Qualified: A Sports Romance

by Croix, Ada

  Marc jerked his chin up like she’d slapped him. It delayed his argument for a moment. “You shouldn’t be walking alone around here.”

  “Why, are there drunk assholes out tonight?” Allie retorted sarcastically. She was rewarded with the visible clenching of Marc’s jaw.

  “I’ll go with you, Allie,” Troy offered before there could be further argument. He was already sidestepping Marc with a wary glance.

  “Thank you, Troy.” Allie turned and walked off without another look back.

  They split up in the convenience store, though there were barely enough aisles to make it worthwhile. In the end, it was easiest to buy candy from the counter so the attendant would let them get a Big Gulp cup full of ice from the fountain machine.

  Allie and Troy made it out before the minivan had time to pick up the rest of the group and roll down the block. When the driver pulled up and her roommate opened the side door from the middle bench seat, Allie saw that they’d left the spot next to Marc open in the back. She met his eyes for a moment and then deliberately took the seat beside Kelsey even though it meant Troy had to crawl half over her to sit beside his teammate.

  Marc’s expression went from vaguely grim to distantly blank.

  Allie tried not to think about it. Once she had her buckle on she twisted in her seat and rolled her fingers in beckoning at him. “Your hand.”

  Marc stared at her a second before complying. She could feel the weight of his scrutiny prickling along the back of her neck even though she wouldn’t look at him. While Candace chatted with the driver from up front and they eased into traffic towards the freeway onramp, Allie picked the tape loose from Marc’s knuckles.

  She felt along his fingers one more time once the binding was off. He twitched slightly as she dragged her fingers against the tips of his with soft-graze slowness. Finally, with the others at least feigning distraction, Allie allowed herself to meet his eyes.

  For a long moment she was lost in the darkness. Allie was barely aware of the slow run of her tongue along her lip, chasing the memory of how he had kissed her. She was still stung by the rough of his bristles and the force of his wanting her. Never had anyone made her feel so desired.

  His hand started to twist in hers, to pull her closer.

  Allie snapped out of her enchantment with a soft noise of negation. She couldn’t afford to let herself be drawn into his game. She was sure to lose. How could she possibly expect to be anything special to him? Her gaze dropped to the business of reaching the cup of ice over the back of her seat.

  “Troy,” she had to ask when Marc didn’t accept it.

  The other player was more obliging, taking the cup and holding it perched on Marc’s knee. Troy looked at Marc in cautious aside. “Doctor’s orders, man,” he explained himself with a shrug.

  “Twenty minutes,” Allie said firmly as she passed Marc’s hand back over the seat, pointing a finger towards the cup commandingly.

  Marc sighed and dunked in his hand.

  Allie made a show of setting the timer on her phone. Then she turned resolutely around to watch out the front window.

  She tried to pretend she didn’t notice how Marc was watching her in the dark glass reflection.

  29

  “Good morning, sunshine.”

  For one sweet second, Marc believed that it was Allie shifting the covers back so cool air hit his skin. Then reality came crashing in with the pounding throb of his headache. It wasn’t her voice, the face leaning over his bed was bearded, and she’d never be able to shove his shoulder that roughly.

  Marc groaned and flopped over on his back. He tested the curl of his right hand’s fingers. They felt stiff, but they were just buddy-taped. He vaguely remembered Adam doing it after Allie refused to come over to their apartment. Her hard-to-get act was frustrating as hell. It was probably just a phase before she settled down in med school, but she was obviously interested in him. Or she had been, anyway, before he stupidly agreed to go back upstairs at the club.

  “Hungover?”

  Marc cracked his eyelids further to frown at Everett. “Thought we had today off.”

  “You want more days off?” Everett stripped the covers the rest of the way from Marc and smacked backhanded at his knee. “Get up or we’ll be late for your appointments.”

  “What appointments?” Despite the question, Marc rolled himself to sit at the edge of the bed. He rubbed at the ache of his head.

