Scoring the Quarterback

by SM Soto

  “Find your seat and do not disrupt my class again or you will be asked to leave,” Dr. Gillory says coldly. I swallow thickly and hurry to the empty desk, trying not to cause anymore scenes.

  My heart is beating erratically, and I can still feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on me. I sink into my chair, wanting it to swallow me whole. I timidly pull my notebook out and spend the rest of the lecture jotting down everything Dr. Gillory says, trying to keep busy. When class is dismissed, I take my time putting my things away so I don’t have to run into anyone who probably wants to laugh in my face. When most of the lecture hall has cleared, I gather my stuff and head out the doors.

  Immediately upon exiting, I run into Luke. Like physically run into him. My shoulder collides with a rock-solid body, nearly knocking me off my feet. Strong hands grip my arms.

  “Whoa. Whoa.” Luke chuckles as he steadies me. He bends at eye level with me, and I stare into the most intricate pair of eyes I’ve ever seen.

  “Everything alright?” he asks as he searches my face. His eyes look unusually light today with the faintest ring of blue around them. I’ve noticed the colors change from day to day depending on the lighting. Sometimes his eyes look auburn with gold flecks, while others, his eyes look a vivid green with the faintest trace of blue. As I stare up at him, I can’t help but replay the dream I had last night. My tummy flips and I start to blush under the intensity of his stare. I clear my throat, realizing I’ve been staring without speaking.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Today’s just been…shitty.”

  Luke’s chest rumbles with a laugh.

  “I saw your entrance in class, which was very graceful by the way. You looked like you had just run a mile.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “My car didn’t want to start, so I had to basically run to class. Which is very depressing since I’ve never been late to class. Ever,” I emphasize.

  “There’s a first for everything, Babygirl.” My heart flutters at his little endearment. It never gets old.

  “Wait, did you just say you saw me come into class? I thought you’d be sitting in our normal spot.” We usually sit in the middle of the lecture hall, toward the front. It’s not up too close, but it’s still close enough to concentrate and look like good, interested students. It’s also pretty much impossible to see who comes through the doors unless you’re staring, waiting for someone in particular to walk through.

  Luke shifts on his feet. “When I got here before you, I knew something was up, and after you didn’t text me back, I checked the doors once or twice to see if you’d be late. I happened to look back when you came in and made a scene. I don’t think anyone in class missed your arrival today.”

  I groan, and my heartbeat returns to normal. Of course, he wasn’t waiting for your arrival, Natalia. He just wanted to be sure his punching bag was in class with him today. This is Luke Caldwell we’re talking about here.

  “Oh, right,” I say dejectedly. “Seems I forgot to charge my phone last night, so I couldn’t call anyone for a ride earlier when my car wouldn’t start because it was dead,” I explain.

  Luke searches my face before he says something that surprises the heck out of me.

  “I’ll take a look at your car if you need me to. In the meantime, if you need a ride, or two, I can give you one as long as they don’t interfere with practice.”

  My mouth hangs open in shock. Luke is actually being nice? I recover quickly. “Really?” I ask. “Are you sure? Because you don’t have to. I can take an Uber or ask Sam whenever she’s not busy.”

  Luke shrugs. “It’s no bother, really. Although there is one stipulation,” he says with a smirk that showcases a dimple. I narrow my eyes and search his expression for whatever his stipulation is.

  “What is it?” I ask warily. Luke gives me a full-blown smile, deepening his dimples.

  “In return for rides, you let me teach you about football.”

  “That’s the stipulation?” That’s not so bad. How hard can it be?

  “Yup.” Luke grins. “So, what’ll it be?”

  I mull it over for a few seconds before shrugging. “Screw it. A little football knowledge never hurt anyone.”

  “Perfect. First practice starts today. Meet me after your last class.”

  “Wait. Do you even know anything about cars?”

  He frowns at me. “Of course I do. That’s just insulting to my manhood, Natalia.”

