by Joanna Blake
For the first time I understood what the 'walk of shame' meant.
I hit the pavement running, ignoring my embarrassment. It was a brisk evening, the air cooling my warm face. I now had nine minutes to make the bus. I turned the corner and could see the stop just outside campus.
Oh no!
I panicked as I stared at the bus stop in horror. The bus was already there. For once, the bus was actually early!
With a burst of superhuman strength born 100% from panic, I ran faster than I'd ever run before. If I'd been thinking clearly I would have been proud of myself. I had been on the track team in high school, before my boobs got too big to make it comfortable.
Running my butt off with no bra. Not to mention I was wearing these strappy platform shoes. Never again, Belinda!
I screeched to a halt, nearly passing the bus entirely. The doors began to close. In slow motion I practically threw myself towards them and-
Squeezed through.
I smiled at the driver and flashed my pass. I tried to act normal, as if I hadn't just slid through the doors in the nick of time. I must have looked crazy, judging from the odd look the driver gave me. But I didn't care. I'd made it.
I sank into a seat and contemplated the mess I'd made of everything.
Losing my virginity wasn't so bad.
I'd wanted experience and I'd gotten it. For a long time I'd felt like a freak, the only virgin I knew. It was well past time I fooled around with a boy. But I'd been careless, assuming he would take care of birth control.
Kyle had me so turned on that I hadn't thought about anything, let alone playing it safe. One look from those hard blue eyes and I'd melted. I thought back over the evening, cringing. I hadn't said no to one thing he'd asked from the moment I met him.
Sure, maybe I was getting back at my dad a little bit. I was starting to get tired of the rules. Some rules were fine. My dad just had too many.
But it was more than that. Kyle was seductively dangerous. To me anyway. Not to my body. He'd been gentle and caring. No, he was dangerous to my peace of mind.
I sunk down into the seat. I just hoped I didn't run into him again on campus. If I saw him, I would just walk the other way. He didn't have my number or anything. I couldn't repeat my stupid mistakes. And I knew it would be even harder to resist him the next time. The farther I stayed away, the better.
And if I did see him and couldn't avoid talking to him, well, he'd learn that I had a cold side.
Cold, hard and tough.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Who was I kidding? I was a softy. Stupid. Naive. That's how I'd ended up in this mess!
I hopped off the bus at my stop and ran the five blocks home, painfully aware of my pantiless state the whole way. I exhaled sharply with relief as I turned the corner. Dad's car wasn't in the driveway. Once again, I'd made it by the skin of my teeth.
I came in through the back and headed straight to the bathroom to shower. I wanted his smell off of me. His come. Then I could forget this mess, go back to my normal life as boring good girl. What had he called me? A goody two-shoes. That's right. That's all I wanted to be. Instead, I was sticky and getting stickier by the minute. Maybe I could just forget the whole thing. It would be easier without the physical evidence.
"Bellie? That you?"
"Yeah mom!"
"You didn't come home right away."
"Sorry, I ate on campus. I was working."
"Alright dear. Well, do come say goodnight after your shower."
"I will."
I exhaled and climbed under the pulsing jets. The hot water calmed me, making me feel clean again. I could still feel him though. The way his body had felt against me. His hands. His mouth...
Especially his mouth.
I stayed under the water much longer than usual. Finally, I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I pulled out my phone and texted the only person in the world who wouldn't judge me right now.
Betsy.
We'd met at an academic summer camp in junior high school. Two weeks of nerdy preteens on a college campus in the Northeast. She was the opposite of me: disorganized, funny, bohemian, maybe even a little bit zany.
Not like me, the 'other B.' My feet were firmly on the ground and had been since the day I was born. But for some reason, we'd become tighter than sisters. And we'd stayed that way ever since. I guess opposites really did attract.
It was too bad she lived on the other side of the country.
It was late here, and even later there. But I knew she'd be up. Betsy didn't believe in 'assigned sleep schedules.' She slept when she wanted, where she wanted and with whoever she wanted.
Usually that meant from dawn to around noon.
Bets I'm freaking out
Why
I did it
You did what?
:/
Wait- you did IT????
Yes
Who's the lucky guy?
I just met him
He must be impressive
He was
When are you seeing him again?
How about never? It was a mistake.
Good sex is never a mistake
This time it was
Did you come???
I blushed and typed 'yes.' Then I counted and typed 'three times.'
HELLO! That does not sound like a mistake! Is he intellectually stimulating? Soulful? Honest?
Actually I don't know
Doesn't matter. He could just be your plumber.
Plumber?
Every girl needs a good plumber. You know, the guy you call when you have to clean the pipes
I sent her a gif of a bunny falling over. A minute later my phone pinged. She had sent me a gif of bunnies humping.
I laughed and said goodnight. Talking to 'the other B' always made me feel better. Even under the circumstances.
That night I slept deeper than I had in a long time.
But I dreamt about him.
Chapter Four
Kyle
I waited my turn to hit the bag. I was running drills with the team. I was damn lucky the coach had even let me on the field. It was a winning team and there were legions of guys who wanted to play for it.
