bathroom and stared at my reflection in the mirror. It was only then that I realized I had forgotten to shower in my haste to get away from my teammates. I was beyond frustrated. Ever since I met Ivy I had been all mixed up.

  I fucking hated it. There was no reason for someone like her to get to me, especially not when we first met. She wasn’t the only one with a great pair of tits on campus. I slammed my fist against the bathroom counter. I couldn’t deny there was something unique about her nerdy sexiness. I thought back to our kiss; that was the moment something changed inside of me.

  I had felt…nervous.

  No girl had ever made me feel that way before.

  I stripped down and hopped in to the shower as I thought about my little fantasy of her at the tutoring center. Maybe jerking off would get rid of all that built up tension.

  I gripped myself and jerked as the hot water pattered against my chest. It wasn’t what I wanted. Whatever had stirred in me wasn’t just lust; it was something more. I didn’t know how to handle it. I tried to call up the same fantasy of Ivy on her knees, blowing me in the Tutoring Center, remembering how hard I had come the last time.

  It wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Even my body wanted more.

  I let out a heavy breath and slowed my strokes almost to a stop, leaning against the cool, wet wall of the shower as I imagined spreading Ivy out on my bed to taste every inch of her. I would take my time kissing and licking up her legs until I would work my way up and make her come.

  I started to stroke a bit faster, the idea of her being all flushed and undone because of me got my blood pumping more than anything else. I finished as soon as I thought about her face—scrunched up and in pleasure as I imagined slipping inside of her. Just then, the water was starting to get cold.

  I quickly soaped down and washed off before jumping out of the shower. I dried off and wrapped a towel around my waist before walking back into the room, immediatel
y checking the schedule Ivy had made for me. We had a tutoring session scheduled for the following day.

  With a smile, I sat down at my desk with my books and got to work.

  The following day, Landon wore one of his best T-shirts to show off his stunner body and walked confidently into the tutoring center. He got there a couple minutes early, but walked back to my desk anyway, noticing I wasn’t with another student. I looked at him curiously, head tilted.

  “You look like you pulled an all-nighter,” I commented. “Were you up late?”

  “I was thinking about you so I couldn't sleep.” He smirked.

  I immediately got flustered. After our previous session where he basically admitted to feeling jealous, I had worked very hard to put him out of my mind. My resolution was to keep things strictly professional between us, but now he was here using lines and blatantly flirting with me yet again. It made it a lot harder for me to ignore my thumping heart.