Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance

by Kristen Flowers

  He opened his mouth, presumably to defend himself, but I flung my hands up in the air. “You have hurt me terribly, and you have invaded every aspect of my life and privacy, and I just… I absolutely cannot deal with you.”

  With those words I turned on my heel and left just as The Close Callers were singing the last line of my song— “We never had a chance.”

  Chapter 18-Our Chance

  For a brief moment, Hayden was panicked. I had stormed off into the crowd and he didn’t see where I had gone. Then it hit him. On the night of the yacht party when we had first gotten close, the first time he had felt something toward me, I had told him my favorite place to go in the city.

  As the yacht silently crept underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, I had mentioned that spot at Fort Point was the best spot in the city. Then I promptly threatened him not to steal it from me the way he had stolen my face. Back then, the two of us shared an unlikely laugh and even more unlikely sparks. Now, he was heading over there in a rush to try and save our relationship– if it could even be called that.

  I was leaning against a short, brick pillar overlooking the water right at the curve of the paved path. The night was surprisingly calm with nobody in sight. Hayden walked up to me, but I heard his footsteps before he had a chance to speak. I turned to look at him and then promptly looked away.

  “Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I asked as I felt the familiar urge to cry bubble up inside of me. I felt completely defeated.

  His heart broke. It seemed like everything that had happened from the moment Via Mace was unveiled to the world until now had beaten him down. There was no way he didn’t feel responsible for that. He couldn’t understand why he’d been so cruel to me, why he had lacked so much compassion for my situation. He had crossed so many lines it was impossible to keep count.

  “I’m sorry,” he said against a heavy swallow.

  “I’m too angry with you to accept an apology,” I shot back. I still wasn’t looking at him. I wasn’t screaming; in fact, I was barely audible to him at all. “You had to mess everything up in my life and then make it even worse by trying to play the hero, or whatever it was you were trying to accomplish. It would have just been better if…” I trailed off and sighed, clearly unwilling to finish what I was saying. I was starting to feel like anything I said was pointless.

  My eyes traced along the glimmering reflection of the Golden Gate Bridge lights. The water was calm and warmed by the yellow reflection dancing on its surface.

  “If I had never come into your life at all?” He said, trying to finish my sentence.

  I didn’t answer. He took that to mean he was correct and he felt a deep pang of sadness. It was too late.

  “I just…” I finally said after a very long period of silence. I gulped against a dry throat. “I just want to lead my own life for once instead of letting other people control it,” I admitted.

  Hayden was taken aback. Despite everything, I had just been incredibly vulnerable. Maybe it wasn’t too late to save things, but he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that he didn’t want to make things worse.

  “I’m so sorry,” he told me again. I could see the quiver in his face and the wet gleam in his eyes. He was clearly holding back his emotions the best he could. “I had to come back and find you, to tell you the truth.”

  “The truth? What else could possibly be said Hayden?” I stared at him, my own eyes beginning to wet.

  “I did terrible things to you when I tried to make sense of my own feelings. I am truly sorry for that. After I admitted that to myself I figured out the truth.” He looked back up at me with hurt in his eyes.

  “It was you Ali. That’s why I didn’t want to change Via Mace. At first it was about business, but after that night we spent together it was about you. I never thought I had a chance in hell with you after that night. Deep down inside I felt that if I kept Via Mace the way she was I’d have a small piece of you in my life. The posters, the movies, the games—her face was everywhere. You were everywhere. I didn’t want to let that go. I know it’s wrong and I know it’s selfish. I’m sorry Ali.”

  A tear tickled down the side of my cheek as I watched him pour his heart out to me. I sucked in a deep breath. I wanted to say something, but it felt like there was a two-ton weight on my chest.

  “I loved your song, but I think you were wrong when you said ‘we never had a chance.’ It’s not that we never had a chance. We just never gave each other a chance.” There was something about his words that hurt. He was right.

  “It may take some time, but I’ll change Via Mace. I promise.” With that he turned around and walked off into the night.

  I let out a long breath, eyes slowly closing as relief spread over every inch of my body. It felt like the nightmare had ended. The weight on my shoulders lightened and suddenly my ears honed in on the distant sounds of the city. I was no longer the captive of the life my brother had mapped out for me nor would I be the prisoner of the chaotic life Via Mace had created.

  I opened my eyes and looked out onto the water, the reflection of the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge twinkling on the placid surface. My stomach churned and my relief turned sour in an instant. I wanted to lead my life, I wanted to be independent…but I wanted more than that.

  Without thinking, I turned and ran a few steps, “Hayden!”

  I saw his figure stop and turn slowly to face me. I knew what I really wanted.

  What I really wanted was him.

  Even after everything that had happened between us, the million emotions zinging around inside of me were undeniable.

  “Hayden!” I called out again, taking a couple steps toward him.

  Then I broke into a full sprint toward him. He stretched his arms out and my body practically slammed into his. My eyes clenched shut as he held me tight. I drew in his scent with one breath and knew everything was going to be alright. I pulled my head away from his chest and looked up into his eyes, eyes that glittered blue and calm even in the dark of night. Without a word, he leaned in slowly to bridge the gap between us.

  Our lips met in the most fiery-long-overdue kiss either of us had ever experienced.

  And there, under the Golden Gate Bridge, where our first spark was lit, the two of us kissed with glimmering lights surrounding us and endless possibilities ahead.

  Now was our chance.

  The chance we gave each other.

  The End

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