At any rate, the rugby game would be a good distraction. Next week, I planned on looking for a part-time job to supplement my income. My parents did everything they could to help support payment of the small portion of my tuition left after the scholarship funds took their chunk out of it. They also tried to help pay for books and supplies, but I also wanted to do my part.
In the meantime, my boy-hunting escapades were over. I wasn't going to waste my time on such foolishness when the end results were less than stellar. Besides, even though Luke met two of the criteria on my list, he was basically a creep. There was no guarantee he would meet any of the other stipulations. Maybe if he hadn’t treated me the way he had, I might have felt softer toward him, but to be honest, I was still smarting. Besides, I had never chased after any guy and I certainly wasn't going to start now. If anyone was going to do the chasing, it was a guy who was so interested in me that he couldn't get me out of his mind.
While I did realize that my criteria could be a little confusing, I did have my reasons. To me, there is a big difference between a guy who was attractive to other women and who knew how to please a woman and one who indiscriminately slept with anything that had a vagina. That was not the kind of guy I had intended to include on my list of quality attributes.
Anyway, I had studying to do, but come Thursday night, I was determined to enjoy one of the first at-home rugby games of the season, if for no other reason than to offer a distraction to myself.
Actually, there is quite an interesting history about Boston University Terriers, the school’s universal team nickname, with their scarlet and white colors. I was familiar with the “Go BU” fight song, but what it fascinated me the first time I'd heard the story was that the school mascot was named Rhett the Boston terrier. The name "Rhett" was actually in a reference to one of my favorite romances of all time, Gone with the Wind, because, according to school lore, no one loved Scarlett more than Rhett. It was an interesting story, and one that I found romantic in nature, so naturally it had captured by heart and my loyalty.
*
By Thursday evening, all of us were excited about the upcoming game. The campus was alive with excitement, school spirit, and of course, banners with the scarlet and white school colors hanging everywhere. Even I found myself getting into the spirit. Although it was a crisp and rather chilly fall day, I knew that being outside would do me good. It always did. Back home, I had often spent many of my evenings, even in the winter, walking outside, which served as a perfect opportunity to recap my day, refresh my mind, and boost my spirits and enthusiasm for whatever was coming up the following day or week.
Actually, I did prefer to be alone most of the time, and while I really enjoyed the company of my sorority sisters, there were times when I simply relished my solitude. For that reason, but not the only one, I found it easier to attempt to shove thoughts of Luke to the back of my mind. When he did come to the forefront, I forced myself to remember that relationships also came with complications. Who needed the complication of sharing histories, dreams, and aspirations – not that Luke had done any sharing whatsoever on our first and only date. He was still as much of a mystery to me as he had been when he’d come to pick me up on his motorcycle.
That evening, as we all donned our jackets and prepared to walk to campus together and over to the field, thoughts of Luke were far from my mind. The girls were excited, laughing, joking, and teasing one another. The closer we got to campus, the busier it got. A line of cars threaded their way down and around the block encompassing the field, waiting their turn to pull into the parking lot. Students, teachers, and staff were also seen, some walking alone, others in pairs or small groups, toward the field. It was the first big game of the year, so naturally enthusiasm and excitement was high.
As the girls and I threaded our way through the crowd, all of us holding hands so that we wouldn't get separated, I began to feel the thrill of excitement. The school band played at the far side of the field, providing entertainment for the crowd before the game actually started. The stadium lights shone down on the grass field, which to me looked exactly like a football field, although the markings were a bit different. The metal bleachers were filling up quickly, and I knew it wouldn't be long before it would be standing room only. The three snack bars sent a variety of odors wafting into the air: hot dogs, popcorn, and funnel cakes were the usual fare.
As we rounded a cluster of cars to make our way toward one of the main entrances to the field, I pulled up short. There, not twenty feet away, I saw a couple standing near the trunk of a car. They were wrapped in each other's embrace, kissing passionately, not caring who watched. I felt like a voyeur, but couldn't tear my eyes away. Had Luke and I looked just like that? If somebody had seen us in the woods that night, would they have seen the same passion, the same desire? I paused, staring, and the others felt the tug on their hands and also stopped, turned, and looked.
