Fair Catch (Love and Sports Series)

by Quinn, Meghan

Margo escorted them out the door and waved good bye. “Now you kids have fun, but not too much. I won’t be waiting up.” Margo said with a wink. Jake heard Lexi groan under her breath as she walked past him.

  Jake led the way to his Jeep and opened the door for her. She hiked her dress up so she could get in the car which was when he was able to notice a very delicate ankle bracelet that was wrapped around her slender leg. Jake shut the passenger door and begged God for some will power. He could do this, he could be a normal human being and not attack his date in the first five minutes of them being together. But if she kept surprising him with sexy little touches to her appearance, he was not going to be able to last the whole night without mauling her.

  When he opened the door to his side he was smacked in the face with the scent of her perfume, a very feminine scent that made his toes curl. He swore under his breath and started the car.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  “Uh, just saying how amazing you look.” He tried to recover.

  “Oh, thank you.” She turned to look out the window, avoiding all eye contact with him.

  Real smooth, Taylor.

  ***

  It was a suit, just a plain suit, which of course was tailored to fit every contour of his body. He was so damn hot, it hurt to look at him. How was that fair? Well, her dress was the same way so she guessed it was fair but men shouldn’t look that good.

  Why was she doing this? She should fake a headache and have him drive her back to her apartment. She didn’t want to stay out too late because she had practice early in the morning and she didn’t want to really be seen publicly with Jake because she didn’t want people getting the wrong impression. She didn’t really know who was going to be at the event. All she knew was that there was going to be a lot of elite people and that was intimidating enough for her to come up with a fake get-a-way.

  The alumni dinner was for the “celebrity” alumni to come back to the school and hob knob with the potential “celebrity” graduates. Of course Jake was invited, he was going to be drafted into the NFL in a couple of months, he was talked about nationwide and she was the one on a date with him. Well a so called date. What the hell was she thinking? She started to fidget in her seat and was about to open her mouth to complain about her head when Jake spoke first.

  “You must be nervous.”

  Was she that obvious? “Uh, just a little. These dinners and events aren’t really my thing.”

  “Well they look like your thing. You’ll fit in perfectly. Everyone is going to be staring at how gorgeous you are.”

  Great, just what she needed, all eyes on her and Jake. She wanted to crawl into a hole. She looked over at him and noticed his smile. That seemed sort of cheesy. Why was it so hard for her to believe him when he said she looked beautiful? Was it because he probably said it to every living thing walking on two legs with two breasts? Whatever it was, she didn’t find him genuine and that bothered her.

  She tried to strike up conversation instead of being a wet rag. “So, do you know anyone who will be attending?”

  “Just a couple of people, not too many. Coach is making me attend more than anything. He said it would be good for my career. I don’t necessary like doing these things.”

  That shocked her a little. Jake Taylor, not liking the spotlight? That seemed odd. The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. “You? Not like that spotlight? That is hard to believe.” Instantly he frowned from her words. Damn, she didn’t want to be a bitch but it just happened whenever she was around him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to be insulting.”

  “Of course you did.”

  Mouth wide open in shock, she spun around in her chair to look at him. She apologized, he didn’t have to be rude to her. He parked the car and got out fast enough so she couldn’t confront him about his comment. He came around to her side and opened the door for her while grabbing her hand and helping her out.

  “I didn’t mean to be rude, it just slipped out.”

  “Exactly, that’s what your sub-conscious thinks of me, some egotistical maniac.”

  She secretly agreed with him because that was how she saw him but she didn’t want him to know that. She squared her shoulders and met him face to face. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t.” He replied, shocking the hell out of her. She thought that she was just another hurdle to jump on his way to conquering the female athletic department but if he was giving up this easily maybe she wasn’t. Was this some kind of sick game he was playing?

  Someone called from across the parking lot. “Jake, hey man.” They both looked over and saw Darren from the lacrosse team jogging over to them. Darren eyed Lexi up and down and blew out a whistle.