But he had let me try out, and now I was making the most of it.
He'd told me he didn't have room. He'd told me the bar was high. He'd told me I didn't have a snowballs chance in hell. I'd been polite, but persistent.
And now I was determined to prove him wrong.
I had more than the usual fire in the belly, too. I was pissed off. I was angry. I was hungry.
Because of her.
The gorgeous redhead who had blown my mind last week had disappeared without a trace. Gone. Poof.
All I had left were her cute little cotton panties. I'd been sniffing them for days. I fucking slept with them.
I'd thought I'd had a girlfriend. She had just wanted a one-night stand. That was weird, considering she'd been a virgin. But apparently, that's all she wanted from me.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
I had looked everywhere, even asking around. I asked at the pizza place. I'd even gone back to the rib joint. Nothing. Nada.
No one knew her.
But I wasn't giving up yet. I would track her down. And when I did, she was going to pay the piper.
My cock.
How many swimsuit model beautiful redheads could there be on campus anyway? I would find her. And when I did, there would be a reckoning of biblical proportions.
Nobody walked out on me. Nobody. She owed me an explanation if nothing else.
And I wanted her in my bed again. As soon as possible. Oh yeah, little Miss Priss was definitely fueling my fire on the field.
Coach was staring at me as I walked to the back of the line again. He nodded slightly and I felt a rush of pride. He had noticed I was doing well.
It was my third day of a week long tryout. Each day he tried to wear me down, giving me extra laps until I was ready to puke. Ea
ch day I half expected him to cut me. But he didn't.
We did more laps and then he put us into teams for practice play.
To my surprise, he put me on as quarterback for the second string team. I'd signed a waver already so if I was injured, it wasn't the school's fault. I wasn't worried about that though. It was the other guys who better watch out.
I just wanted to win.
I huddled with my team and called out a play. I'd done my homework before coming here. And I'd hung on the coach's every word.
I made eye contact with all the guys. They barely knew me, but when they met my eyes, I saw the beginnings of respect. We broke and took our positions.
And took half the field before the first string team brought us down.
They looked pissed as we began again.
This time the guys on my side were looking at me with a hell of a lot more respect. It was a little bit of hope. Sure, it might be one big team, but the second stringers definitely wanted to knock the big guys dicks in the dirt once in a while.
So we did.
We scored a touchdown.
The couch ended the skirmish a half an hour later. He pulled me aside as the team started to head into the locker rooms. I knew I wasn't getting cut. But the look on the coach's face was not pleasure.
He looked aggravated.
Actually, from what I could see, he always looked aggravated.
"We have a problem here son. You see, I already have a starter. But you just blew him out of the water."
Coach looked at me.
"Don't repeat that."
"No, sir."
He exhaled. Then he shook his head.
"I can't put you on to start."
He cut me off before I could protest. Not that I was going to. I was a freshman, even though I knew I was good, I didn't expect to start.
"I can not put an untried athlete on to start. But you will get field time. I promise you that. If you keep this up, you will be starting by next year, if not sooner."
He eyed me assessingly.
"I'd like to have you over for dinner, son. I want to get to know the guy whose going to be running my team for the next four years."
I smiled.
"I would be honored, sir."
"Great. Get cleaned up and I will give you a ride."
He slapped my shoulder as we headed into the locker rooms.
"Fair warning though. Don't even think about hitting on my daughter."
"No worries coach, I already have a girl."
It wasn't a lie exactly. I would have a girlfriend soon. Just as soon as I tracked her hot little ass down and gave her a talking to.
Yeah, I had a girl alright.
Belinda was mine.
Belinda
I wiped my hand over my forehead as I stirred the mashed potatoes. There was a smaller pot to the side with a vegan version. Mine was coconut milk and potatoes. Lots of salt. Cream of tartar and onion powder.
The smell of roasting chicken wafted out of the stove beneath me and my mouth watered. I might not eat meat, but I still thought it smelled good sometimes. It was just one of those weird things.
Dad argued that it meant my body craved meat. He never stopped trying to get me to eat it, even though I'd been vegan since I was twelve. Ever since Bets had told me where meat comes from. She'd described the horror of the factory farming process in detail. I'd stopped eating meat and dairy that very day.
It was the one thing I stood my ground on with him.
Every other fight we'd ever had, he'd won.
Like the rule about dating...
I sighed, thinking of Kyle. I had messed up there. Not only had I gone way too fast, but then I'd run out on him. I was sure he hated me. If he even remembered me.
A guy like that, he had to have women coming out of the walls.
As first times went though, I knew I'd been lucky other than the whole birth control oops. He'd shown me things, and given me pleasure. According to Bets, that was less common than you might think. Her last boyfriend Steve had never even cared if she finished. He'd roll over and snore and she'd take care of herself with one of her many 'tools'.
Betsy had a lot of tools.
I blushed, remembering how Kyle had kissed me between my legs. Not even kissing. He'd gone wild, eating me like a wild animal devours its prey.