At that moment, while the kiss continued, the guy stroked his hand up the girl’s butt, her lower back, and then upward toward her chest, finally resting on top of one. I knew he was groping her breast.
"Oh my God," Desiree snickered. "Why don't they just get a room, for crying out loud?"
Selena chuckled. "I'm sure the backseat of the car would suit their purposes just fine."
A number of whistles and catcalls were issued by passerbys who briefly stared at the couple making out, laughed and shook their heads, and then continued on toward the field.
"Come on, Jessica, let's go grab a seat before they're all gone," Becky suggested.
I had just begun to agree when the couple making out shifted slightly and I saw the guy's arm. A full sleeve tattoo. My heart thudded in my chest. Could it be? Was that guy making out with the long-haired blonde a short distance away Luke? More than one guy on campus had full sleeve tattoos. In truth, the last time I had seen him, he had been with the gorgeous brunette. The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. "Is that Luke?"
This time the girls paused again, all of them, and turned toward the couple. Desiree tilted her head slightly. "It looks like him from the back, but I can't tell for sure."
"You want me to go up and ask?" Selena asked.
I gave her look and shook my head. “No, I don't." As I watched, the guy broke the kiss and straightened. He said something to the woman, then laughed, throwing his head back and glancing briefly toward the rugby field. My heart dropped. The profile was unmistakable. "It is Luke," I said, dismayed.
"Come on, Jessica, he's just a loser."
While I subconsciously agreed with Selena, I couldn't help secretly burning for him. Despite my anger, my humiliation, and the fact that I had been used and dumped, I was still incredibly attracted to Luke, and I just couldn't figure it out. I had never been sexually motivated, and this new realization left me confused.
"What a jerk," Becky commented, shaking her head. "Come on, Jessica, don't let them bother you. Good thing you don't have to deal with him anymore. He's nothing but trouble."
I allowed the others to pull me toward the rugby field, but despite the fact that I was no longer ogling Luke and whatever girl he was out with tonight, I still couldn’t get him out of my mind. Much as I wanted to banish him from my thoughts, he seemed to have taken up permanent residence. I couldn't stop thinking about his tattoos, his hair, those eyes, and that sexy smile of his. Never in my life had I experienced such thrilling sensations and I wasn't sure if I ever would again. Why oh why did my first experience with some of the best earth-shattering sex I had ever experienced have to be associated with such a jerk like Luke?
I sighed, struggling with my emotions. It was like I sat on a fence, being pulled one way, then the other. On the one side, I continually tried to fight my sexual attraction to Luke, and on the other, my logical self argued that he was nothing but a loser, a jerk, a douche bag. Still, every time I wavered one way or the other, I remembered the feel of his fingers on my breasts, the touch of his warm lips and tongue in and on m
y mouth, and most importantly, the way he had filled me so completely and thoroughly, offering me the greatest pleasure I had ever known.
I followed the girls as they found a spot on the bleachers and made their way up. Though I pretended to watch the game, my thoughts were continually distracted. I tried to find Luke in the crowd, but it was impossible. There were just too many people. A whistle blew and I focused my gaze on the field. Why was I beating myself up? Why was I torturing myself over someone who was a shallow as Luke Bradford? I deserved better than that.
Chapter 6
"Don't look now, but one of the rugby players has been unobtrusively, or maybe not so much, been trying to catch Jessica's attention for the past ten minutes," Selena commented during halftime.
I made a face and rolled my eyes at her. "And what makes you think he's looking at me and not you?"
"Because I've smiled and batted my eyes at him several times and he's not the least bit interested. In fact, just now he pointed at you when I looked at him."
"Seriously?" Becky commented, looking over the players sitting on the benches lining the side of the field. “Which one?"
"Number Fifteen, on the bench, third from the right on the end."
