Because in the end, they aren’t playing hard to get at all. In the end, they just want to tell themselves they are, because it makes them feel better about it when they wait a whole three hours before dropping their panties and spreading their legs for me.
Except Hailey Garrison isn’t playing any damn games, that much is pretty clear. She literally isn’t interested in me, and that has my interest.
I wonder briefly if she’s a lesbian before the cheer of the assemble crowd signals the end of Mom’s speech which I’ve managed to entirely miss.
* * *
“Hey, lookin’ good up on that float, boy!” Coach Garrison grins at me as he claps me on the back.
Mom hasn’t really seen many guys since dad, but they’ve mostly been losers. Coach Garrison though? I grin as some guy in a fraternity shirt I don’t recognize roars my name and passes me a fresh beer.
Yeah, Coach is alright. More importantly, I think he gets me and what makes me tick, and I think we’re going to get along just fine.
I grin as I raise the fresh beer at him. “To a great season, Coach.”
He flashes me another smile before he reaches out and plucks the beer from my hand. “How about to a fresh healthy start to that season, huh?” He arches a brow at me, “I’m not against having fun, Dalton, but let’s try and balance the partying and the work this season alright?”
I frown at my suddenly missing beer, before I begrudgingly nod. Fair enough.
Coach looks past me and beams. “Now doesn’t she look great in blue and white?”
I turn, and suddenly I’m doing a double-take as my jaw drops a little bit.
She’s lost the hoodie, and… damn.
Hailey’s wearing a Hawks tank top that just clings to her body and those damn near perfect tits. She’s wearing these smokin’ hot jean cut-offs too that I didn’t even notice with that bag-lady sized sweatshirt she was rocking earlier. Top the whole thing off with some knee-high Hawks-blue-and-white socks that I also somehow missed, and I’m at a total loss for words as I feel my cock twitch in my shorts.
“Yeah, uh, she-” I clear my throat, trying to keep myself from drooling all over Coach’s daughter right in front of him. “Way to show a little spirt there, sis.” She wrinkles her nose at that last bit, and it makes me grin.
“Thanks for coming, kiddo,” Coach says, putting his arm around Hailey and beaming at me.
“Anytime,” she says, arching a brow only I can see.
“Oh, by the way - the moving truck rolled up as soon as you left this morning. Had them set aside a bunch of your things I thought you might want for your room and figured I’d have some of my boys bring it over later today.”
Hailey frowns, “Oh, I can get it, Dad. That’s fine.”
Coach laughs. “It’s a sofa, honey, not to mention all your clothes and that big fancy gaming computer of yours.”
Did he just say ‘gaming computer’?
I can feel the corners of my mouth curl up in a devilish grin as I watch Hailey’s face quickly turn a bright shade of crimson.
“I’d be happy to help, Coach,” I say with a big smile, looking right at her.
Oh this is too good.
This chick plays computer games and she’s giving me shit about football? This is almost going to be too easy.
Hailey glares back at me, addressing her dad. “No, that’s really okay, I’ll just grab it some other time.”
“I’ll talk to the guys right now, Coach,” I say quickly. “We’ll swing by in a little bit.”
She glares at me, and I grin right back.
Because she might think she’s too good for a state school, and football, and me for that matter. But like it or not, she’s here, in my court.
And the King is in session.
I lock eyes with the bafflingly intriguing girl who’s completely uninterested in me - the one who’s skin I can’t wait to get under - and I smile.
Yeah, this is going to be way too much fun.
6
Dalton
An hour later, I’m lugging this flowery love-seat thing along with some boxes of her shit into the dorms with a few other guys from the team. I grimace as I look around the fluorescent lit hallways, the grey carpeting, and the shared bathrooms of the dorm.
Yeah, fuck all that.
I silently thank my lucky stars about my status at this school. Again, technically I’ve got a room attached to my name somewhere here on campus, but that’s just to satisfy college ball regulations. If I have my way, I won’t be setting foot in one of these shitty dorms unless it’s for some tail.