  We make a big show of shaking on it, and I can’t wipe the stupid smile off my face when his hand touches mine.

  ***

  After my last class of the day, I meet up with Luke a little way off campus on Fifty-Fifth Street. Across the street from campus, next to the school’s alumni center, is a large track and field that are used for various sports. I’ve never been on this side of the school. I’m really only familiar with the library, the parking lots, and the buildings where most of my classes have been. San Diego State is a huge university. If you don’t have some sort of knowledge of the campus, or a map, it’s easy to get lost.

  “Follow me.” Luke nudges me in my back, and I follow a few steps behind him onto the field. It’s easy getting access to the field standing next to the university’s star quarterback. The campus security doesn’t bother with any questions.

  Typical.

  Luke sets the bag he has slung over his shoulder down on the lush green grass of the field and pulls out a football.

  “What, do you carry a football around with you all day in case you need it?” I joke.

  “Pretty much.” He shrugs.

  I turn to him with wide eyes. “Seriously? That’s…weird.”

  “Weird for you, yes. Weird for me, no. I carry around a football just like I’m sure you carry around an unnecessary textbook.”

  I narrow my eyes. “I do not carry around unnecessary textbooks, you asshole.”

  He chuckles and tosses the football to me without warning. My knee-jerk reaction is to cover my face, but I’m too late, the ball clips me right in the nose.

  “Ouch!” I groan and clasp my hands over my nose. “Seriously? You could’ve broken my damn nose. Why didn’t you warn me?”

  He winces. I watch through my hands as he strides up to me and lightly places a finger under my chin, tilting my face up. He pushes my hands away and assesses the damage. Warmth spreads throughout my body from my chin down to my core. Damn him and his stupid warm touch.

  He snorts loudly. “You’re so dramatic. Your nose isn’t even red.”

  I slap his hand away from my face, “You’re such an ass,” I grumble. Luke reaches behind his back and pulls his shirt over his head. He jerks his chin toward the center of the field, indicating for me to follow him.

  “C’mon, Textbook. Let’s get started. Teaching you is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.”

  Instead of following him, I stay rooted in place, staring after him. He has one of those sleeveless under-armor shirts that hug his muscles to perfection. My eyes trail up and down his body, and I’m vaguely aware of the heat swirling in my core.

  “You done checking me out, Babygirl? I’d like to get started sometime today.”

  My eyes widen and snap up to meet Luke’s gaze. I open and close my mouth like a gaping fish. “I was not checking you out!” I snap. Luke smiles at me condescendingly.

  “Okay. Right. Just like you weren’t checking me out the other day after my shower?” His voice has a teasing tone to it, and I narrow my gaze at him. Evil butterflies churn in my stomach as I recall a dripping wet, shirtless Luke. Just the thought of being touched by Luke has me drooling like a dog in heat. Letting out a frustrated growl, I shoot a glare at him.

  “Just shut up and show me how to throw the damn ball, Mr. Popular.”

  Luke lets out a loud laugh, then proceeds to show me all about the football, and where to hold it.

  “When you throw it, you want the ball to spiral.” Lifting the ball, he shows me where he wants my fingers. “Position your fingers in between these wh
ite laces right here. Your ring and pinky finger should be placed in between the breaks of the laces. I know it’s a bit awkward with the shape of the ball, but over time you’ll get used to it.”

  I do as he says with a smug little smile. “Doesn’t seem too hard. This is seriously why you’re so popular?”

  Luke narrows his eyes at me. “Watch yourself, Baldoni.”

  I laugh, raising my free hand in surrender. Ignoring my dig, Luke jogs back a few feet then indicates for me to throw it.

  “Throw it from there. I’m not too far away, I just want to see if you have the throwing down.”

  I do as he says and throw the ball. I wince as the ball misses my target completely. I’m also pretty sure the ball isn’t supposed to be jolting wildly in the air like that.

  Luke sputters a laugh. “How the hell…? I literally just showed you how to throw it.” His hands are down at his sides in the universal “what the fuck” gesture.

