Lion Eyes

by Casey Peeler

  I smile inside as the steep incline approaches. It’s my favorite part of the trail. It’s like a mountain, and call me crazy, but when you reach the top, the high you feel is amazing. In fact, it fuels me with excitement to make it up that hill. I take a second and look over my shoulder at Tyke. By the expression on his face, he didn’t see this coming. I give him a wink and take off. Let’s see if he can catch me.

  As the trail turns into a sidewalk, I know that campus is approaching. I don’t slow down, but when my feet hit Stadium Drive, I begin to cool down, and he’s right on my tail.

  “Dang, run much?” he questions as he places his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

  “Yeah it’s kinda my thing,” I say with a shrug.

  “We should do that again sometime,” he states. I know that he’s got to be kidding, but my mouth answers before my head can take over. “Sure.” Just great. I’ve sworn off all football players because they are cocky and think somebody owes them something when I basically know more about the game than they ever will. And, whether they believe it or not, there is more to life than freaking football.

  “Same time tomorrow?”

  “Nah, I prefer to run when the roosters crow.”

  He looks at me, confused. “In the mornin’, sunshine,” I say with my thick southern drawl.

  “Gotcha. So I’ll see ya here about seven tomorrow?” he questions.

  “Sure, but I’m not waiting around on ya. I’ve got better things to do.”

  I notice him glancing at his watch. “And undoubtedly you do too,” I state and take a few steps to distance myself from him and make my way to my dorm.

  The moment I open the door to my room, it hits me. What the heck did I just do? I did not agree to that. I’ve lost my dang mind in the form of the hottest football god on the planet. Oh, crap. I just admitted he was hot and a football god. Please Lord help me snap out of this.

  Chapter 3

  Tyke

  Watching her head to the dorm, I take note of where she enters. Bailey. I pause for a moment as the side door to the dorm closes and try to shake her from my thoughts. She was so quick to agree, but then the claws came out. There is one thing I’ve realized about RJ in this very short time. She’s smokin’ in more than one good way. She’s sure of herself, has a fine little body, and she is feisty. To me, that makes her way past attractive. Watching that perfect little rump shake as she leaves is going to mean a cold shower is now in order before meeting Coach. I adjust my shorts quickly, glance at my watch, and hurry to my room in the Martin dorm.

  I take the fastest shower possible with the coldest water available. I’m shivering as I grab my towel, but thoughts of RJ are still running through my mind. I do my best to forget her and focus as I walk toward Coach’s office because football is all that is important right now. I do not have time for a distraction in the form of a female, and it’s not fair to Janie.

  As I enter the athletic center, all eyes are on me. I stare right back. It’s obvious I’m not wanted here, which only makes my emotions flare but I refuse to let it show. I’ve had to deal with a lot over the past few years, but I’m still a great ball player and if I’m going to be on the team they are going to have to get used to me being here.

  Standing in front of the office door, I try to push all thoughts of my past out of my mind. I have to stay focused while I’m talking to the coach. I take a deep breath and knock.

  “Come in,” he states as I open the door and stand in the doorway. He motions for me to take a seat, so I do. “Tyke, I’m glad you decided to join us at Blue Ridge. Now, I do have a few things I want to go over with you.” I try my best to keep my composure and not roll my eyes. I know this is my last shot at a football career of any kind and I hate to be reminded of it, but I sit up straight and listen to what he has to say.

  “I know you’re the best of the best, and we’re glad you’ve agreed to play for Blue Ridge. I also know that we’re the only one willing to give you a shot. I will not be made a fool, and you’ve got one shot to make something of yourself around here. I don’t care that you’re the best. You will work for it. You will show up ready to play each and every day. When this field is open, you’re here. Grades are important, don’t let them slip. But most importantly, if I hear of you drinking at all, I will have you off this team faster than you can throw a touchdown pass. You got me?”

  “Yes, sir,” I state as I look him in the eye. He is serious. Especially about the last one, and I am too. There’s no way in hell I’m going to get caught with that stuff ever again.

  “Now, Tyke, or should I call you TD?”

  “Either is fine, sir.”

  “TD, you’ve missed summer workouts and this last minute decision is going to require respect all the way around. We’ve got practice tomorrow afternoon at four, and make sure that you hit the weight room a minimum of three times a week. Most guys meet up in the mornings before class.”

  “Yes, sir,” I say as he begins to stand and I do the same. When I do, I look around the room at all of the football memorabilia and autographs. I find it humorous that this little rinky-dink, small town football coach has all of this on his wall. It kind of makes me want to laugh. Are these his greatest accomplishments? I seriously hope that these pictures or signatures aren’t. I keep my inner laugh together until I’m out of his sight.

  Walking past the weight room, I can see several guys at the bench press and deadlift, and just as I’m about to move on, one of them catches my eye.

  “Hey TD, why don’t you come show us what you’re made of?” he says as the others start to laugh. It’s like fuel to the fire. I think about walking on down the hall, but I can’t, it’s not in my nature. I walk in, place the plates on the bar, and lift. They all stare. I don’t just max out, I continue to push myself until I can’t push any more. At that point I drop the bar on the stand and sit up like it’s no big thing.