All of us looked toward Number Fifteen. He had dirty blond hair, wet from sweat. His broad shoulders filled out his scarlet red shirt with a white stripe on the shoulders. I could see the bunch of trapezius muscles creating of a V-shape along his upper back and down toward his spine. When he stood with other members of the team to gather around the coach, his shorts displayed muscular thighs and massive calves outlined by his knee-high red socks.
"Well, isn't he a fine specimen of a man?" Desiree said, her appreciative gaze passing over him as well as his teammates. She glanced at Selena. "Are you sure he’s ogling Jessica?"
She said it in such a tone that made me glance at her, eyebrows raised.
She laughed. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Jessica, sorry! It's just that Selena and I've been sitting over here, trying to catch their attention, any of them actually, and not one has so much as glanced at us. What kind of vibes are you sending out lately?"
"Vibes that say not interested," I admitted. However, I did watch Number Fifteen for several moments, and then, much to my dismay, suddenly realized that he had turned around and was smiling at me. I resisted the urge to turn around to see if there was someone sitting behind me that had captured the rugby player’s attention. Just to make sure, I tentatively smiled, and then the guy gave me a thumbs up and a wink. A wink? Who winked anymore these days? Obviously, this guy did.
Suddenly, the girls started chattering softly among themselves, and I glanced at them, wondering what they were up to. "What?"
"Don't look now, Jessica, but he's coming over!"
I turned back toward the field in dismay. I didn't see Number Fifteen where he'd seen a moments before, standing in front of the bench with the other players. We weren’t sitting too far up in the stands, maybe the fifth row, but I doubted that he would have left his teammates to make his way into the stands. Then, to my stunned amazement, I spotted the scarlet shirt threading his way through the crowds milling around at the bottom of the stands, and then making his way determinedly in our direction.
"Oh my God, he's so cute!” Selena muttered.
I didn't know what to do. I’d never been the focus of such attention before, and for a second, wondered if I was going to be the target of another ill-fated comment, especially if Number Fifteen quickly making his way up through the stands happened to be heading toward someone sitting behind us. What if he knew Luke? Was that what this was all about? Was he going to say something? I tried to act nonchalant and pretend I didn't know that he was approaching, while inside, all I wanted to do was stand up, run, and dash away from the field. My eyes widened with dismay as I realized he was standing in front of me. I stared. He was tall, probably just over six feet, and his size blocked out the field right in front of me. He did have incredibly broad shoulders, huge biceps, and his hands were huge, as well. For some insane reason, I stupidly thought of a St. Bernard. They had huge paws. I shook my head.
"Hi," Number Fifteen said. "My name's Greg, Greg Sanderson."
He extended his hand. After a brief hesitation, I extended my hand, only to find it enveloped within his huge grasp. Instead of crushing my fingers, however, he gently shook my hand, as if realizing his own strength and being very careful not to hurt me. I smiled nervously up at him. "Jessica, Jessica Mallory."
He grinned down at me and then gestured over his shoulder. "I spotted you from down there and felt compelled to come up here and introduce myself."
He had an intriguing accent, Southern, but I couldn’t place it. He shrugged, still grinning.
"I know it's a little forward of me, and I run the risk of being turned down flat, but I thought I'd come up and ask if you would consider going out on a date."
It came out more of a statement than a question. I thought he was sweet and couldn't help but feel the tiniest thrill to be picked out from a crowd. I glanced at my friends, who were taking turns looking up at him and then back at me, their eyes and gestures urging me to accept. While I certainly found his attention flattering that he had left his team to come up and introduce itself to me, I still wasn't sure.
"Come on," he urged. "Give the poor guy a break, won't you?"
I glanced up at him, surprised. Poor guy? He, like Luke, was a handsome guy and could probably have his pick of any of the women in the stands right this minute. In fact, I had a feeling that Desiree, Selena, or Becky would've jumped at the chance to go out with this guy if he had expressed an interest in them. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt, as long as I didn't repeat my mistakes. If for no other reason than to permanently get my thoughts away from Luke, I thought that perhaps a date with Greg would be just the ticket. "Okay, great, you're on," I said. "Where and when?"
