“They’re still a little slow to decide, but they said that it looks promising. I’ll keep my ear to the ground for you,” the coach said.
“Thanks,” Chris said.
“Get out there and party, tonight. You earned this one,” the coach slapped him hard in the arm and walked off toward the locker room.
Chris snatched his helmet from the bench then looked over at me. He almost looked a little disgusted, but I couldn’t tell.
“Hey,” I said.
“Did you enjoy the game,” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, “you looked really good, and it sounds like those scouts liked you a little better this week, too.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited.”
I laughed and walked over to join him.
I wrapped my arms around him, giving him another big hug.
“Are you sure Brad won’t get jealous,” he asked.
“Why would Brad be jealous,” I questioned.
“I saw you guys at the restaurant earlier. I saw you guys making out.” Chris said.
I wanted to laugh but stifled it as best I could.
“Brad ambushed me with a kiss,” I said, “I wish I hadn’t even gone to meet up with him.”
“I was hoping that I’d get to talk to you before the game,” Chris said.
“What about,” I asked.
“I have started to see things in a much different light, since the other day. I’ve tried to do everything alone, and I had it handled until I met you.” He said.
“What are you trying to say,” I asked.
“I’m saying that my outlook has changed. I don’t want to sleep around with a bunch of girls; that part of me has died over the last week. I’ve had a lot of offers, believe me.”
I laughed at the idea of him turning down sex. He joined in and pulled me in for a hug.
“I want someone who’ll be there when I’m sad, someone who will cozy up with me and watch TV on a boring night. I think I just want someone I can go home to. And, I was hoping it would be you.”
I could feel tears begin to well up behind my eyes. He was baring his soul to me, and it was hard to deny him. I pressed my head to his chest and pulled him in tight.
“Would you like to go out on a date with me? It’ll be my first,” he asked.
I pulled myself away.
“Sure, but, this time, I get to take you to my favorite spot,” I replied.
He threw his arm around me and we walked off the field, together.
We had each other, and that was more than either of us needed.
*****
THE END
SPORTS Romance – Game On
Chapter One
Faith Fisher stood in front of the mirror, running her hands down her sides and over her hips. Her new jeans fit very well. She could see herself walking next to Ethan Ronan, star halfback, at the next after game party. She straightened her glasses, then took them off to see what she looked like without them. But then she couldn’t see. She squinted to try and see better. It didn’t help.
She sighed and slipped on her glasses again. She needed to ask her mother if she could get contacts. Or she could just buy them herself with her tutoring money. She brushed her fingers through her blond hair, pulling it down in its natural waves over her chest. It came down just below her breasts, which were not too big, not too small, one of the few things she was satisfied with when it came to her body. She didn’t want to think she was frumpy and heavy, but she was a tad overweight, and most of her clothes were not the best style ever.
In fact, did she even have a style?
Ethan wasn’t going to go out with her unless she figured out her style and dressed herself up a bit. She turned and threw herself on her stomach on the big bed, kicking her legs up behind her. She half-crawled on the bed and grabbed her cell phone off the night table.
WHATCHA DOIN? She texted her best friend, Stacy Thorn. Then she set the phone back down and scooted down on the bed to open her laptop and scan Facebook. Her phone beeped almost immediately, and she grabbed it up.
TALKIN’ TO MOM AND DAD. WE STILL ON FOR SPRING BREAK?
Faith smiled and texted back that they were definitely still on. She and Stacy were planning on heading out to the beach with half the football team and some of the cheerleaders on a quick weekend trip. She hadn’t told Stacy about her crush on Ethan, but she suspected her friend new anyway. They had been best friends since grade school, and there was very little they could keep from each other. She didn’t see that they would ever be apart. College was coming up, and they would be attending the same school…just the community college for the first two years. They had both been given two free years as a scholarship because of their grades.
CAN YOU COME OVER LATER AND WATCH A MOVIE? She texted. She held her phone in her hand and waited for the response.
YEAH, MOM AND DAD SAID I CAN STAY THE NIGHT. I’LL BE OVER IN A HALF HOUR.
She smiled. She dropped back down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. The trip was coming up faster than she expected. It was finally this Friday. She’d been waiting for weeks. She wanted to make a good impression on Ethan. Stacy would help. She would make sure that Faith didn’t come off as some kind of geeky nerd. That surely wouldn’t attract Ethan.
Stacy came over just as she said, in a half hours’ time. She lived fifteen minutes away by bike ride, but her father brought her over in his car. She came in Faith’s room and tossed her bag on the floor by the bed. She wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her tight. “Faith! You’re looking so good, girl!”
Faith laughed. “Better than I was yesterday when you saw me?”
Stacy’s smile was wide. “Yes, of course, darling, yes, of course!” She faked a British accent and rolled her eyes in a haughty manner. “I know you’re as excited as I am about the trip this weekend! And guess what! We’re gonna leave on Thursday instead of Friday!”
Both girls squealed and Faith bounced on the bed on her knees, clapping her hands. “No way! How did that happen and how come I didn’t know!”