  One of the guys takes a step toward me. “You’re the real deal,” he states. I don’t say anything as I scan the room. “I’m John.”

  “Wait, are you my — ”

  “Yeah, I’m your roommate. These here are two of our linebackers, Max and Little Willie.” Little Willie? Is he kidding? He’s freaking huge. “There’s a party tonight on campus. You wanna roll with us?” Little Willie asks.

  Damn. How the hell do I turn down my first shot at getting to know my teammates? I’ve spent the past two years trying to figure out a way to get past what happened that night. I’ve not stepped foot into a party, but I’ve had enough therapy to talk me through it or at least that’s what I’m going to tell myself. I can turn booze down. Can’t I? Yeah, I can because I’m TD, and when I put my mind to something there’s no stopping me.

  Rilla

  Entering my dorm room, I walk in wishing I could fall back onto my bed, but realize I can’t because it’s like six feet in the air. That’s when I notice someone else is in the room.

  “Hey, I’m RJ,” I say as the girl stands from her bed and moves toward me.

  “I’m Laney. Nice to meet you,” she says. We take a few minutes and make small talk, and then she asks if I want to go to the cafeteria with her. Glancing at the clock, I should have eaten a while ago. I guess I was at the river longer than I had planned.

  “Can I grab a quick shower?” I ask.

  “Sure. Worst case we can go to the student center for a pizza,” she states and then my mouth begins to water.

  “Nah. I got a better idea. How about we grab a burger at the Quick Snack?”

  “The huh?” she asks.

  “It’s just down the road and their burgers are to die for!”

  “Sounds good to me,” she states as I hurry to shower. After I’ve washed the thoughts of Tyke down the drain with my shampoo, I throw my hair in a messy wet bun, slide on yoga pants and a tank and out the door we go.

  *****

  “Ohmygosh, RJ! This is beyond good,” Laney says as slaw and chili run down the side of her mouth.
I start to laugh then take another bite of my double cheeseburger with extra bacon.

  “Told ya. Guess you’ve got a perk having a local as a roomie,” I say.

  “Dang right I do,” she says as the bell chimes on the door swinging open.

  I glance over my shoulder because more than likely it’s someone I know, but when I see him I give a huff and an eye roll. I turn around, trying to avoid him like the plague. Why is he everywhere today? He’s the last person I ever wanted to run into on campus, and on my first day here, I can’t escape him. I can’t believe I agreed to see him again tomorrow. Mental note – leave extra early in the morning.

  “Did you see who just walked in?” Laney whispers.

  Rolling my eyes yet again, I respond “Yeah, so what?”

  “So what? Are you kidding me? Do you have a set of ovaries? He’s like hot tamale h-o-t!”

  “He’s not my type,” I state flatly. Laney takes her burger, places it on her plate, crosses her arms and stares at me like I’m completely full of it.

  “Yeah right! You can say what you want, but that boy is like fine as crystal and what I wouldn’t do to take a sip out of that glass.”

  “Laney! Are you kidding me? Just because he’s got a six pack and can throw a ball doesn’t mean he’s God’s gift, ya know.”

  “You’re not serious are you?” She looks at me, trying to figure me out.

  “As a heart attack. Do you know where you chose to go to school?” She looks confused. “Look, not only do we have a nice little Division I football program on campus, but this county is like high school football dynasty. They don’t lose around here.”

  “Huh? You lost me.”

  “Okay, take this in for a second. Him coming to play here has nothing on the other talent I’ve seen growing up. Two of our four schools bring home state titles each and every year. It’s a way of life around here. From August to December everyone eats, breathes, and sleeps this sport. It’s not just a Saturday game here, it’s Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in this town. It just depends on if you’re a pee wee or a Charlotte Lion. He better be thankful that Coach Porter gave him a shot because word on these country streets is that he didn’t have anywhere else to go, and his time was up at that no-name junior college. He either had to take Blue Ridge’s offer or kiss the draft goodbye.”

  Laney looks at me and suddenly I realize who’s standing right beside me. Oh well. I call it like I see it.

  “So what’s the word on the streets, RJ?” he questions, looking down at me, and I do what I always do. I shoot straight.

  “That you did something really stupid, and Coach Porter is the only one willing to give you a shot on the field in three years. You think this is the armpit of football hell, but you’re really surrounded by a piece of football heaven. You’re just too damn arrogant to realize it.” Standing, I look at Laney, “You ready?” She doesn’t say a word, her mouth is wide open and she looks down at her unfinished burger. “Hey Hazel! I’ll bring your baskets back in the mornin’.” She smiles and I walk right past him and out the door. Now let’s see if he shows in the morning. Touchdown, RJ.

