Jocked Up: Sports Romance (A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance)

by Summer Cooper

  “Suit yourself, I’ll get him here anyway. You’re just a bonus prize.”

  Shepherd kept his eyes on me as he dialed Lee’s number. No one said a word. All was silent as we waited for him to pick up. And then suddenly ringing was coming from somewhere else, from somewhere behind me.

  The other men apparently noticed it too and then I saw Shepherd’s eyes widen as he stared at something past my shoulders.

  “What happened Shepherd, you didn’t want to invite me to your party? I’m sorry for crashing it. But look you’re calling me, aren’t you?” Lee said stepping into my line of vision just to the left side of me, looking down at his phone and smiling broadly. The smile didn’t look humorous. It looked deadly. “I’m sure you’re calling to offer me an invitation. So nice of you. I don’t feel as left out anymore.” Lee concluded, sounding nonchalant and cold.

  “You’re one stupid dude for showing up here,” Vicki said, suddenly feeling tough.

  “You really think I’m the stupid one?” Lee said softly.

  Shepherd slowly raised his hand and pointed his gun at Lee. “Your kid sister is going to be so sad. First her dear mommy and now her little brother. I feel so sorry for her. Hey, who knows? Maybe if she ends up in foster care, I’ll adopt her and bring her into the fold.” Shepherd said with a sick smile on his face.

  “I’ll drag you to hell with me before I let you get within a foot of my sister,” Lee said, his voice so full of conviction that I could easily imagine Satan himself stepping out of Lee’s way to let him take care of unfinished business.

  “Then hell it is,” Shepherd said and then I heard it. The roar of motorcycles approaching and from the sound of it, there had to be hundreds of them.

  “Do you know whose territory you’re on, Shepherd?”

  Shepherd looked confused for a second, “Shit,” he mumbled as he looked from Lee to Vicki who was now looking afraid, not nearly as cocky as a second ago.

  “You can kill me and Angelica, but you know if I don’t walk out of this building alive, as soon as you do, you’ll end up a living target. Now think about it. Do you want to leave alive or do you want to die?”

  “Let’s get out of here, Shep,” Vicki said nervously licking at his lips.

  “Shut up, Vicki!” Shepherd yelled clearly frustrated and not knowing what to do. The vein on his neck bulged and he looked torn.

  “I’ll be back for you, Lee.” He said turning away and walking towards the exit doors with his crew. Vicki scampered behind him.

  “No. I don’t think so,” Lee said softly watching them leave.

  When they were gone, I sighed and said, “Think you can untie me now?”

  Lee turned towards me, took a knife out of his back pocket and cut me loose. I lowered my hands and was about to express my gratitude when someone burst through the backdoor.

  “Lee! You in here, buddy? You okay?”

  The man looked from me to Lee and then back at Lee again.

  “Who’s this?”

  “Angelica. This is Quentin. Quentin this is Angelica. Quentin helped me get out of the gang years ago.”

  “Shhh…not so loud,” Quentin said looking around. He was almost the same age as Shepherd, but while Shepherd was lanky and looked emaciated, Quentin was built like a bear.

  “I saw Shepherd practically run out of here like he saw a ghost or something. They hoped on their bikes and rode out of here so fast that my men were disappointed. I promised them there would be some action.”

  “Tell the boys I’m sorry, but thanks for looking out.”

  “We got your back, Lee. You might be out of the gang, but we’re still your brothers. Oh and I don’t think Shepherd will be bothering you again. It seems he’s wanted on a murder charge back in Alabama and someone happily told the police where he could be found. Something tells me poor little Vicki’s going to be holding on to his big brother from a jail cell.” Quentin gave a chuckle and then just like that he left.

  “Your old gang?” I said when he was gone.

  “Yeah.”

  I was silent for a moment, “Thanks for coming for me.”

  “I heard what you said back there. You’re definitely not a coward.”

  “I might be a lot of things, but coward isn’t one of them.”

  “Shepherd would have killed you.”