“You know now! The girls just called and told me.” Stacy was good friends with several of the cheerleaders. She had been on the team during the first two years of high school but gave it up for their junior year to concentrate on her studies. She was brilliant and beautiful at the same time. Faith always felt lucky to be her friend. She had no idea why Stacy remained friends with her despite her popularity.
Stacy dropped onto the bed and leaned back on her elbows. “You know, Faith, they told me to tell you. They want you to come along.”
Faith blushed slightly and bit her bottom lip. “Did you tell them about Ethan?” She suspected Stacy knew. She might as well come out with it.
Stacy stuck her tongue through her teeth, smiling big. “Of course not, Faith. I know you. You don’t want your feelings broadcast all over. Besides, Heather would tell, and we don’t want that right off, do we?”
Faith shook her head, hiding her grin behind her hand. “No. I want to try to talk to him myself before anybody finds out.”
Stacy turned over on her stomach and hunched her shoulders. “You’re gonna talk to him? What are you gonna say? Do you know? I bet you’re gonna need to drink a beer before you do that!”
Faith shook her head. “Oh no! I hope they aren’t gonna be drinking!”
Stacy laughed loudly. “Of course not! Those guys don’t drink. Their dads would kill them, every last one of them! If one dad didn’t, another one would. Imagine that! Ruining a perfectly good football career by drinking alcohol and getting all messed up. I can’t imagine.”
“I think it’s one of the only reasons the team is as good as they are.”
“You mean cuz they don’t drink?”
“Yeah. I think that’s why they win so many games.”
Stacy nodded. “I would put bets on that, Faith. Now let’s see. What are we gonna do? Mom says I can stay the night. We got lots of time.”
�
��Awesome!”
Thursday morning, Faith woke up to the bright sun streaming through her open window, letting in a cool breeze with it. She slid out of bed and closed the window, pulling the blinds so she could get dressed without thinking the entire neighborhood was watching. Her mother often came in and opened the window while she was sleeping because her room was always the hottest in the house.
She dressed quickly. Stacy would be there to pick her up in her dad’s car by 9, and they would be meeting the rest of the group at the school by 9:30. She was as excited as she’d ever been in her 17 years of living. She could see herself swimming with Ethan and splashing him and going for a piggy-back ride on his back, playing chicken with their friends.
She took a shower, got dressed as quickly as she could and was standing outside waiting when Stacy pulled up. Her friend leaned over and yelled through the window.
“Let’s go, girl, we don’t have all day!”
“I’m not the one who’s late.” Faith grinned wide as she threw her duffel bag in the back seat and climbed into the front. “What happened? I figured you’d be here early.”
Stacy shook her head. “It takes time to look this good, sweetie.”
They both laughed, and Faith responded, “Really? It didn’t take long to look this good.” She looked up and pressed one index finger under her chin. They both laughed again, and Stacy pulled out into the street.
“We are going to have a great time, Faith.”
“I know it!”
Faith rolled down the window and put her hand out, letting it ride on the wind. “It’s such a beautiful spring break week. It’s too bad we couldn’t go earlier in the week, but I’m glad we get to go now.”
Stacy nodded, glancing over at her. “Yeah, I don’t think everybody’s parents would have gone for having us all gone that long. Not enough supervision. You know they all grew up back in the ‘80s when Freddy Krueger was all the rage.”
The girls laughed again and Faith pretended to be scared.
“So did you bring along any books to read?” Stacy asked in a teasing voice.
Faith flushed but smiled back at Stacy. “Maybe.” She had brought along a couple of books. It was always good to be prepared if she was left sitting on the beach alone. She planned to do plenty of swimming and volleyball and talking to Ethan, but there was always a chance she wouldn’t be able to do at least two of those things. She couldn’t help thinking what if she was stung by a jellyfish and couldn’t go back in the water or what if she twisted her ankle and couldn’t play volleyball? She didn’t even want to think about not being able to talk to Ethan. She pictured him in her mind and knew her face was flushing even more.
“Good grief, your face is all red, Faith. Whatever are you thinking about?”
Faith just gave her a look. Stacy burst out laughing.
“Ethan!” She said. “Well, I wish you luck, honey. He’s a tough nut to crack.”
“Why do you say that?”
Stacy shrugged. “I don’t want to be the one to burst your bubble, but you’re not exactly his type.”
“What’s his type? And what type am I?”
Stacy raised her eyebrows. “Well, you aren’t his type, at least, not that I can see. He doesn’t go for the brainy beauties. He goes for the brainless beauties. You know, the ones who don’t care whether he cheats or not or goes out with his friends more often. Or doesn’t introduce you when you go out and meet someone new. Or…”
“Okay, okay, I get it. You sure don’t make him sound very attractive.”
Stacy looked at her. “You can’t judge someone by their looks, Faith. You gotta see what’s underneath, too.”
Faith didn’t look back at her. She looked out the window, letting her hand ride on the wind and thinking about what Stacy had said.
When they reached the school, most of the other students were already there, talking and laughing excitedly. The beach they were going to was an hour and a half away. They had all pitched in several hundred dollars to reserve large suites in a hotel that was right on the shorefront. Faith watched two of the football players loading coolers into the back of the SUV they were taking and gave Stacy a look. Her friend just shrugged as if to say, “what they do is their business.”