  Chapter 4

  Tyke

  What in the hell just happened? Anger floods my mind. She just made me look like a fool. I look around and everyone’s eyes are on me, and as I make my way back to the counter to order they continue to follow me. Who was that girl and what happened to the girl at the river, because I’m certain she’s got split personalities or something. She was pretty feisty when we met but this was something completely different.

  As I reach the counter, the lady behind the register shakes her head. “Bless yer heart, honey. You’ve barked up the wrong tree with that one. This meal’s on us tonight, and good luck Saturday. Oh, and RJ’s one I’d keep at a distance. She’ll chew you up and spit you out then add a ‘bless your heart’ acting like everything is fine.”

  “Thanks.” That’s all I can manage as a reply. There she was looking cute as hell, but that mouth was making so many damn assumptions. She doesn’t know me. No one in this place knows me. They might think they do, but they don’t. I grab the bag from the counter and sling open the door before walking back to my dorm.

  I slam the door shut and realize that John is back from the weight room. “Who pissed in your corn flakes?” he asks as he continues playing a video game. Taking the burger from the bag, he glances my way. “Dude, where’d you get that burger?” he questions.

  “Down the road, some place called the Quick Snack. I saw it on my way in today.”

  He nods in agreement and continues to play. I put my Beats on and turn up the music as I eat in peace and try to figure out what in the hell just happened. I take a bite and I replay the run. There was so much fire laced in her words. Almost as if she hated me before she even met me. I’m not sure what her deal is, but I’m about to find out because there’s no way I’m missing that run in the morning. Twenty bucks says she tries to leave my ass, but I’ll be damned if I let that happen.

  As I go to throw my Styrofoam container in the trash, I notice that John has turned off the gaming console. “Hey, you gonna go to that party?” he questions. I take a second to think about it, knowing I should stay back. I can go to a party completely sober, right?

  “Yeah, but I’ve got to keep it on the DL though. If Coach gets wind of me at a party, I’m done.”

  “No worries. You ain’t gotta drink, just come hang out.” Thank goodness that pressure is gone.

  Rilla

  “Do you care to explain yourself?” Laney asks as soon as our door closes. I’m impressed she waited that long.

  “What?” I say, acting as if it was no big deal.

  “Don’t what me!” I giggle. Does she think she’s my mama now? Um, no because we all know she’s nowhere to be found, and I’ll tell her off if she crosses my path again. “That was freakin’ TD Jamison, and you lit into him like a Christmas tree. Oh! And he happened to know your name. How’d he know that? You better start explaining yourself!”

  This girl is killing me. “Look, I literally ran into him while on my run this afternoon, no biggie. But that is how I feel about him. He thinks he’s God’s gift and deserves to be somewhere better than here, but let’s face it, here is pretty awesome and he has no idea how lucky he is. He screwed up and is stuck here. He might be pretty to look at, but when you screw up like he did, I’ll pass.”

  Laney stands there with her arms folded. “You’re so full of shit, ya know.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’d like to run your hands over that washboard stomach of his as much as anyone else. Not to mention that half of a smile he gave you when he was listening to you run off at the mouth. Don’t deny it. You got it bad for him, and lying isn’t your best quality.”

  “Whatever,” I say as I grab my phone and scroll through social media.

  Tyke

  John and I pregame in the room for a little while, and wait on some of the other teammates to arrive. I guess we travel together around here. As we wait, he takes a few shots to relax, and I grab a Coke. When the other guys arrive, we walk across campus to the party. This campus is dry and so is this town, no wonder Mom thought this was a great choice for me. I can’t help but laugh at how easy it is to find this stuff. My roommate has it hidden in his closet and there’s an actual party on campus. Man, back in the day I would have been the one with the secret stash and hosting the party.

  As we get to the apartment, I’m shocked by the order of operations to get in. The apartment silences as we approach the door and knock. There is a brief pause and then it opens. Once it shuts behind us, the silence turns to a buck wild uproar in two seconds. I’m extremely confused by how this has occurred.

  The guy that opened the door approaches me. “Like our set up?” he questions.

  “Yeah, but how’d you know we were good to come in and not the campus police or someone?”

  “Watch and learn.” He motions toward the TV. “See that
right there is our security system. It’s amazing what a TV and a webcam can do. We have it set up in the front bedroom. We also have one attached to the stairwell at ground level. It allows our eyes to see them first. We have time to get everyone quiet and the booze hidden. Genius, huh?” he says, and I have to say it is pretty awesome. I might have to remember this setup in the future.

  My eyes turn back to the kitchen, where a game of flip cup is happening. I take my water bottle and take a swig.

  “Wanna beer?” a girl questions.

  “Nah. Got practice tomorrow so I’m sticking to water today,” I say confidently.

  “Oh okay,” she turns and walks to her friends and they begin to whisper.

  As music begins to play, the girls get up and start to dance. It’s funny how a little liquid courage makes everyone think they’ve got the moves.

  I twist the cap and take another sip, and before long, the bottle is empty. I look toward John, who is acting obnoxiously as he plays a game of beer pong. Why did I think coming to this party was a good idea? I’m the only sober one here.