One Cheer to Win

by Hart, Romi

  Trent batted my hand away. “Whatever, dude. Kassie and Natalie are the hottest girls in that dorm.”

  Neil pointed at Trent with a serious expression. “He’s right.”

  I sat on a bench to lace up my shoes. “Okay, what else? What’s her major?”

  “Environmental engineering,” Neil reported.

  I stopped lacing my cleats, looking up surprised. “She’s smart?”

  Neil turned around as he slipped off his shoes. “Oh, she’s very smart, dude. Graduated top of her class in high school. She’s at LSU on a full scholarship: half academic and half athletic for cheerleading.” Neil looked pleased with himself for his wealth of information.

  Kassie was smart, huh? She was turning out to be a bigger challenge than I originally thought. I loved a good challenge.

  I had to know more. “What about hobbies or clubs? What’s she into?”

  Jordan pulled his shirt down over his head as he talked. “Easy answer. She’s in a ton of orgs, man.” He listed them on his fingers. “CORPRI: Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute, Engineers Without Borders, LWEA: Louisiana Water and Environmental Association, and SWE: The Society of Women Engineers.”

  “What the hell! That many clubs?” I shouted.

  Jordan shrugged. “She loves the environment, dude. What can I say?”

  All right, so I had a few clubs I could join to get to her. Kassie was becoming more intriguing the more I learned about her. Cheerleader. Engineering student. Volunteer. Activist. Scholar.

  Most girls, I went out with weren’t that deep. On second thought, maybe they were? I just hadn’t spent any time getting to know them to find out. When girls were so easy, why would I ever try hard?

  After practice, I jumped on the internet and looked up info and meeting times for the different clubs. Engineers without Borders had a meeting that upcoming Thursday. I was minoring in Biomedical Engineering with a particular focus on Sports Medicine. Engineers Without Borders was a perfect organization for me to join.

  The LSU’s chapter focused on transforming food deserts into healthy communities. It was too bad that I’d just found out about it in my senior year. As an athlete, I wholly understood the importance of diet and exercise. I also understood full well how lucky I was to never have to worry about access to affordable healthy food.

  That Thursday, EWB met in Sabilov Lab in the late afternoon. A group of about thirty gathered in a classroom. Arriving early so I could catch Kassie walking in, I sat at a desk in the back. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to see her.

  When she walked in, my heart stopped. She looked stunning in light blue skinny jeans and a pink and white striped bell sleeve top. A baby blue beaded pompom necklace hung between her ample chest. She looked so hot.

  Her blue eyes popped open in shock when she saw me sitting there. As she got closer, the pink shimmer of her lips caught my eye. I would have loved to lick that shimmer off her mouth.

  Casually, I looked away and made sure to maintain a face like stone. I looked right past her, as if she wasn’t there. She sat down two desks away from me. Her hair was up again in that bouncy ponytail. It swung from side to side as she sat down. That damn swinging ponytail was enough to give me a hard-on.

  Trent did some digging and found out that Donovan’s, the senior third baseman's girlfriend was the project leader for an EWB project, the urban farm, Green Garden Greaux. Donovan arranged with his girlfriend, Liz, to make sure Kassie and I were paired up.

  Liz, a tiny Korean girl, started the meeting. For a petite person, her voice really carried. “Thank you for joining me, everyone!” She clasped her hands together in excitement. “The design phase of our rain-water catchment system is complete. We will be starting construction on the system this weekend, which means: significant changes to the Green Garden Greaux. Particularly, getting GGG off the grid!”

  Members cheered, hooped, and hollered. Liz continued, speaking above the cacophony, “To make things easier, I’ve split everyone who’s available to start this Sunday into two-person groups."

  She typed on her MacBook that was hooked up to the huge screen on the wall. Then opened a file that revealed the pairs. At the very top, it said: Ryan and Kassie.

  Seeing our names together like that made me already feel victorious. Although, I knew it was too early to celebrate just yet. Kassie was unlike any girl I’d ever gone after before. A girl like Kassie was unchartered territory.