  “Since you decided to revive your boxing career, we’re going to take you into Lindsey’s clinic to have your hand looked at.”

  Marc was almost too distracted to snatch the t-shirt out of the air when Everett chucked it at him. “Fucking Blake,” he snarled. He might have expected the prissy little rich boy to say something to staff, but arranging a morning wake-up call was some impressive efficiency in screwing him over.

  “What did I tell you, when we talked about you being on this team? Be civil, stay sober, stay out of fights and any other Jerry Springer shit. And you get the bright idea to go roughing up the biggest prima donna on this team. Who’s not the one who told me, by the way, so don’t get carried away with any vengeful bullshit.” Everett knew him too well. “Dammit, Marc, you should be this team’s biggest asset, not its worst liability.”

  Marc got his shirt pulled over his head but he was still scowling. “I don’t know what you want me to do when Natalie starts going after me. You know how she is.” An evil mastermind with a world-spanning vindictive streak. He knew she’d never forgive him for making her look bad in two thousand eight. It didn’t matter to her that the unreported truth of what she was doing was worse—if it wasn’t a headline, it didn’t seem to count. She must have really thought he was stupid if she believed he would agree to whatever story she wanted to cook for Valentine’s Day.

  “If you stuck to focusing on practice, not playing grab-ass, this wouldn’t be an issue for you, Marc. Are you going to get your pants on?” Everett paused to huff from where he stood in the doorway with his fists balanced at his hips. He scanned a look over his player. “Natalie was involved with this?”

  “Natalie wasn’t the one who told you either?” Marc frowned. It was taking most of his focus to get his feet stepped into his jeans since his head felt like it was splitting open. His belt was still in the loops of his pants from the previous night.

  Picking them up from their pile on the floor made him think of how Allie’s hands had felt sliding at his waist above their band. She was everything his ex had tried to pretend to be, except she was the real deal. As much as Allie talked about her career, Marc couldn’t imagine her hurting anyone just to get ahead. She was the opposite of cruel.

  “Well fucking great. I’ll prepare myself for an earful from her,” Everett was still muttering. “You gonna take a piss? Hurry up, I’m serious about being late.”

  “Does Coach know?” Marc asked warily as he edged through the door.

  “I thought I’d figure out how big a fucking disappointment you are before bothering him with the news. It’s not just your ass on the line, Marc.”

  The number of living human beings Marc gave a shit about was so low that it probably didn’t qualify as a list. Whatever it was, Everett’s name was on it. He had to grind the words between his teeth before he could swallow them.

  Bitterness lingered in his hangover-dry mouth. “Yeah, well, you can’t rely on anyone.”

  “Boo fucking hoo.” Everett hurried him down the hall with a push at his shoulder. “And this is why your second appointment is with the shrink. This isn’t swimming, Marc. We’re a team sport, and we need team players. As good as you are, even you can’t win gold on your own.”

  “Fucking watch me,” Marc grumbled as he shuffled down the hallway to use the bathroom before meeting Everett in the living room to head down to the car. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t ever going to be on the same side as someone who ratted on him.

  30

  Allie deliberately stayed away from the apartment co
mplex the day after the fiasco at the club. She wanted to avoid any chance of running into Marc. On a tip from Candace she went to a nearby community college’s library to try to study her material for the MCATs, but while she could run, she couldn’t get Marc out of her head. The margins of her notes filled in with doodles as her eyes glazed and her thoughts wandered. She was lost in daydreams where the feel of his mouth stole her breath and the strength of his hands demanded her body.

  When she gave up on her work for a while and checked her phone, Allie found a series of messages from Violet.

  Not a word?

  How was last night?

  I hope you’re in bed with a wp boy

  Allie puffed air out her cheeks and glanced around. Like there was anyone to scold her for gossiping instead of doing her work.

  No

  At library. Studying

  Boo

  You did go out?

  It was awful

  ???

  Allie bit her lip as she stared at the tiny keys. Where would she start?

