Fair Catch (Love and Sports Series)

by Meghan Quinn

  Parker took a second to think about her question. Margo tried to ignore how sexy he looked while pondering his thoughts. She was still extremely attracted to him but knew their physical paths would never cross. They were strictly in the friendship zone which over break she came to terms with. Working at the shelter opened her eyes to a whole new world. Petty things like crushes and long legged blondes seemed so juvenile compared to the thousands of animals that needed help in the area. She found a place to be a part of, something that was bigger than her. She had never felt so good in her life. Especially after the rumored semester she had just lived through.

  Parker interrupted her thoughts. “I truly don’t think Jake is like that. He supports Lexi, you can tell. I think Lexi is terrified about graduation and is taking the easy way out by tagging along with Jake.”

  Margo concurred with his statement. Lexi was panicking about graduation and what to do with her life, but Margo never thought she would see her independent friend saddle up with a guy and live his life, not her own. It was so strange.

  “What should we do?” She asked Parker.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think there is much that we can do. If we push her on the subject its very unlikely that we will change her mind and she will only grow to resent us. I think we need to just sit back and watch her make her own mistakes. And hey, you never know, this might be the best thing that ever happened to her.”

  Margo finished her drink and Parker took her trash from her. “Thanks. I just wish she had a back-up plan you know. I wish she had something for herself because I’m afraid once Jake starts traveling and she realizes how lonely life is going to be, she is going to lose her mind and Lord knows that’s never good.”

  They walked out of the coffee house and toward the parking lot where their respective cars were parked. Margo felt his arm around her shoulder, a friendly gesture, something he always did with her and Lexi. His arm felt so strong and so protective, she was going to miss him, terribly.

  When they got to Margo’s car, Parker turned toward her. “I’ve missed this, you know.”

  “Missed what?”

  “Our friendship. Last semester seemed like we really drifted apart.”

  Margo felt guilty, that was her fault but she also blamed the leggy blonde basketball player. “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  Yea, go out with the blonde bitch from hell, Margo wanted to say but she refrained from letting the words loose from her mouth. “No, it was all me but I’m over it.”

  “Do I get to know what it was?”

  Margo felt herself turn beat red. Parker nudged her shoulder and egged her on.

  “Fine, you might not want to hear this but I had a crazy idea that we would…you know be something of a fling.”

  Margo watched pure and utter shock cross his face. She didn’t think she would catch him so off guard. She thought he picked up a little on her slight flirting but according to the look he was giving her, he picked up on no such thing.

  “Jeeze, don’t look so shocked. I’m not a cow or anything.”

  Parker smiled and shook his head. Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand he looked down at her still with astonishment. “You are definitely not a cow. I just, wow. I guess I never knew.”

  He just stared at her making her uncomfortable so she decided to make her escape before things turned even worse.

  “Well, that is over now so no worries.” She gave him a quick hug and got into her car. She pulled out into the road and watched him stare her down in her review mirror. She tried not to recall the look he gave her when she announced her most embarrassing declaration. What was she thinking? What he must think of her. Oh well she thought, that didn’t matter anymore. She had more important things to focus on and they had four legs, not two and the potential to be a major league baseball player.

  Chapter 13

  “Stop fidgeting babe, you look amazing.”

  Lexi tried to smooth out the blue dress she wore the first time she ever went out with Jake. She didn’t want to wear it because it was full of bad memories plus she already worn it to a fancy occasion of Jake’s. She didn’t want to double dip her clothing but Jake insisted she wear it again. He pointed out the fact that he didn’t get to take full advantage of the slit the first time she wore it.

  Things had been a whirlwind for them. Jake led the football team to another championship season, winning the final game by two touchdowns. Jake was able to score field passes for Lexi, Margo and Parker which made Parker’s life he said. Lexi had never seen him so excited before when she held the passes in front of his face.

  Lexi was so beyond proud of Jake and his accomplishments. After the game he talked about how it felt so nostalgic to be done with his last college game. He stayed on the field for a while after their last game soaking in the sights and smells of the stadium he said he grew up on. Lexi sat next to him while he laid on the grass and looked up to the stars. She thought about how her last game was going to feel and how she wouldn’t be able to keep it together as much as Jake was. Then again, he had a future in his sport and she didn’t.

  After the game, Jake was named MVP, which was no big surprise, he deserved it. He brought his team a championship trophy for three years in a row. It wasn’t the perfect season he wanted but it was perfect enough in his eyes he told her. The school newspaper had a field day covering the games and Jake’s success. They approached Lexi and Jake about doing a piece about them and their relationship. Lexi didn’t really want to participate but Jake was so excited she couldn’t let him down.

  They were depicted in the newspaper as the king and queen of campus. It was all rather embarrassing for Lexi, all the attention was something she was not used to but it wasn’t a deal breaker when it came to her relationship with Jake. After the football season was over, Lexi found herself squeezing in parties and social gatherings they were invited to by either professors or alumni. She didn’t know Jake’s life was so political but she stood by his side at every event she could manage to attend given her busy upcoming schedule.