“Thanks,” Hailey looks up from the intense looking computer she’s setting up on her desk as Evan - the star running back - and I set the love seat down by the window in her room.
I raise a brow at the dual-monitors and the sizable, sleek-looking tower and turn to grin at her. “Nice gaming computer,” I say with a grin.
Hailey’s face goes red as she adjusts her glasses on her face, looking Goddamn adorable with how flustered she is. “It’s for school,” she mutters quickly.
“Sure it is,” I lean in and wink at her as Evan ducks out of the room. “Nerd.”
“Aww man, a single?” Jason, our full-back, whistles as he steps into the room and looks around. “Must be nice being Coach’s daughter. I spent two years in these dorms and always had some shitty roommate.”
“Hey you can see the field from here!” Henderson, the power forward, steps in carrying a box and nods at her window. “You could throw some fuckin’ sweet pre-game parties in here, babe.”
Hailey looks at him like he’s speaking another language. “Yeah, I think I’m good, but thanks.”
“Naw I’m serious, babe!” Henderson shakes his head, clearly not getting it. “Perfect view of the scoreboard too.”
Hailey rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I’ll - uh - I’ll have to think about it.” She turns and steps up onto the chair she was standing on when we first came in, reaching back up to finish hanging one of three damn wall calendars above her desk.
I’m about to make a crack about it, when I realize she’s still wearing those damn cutoff shorts from earlier.
All of a sudden, I am very quickly forgetting my joke along with any other thought entirely.
Hailey stretches up to tape the corner of a calendar, pulling those little jean cut-offs tight across her utterly perfect ass, her lean, creamy legs staining as she pushes up with her toes to reach the tape.
But then I’m also very quickly realizing that I am not the only one who’s got his eye on Hailey’s stupidly good-looking ass. Actually, as I turn, I realize there’s not a damn eye in the room that isn’t glued to the denim pulled tight across that back-end. And suddenly, I can feel this weird, angry feeling rising inside.
“Alright!” I clap loudly, snapping everyone’s attention away from Hailey’s ass. “Let’s go get those beers, fellas.”
“Yeah,” Evan shakes his head, grinning sideways at me as I start to herd everyone out of Hailey’s room.
“Thanks again,” she calls over her shoulder, apparently utterly oblivious to the show she was just putting on.
I duck my head back in. “Hey, quick question.”
Hailey turns and raises her brow. “Yeah?”
I grin and nod at the computer. “Just out of curiosity, do you play as a knight, or more like some sort of wizard-”
I dodge the roll of masking tape hurled my way, cackling while I head out.
* * *
We’re barely outside the building when the guys lose it.
“Holy fuckin’ shit, man!” Jason whistles lowly.
“Damn, dude!” Henderson shakes his head at me.
I frown at them. “What?”
Henderson laughs. “What? Is this guy serious?” He chuckles. “Coach’s daughter, man.”
My frown turns into a scowl as I glare at him. “What about her.”
He laughs again. “Dude are you blind?”
“She’s pretty hot
, bro,” Jason adds in with a sheepish look.
I shrug. “Eh, not my type.”
Evan snorts. “Bullshit. Word is your ‘type’ has a pussy and legs that can spread.”
They all erupt into laughter as we cross the street from the college entrance to the official and yet unofficial off-campus house for the upper tier of the football team. Okay, it’s a frat house without the greek letters, but who’s really keeping track.
I frown as we walk. I mean, I want to laugh it off with them, but there’s something digging at me about these guys talking about her like that. I’d say it’s jealousy or something, except I’m Dalton Cole - I don’t get jealous, I get laid. Jealousy is what losers feel for winners like me.
“Dude, she’s my stepsister,” I mutter.
Jason punches me in the arm. “Bro, didn’t you bang that T.V. actress’s mom?”
Yeah, I did do that. I wouldn’t exactly say I’m proud of it, but I am every fucking inch the pussy-chasing scumbag the tabloids say I am.