"How about Saturday evening?" he asked.
I glanced at the girls, their eyes wide now. In fact, Becky's mouth was hanging open in shock, or awe, or some such. I found myself secretly pleased, and in the next moment, I nodded in agreement. "It's a date," I said. Then I realized I needed to give him my phone number. I didn't have anything to write it down on, and it wasn't exactly as if he had his PDA or iPhone with him. Suddenly, Desiree shoved a small piece of notebook paper in my hand. I glanced down at it and realized she had quickly scribbled my phone number on it. I smiled at her, nodded my appreciation, and then extended the scrap of paper to Greg. "This is my phone number. You can either text me or call and I can let you know where to pick me up."
Greg plucked the scrap of paper from my fingers and his fingers brushed against mine. No electric sparks like I had felt with Luke, but there was no doubt whatsoever that Greg was a fine-looking guy. He was sweet and polite, but then again, I had thought Luke had been at first. I smiled as he offered a brief gesture of farewell and then hurried back down to the stands and rejoined his teammates on the side of the field. I saw him tuck the piece of paper into a jacket laying on the side of the bench before following his teammates back onto the field.
I didn't spot any obvious tattoos, but then he was wearing a shirt. However, he did meet another requirement on my list. He played a sport! While rugby has certainly not been in my thoughts when I created the “must play sports” requirement on my list, one couldn't get any more sporting than rugby. As far as I was concerned, it was a full on contact sport, even more so than American football, especially since they didn't wear any protective gear.
"Can you believe that?" Becky asked, amazed as her eyes also followed the rugby player back onto the field.
I saw Becky gazing at me, smiling, and then Selena and Desiree joined in, all three of them teasing me. Before the game started up again, I laughed and cast my eyes over the bleachers. Suddenly, I stiffened. There, down near the front of the far right side of the bleachers, I saw Luke. He was sitting near the girl he'd just been making out with in the parking lot. To my surpris
e, he was staring up at me, a slight frown pulling down his eyebrows. He glanced from me to Greg, who had just rejoined his teammates, and then back at me again. Was it possible? Was he watching me? Had he seen Greg come up from the field and introduce himself, I wondered. I pretended not to see him, but surreptitiously continued to watch him through the corner of my eye.
He looked jealous. I felt thrilled.
It would serve the bastard right. He wasn't the only fish in the pond. Maybe Greg didn't elicit the same sexual charge that I had felt immediately with Luke, but that didn't mean anything, did it? After all, Greg could get some checks on my ideal man list. He was handsome, and he played sports, and while I had yet to find out whether he had any tattoos or whether he was great in bed or rich, I did kind of have a feeling that like Luke, he was an alpha male. After all, weren't most guys who played contact sports alpha males? Rugby certainly required strength and stamina, which could probably equate to some positive points in the sex department. However, I wasn't in any rush to explore that aspect, especially not since I was still smarting from my relatively recent episode with Luke.
Throughout the remainder of the game, I pretended not to notice Luke and his girlfriend. While they had been going at it hot and heavy in the parking lot, they didn't seem quite as interested in each other at the moment. I could only wonder about that. Then again, I didn't really care. Well, I did, but I kept telling myself that I didn't. Yes, I had to admit to myself that I was still attracted to Luke, but he was a no-go. A no-show, really.
For the remainder of the game, I paid more attention to Number Fifteen, admiring his body, his athleticism, and his easy camaraderie with his teammates. He even joked with a few of his opposing teammates. He seemed like a nice guy, genuinely friendly and easy-going. Still, I couldn't help but compare the two. What if Greg turned out to be just as big of a jerk as Luke had? And as much of a disappointment? Did it matter? I wasn't interested in marrying the guy, just distracting myself once in awhile. If Luke could play that game, so could I.
Fantasy Boyfriend #2 (A Tattooed Bad Boy Romance) Page 3