  She made sure all the outings didn’t interfere with her playing and school, she told Jake if she felt herself start to slip she would have to skip some occasions. She only missed one of Jake’s events which was impressive she thought.

  When she was at the different outings, she made sure to put on a bright smile, make friendly chit chat and stand by her man who she was so incredibly proud of. She didn’t think she could actually feel such pride for another human but she did. When she watched Jake talk to people and sign autographs, she thought about how proud and lucky she was to be in his life.

  Now they were at, hopefully, their last outing of the season, the end of the year football banquet. She wasn’t into the heavy part of her season yet so squeezing the night in wasn’t too difficult.

  Life was so much more enjoyable now that they spent equal time at each other’s places. They would wake up in the morning at whoever’s apartment they were at, workout together and then grab a smoothie from Jamba Juice. Being with Jake became routine, it became so right. She helped him train and get ready for the Scouting Combine that was taking place in February and he helped her prepare for her upcoming season. They mainly focused on Jake’s training though because if he had a good showing at the Combine it was a fast track ticket into the NFL which was Jake’s dream and now Lexi’s.

  She fixed her dress and looked up at Jake. He was wearing a slate grey suite, navy blue shirt to go with her dress and a black tie. He looked so sharp and sexy, Lexi almost felt inferior to be with him. He smiled down at her and offered his arm for her to hold on.

  “Come on, I want to show off my hot girlfriend to everyone.”

  “Are you sure I should have worn this dress?”

  “Positive. You look sexy as hell. I have to keep my eyes away from looking at your slit or I might have an embarrassing problem when I receive my award.”

  Lexi giggled and pl
aced a kiss on his cheek. “I’m so proud of you, you know.”

  “I know, babe. Thank you. Let’s have some fun tonight.”

  Lexi agreed and let him walk her into the ballroom where their banquet was being held. The room looked magnificent and it was hard for Lexi not to look around with her mouth open. She was amazed at how much the school and alumni spent on such events like the end of the year football banquet. Her softball banquet at the end of the year was in the gym and there was pizza to eat for food. Not your choice of steak or salmon.

  Luckily their seats were at the same table as Mason and Brooke who looked fantastic as always.

  “Lexi! Wow you look fabulous.” Brook said while placing a kiss on her cheek.

  Lexi looked Brooke up and down and said, “So do you, I envy your long legs.” Brooke was wearing a short dress that made her legs look a mile long.

  Jake squeezed her waist and whispered in her ear. “I love your legs, short stack.”

  Lexi rolled her eyes at him and sat down next to Brooke to catch up. They talked about the championship game of course and how amazing it was as well as Brooke’s vacation she took with Mason over break. For Christmas he got them tickets to go to Cancun. Lexi was instantly jealous but then thought about the beach house and the little world she was in with Jake during winter break. They stayed in town, trained and then spent a weekend the beach house. It wasn’t elaborate but Lexi couldn’t have imagined doing anything else with the man she loved. As long as they were together, that was all that mattered to her.

  The night seemed like it was going rather quickly. The speeches from the alumni were boring as sin but thankfully Lexi made it through them. After going to multiple events with Jake, Lexi decided if she was ever asked to give a speech at a banquet she would make sure to be lively in her dialogue and make the speech relevant to what the event was about. The speeches she listened to were retched and usually about what the speaker accomplished in their life and had nothing to do about why they were gathered.

  Finally, it was time to hand out the award for Most Valuable Player. Lexi squeezed Jake’s leg under the table and when they called him up to receive his award, he gave her a kiss on the lips and walked up to the podium. Lexi was amazed by how graceful and gracious he looked up at the podium. The speech he gave was wonderful, reflecting over his past three years and how he didn’t get to where he was today by himself. Lexi felt herself start to tear up but gained control of her emotions before embarrassing herself.

  So many people loved Jake and she couldn’t blame them. He so easily was able to capture someone’s heart, even when they wanted nothing to do with him. It was impressive to watch and she knew that he would go on to capture many more hearts in his future.

  The awards were over but Jake stayed up on the stage to take pictures with random people. It was his duty so Lexi didn’t think much of it. Instead, she applied some more lip gloss and watched her man in action.

  “Lexi, right?”

  “Lexi looked up and saw Professor Lyon.” She felt embarrassed because the last time she spoke to him was when she was retrieving her cell phone from his office, thanks to Jake. She inwardly smiled about that day. She was so furious with Jake but little did she know it was probably one of the moments that made her fall in love with him.

  “Yes. Hello Professor Lyon. How are you tonight?”

  “I’m great, what a nice ceremony.” Lexi nodded in agreement. “I’m glad to see you two are still together. He is a good guy.”

  Lexi watched Jake and agreed with her former professor. “Yes, he really is. So what brings you here tonight?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Good friend of the coach, big supporter of the team. I also do some media coverage occasionally.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, just on occasion. Say, I was looking at some random DVD’s trying to clear out my office and I ran across your audition tape.”