  People started to chat amongst themselves. “Meet up with your partner now and get your plans together for Sunday. After you partner up, we’ll reconvene in half an hour at GGG. I want to meet onsite to delegate tasks,” Liz called out.

  I knew better than to go to Kassie first. She was going to have to come to me. Kicking back in my desk, I watched from the corner of my eye as Kassie reluctantly got up and walked over to where I sat.

  “Ryan?” She talked softly with some hesitation. Her beautiful blue eyes flashed with indignation.

  Scrolling through my phone, I looked up at her in surprise. “Yes?” I was careful to not show any recognition that I remembered her from before.

  She fidgeted. “We’re partners.”

  I squinted up at the screen at Liz’s list. “Oh. We are? You’re Kassie?”

  She put a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side. That naughty ponytail swung from the sudden tilt of her head. “Yes. I’m Kassie. We met a few weeks ago?”

  Searching her gorgeous face with a furrowed brow, I asked, “We did?”

  If baseball or kinesiology didn’t work out, I could have been an actor.

  Kassie crossed her arms. “Yes. We did at the first football game of the season. I’m a cheerleader?”

  I sighed. “You know. Why might have met, but I met a lot of people that night. I’m sorry.” I feigned a laugh. “I meet new people all the time.” I pointed at my head. “Bad memory.”

  “Whatever.” She looked away irritated. “Well, my name is Kassie. Again.” Kassie had an elegant side profile. Her small nose upturned just a touch.

  “Nice to meet you, Kassie Again,” I made sure to say this playfully, which made her wince.

  She ignored my stupid joke. “I want to get to the garden early on Sunday. 7 AM too early for you? Or will you be out meeting so many people the night before?”

  “Not at all,” I said nonplussed. “I’m a morning person,” I lied. Sleeping in on Sundays was a usual and favorite activity.

  “Great!” She swiveled around on her heel, calling behind her. "See you then. 7 AM. Don't be late."

  Watching her long ponytail wag behind her, I chuckled to myself. I now had her just where I wanted her, and she had no idea.

  Chapter 5

  Kassie

  What an asshole! Ryan knew damn well who I was. He came up to me that night at the game falling all over himself to ask me out. Now, he was acting like he didn’t even know me. Like it was the first time he’d ever laid eyes on me.

  What a dick.

  In a rage, I completely forgot that we were supposed to head to Green Garden Greaux after the meeting, which meant I would have to face that jackass again. Groaning, I turned back around, heading back to the classroom to find Ryan.

  When I spun around, Ryan was already right there behind me, smiling at me with that shit eating grin. “You forget something?”

  Rolling my eyes, I held in a scream. “We’re supposed to head to GGG now, right?”

  “Yup!” Ryan slid his hand into his pants’ pocket, pulling out his keys.

  I didn’t have a car. Taking a bus would be a pain in the ass to get downtown. “Well, I don’t have a car so – “

  Ryan interjected, “You don’t?” He twirled his cars keys around his index finger.

  Sighing, I admitted, “No. I don’t.”

  “Need a ride?” Ryan asked, politely.

  I stared at the floor. Our partnership wasn’t going to work if I held onto my anger. I softened. “That would be great. Thank you.”

  He was g
oing to be my partner on this project whether I liked it or not. We might as well get along. I believed in GGG’s mission to bring a sustainable urban farm to the Baton Rouge community. It was just like my own project. ECO, I’d started at home.

  Ryan could be an asshole and act like he had no idea who I was, but that was not what mattered. EWB was a great organization, and I was happy to be part of it.

  When we got to the site, Liz herded us into groups. “Not everyone will be working on our new rain water harvesting system. If I call your name, you will be working on the system. If I don’t, your job today is just normal everyday greenhouse tasks.” I hoped I was going to be on the harvesting system group. “Ryan, Kassie, Jerry, Molly, Corinne, Bobby: you are all on the water harvesting system. Everyone else: take it inside and complete the tasks I’ve emailed all of you.”

  The non-rainwater people scattered inside, thumbing at their phone to look for Liz’s email, while the rest of us stood around, waiting for further instructions. Liz turned to us, “Okay, I’ve emailed all of you the blueprints to our new system. Please follow me.”