Only it hadn't hurt.
Not at all...
"You're overheating dear. I can take over. Why don't you set the table."
"Okay mom."
Thankfully she didn't know why my face was red. If she did, she might faint. Her precious little girl, doing all sorts of perverse things with a guy she barely knew. I had to stop thinking about him. I had to.
Get it together Belinda.
"Get an extra setting."
I looked at her over my shoulder.
"Why?"
"Dad's bringing home a new player for dinner."
"New?"
"Yep, a walk-on. Dad says he'd got talent coming out of his ears. A real star."
I heard the car pull in as I was laying out the cutlery. As usual, I spent some time trying to make an ornate napkin fold to lay on the plates. As usual, it seemed to sag in the middle.
It's a good thing I had no interest in waiting tables.
I was in the middle of folding the last setting when the front door opened. I walked up behind mom to greet my father. He expected that. And I didn't mind.
I loved the old man, even if he was a bit of a tyrant.
"Here they are, my ladies."
I smiled at my dad before looking at the guy coming in behind him. My heart started to thud and all the blood rushed out of my head.
"Carol, Belinda, this is my newest player. He's going to surprise the heck out of everybody, just wait and see."
My dad stepped aside and I froze, staring at the young man standing behind him.
At first, his familiar blue eyes looked happy to see me. He had a warm look of promise written all over his face. I almost stepped forward to greet him.
Then something clicked in his eyes. He narrowed them at me and nodded. He looked pissed. He also looked determined. He smiled at me and I shivered.
I recognized the look in his eyes. He was saying 'game on' without uttering a word. I swallowed nervously, knowing this was a game I was bound to lose.
Kyle was my dad's new star quarterback.
Chapter Five
Kyle
Her hair was in a neat French braid. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were parted. Her pink floral western style shirt was buttoned up almost to the top. Not that it did a thing to disguise those luscious curves of hers.
Oh yeah, that was my girl.
She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
I grinned, reaching out to shake her mother's hand. Mrs. Carmichael was beautiful, her features softened by time without aging them dramatically. She lacked her daughters vibrant coloring though. Coach pulled off his baseball hat and I saw where she got it from.
Coach was a ginger.
As happy as I was to see her, I was now in one hell of a pickle. My girl was off limits. Severely, career changingly off limits. But that wasn't going to stop me from claiming her.
I just had to be smart about it.
Smart, and sneaky as fuck. Treat it like a covert operation. Use my mad skillz, as Kenny would say.
But first I had to run her to ground. I didn't like hunting, but I knew all the tricks. Camouflage. Mating calls. But most of all, it required patience.
I watched her ass twitch as she walked away from me.
Patience was one skill I did not have in my toolbox. I was very, very impatient to get what I wanted. I wanted it now.
I smiled politely as coach's wife brought us two glasses of iced tea. Then I went about phase one. To convince coach and his wife that I was a good boy, not the kind of guy who'd deflower their daughter on the first date.
"You have a lovely house Mrs. Carmichael."
"Thank you Kyle."
It was a lovely house. Tastefully furnished in soft grays with dark wood furniture. Comfortable but classy. Belinda's mom smiled at me, instantly won over.
Oh yeah, I was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
And I was coming back for seconds.
Little Red riding Hood didn't stand a chance.
Belinda
"How do you like our campus so far Kyle?"
Kyle smiled benignly at my mother. He looked as innocent as a choirboy. Meanwhile, under the table his foot was brushing mine. I wasn't sure if it was deliberate until he did it again. I scowled at him as he oozed charm and good will. All false of course.
I wasn't fooled.
"It's the most beautiful I've ever seen. And the students have been... very friendly."
He grinned at me pointedly and popped a bite of food into his mouth. He made it clear he was talking about me as his foot caressed mine again. I kicked him and he nearly choked. I smiled serenely as my father pounded his back.
Kyle glared at me as he wiped his mouth.
I gave him a look that clearly said 'two can play at that game.'
"Thank you Coach."
"Make sure you chew your food, boy. Can't lose you before the season starts!"
I put my chin on my hand and smiled sweetly. I knew more about sports than most men. But Kyle didn't know that. I intended to milk it.
"Daddy, isn't it unusual to put a walk-on on the team?"
"Hardly ever happens at this level. But Kyle here is an unusual young man."
"He is?"
"He's unnaturally talented on the field Bellie. His military training had a lot to do with it, but some people are just naturals."
"Bellie?"
Kyle's eyes were glowing mischievously. I could have screamed. My plan to control the conversation had completely backfired. If he started calling me 'Bellie' I would lose it. I really would.
"That's what we call our little girl. Did you know they actually pay her to attend school? She had a full ride of course, but they actually give her a stipend and all sorts of administrative jobs for extra money. She has career academic written all over her."
I groaned inwardly. Did he have to make me sound like a cross between a 12 year-old and a grandma? That's what I was really. Kyle was right when he called me Miss Priss. Just a little girl who acted like the biggest, most responsible, boring goodie two-shoes ever to walk the face of the-