  Gimme a min, I’ll call?

  K!

  I’m at lunch

  It didn’t take Allie long to shove all of her books back into her bag so she could depart the library’s enforced quiet. Outside she found a low retaining wall that passed beneath a palm tree’s shade where she could sit. Dropping her bag by her feet, Allie folded a knee up onto the broad lip of cement and tapped at her phone to dial her friend.

  “Hey, California girl.”

  “Hey, Violet.” Allie smiled into the phone, hoping her friend could hear that through the tired drag of her voice.

  “So what happened? I thought you were getting the VIP treatment up in Hollywood.”

  “Yeah,” Allie sighed. “It started great. The place was amazing, Violet. And Blake had the whole top balcony reserved just for us.”

  “Yeah?” Violet was a good enough friend to sound more eager than jealous. “I told you that boy was worth getting to know. But what went wrong? Did something happen with him? I’ll kill him.”

  Allie smiled at how fast her friend turned from rooting for the guy to contemplating murder. “Blake was actually … he was fine. I mean, he’s totally a player.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, looking along the sunny pathway as a happy group of students walked by. “But it wasn’t him. It was Marc.”

  “That guy.” Allie could hear Violet huffing like a bull seeing red. “So he is bad news, after all. What happened?”

  “I was dancing with him.” More than dancing, but Allie couldn’t bring herself to admit it, not even to Violet. “But then he got into a fight with this girl Natalie.”

  “His ex?”

  “Yeah.” Allie paused, frowning. “You knew about her?”

  “Well, sure. I told you I dug up some things for that PR event. But it was last decade when they dated. Even you have an ex, Allie.”

  “I guess.” Allie picked her nail at a crack in the wall. “I feel so pathetically obsessed, Violet. I just lose my mind around him. I almost went home with him last night and …” she whispered it into the phone but couldn’t even finish.

  “And … tore each other’s clothes off to do the nasty?”

  Allie scuffed out a weak laugh. “Something like that.” She rubbed a palm over her face. “I can’t think when he’s around. I don’t know what’s happened to me. I don’t even know him. I didn’t know about him and Natalie, I still don’t understand why he wasn’t on the team four years ago. Everyone seems to know he dropped out of college, but no one will say why.

  “I didn’t know … I didn’t know he’d try to put Blake through a wall. It frightens me.” Allie looked down into her lap where her hand had fallen in a loose curl. Even that reminded her of Marc. How it felt to touch him, to wrap his fingers, to take his pulse. “It frightens me that I still can’t stop thinking about him.”

  Violet was silent a long moment. “I don’t know what to tell you, Allie. You’re a smart girl. Trust yourself. Don’t listen to what anyone else says you should do.” Allie could hear a smile crack into her friend’s voice. “Not even me. If you want to put on a nun’s habit and spend every minute you’re not on the clock studying for the MCAT, instead of surfing with shirtless California boys, then I’ll root for you doing that.”

  That got Allie to laugh. “Thanks, Violet.”

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I think so. Adam’s sister Kelsey has been great, you know,” Allie sought to reassure her friend. “And my bosses, Lindsey and Everett, I trust them. It’ll be all right. I just need to …” Allie shook out her hair and took a deep breath. “Focus on what is important.”

  “You’ll figure it out. I believe in you. I’m on your team. Go, Allie!”

  Allie laughed again, needlessly ducking her blushing face.

  “All right, I’m going to go check out … I mean, check in, this new group of cyclists. Have fun studying. I guess.” Allie could hear her friend both rolling her eyes and grinning. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will. Have fun with the cyclists.”

  “Oh, you know I will.”

  Allie prayed that Marc wouldn’t be the first one down the next morning, but of course she couldn’t be that lucky.

  “Hey,” Marc greeted her as he climbed into the front seat. He never rode in the front seat.

  Allie clutched at the steering wheel like it was a life preserver. “Hi.”