She didn’t want to judge and decided the coolers were probably filled with Coke and Pepsi. She wasn’t riding with them anyway. She saw Ethan but didn’t go over to him. He was with four girls and his best friend, Darryl. She and Darryl locked eyes for a moment and nodded at each other. They didn’t know each other well either but he was the only one on the football team she had classes with. In fact, she shared three classes with him. He was tall and muscular, the star quarterback. From what she’d heard about him, he planned to go to college on a football scholarship and someday play for the pros.
She was surprised when he left the group he was with and approached her and Stacy.
“Hey, ladies.” He said.
“Hey, Darryl.” Both Faith and Stacy replied at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Darryl’s smile spread across his face, revealing bright white, straight teeth.
“Excited yet?” He asked.
“Yeah, very!” Stacy said, openly flirting with the boy. “You?”
Darryl nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, I get to drive a bunch of dumb jocks across the state and watch them get wasted all weekend. Sounds like a great time.”
Faith raised her eyebrows. “You don’t sound serious. You’re not gonna drink, too?”
He shook his head. “Beer is nasty, girl. Don’t drink. It turns people into classless, moral-less fools.”
“Is moral-less a word?” Stacy asked, teasing him. He smiled at her.
“Does it matter?”
Chapter Two
The convoy of cars, trucks and SUVs made it to the beach safely, nearly two hours after they set out. Faith rode with Stacy, who had offered to give rides to two other girls. One of them smoked cigarettes the entire way there, which Stacy was unhappy about. She grumbled that her father was going to be angry when he got his car back and it stank of cigarettes. She told the girl she would have to ride in a different car on the way back, which made for a very uncomfortable ride for the last hour.
But Faith forgot about it when she got her bag out of Stacy’s trunk, and they went in the hotel to check in.
“First thing we’re gonna do,” Stacy said. “Is go out on the beach. So let’s get our room and change into our bikinis right now!”
Faith didn’t have a bikini. She had a very small one piece with no back to it, though. Her mother had bought it for her, much to Faith’s surprise. It was small, but the design on the front was a beautiful sunrise, with the colors of the sky splashing across it in majestic fashion. She was impressed. She was also anxious to put it on and see what Ethan thought of it.
If she could get his attention.
She delighted in the feel of the sand between her toes. She scrunched it up and giggled. “I love this so much, Stace.” She said. “We gotta move here. We gotta find a college at the beach so we can enjoy this all the time.”
“You know, they say that when you live at the beach, you forget how beautiful it is because you’re, like, working all the time and never get to enjoy it. But if I lived here, I’d make sure to find the time to enjoy it.”
“Yeah, me too. I mean, how can you forget this beauty? I’d probably forget I had to go to work!”
They laughed.
They found a spot on the beach near some of their friends and spread their blankets out over the sand. Faith sat down on hers and set the small bag she’d brought with her down in the sand next to her. She took out a pair of sunglasses, her suntan lotion and a bottle of water.
“I am so ready for this. School has been rough lately.” Stacy did the same next to her, propping her sunglasses up on her head.
“How is that?” Faith laughed. Stacy gave her a wide-eyed look.
“You do know I’ve been helping out
those kids in the remedial classes, don’t you? That’s taken a lot of time from my usual studies. I’ve got two assignments due when I get back.”
“Have you done them yet?” Faith asked.
Stacy shook her head. “No, I wanted to come on this trip too much and didn’t get them finished. I’m gonna have to take Monday to do them.”
“We go back to school Monday, silly.” Faith said.
“I know, but they aren’t due till Wednesday.”
Faith chuckled. “You’re pushing it to the last minute. Way to procrastinate.”
“I know it. It’s terrible. I’m terrible. I think I’ll have to go for a swim to punish myself. Come on!” She jumped up and held out one hand. Faith shook her head.
“You go ahead. I think I’m gonna soak up some sun and get really hot first so the water will freeze me through and through when I finally get in.”
Stacy laughed. “Suit yourself! See ya!”
Faith watched her friend bound toward the water, skipping into it and falling backwards when she was about waist high. A small wave toppled over her head, and she came up with a delighted yell. Faith smiled, smoothing out lotion on her arms and legs.
The sun was bright in the sky, almost directly over her head. She slipped on her sunglasses and laid back on the towel, already feeling her skin begin to warm up.
She may have fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure. The next thing she knew, someone was dripping cold water on her. She shrieked and sat up, shading her eyes to see who was torturing her. To her surprise, it was Ethan, leaning over and shaking his head so that he was splattering cold water from his hair all around him.
“You’re awake!” He laughed loudly. “We didn’t come here to sleep, girl! Get up and get moving! Come on! Have some fun! Besides, we need a fourth!” He reached out and took her hand, lifting her up to her feet whether she liked it or not. Her heart thumped hard in her chest, and she tried not to feel like she had just been crowned queen of the homecoming dance.
“Okay, okay!” She laughed, nervously. “You don’t have to tell me twice!”
Romance: Teen Romance: Follow Your Dreams (A Nerd and a Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult High School Sports Romance) Page 68