  “I forgot!”

  He jogs back toward me with the ball in hand, and an impish grin on his face.

  “C’mon, Textbook, lets focus, because you’re gonna need more help than I thought.”

  I roll my eyes, and let Luke show me how to throw the ball correctly for the rest of the practice. After a good ten tries, I finally get it down, until he moves a few more feet away.

  Throwing a football is a lot harder than I anticipated.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Natalia

  It’s been two weeks since Luke and I made our arrangement, and I’m starting to think he’s not even planning to look at my car. I think he’s having way too much fun teaching me everything there is to know about football. Every time I ask him to look at my car, he has some bogus excuse. And I never call him out on it, mainly because I might be enjoying myself a little too much whenever I’m around him. To recap, my throw is shit, I can’t catch a ball even if my life depended on it, and apparently, I don’t follow directions very well. All Luke’s words, not mine.

  Sam still thinks I should be banging Luke instead of pretending we’re just friends—especially after the sex dream I had about him. Surprisingly, Aliza hasn’t said anything more on the subject. But sometimes, I do catch her staring at me out of the corner of her eye. I know my friends are worried about me—I get it. I really do. But I know what I’m doing. I don’t need the guilt trip every five seconds, and I definitely don’t need to be thinking about screwing the irritatingly handsome guy who has gotten under my skin.

  Trudging across the field, I ignore Luke yelling instructions at me. For the past fifteen minutes, he’s been trying to explain the “routes on air” drill used for passing accuracy. So far, all I’ve understood is basically run until I catch the ball. He keeps repeating words and phrases like pass plays and running routes—it’s all gibberish to me.

  “Okay, you ready? Show me what you got, Baldoni,” he shouts from the fifty-yard line.

  Blowing out a deep breath, I widen my stance and sprint across the field, to the thirty, as fast as I can, Luke throws a pass at lightning speed and my lungs burn the harder I push myself to reach it. I halt in position as the football spirals toward my face. I let it fall into my arms. The force makes me stumble backward a few steps as I cradle it to my body. I take off in a sprint again and run toward the makeshift end zone. Thumping footsteps behind me alert of Luke’s impending presence. Before I know what’s happening, I’m literally swept off my feet, and the green grass swirls before my eyes. My back hits the ground with a resounding thud, and I blow out a puff of air. I squeak in surprise, then squeal with laughter as Luke topples on top of me. His heavy weight above me sends my already frantically beating heart into overdrive. His face is so close, his breath skirts across my cheeks.

  Holy shit. He’s even better looking up close.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Those amber and green eyes search my face intently. I shake my head no, afraid my voice will betray me and reveal all the emotions building inside me at his proximity.

  “Not bad. But we still have work to do, so don’t think your football lessons are over yet.” Standing, he offers his arm, and pulls me up. The ground beneath me shakes, and my body is still trembling. I’m not sure if it’s from the adrenaline, or the fact that Luke Caldwell was just lying on top of me.

  “Why do I get the impression that our football lessons are never going to end?” I ask with raised brows.

  “You are one smart cookie, Babygirl,” he says with a chuckle.

  “Seriously, Luke, are you ever going to work on my car? Having a chauffeur is great and all, but I need my own car, eventually.”

  “Yes, your majesty, I plan on working on it after this. I already bought you a new alternator. That was the problem,” he says, putting his San Diego Aztecs shirt on over his under armor shirt.

  “Oh.” I pause, my brows pull together in confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me you needed to buy a part for my car? I would’ve paid you.”

  He shakes his head and waves me off, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Nah. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Luke. I can’t let you pay for that. Seriously.”

  “Think of it as restitution for all the times I was a complete dick to you.”

  “Luke…,” I start to say, but I’m cut off by him prowling toward me and throwing me over his shoulder. I scream in surprise and laugh, feeling all the blood rush to my head as I hang upside down.

  “You can just say ‘thank you’, Baldoni.”

  “Thank you,” I say with a chuckle as I stare at his plump backside while he walks.

