For the Win

by Sara Rider

  “So where did this drive to win come from?”

  Lainey shot him a pointed look. “Have you ever been asked that question? Just because I’m female doesn’t mean my motivation is any different than yours. I’m an athlete. It’s my job to win.”

  “Fair enough. But you’re special, and you know it. Not because you’re a woman, but because of your determination and focus. It’s completely out of this world. I’ve been around professional athletes my whole life, and I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  “Tractor.”

  He frowned. “Are you just throwing out random words to distract me?”

  She sighed. “Growing up on the farm, I never got to drive the tractor. Even though I mastered the beast by the time I was eight years old, my two older brothers always got to drive the tractor. Every day after school and all summer I was forced to stay in the kitchen helping my mom do dishes. I used to think that Eric and Tim got to do all the cool jobs on the farm simply because they were older than me. But then my younger brother Kyle turned nine, and suddenly he was driving the tractor, too. I realized then that I needed to get off the farm one way or another. That’s why I begged my parents to let me join a soccer league in a nearby town. I had to walk three miles to the next farm so old Mrs. Holloway could drive me to my games. Turns out I was good. Really good. I got scouted by a premier league coach in Lincoln by the time I was twelve. But Mrs. Holloway didn’t like to drive that far, and my parents couldn’t leave the farm in the summer. So I moved to Seattle with my aunt and uncle, and the rest is history. Soccer was my way out of the life I never wanted, but it was clear to me that only the best got to move up the chain. Being second best was as good as losing.”

  He knew she wouldn’t appreciate his sympathy, but his heart ached for her as she continued to nonchalantly divulge her own family’s indifference to her soccer career. She had no one cheering for her in the stands in Norway when she won the Cup, no one with her in the hospital as she recovered. Her parents and siblings couldn’t leave the farm during combining season, she explained as though it were a perfectly logical excuse. None of her teammates could afford to change their flights to visit her in the hospital after she woke up.

  Gabe couldn’t imagine achieving what he had without the support of his friends and family, but Lainey had done it all entirely alone. A heavy weight settled over him when he realized just how much she didn’t need anyone. The fact that she’d even revealed this little bit about herself to Gabe was a major step for her. He felt like a beggar, clinging to any scrap of information she tossed his way.

  “I see that look on your face. Don’t you dare pity me.”

  “Of course not. If anything, I’m the one who deserves pity here. You actually won the World Cup. When I played for Team USA, we only got as far as the quarterfinals before Croatia slaughtered us.”

  “Yeah, well, because I was in my sophomore year at U-Dub at the time, I got to see your first match with the Surge. It was pretty glorious,” she said, snatching a piece of bacon from Gabe’s plate.

  “I told you to order your own bacon.” He smacked her hand playfully and pointed to her with his fork. “And you’re making me feel old with that story.”

  “You are old.” She grinned. “I remember that day because it made Seattle get excited about soccer for the first time. The homegrown star came back to play for his local team. It was a big deal. Even people who didn’t watch soccer started tuning into games to get a glimpse of you.”

  Gabe smiled. Somehow, those memories seemed so long ago and disconnected from the man he was today, like she was talking about an entirely different person. Back then, the roar of his name in crowds was like a high every time he stepped onto the field. He still loved his fans, but their adoration didn’t thrill him in quite the same way. “I think that was the first compliment you’ve ever given me, unless you count all the proclamations of how amazing my superpowered penis was this morning.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “I never said that!”

  “It was implied in all the moaning.” He flashed her a cheeky grin.

  Her face flushed. “It was good,” she said in a shy voice.

  Gabe suddenly felt like an asshole for teasing her.

  “Best I’ve ever had,” he admitted, laying down a twenty to cover their bill. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  With a hand on the small of her back, he escorted her to the door. He pushed against the glass and was met with the heavy resistance of the howling wind. A sharp crack followed, and Gabe watched in horror as a nearby tree snapped at the base and toppled over mere inches from his back fender, trapping the car in the parking lot.

  “Huh,” the portly waitress who’d served them earlier said over Gabe’s shoulder, as though falling trees were a regular occurrence in these parts. Maybe it was, for all a city boy like Gabe knew. “Looks like you’ll be stuck here a while longer. Can I get you two some more coffee?”

  Gabe jogged outside to check for damage. Luckily there wasn’t any, but it didn’t look like they’d be getting back to Seattle any time soon. He pulled out his cell phone. No reception.

  There was only one thing Gabe could do: sit back and enjoy the fact he’d be waylaid in Lainey’s company a little longer.

  Lainey followed him out of the diner and gasped at the wreckage. “Don’t worry, babe, no harm, no foul. The car is fine,” he reassured her.

  “What are we going to do?”

  Gabe wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I can think of a few things. Most of them involve my tongue and you screaming my name.”

  He managed to pull a brief half smile out of her before she pushed him away and a look of panic resettled on her face. “I have practice in two hours. I can’t believe I was so irresponsible this weekend. What the hell was I thinking?”

  Ouch. Not exactly the words a guy wanted to hear after what he considered the best weekend of his life. Wanting to be her hero, he grasped the rough bark and tried to pull the trunk away from the tires. It didn’t budge.

  “You’re gonna need a chainsaw to move that,” the waitress said from the doorway. She craned her neck to look back toward the diner. “Hank! Get the chainsaw, will ya?”

  A few moments later, a hunched-over, gray-haired man wearing a flannel shirt and waders emerged from the side of the diner with a chainsaw in hand. He passed the heavy machine to Gabe. “Here ya go. You’ll be outta here in no time.”

  Gabe stood there with absolutely no clue how to proceed.