  We followed her as she walked to the east side of the greenhouse. Pointing to a sectioned off area with orange flags, she said, “This is where we’ll begin digging for the storage tank to fit.” The area portioned off was quite large. A lot larger than I expected.

  Liz explained, “Instead of water barrels, we’re going to install two 500-gallon storage tanks. Ryan, Kassie: you guys can get to digging now. Doesn’t have to be finished today, of course.”

  She pointed at the top of the greenhouse. “The rest of you, we need to install gutters on all sides. Follow me.”

  Ryan handed me a shovel. “Here you go. There’s only one shovel.”

  I looked around. He was right. There was only one shovel. WTF! I took the shovel from him, skeptically. “What are you going to do while I dig?”

  Ryan crossed his arms with a satisfied expression on his face. “Supervise.”

  My mouth dropped open. What the hell ever happened to chivalry? Chivalry was dead and gone!

  His face exploded in laughter. “I’m kidding.” He took the shovel from me. Pointing at my outfit, he said, “I don’t want you to ruin your cute outfit.”

  I looked down at my clothes. “It’s not my fault. I didn’t even know we were going to be digging today. This outfit is perfectly acceptable for harvesting microgreens in the greenhouse.”

  Ryan flipped up my necklace. “I like this thing. Pompoms? How very preppy.”

  “Preppy?”

  Ryan began to dig. “Yeah, I like preppy. Where’d you get it? I want one.”

  Twirling the necklace with my finger, a giggle escaped from my lips. “You can’t buy this anywhere. I made it myself.”

  Ryan stopped digging and shot me an impressed look. “I would never have pegged you as crafty.”

  I shot back. “I would have never have pegged you to be into urban agricultural projects.”

  Ryan set the shovel down. “I’m heating up from this digging.” He slipped his shirt off over his head. His bare chest and corded abs took me off guard. He dangled the shirt in front of me. “Do you mind?”

  With my mouth open, I took his shirt from him. It felt warm from just being on his rock hard body. I quickly draped it over a bright red tool box, wanting to get rid of it and hold it close to me, all at the same time.

  He went back to shoveling dirt “Thanks! What were you saying?”

  My mind went blank. Ryan was so incredibly sexy, shoveling dirt. Pulling myself together, I refocused. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

  Ryan looked up. “What do you mean? I’m shoveling.” He pointed at me. “That’s more than I can say you’re doing.”

  That was it! I rolled up the bell sleeves and safely tucked in my necklace into my shirt. I reached for the shovel. “We’re taking turns. I can’t have you dig this all by yourself and then later take all the credit.”

  Ryan wouldn’t let go of the shovel. We played a mini tug of war. Nodding toward my shoes, he said, “What about your shoes? Tory Burch’s? Wouldn’t want to muss them up, would we?”

  I looked down at my shoes, not letting go of the shovel. “They’re fake. So, it doesn’t matter.”

  Ryan smiled, holding onto the shovel. He really did have a nice smile. The sexiest I’d ever seen, even if he was arrogant. After a few moments of grappling with the shovel, he let go, letting me have it. “We’ll take turns,” he offered.

  As I started to shovel, memories of when I started ECO Club came back to me. I was so proud of the work I’d managed to do with that club. One day, I wanted to live on a self-sustainable farm of my very own.

  Ryan interrupted my reverie. “I’m going to grab us some waters.”

  “Thanks.” I watched as he jogged over to the cooler. He bent over to lift the cooler lid. His ass looked fantastic in his dark grey workout pants. He was dressed appropriately for today, unlike me, I had to give him that. He was kind of funny too, in a jackass kind of way.

  Ryan turned back with two bottles of water. Abruptly, I got back to digging, hoping he hadn’t seen me swooning over his backside. “You look like you’ve shoveled before,” he said, eyeing my work.

  I took a water bottle from him, nodding. “I’ve worked on a farm or two in my day.” I opened the bottle and took a nice cold sip.

  “Impressive. You wanna switch?” he asked after he gulped down some water.

  “Sure.” I handed him the shovel and our hands momentarily touched. The warmth of his hand thrilled me. My heart thumped hard in my chest.