  ***

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I ask warily as Luke works on my car.

  “Of course I know what I’m doing,” he snaps from under the hood. I raise my hands in the air defensively and sit back down on the curb in front of his house. After I couldn’t get my car started a few weeks ago, Luke suggested having it towed to his place. It was only a few miles away, so it would be cheaper to leave it at his place instead of towing it to mine. Tow trucks and car insurance companies can be a bitch.

  Luke’s white t-shirt is covered in black oil stains from working under the hood. He’s wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap on backward to keep his wayward hair out of his face. His hands and arms are covered in filth, and I watch as the veiny muscles in his forearms flex with each movement. Something warm coils in my belly just from watching him work. He’s incredibly good looking, but even more so now that he’s gotten down and dirty working on my car. I shake my head, trying to banish Luke from my thoughts. Shooting to my feet I offer the only help I can.

  “Should I go inside and bring you some water?”

  “Yeah. Thanks,” he mumbles from under the hood.

  It doesn’t take me any longer than five minutes to go inside and grab a bottle of water for him out of his fridge, but by the time I come out, the hood to my car is shut and Luke is wiping his hands on his shirt.

  “Oh, you’re done?”

  “Yeah. She should be good to go. I changed the oil while I was at it too.”

  He tosses me my keys, and I just barely manage to catch them as I juggle his water bottle.

  “Here, start her up,” he says, taking his water bottle from my hand.

  Walking around to the driver side of my car, I pull the door open. With the key in the ignition, I turn it, and blow out a sigh of relief when the car roars to life.

  “Oh my God! It’s working. You did it!” I laugh in surprise.

  “Told you I knew what I was doing. Changing an alternator isn’t usually this messy, but fuck woman, do you ever get maintenance on this car?” He chuckles.

  “Nope. But I promise I will after this.” I hop out of the car, and without thinking about it, throw myself into Luke’s arms. He staggers back from the force of my hug, but it doesn’t take him long to hug me back.

  “Thank you so much, Luke. I owe you one.”

  Grasping my shoulders, he steps away and stares down at me
intently, hazel eyes search mine for a few silent seconds. His lips turn up into a smile, revealing his dimples, “Yeah, you do Babygirl.” He steps away from me and finishes off his water bottle. “Now, c’mon, I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat.”

  After Luke went inside to take a shower and get cleaned up, we drove to Oggi’s, a pizza joint nearby—my treat, of course. Three quarters of a large pizza later, we’re both slouching in our booth laughing over our most embarrassing stories.

  “Back home in San Francisco, I was seeing this girl Sabrina on and off. Our families knew each other pretty well, and we both knew each other since we were kids. We were both seniors at the time, so she knew it wasn’t serious. It was the night of my birthday, and we were at her house because her parents weren’t supposed to be home all weekend. As she was giving me my “birthday gift”, her parents walked in her room with a birthday cake to surprise me with. I was kicked out of their house, and our parents are no longer friends.”

  I laugh uncontrollably, gaining the attention of the patrons in booths surrounding us. I try to speak through my laughter. “Oh God. Why the hell were they trying to surprise you with a cake anyway?”

  He shrugs. “I told you, our families were really close at the time. Sabrina and I grew up together, so it was like they were gifting a birthday cake to their ‘son’.”

  Shaking my head, I try to control my laughter. “That’s pretty bad, but mine is sooo much worse.”

  “Let me be the judge of that. What’s your most embarrassing memory?”

  “The night before I had to take the SATs, I was having really bad stomach pains, and I kept going to the bathroom most the night. The next morning, I took an Imodium, thinking I’d be okay to take the test. While I was in the class, it was dead quiet, and everyone was so focused. I had the urge to sneeze, but I didn’t want to attract any attention to myself. I tried to hold in my sneeze, but in doing so, I just made myself fart instead. The whole class heard, and they wouldn’t stop laughing, it was completely mortifying.” I say, my cheeks turning an indecent shade of red.