  “Damn Lexi you clean up real good. I didn’t even recognize you” He gave her a kiss on the cheek causing Jake to squeeze her hand he was now holding tighter. The little jealous gesture confused her. She had no clue what Jake was up to but whatever it was, she didn’t care for it.

  “Thanks Darren, you look pretty sexy yourself. I didn’t know you knew what a tie was.”

  He laughed, “I had to have my roommate tie it for me.”

  They both laughed together while Jake stood there and watched them interact with each other. Lexi knew Darren from an English class they took together previously but hadn’t seen him in a while. The only reason why they survived the incredibly boring and pompous class together was because they would play Hangman with each other throughout the entire class. They had a running score at one point.

  “I still lead you in Hangman.” She bragged.

  “Ha, you wish, I owned you.”

  “Keep dreaming.”

  “I will now.” He said with a wink which caused Jake to budge into their little banter.

  “Alright, we’ll see you in there.” Jake said dismissively.

  Darren looked at Lexi and then at Jake’s menacing face. He got the picture very quickly that Jake was painting the world to see, which caused Lexi to blush with embarrassment. Darren waved bye and walked into the building leaving Lexi and Jake alone once again.

  “Was that really necessary?” she asked.

  “Was what necessary?”

  She poked him in his chest with her finger, his rock hard chest. “You know exactly what. You didn’t have to be rude to him. We were just joking around with each other.”

  “Yea and as much fun as that was for me, I would prefer that my girl wasn’t flirting with other men while I was around.”

  That made her put her hands on her hips. “Your girl? Are you living on Mars? By no means am I your girl or will I ever be your girl.”

  She turned away from him and started walking toward her apartment. It would be a brisk evening walk in high heels but it would be worth it, if it meant getting away from Jake Taylor. He was infuriating. If he wanted to see flirting she could show him flirting. She was merely being polite to an old friend, there was nothing wrong with that.

  She felt an arm grab her and spin her around.

  “Lexi, stop, we have to go in there. You can’t just walk away.”

  “We,” she emphasized, “We don’t have to go in there, you do!”

  She saw him struggling to find words but she frankly didn’t care. She should teach him a lesson and just take off leaving him to explain to everyone why his date didn’t show but then she saw a bit of a lost boy in his eyes when he looked at her. Groaning inwardly, she wanted to smack herself for feeling sorry for him.

  “Please Lexi, I’m sorry. Just come inside with me.”

  Big puppy dog eyes pleaded with her, how could anyone say no to that? She blew out a hefty, irritated breath, ripped her arm from his grasp and walked toward the building, trying to leave him in her dust. Unfortunately he caught up and placed his hand on her lower back.

  “Thank you.”

  She just nodded and allowed him to escort her into the building.

  The party committee transformed the gym int
o a beautiful dining area full of plants and twinkle lights, it was slightly magical but also ridiculous Lexi thought. The money they spent on this dinner probably could go to something more beneficial, she couldn’t think of anything at the exact moment but she did believe that all the pomp and circumstance she was currently experiencing wasn’t entirely necessary.

  Lexi silently thanked Margo for making her get the dress she was wearing. Everyone was dressed to the nines. All the women had their hair in up-dos and wore gorgeous dresses that made hers look like it was from a discount store. Lexi self-consciously stroked her hair, wondering if she should have put it up like everyone else.

  She felt a hand brush against her neck and Jake’s breath right next to her ear. “You look beyond amazing, don’t let anyone make you think differently.”

  Startled, she looked into his eyes and saw that he was being truly genuine, he wasn’t just throwing one of his smooth lines out for her benefit. For the first time she had interacted with him, he was actually showing a little piece of him. It was marginally refreshing. The intimate gesture made her confidence slightly spike.