  “I wasn’t going to let him use me to go after you. Avani needs you.”

  Lee’s jaw tightened and he nodded, studying me carefully, his eyes grave.

  “I’m sorry for getting you into this. Avani was skipping school again and saw them dragging you out. She called me and I –.” He shook his head, seemingly at a loss for words.

  “This is why I don’t do emotional times. My world is dangerous. It sickens me that they took you. It sickens me to think of what they would have done to you if Avani hadn’t seen them take you.”

  I didn’t say anything, I just stared down at my hands, trying to find the words that I felt would reach pass Lee’s stubbornness and pride. He had this need to protect me, but I didn’t need to be protected, at least not from him.

  “My life was endangered. That’s your fault.”

  He closed his eyes briefly and then nodded in resignation, turning away from me.

  “But you also risked your life to save mine. If anything, I would say that we’re even.”

  Lee slowly turned back around towards me. “Even after all this you still want something to do with me?”

  “Call me crazy, but I have a thing for dangerous men who are strong enough to turn their lives around.”

  He walked slowly back to me and held my eyes, as he buried one of his hands in my hair. “I wanted to kill them all for taking you.”

  “And I would have let you.” I said dead serious.

  “I think that makes both of us very dangerous people.”

  I smiled at him as I nodded slowly, “We might as well be together, after all, who else would want to take us?”

  He laughed, “You have a point. So were you scared? At all?”

  “That they were going to kill us?”

  “Yes.”

  “No. I knew once you arrived that there was no way you were going to let that happen.”

  “You have too much faith in me.”

  “If you can’t trust the man you’re falling for, then who can you trust?” I said simply.

  “Falling for, huh?” Lee said, a smile now curving his lips. His brown eyes searched mine and then he abruptly lowered his head and gave me a hard kiss on the lips.

  “Are you sure you want to be mine?” He said when he finally pulled away for air.

  “I don’t know. Kiss me again like that or I might just change my mind.” He lowered his mouth back down to mine, happy to oblige.

  The End

  Dominick - The Hunted Wolf

  Werewolf Shifter Romance

  Chapter One

  When I moved to New York, everyone was so busy telling me to watch out for the rich Wall Street guys that no one remembered to warn me about werewolves. And I’ve met a few Wall Street guys now—they’re definitely the less dangerous of the two. I mean, maybe some of them are going to be like that one movie with the guy cutting people to bits, but mostly they just have really nice suits and they expect you to sleep with them because they have a Mercedes. Annoying at worst. Werewolves, on the other hand…they can cut you in half with one swipe, their teeth are serrated, and they move fast.

  But let’s be honest: even if anyone, literally anyone, had thought to say to me, Alicia, don’t get mixed up with werewolves, I wouldn’t have listened. Mostly that would have been because I didn’t think werewolves existed, but the other thing about werewolves, the thing I didn’t mention earlier? Werewolves are hot.

  I didn’t know Dominick Green was a werewolf to start with, though. I didn’t know anything other than that he was over in the corner of the bar looking like the hero in some action film, with a shirt that might have been painted on. Those pecs. The point is, the
moment I saw him, I wanted to touch him, and before I even had a chance to think he was out of my league, I was up and walking over to his booth.

  To be honest, I don’t even remember getting up. I was walking towards him, knowing my heels made my legs look miles long and my tank top was the perfect mix of innocent and sexy, and he looked up when I was halfway across the room, like he could see me watching him. His eyes were black, and when I tell people this, they think I mean really dark brown. I don’t. I mean black. I couldn’t see any hint of pupils, and it should have been unsettling, but those eyes were set up above cheekbones to die for, his jaw looked sharp enough to cut glass, and his nose had just the slightest bit of a bump to it, like maybe he’d been in a fight at some point. Yum.