I grin. “Guilty.”
Jason hoots and claps me on the back. “So don’t try and play that moral card, buddy.”
I make a face. “Man, she’s like family, I don’t see her like that.”
“'Step’ ain’t really family, buddy. Plus she’s not even that yet,” he says with a wolfish grin. “And don’t lie. I saw you scoping that fine ass right alongside the rest of us.”
“Bet she’s a virgin, dude,” Henderson says, chuckling with a shake of his head. “And I’ll tell you what, man, I would tear that pussy up if-”
“Enough.” My voice is loud, dark, and edged as I cut him off. “Tone it the fuck down.”
“Hey, relax, freshman,” he says, flipping me off and shaking his head.
I’m pissed at this conversation, and I don’t even know why. The idea of these guys hitting on Hailey or looking at her like that or fucking thinking about her like that has some sort of bizarre possessive thing raging up inside of me, and I can’t even tell if it’s protective or just plain territorial.
Both are weird feelings.
“Alright, alright,” Evan cuts in as we head around back to the patio behind the house. “Leave the kid alone.” He shakes his head. “Besides, that shit is off limits.”
Henderson snorts. “Says who?”
Evan rolls his eyes and grabs some beers from the big reach-in cooler outside. “Says the fact that she’s Coach Garrison’s daughter, dumbass. That’s a line you don’t cross.”
Henderson just shrugs as he cracks his beer. “I’d say that just makes things more interesting.”
There’s a quiet moment before Jason pipes up with a shrug. “I’d hit it.”
Ramirez, one of our defensive guys, pokes his head out the back door. “You fuckers talking about Coach’s daughter?” I shoot him a dagger look but he doesn’t seem to notice as he steps outside. “Shit, I’d hit that too.”
Henderson grins. “Well what do we say dudes, a little gentlemen’s bet?”
Anger roars up inside of me all over again as I narrow my eyes at him. “Fuck off, guys.”
“Hey, Cole, you wanna wimp out that’s fine.” Ramirez grins at me, grabbing a beer from the cooler.
“Yeah there’s enough pussy for you on this campus anyways, dickhead,” Henderson says with an annoying laugh. “How about it, boys - a hundred bucks to whoever taps that first.”
Evan shakes his head. “That’s just wrong, man.”
“Yeah, so wrong it’s right, you mean,” Henderson says, choking on a slug of his beer.
I can still feel that weird, confusing possessive anger simmering right below the surface. But there’s also that competitive instinct in there too - that driving need to win and be first, and the best.
That fire inside that makes me the fucking star I am, if we’re being honest.
‘Course, it’s also the fire that makes me say dumb shit, sort of like what comes out of my mouth next.
“A hundred bucks?” I snort as I kick back in my chair and throw my feet up on the table. “What if we made it interesting?”
The group of guys around me goes quiet and collectively starts to grin
“Let’s make it a grand.”
There are low whistles around the backyard before Jason cracks ups and throws his hand up to high-five me. “Well damn, boy! There’s the Big Ten I was hearing about!”
Ramirez is cackling like I’m the funniest dude in the world. “That’s filthy bro, I like it!”
What the fuck am I doing?
Henderson nods. “You’re crazy, but you better start saving, golden boy. Nerd-girl’s ass is mine.”
I very quietly resist the urge to put my fist into his mouth.
I’m acting like a complete fucking idiot here, but I know I’m in too deep now to say shit. And as dumb as I know it sounds, I’ve got a reputation to uphold, however sordid.
Besides, it’s just a stupid bet.
7
Hailey
“So, settling in okay, Hailey?”
Heather smiles at me as she passes the salad across the table.
Okay, this is nice. I mean, I love my dad, but family dinners for the majority of the past ten years have mainly consisted of takeout or weird frozen dinners and - yep, you guessed it - football on the t.v.
Real conversation, homemade food, and a table that doesn’t start with the word “coffee” is a wonderful improvement.