  They grabbed their name cards and took their seats at one of the tables that was in the front of the room, right next to the podium. Jake must be extremely VIP to have one of the nicest seats in the place. They sat down at their table that was also occupied by people she had never even seen before. All the women were practically perfect in their appearance and the men reveled in the arm candy they brought with them.

  Was this what the real world was like? At least in the “celebrity” world was this what it was like? Practically perfect women sitting next to their distinguished men, it was all too weird for Lexi to process. The whole picture just seemed so fake to her. This was so not the world she wanted to be a part of. Yes, they were rich and they were an exclusive gaggle of people but that didn’t matter to her, they seemed boring as hell, stingy little bastards.

  The night was incredibly awkward for her. The tension between her and Jake was unmistakable. All she wanted to do was go home, even though he was putting in an effort to be interested in her when they had a chance to talk, it wasn’t enough for her. Almost every five minutes someone came up to their table and shook hands with Jake. It was nauseating listening to all the people sucking up to him. He threw a damn sphere around a grassy field and everyone treated him as if he just took a fresh pile of shit and turned it into a new cure for cancer.

  She studied her nails while Jake talked to some software billionaire that just donated enough money to the school to have his own wing in the lecture hall. He donated an obscene amount of money to have his name plastered on the side of the building, how ridiculous was that?

  Lexi’s thoughts were interrupted when the billionaire spoke. “Jake you must meet my gorgeous daughter.” Lexi’s eye shot up from examining her nails and made eye contact with a leggy blonde. The blonde gave Lexi a menacing grin and then extended her hand out to Jake who took it in his. “This is Jessica, Jessica this is Jake.”

  Lexi watched the whole interaction play out in front of her as if she was watching some sort of television show.

  “Jessica, it’s very nice to meet you. You must get your good looks from your mother because you didn’t get anything from this old man.” Jake said while patting the billionaire on the arm and they all laughed together, except Lexi who was still staring in amazement at what was unfolding in front of her.

  “That you are right, her mother was an angel.”

  “Was?” Jake asked.

  “Yes, we lost my dear Clarice when Jessica was a wee little one, I raised her myself.” Lexi watched Jessica look Jake up and down and lick her lips. Good Lord she was playing up the “I lost my mother when I was young” role. Jessica stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Good grief.

  “Jake would you mind taking my daughter for a spin out on the dance floor?”

  Jake didn’t even hesitate, or look at Lexi. “I would be honored, sir.”

  Sir? Who was he kidding? Could Jake’s head go any further up the billionaire’s ass? Lexi watched Jake place his hand at Jessica’s lower back and escort her to the dance floor where they wrapped their limbs around each other and slow danced to some song Lexi thought she remembered from one of those popular vampire movies, not that she watched them or anything.

  Absolutely in shock, Lexi just stared at them and thought about how ridiculous this night turned out to be. What an ass! Jake was a giant, self-absorbed, unfortunately good looking, devil of an ass. She pulled her lip gloss out of her clutch, not knowing what else to do, and reapplied a sticky layer to her lips.

  A lady from across the table tisked at Lexi. “Looks like you just lost your man.”

  Lexi looked at the lady’s judgmental eyes and was about to respond with a snarky comment about her husband’s poor choice of a toupee when Darren came up behind her and whispered in her ear.

  “Care for a dance?”

  “I thought you would never ask.”

  Lexi put her hand in Darren’s as they swayed onto the dance floor. Darren was good looking but nothing ever really transpired between them, just like Parker, Darren and she were friends.

  “So what is with you and Jake?”

  Lexi knew that question was coming especially since Jake was currently dancing with someone other than the girl he brought to the stupid dinner. Not that she should really care. Jake wasn’t hers to claim but there were moral standards people should live up to, she thought. If a man brings a date to a dinner, that means he dances with his date and pays attention to his date, not go off with another woman without even consulting with his date first. It was like once Jessica, the leggy blonde, came along, Lexi vanished from Jake’s thoughts.