  Even better, I could tell he liked what he saw. His eyes skimmed appreciatively over my light brown hair, done up in a messy French braid, across my lips, soft and pink, and then down over the curves I was showing off shamelessly. To be honest, this was dressed down for me—first thing I did when I got to New York was get a job as a cocktail waitress. It means I get to sleep in every morning, but on the flip side, every day I’m shimmying into something black and slinky, blowing my hair out, and putting on a ton of makeup. I tell you, the bar is set higher for cocktail waitresses in New York than it is in Nowheresville, Oregon. Maybe someone should have warned me about that one, too; I think I’ve spent half the money I’ve made so far on more clothes.

  Point was, eyeliner and lip balm and a white tank top were about as dressed down as I ever got anymore. I felt comfortable and cute as hell as I slid into the booth with him.

  “Do I know you?” he asked, and his voice sent shivers all down my spine.

  “I don’t think so. I just wanted to get to know you.” I took a sip of my beer, mostly to mask the fact that my pulse was pounding. I could see him looking over my body, and weird black eyes or not, I know when a guy has the hots for me.

  “Did you.” Despite himself, he was smiling. “Well, I’m Dominick Green. And you are?”

  Damn. The man had all the manners of someone you’d bring home to meet your parents, and somehow his voice still had me wanting to take him home and straddle him on my couch. Or bed. Hell, on the floor, if he wanted.

  “Alicia Melnick,” I said, because I had just enough presence of mind to remember my own name.

  “So, Alicia.” He leaned forward on the table. “Tell me about you.”

  That smile was still in place, and I tried to keep myself from turning bright red. I think even then, that early, I knew he could hurt me, and hurt me bad—I didn’t think he would, mind you, but it was almost like my brain could see what was hiding there, all sharp teeth and claws. Unfortunately for me, my conscious mind was nowhere near as smart as the rest of me. All I could see was the muscles rippling over his shoulders and down his arms, and the way his dark hair looked so soft I just wanted to run my hands through it, and that smile…

  Damn. That smile. I would have run away with that smile in a second.

  It took me far too long to remember that he’d asked me something.

  “Right. Um.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I just moved here from Oregon.”

  “So that’s the accent.” Everyone else said it with one of those condescending New York faces, but he was teasing. I grinned and blushed, and hid my face by taking another sip of beer.

  “And I kind of wanted to be an actress when I grew up, so I came here to get away from home. Stupid—I don’t even want to be an actress anymore.”

  “What do you do?”

  Of all the people I’d met, he was the first one I was embarrassed to talk to about what I did. Everyone in this city is scraping by, but they like to pretend they’re better because you’re not living the life they want. It’s ridiculous. I just didn’t want Dominick to think so.

  “I’m a waitress.”

  “Why aren’t you at work?” One dark eyebrow lifted conspiratorially. “Are you playing hooky?”

  “First night off in…” I tried to think. “Ugh. Too long. So, what do you do?”

  He paused to consider, and that was the first time I saw it: something cold and remote under the exterior. I’d known from the start that he was quiet, or he’d be up at the bar hitting on someone; hell, any girl here would go home with him. But he had that cowboy look, you know? Down to earth, strong-and-silent. And for just a moment, he looked as New York as one of the Wall Street guys in their suits. It was unnerving. I blinked.

  “I work in security,” he said finally, and I just sort of blinked at him. I mean, I supposed it made sense, but the fact was, he looked really sad when he said it.

  “I, uh….I see.” My beer was gone.

  “Can I get you another?”

  “Yes, please.” Him buying me drinks was good. I never thought good manners could be so sexy. My mother would be pleased; I thought about texting her, and decided not to. There was nothing to tell her, after all. Just that I’d met a nice guy and had a beer with him.

  Later, I’d be glad I hadn’t texted her. I was about to learn just how dangerous a well-mannered man could be.

  But we’ll get to that.

  He was back a moment later, sliding the beer across the table to me. His smile was wide.

  “Enjoy.” He nodded and headed for the door.

  “Wait!”

  “Yes?” He turned back as if he genuinely had no idea why I was asking him to stop.

  “Uh…where are you going?”

  “I have to leave,” he said, as if that was all there was to it.