  A shade of crimson red ran from her toes to her head. She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry you had to be subjected to that hideous recording.”

  Professor Lyon looked shock. “Hideous? I thought it was great.”

  “Are we talking about the same audition tape?”

  He thought about it for a second and then nodded his head. “Yes, you were interviewing Parker Hill on the baseball team. I thought it was great.”

  She laughed. “Well thanks I guess. It was just for the project for your class.”

  “Well you should consider sending it out to different stations.”

  She waved her hand in dismissal. “No, but thank you. I don’t think that’s what I want to do.”

  “What do you want to do?” He asked with a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Lexi wanted to groan out loud and slam her head against the table. She always got the dreaded question, “What do you want to do?” If she knew what she would tell everyone she would but she had absolutely no clue. All her friends knew what they were doing, except Lexi and for the first time in her life, she actually was ashamed of herself. She felt so lost when it came to thinking about graduating except when she was in Jake’s arms. When she was with Jake she saw a future, she saw herself not alone and lost in the world. She had a place with Jake. But did he have a place for her? The thought made her break out into a cold sweat.

  She shrugged. “Not sure.”

  He patted her shoulder. “Well you better figure something out. What are you going to do when Jake gets drafted? Follow him around?”

  That was the plan but she never really voiced it to Jake. Holy crap, what if he didn’t want to be with her? What was she going to do? She all of sudden got an extremely sick feeling in her stomach. What if he was drafted to a team far away from San Diego? Would he ask her to go with him? She just always assumed they would be in San Diego together, or go away together wherever he was drafted. How naïve of her to think. The comfort she was feeling a few minutes ago vanished and in its place was dread and panic.

  “I guess I don’t know.”

  “A pretty, smart girl like yourself will land on her feet. Just make sure you do something for yourself and don’t get lost in Jake’s shadow.” With those words of advice he patted her shoulder again and got up from the table.

  Get lost in Jake’s shadow? She wasn’t doing that, was she? She was merely standing by his side like any girlfriend would do, right?

  She looked over at Jake and made eye contact with him. He smiled at her and winked, sending chills up her spine. What if when he was drafted he left her? What would she do then? Her future she was relying on would be completely gone leaving her to have to return to her abusive home.

  Completely devastated, she spent the rest of the night sitting at the table alone while Jake took pictures with people. Girls were hanging all over him, caressing his chest and pressing themselves against him. Lexi didn’t care for the multiple sluts that were at the banquet especially since everyone knew her and Jake were an item. It was a scary thing to watch from a distance how Jake reacted to their come-ons. He just smiled, put an arm round them and took a picture. By the time the event was over Lexi was feeling neglected, angry, and full of panic for her future, a lethal combination.

  ***

  Jake knew Lexi was upset with him, if her silence in the car wasn’t any indication she was mad then her blatant attempt to not hold his hand on the way home was. He just didn’t know what was bothering her. He thought they had a nice night. They danced, kissed and celebrated a great season. Yes, toward the end he had to take a lot of pictures but he warned her of that happening.

  They pulled up to her apartment and she practically sprinted out of his Jeep. He turned off his car and quickly followed Lexi into her apartment before she could slam the door on his face. She stormed into her bedroom and he followed every mad step of hers.

  “Do you mind telling me what’s wrong or are you going to act like a child all night?”

  She turned around and glared at him. If l
ooks could kill she just obliterated him.

  “Excuse me?” The way she said the two words was almost frightening. He never knew Lexi could speak with such malice in her voice.

  He didn’t want to blow up whatever it was that was bothering her any more than he already did so he used a more even tone in his voice. “I just want to know what’s going on. You were so quiet all the way home and wouldn’t hold my hand.”

  “Do you enjoy embarrassing me, Jake?” She unzipped her dress, tore it off and tossed it on the ground. She was wearing a strapless bra that framed her breasts in the most exquisite way possible and she had a matching thong to go with it. Jake had to remind himself to focus on what they were talking about, not the amazingly hot girl standing right in front of him. He took off his jacket, tie and shirt since things were getting heated up.

  “How did I embarrass you?”

  She got in his face and poked his chest. “How do you think I felt watching girls throw themselves at you tonight and you not even bother to shake them off?”

  Jake rolled his eyes. “Oh come on Lex, are we seriously back to this?”

  “Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me.”

  She went to push him but he stopped her with his hands. “How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t care about the other girls?”

  “It sure didn’t seem like it. While you were laughing it up with the female population, I was sitting alone at our table, once again.”

  “What was I supposed to do? Ignore all of them? That would have been rude.”

  “Oh but it’s ok to ignore your date? You’re an ass.”

  She stalked off to her bathroom and started undoing her hair. He watched as her blonde locks fell past her shoulders and framed her face.

  “How could you even think I would be interested in anyone else? Look at you.”

  She looked in the mirror and then at him. “You’re right. Look at me.” Jake took the free moment she gave him to thoroughly check her out and what he saw only made him hard and wanting. “I could get any guy I wanted and for some odd reason I choose to stick with an inconsiderate prick.”