  Lexi answered Darren’s question. “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

  “Didn’t seem like nothing in the parking lot.” Darren spun her so she got a glimpse of Jake and his dancing partner, who was practically drooling all over him and rubbing her body up and down his.

  “It’s nothing, trust me. I’m just another mountain for Jake to conquer. The only reason I’m here is because I lost a bet, frankly I would rather be home in sweats eating some frozen yogurt.”

  “Well, let’s go then. My treat.”

  Lexi looked at him. “Are you serious?”

  “Yea, why not? Jake clearly is occupied and I said my hellos with people I needed to say hello to. I’m ready to go, are you?”

  Lexi eyed the happy “couple” again, she watched them laugh in unison and decided right then that, yes, she did want to leave.

  “Let me just grab my bag and we can be out of here.”

  “Perfect.”

  Lexi spent the rest of the evening in her fancy dress at the frozen yogurt store, playing Hangman with Darren on napkins and laughing harder than she had laughed in a while. Darren helped her forget the crappy night she started out with. Relief washed over her from knowing that the crazy, uncomfortable dance she had been doing with Jake the past couple of days was finally over. He found someone new to try to land in his bed and she was free to go back to her stress free life.

  ***

  Jake sat on a bench that was in front of Lexi’s villa. It had been an hour since he left the stupid dinner and he figured since she left two hours ago, without a good bye, she would be home by now. Margo wasn’t home either. She was probably out with a guy, like she always was.

  He couldn’t believe the nerve of Lexi to just leave him stranded at the dinner to fend for himself, especially after everyone noticed his date disappeared, it was embarrassing. He figured her disappearance had to do with the Jessica interruption. That was a whole other frustrating situation. The billionaire, as he was known around campus, got in contact with Jake weeks ago and mentioned how he would be bringing his daughter to the dinner and hoped they would be able to meet. Jake completely forgot about the planned meeting until Jessica came up to him. He didn’t want to piss the billionaire off since he was a very influential person, so he went with t
he flow. Lexi had to understand that, right?

  Jake ran a hand over his face and thought about the look of displeasure on Lexi’s face when he turned around at one point as he was dancing with Jessica. She was not happy at all.

  Shit, he blew it big time. He ended up dancing with Jessica for three songs until he was able to peel himself away, claiming he had to talk to other people in the room before the night was over. She didn’t keep her intentions of their meeting a secret though when she slipped her number into his pocket.

  Finally a car pulled up to the front of the building which Jake recognized as Darren’s. What the hell? Lexi slipped out with a huge smile on her face and walked arm and arm with Darren to her door. It wasn’t until Jake made himself seen when her smile faded into a frown.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” She asked, hatred falling from her mouth. Jake watched Darren look at both of them like he previously did when they were in the parking lot earlier. Luckily for Darren, he backed off but not before he placed a kiss on Lexi’s cheek.

  “Thanks for a great time Lex, I’ll see you later.”

  “Thank you Darren.” Darren walked away and Lexi blew past Jake and headed straight to her door without saying another word to him.

  He stopped her before she was able to unlock the door. “Were you with him this entire time?”

  Lexi faced him and looked him dead in the eyes. “You have some fucking nerve coming here, you know that?”

  Wow, she was pissed. He knew she might not be happy but she had fire spitting from her eyes and looked like she could do some real damage if given the opportunity.

  “Listen, I know the night was less than ideal…”

  “Less than ideal? The best part of my night was when I left that dinner. Just leave me alone Jake.”

  “You don’t have to be jealous. I had to dance with Jessica, I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I’m not jealous, I’m humiliated. The minute that leggy blonde came in and said hello to you, you practically spent the rest of the night drooling all over her. I could care less if you dance with someone else but when you completely ignore me, it’s insulting especially since you dragged me to this stupid thing in the first place. Was that your intention the whole time? To make a fool of me? Well congratulations Jake, you did it. You got what you wanted so just leave me the fuck alone.”