The fact that dickhead Dalton won’t be gracing us with is presence tonight makes things that much more enjoyable.
I nod and swallow the pasta in my mouth. “Yeah, actually,” I smile back at Heather. “It’s going fine.”
I’ve been on campus for four days now, with classes starting Monday. Yeah, it might not be Columbia, and Dixon might not be New York City, but I’m slowly making peace with that. After all, it’s just one semester, and then I can move on with my plans.
One semester without any more annoying visits to my dorm room by Dalton and his football goons would be preferable.
Something soft brushes quickly against my leg, followed by a rusty, wailing meowing sound under the table.
“Oop, here you go, buddy.” Dad starts to pass a piece of bow-tie pasta under the table to his cat Beasley. I say “his cat”, because the snaggletoothed Maine Coon is no one’s but Dad’s. Heck, I’ve known Beasley for close to nine years, and he want’s nothing to do with me.
“Jim-”
My dad looks up sheepishly from feeding his beggar of a cat as Heather rolls her eyes at him. “Should I have set a place for him?”
“Please don’t?” I mumble out.
Heather laughs.
“Aww, he just loves himself some pasta, that’s all,” Dad says, giving me a wink.
“Dad, Beasley loves himself food - like, as a general concept.”
“He’s a growing boy!” Dad says with a grin. “I’m gonna work on his blocking drills this season and maybe stick him on the defensive line, what do you think?”
I sigh as I shake my head at Heather. “You had no idea what you were getting into, did you?”
Heather laughs again as she reaches over to hold my dad’s hand. “Oh, I’m in for the whole deal - Beasley and all.” She flashes a smile at my dad before turning it my way. “By the way, I hope you don’t mind, but I took a look at your schedule today.” Her eyebrows go up. “You’ve got a pretty hefty first semester, you know.”
I nod. “I know, I just want to knock out as many general ed classes as possible before Columbia.” I shrug. “I figured they’d be easier to do here.”
Crap.
I cringe the second I say it, realizing how shitty it sounds out loud. “God, sorry, that came out wrong.”
“Hailey,” my dad frowns and shakes his head, but Heather just smiles and pats his arm.
“No-no, that’s okay.”
“Heather, I really didn’t mean-”
“Hailey, really, it’s okay,” she waves her hand dismissively and smiles at me.
/> God I’m an asshole.
Heather’s really trying here, way more than some of the other women Dad’s found over the years. I mean, there was Trish the drunk, and Lauren was literally a shoplifter. Heather tops the list by a mile, and here I am insulting the school she runs right to her face.
Heather grins and meets my eye across the table. “Hailey, really, I’m not insulted, and I know what you meant. But I’m proud of the level of state school we are.” She shrugs, “Actually I’m pretty excited to push things in a more academic direction now that I’m at the top.” She turns and winks at my dad. “Not at the expense of the football program, of course.”
Dad chuckles, and she rolls her eyes. “Hey, I’m smart enough to know where our alumni donations come from,” she finishes with a smile before turning back to me. “I’d honestly welcome any feedback on the school while you’re with us, Hailey.”
* * *
“So, you’re thinking I’m a little nuts aren’t you?”
We’re in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner with Beasley prowling for scraps at our feet when Dad stops and leans against the counter next to me.
“Dad-”
“Give it to me honest, kiddo,” he puts up fake boxing hands as he grins at me.
I roll my eyes at him. “You know I really like her, Dad.”
It’s just her dickhead of a son I can’t stand.
“You don’t think it’s a little crazy to make this step after only six months?”
I shrug, pushing the rack into the dishwasher and shutting the door. “I mean, you love her, right?”
“It’s the real deal, kiddo.”
I grin. “Good, then no, I don’t think you’re crazy.”
“You sure?”
I nod. “Yeah, I really am.”
He smiles back before grabbing me into a big bear hug. “Thanks, sport.”
Jock: A Secret Baby Sports Romance Page 29