  “No goodbye?” I was about to get on his case about manners, and he seemed to know it. He pointed.

  “I bought you a beer. It was nice talking with you.” And he turned to go again.

  “Wait a sec.” I slid out of the booth and followed him.

  “I really have to go.” There was just no getting behind those eyes, was there? The fact that this didn’t seem to be a play was surprisingly infuriating. We’d been having this great time and now he was just turning around and leaving, like none of it mattered at all.

  “Well…can I see you again?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. He seemed to have considered the question for longer than it should take. He thought for another moment, and then nodded. “I don’t know,” he repeated. “Is there a problem?”

  “It’s…look, we were having a nice time. Is it something I said?”

  “No,” he said blankly, as if blindsided by this avenue of discussion. He looked at his watched, then out the door, somewhat worriedly. “I have to go. You should stay here. Inside.”

  And he set off.

  The man did not know me very well. I pushed my way out onto the street behind him. His face, when he heard me, was genuinely terrified.

  “Why are you following me?”

  “I’m not following you,” I said contemptuously. “I live in the next building over.” And I’d been about five minutes from inviting him upstairs, but whatever. “Goodnight, Mr. Green.”

  “Get inside,” he said, almost a plea, and I lost it.

  “Yeah, you don’t like me. I get it.”

  “It isn’t that, I just—“

  “Whatever.” I walked away without a backwards glance.

  My shoes got thrown across the room when I got home, which relieved my hurt pride somewhat, and my tank top and skirt followed them. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and went to bed seething. Never mind that all I could seem to think about was that bastard and his sexy, smug smile. He was still making my breath come short and I couldn’t even say why.

  God, everyone had been right about New York men.

  I went to sleep still angry, and the next thing I remember after that was waking up to sunlight, with someone banging on my door like they wanted to bring it down.

  Chapter Two

  “All right, all right, all right, I’m coming!” I tumbled out of bed with a thump, muttering something about Sundays and landlords and stupid men who bought you drinks
and didn’t have the decency to come home with you afterwards. My hair was a mess; it went into one of the worst buns I’ve ever made in my life and I splashed some water over my face, trying to wash away mascara and eyeliner.

  These people really wanted to piss everyone in the building off, though. They didn’t stop pounding on the door until I wrapped my bathrobe around me and wrenched the door open.

  “What? It’s eight in the morning, you—”

  They knew exactly what time it was. More to the point, I got the sense they didn’t care at all. They practically knocked me over to get into my apartment. All three of them were tall, at least 6’2”, and they walked into my apartment like they owned the place, looking all around themselves like they were going to try to catch me selling drugs. My eyes went to their waists to see if they were carrying guns. Were they undercover cops? Were they going to accuse me of something?

  No to the first one, but as it turned out, yes to the second.

  “Where the hell is he?” one of them demanded. “Where’s he staying?”

  “Wrong apartment.” I was scared out of my mind, but they didn’t need to know that. I crossed my arms, threw one hip out, and did my best New Yorker impression. “So get the hell out before I call the cops.”

  “Listen, lady.” This guy seemed to be their ringleader. He pushed me up against the wall and I squeaked before I could stop myself. “Where the hell is he? We know you saw him last night. You think you can hide him?”

  “I don’t…” His forearm was pressing against my windpipe, and spots were appearing in front of my eyes.

  I was genuinely terrified. Everything my mother had warned me about came rushing back: home intruders, robbers, murderers, rapists. They’d nearly beaten down my door and here I was with three of them in the apartment, and I couldn’t even fight one of them off.

  If there was any comfort, it was that the other two didn’t seem to be piling on. No one wanted to rip my pajamas off. In fact, neither of them were even checking me out at all. I gave them all a once over. They had the same look as Dominick, frankly, like maybe they boxed with bears in their spare time or something. Like someone had plucked a cowboy right out of Montana, put him in J Crew and sent him strutting around New York City. It was hot, but not particularly comforting when one of them was trying to choke me and the other two seemed interested neither in me nor in stopping him.