  He took the shovel from me, picking up where I had left off. “I say we dig for another fifteen minutes and then take off. Liz said we don’t have to get it done all today. And we are going to be here bright and early Sunday morning anyway.”

  He had a point, but I was a little disappointed our mini hanging out session would soon be over. “Okay. That sounds good.” On Sunday, I’d be sure to have appropriate clothing I wouldn’t mind getting dirty.

  Trying not to stare as Ryan shoveled, his muscular arms flexing and extending marvelously, I twisted the bottle cap off and on over and over again to give myself something to fidget with. Sweat dripped down from his neck to his chest. I couldn’t take it.

  “My turn!” I said, maybe too suddenly. I grabbed the shovel from him. This time I made sure to reach for where his hands weren’t gripping the handle. The sensation of his hand touching mine was distracting. I was here to build a sustainable green space for this community, not drool all over this baseball player.

  He crossed his arms, watching me. “You know what? I’m getting kinda hungry.” He looked at his watch. “Do you mind if we stop somewhere to eat before I take you back to campus?”

  OMG! Was he asking me out again?

  He slipped his shirt back on. “I wouldn’t ask you to come with me, but it would be a waste to take you all the way to Boyd Hall and then drive back the other way just to grab something to eat.”

  My eyes narrowed. “How do you know I live in Boyd Hall?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t. It was just a guess. You’re a freshman, right?”

  “Ya,” I said pouring dirt onto the pile we’d made.

  He tilted his head up to look at the sky. Ignoring my inquiry, he asked, “You ready? I could really go for some steak.”

  Ryan drove us to downtown in a brand new Lexus. I'd never been in such a new and fancy car before. The seats were leather and felt soft and smooth to touch. Inadvertently, I petted my seat, in awe of its posh touch.

  When we parked at Stroubes Steakhouse, I balked. “This is where you want to get a quick bite to eat?” Stroubes was an expensive restaurant. There was no way I could afford it.

  “Don’t worry. My treat.” He popped the trunk and got out of the car.

  In the side mirror, I saw he was changing his clothes in the parking lot. He took his shirt off again. God help me. If he kept doing that, I was going to stroke out. He buttoned a crisp
light blue shirt on over his bare torso.

  I got out of the car. “What are you doing?” Did he always have to make a spectacle of himself?

  He looked around, buttoning the last button left. “Changing.”

  I was speechless. He slipped off his Lululemon workout pants. I caught a glimpse of his purple boxer briefs before turning away and putting my hand up to block my view. I saw the outline of his hefty bulge, exciting me more than I liked and mortifying me to no end.

  He laughed. “Being on the baseball team and traveling for games, especially exhausting double headers, I’m used to changing in parking lots, fields, rest stop bathrooms... Basically, anywhere.”

  I kept looking away, even though I desperately wanted to peek. Shamefully, I thought: he wasn’t even hard. I shuddered excitedly. How big was it when it was?

  “You done?” I asked, in an affected annoyed tone.

  I was not annoyed. I wanted to see more, but I could barely admit it to myself.

  “Almost. One sec.” I heard shuffling and then the trunk slammed shut.

  I looked up. He looked breathtakingly handsome. He even had on a tie. “Not bad,” I said quietly.

  He cocked his head and flashed me a smile, patting down his tie. “Thanks.” He walked toward the restaurant entrance. “You’re going to love this place. My cousin, Alex, insists we eat here when he visits.”

  Seeing Ryan dressed so nicely, I suddenly felt terribly underdressed. I cringed at my skinny jeans and fake Tory Burch shoes. “What about my outfit?”

  Ryan looked me up and down. “You look great. Come on.” He reached for my hand, and I took it.

  Chapter 6

  Ryan

  When we walked into Stroubes, the hostess recognized me right away. Her name was Tracy or Tasha. Something like that. She was always syrupy sweet on me whenever I came to the restaurant. The typical kind of girl who was always on my jock. “Good evening, Mr. Romero. Good to see you.”

  I leaned into the hostess stand. “Thank you. Good to be here.” Looking around, I asked, “Mark and Ross, here?”