  “Did you have a nice day off?” Somehow Marc made it sound mildly accusatory.

  Kelsey had told her that he’d come by while she was at the library. “Yes,” Allie said and buttoned her lips together. She could see the elevator doors opening and willed the other guys to hurry up and get to the car already.

  “I spent all day trying to figure out why I didn’t make you leave without your purse.”

  Allie was going to break. All day. The ache was back, low in her belly. Her knuckles were white for how hard she held onto the steering wheel. She stared through the windshield as Adam waved from the parking lot, and forced herself to smile. “You think I do anything I don’t want?” She was so proud of how flippant she sounded as she tossed his words back at him. Her smile rested a little easier on her lips. “You can’t make me do anything.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  The growl of his voice as he smirked melted her. Why had she glanced at him? It was all Allie could do not to climb into his lap and link her hands behind his neck and kiss him like she couldn’t imagine breathing any other way.

  She reminded herself of what Kelsey had said at the house party about Marc being a world class player, never mind the water polo. He was running his game and she should be too smart to fall for it. He was all kinds of wrong—a college dropout, violent, not a gentleman at all. Still, Allie had to grope for something to say other than do me now. “How’s your hand?”

  Marc scuffed out a dry chuckle. “Fine. Everett tossed me out of bed yesterday to have it looked at. He said it wasn’t Blake, but I bet that fucker ratted on me. He has no sense of loyalty.”

  Allie frowned, and maybe she didn’t think long enough about it before saying: “I told him.”

  “What?” The smirk was gone.

  Ice trickled down Allie’s spine, dampening her more dangerous impulses. Perhaps it was just a different kind of danger. She tried to own it anyway, turning to meet Marc’s gaze more fully. “I told Everett about the other night.”

  “What?” The way Marc shifted in his chair rocked the car on its shocks. “Why would you do that?”

  Allie fought not to shrink under the revolted way he dragged his gaze over her. She tossed her chin up to anchor her posture. “I was worried about you,” she answered sensibly. “You’re a client under my care, and it’s my job to make sure you’re in appropriate physical condition to do your job.”

  “A client.” It twisted ugly on Marc’s lips.

  Allie couldn’t speak so she just nodded.

  “When you said yo
u wanted to fuck me, this isn’t quite what I imagined,” Marc muttered low. “Well done, Allie.”

  The door rolled open. “Hey, Allie.” Adam bounded into the back, oblivious to how Marc was glowering in the front seat. “Recovered after the other night?”

  Allie painted on a smile. “Yep.” It took her a second longer to drag her eyes from Marc. It was difficult to do. Like looking away from a predator about to lunge. She aimed a strained sort of cheer into the back seat as the other guys from the team piled in. “I’m ready for another week of full-tilt training if you are.”

  Once Allie put the car into gear, Marc ignored her, and it was easy enough to avoid each other during his practice. Allie was cloistered in the office with Lindsey, going over the paperwork for the team’s upcoming travels to the qualifying tournament.

  Allie wasn’t sure if Everett had told anyone that she was involved with what had happened with Marc until Lindsey paused to look at the clock. It was nearly time for Allie to collect the day’s post-exercise data for Doctor Kaitech’s study, but the PT had never paid much notice to her routine before. “I can stay with you if you like, when Marc comes in.”

  Allie felt her cheeks coloring. She shook her head and put on a smile. “I can handle it. But thank you.”

  “Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Lindsey smiled and patted her hand at the door frame on her way out. “You know where to find me.”

  Allie nodded. “Thank you, Lindsey.”

  Marc must have run into the physical trainer while walking from the pool. He was turning his head over his shoulder when he came into the office. “Do we need a chaperone now?” he gestured after Lindsey.

  Allie kept her posture stiff, standing with her gloves already on. “I hope that won’t be necessary.”

  “Maybe I’d like a chaperone.” Despite the suggestion, Marc continued to drop his bag on the floor and his butt in the chair. “No telling what you might say.”