  Lainey rolled her eyes and grabbed the saw, giving him her sweater to hold instead. “You got a pair of work boots, too?” she asked Hank.

  Of course he did.

  Lainey followed Hank to the back of the store. When she stepped back out a few minutes later, Gabe’s jaw dropped. She wore a pair of clunky steel-toe boots about four sizes too big and protective glasses that looked ridiculous with her sexy-as-hell dress. Whatever opinions he previously held about provocative women’s footwear were completely obliterated in that moment, because he’d never been more turned-on in his life. It was like she’d just knocked his whole world off its axis, forcing it to revolve around her.

  “Wow,” he said as the hem of her dress hitched up an extra couple of inches when she hefted the chainsaw from the ground.

  “It’s just a pair of work boots.” She brushed a windswept lock of hair off her forehead and glanced around the parking lot nervously, like she was worried someone would overhear their conversation. “Nothing to fuss about.”

  How could this brilliant woman be so blind to her own beauty? “It’s not just a pair of boots. It’s . . . it’s—”

  “Gabe Havelak at a loss for words? That’s a first.”

  “Loss? No. Just too many to choose from. Stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing. Beautiful. Scrumptious. Delectable. Should I go on?”

  She cranked the saw until it purr
ed. “You really want to mess with me right now?”

  “Babe, I always want to mess with you.”

  Lainey shook her head and got to work on the fallen tree. It amazed Gabe how the woman could turn on her steely determination instantaneously. Not wanting to feel completely emasculated, he whisked away the cut pieces as she powered through the trunk.

  Forty backbreaking minutes later, they were clear to leave. Gabe reluctantly handed her the keys.

  “What’s this for?” Lainey asked, her face glowing with pride.

  “If you can handle a chainsaw like that, I have no choice but to admit you can probably handle the Porsche. Let’s get you to practice.”

  She squealed and ran to the driver’s side, making the same excited, sensual sounds when she touched the supple leather as she had the night before. Gabe slid into the passenger’s seat, grumbling as he adjusted the legroom.

  “Just drive carefully. This baby isn’t made for country roads.” He caressed the door as he spoke, trying to ignore her chanting “mine” over and over under her breath.

  “And if I don’t?” she teased, peeling out of the parking spot, sending gravel in all directions.

  Gabe pulled out his cell phone and thumbed to a picture of her with the chainsaw and cocktail dress. “Then this gets forwarded to all your teammates.”

  “You delete that right now, Gabe Havelak!” She slowed down to a reasonable speed. “That is so embarrassing. I don’t even want to know what you think of me right now.”

  “Are you kidding me? You just fulfilled the sexiest fantasy I didn’t even know I had.”

  The car lurched as she hit the gas, then braked sharply in compensation. She cleared her throat and recovered to a normal speed.

  By the end of the ride, the conversation between them had lulled, and thick tension settled over the car. Lainey’s focus was on the road like she was on a life-or-death mission, hands steady on the wheel and eyes fixed ahead of her. The euphoria coursing through Gabe’s veins all weekend began to fade as the countryside gave way to concrete buildings. Lainey pulled up to the side street where she’d left her car and glanced at the time.

  Before Gabe could gather the courage to ask her out on a proper date or even kiss her good-bye, she handed him the keys and popped out of the car. “If I hurry, I can still make practice on time,” she said, almost to herself as though she’d already forgotten about him.

  Gabe watched her jog to her car and drive off. A sharp pang stabbed at his gut. Usually he was the one running off without a single glance backward.

  14

  The fans can make or break the game. And nothing tops Seattle’s sports fans.

  —Gabe Havelak, postgame quote on Channel 7 News

  LAINEY PUMPED HER LEGS with every stride, racing to catch the ball before it rolled out of play. The defender was on her every step, leaning into her shoulder and trying to knock her off balance. She stretched her leg out to angle the ball away from the line just as the defender slammed into her back. Lainey pivoted on her left foot, then cut sharply in the other direction toward the net. Only the goalie stood in her way. She dribbled forward a few paces, positioning herself for the perfect shot. She drew her right leg back to strike.

  The next thing she knew, she was facedown in the dirt, the skin on her outer thigh and elbow ripped off from the sharp grass. She could already feel a massive bruise forming at her ankle where the Chicago Boomerangs’ defender had just hacked her down. A screeching whistle pierced her eardrum.

  God, she loved this game.

  Jaime ran to her side and offered her a hand up. Lainey surveyed her position as she rose to her feet. Just a few yards outside the box. She had this.

  “You better watch out. These ladies are getting desperate and scared,” Jaime said, pointing to the offending player, who was arguing with the ref over the call.

  Lainey smiled. It was exactly how she wanted her competition to feel. She placed the ball on the grass and took her time assessing the angles while the ref whipped out the yellow card and scribbled in her notebook for dramatic effect.

  “Hey, check it out.” Jaime pointed to a nearby row of spectators. “You’ve got a fan club.”

  Lainey glanced over her shoulder. A giant, glittery pink poster with her name on it was being hoisted and waved around in the air in the front row.

  By none other than Gabe Havelak.

  “What the hell?” Never in a million years did she anticipate seeing this.

  “I take it the weekend went well?” Jaime teased.

  “I’m not talking about it,” Lainey said. She hadn’t heard a word from him since their drive back to Seattle on Sunday. It had taken all of her control to not let herself become obsessed with thoughts of him in that time. It was a fun weekend, and now it was over.

  “You totally slept with him,” Jaime teased. When Lainey remained silent, she gasped. “Holy shit. You really did sleep with him. Good job, Lukas. I’m impressed.”

  “Not talking about it,” Lainey repeated. There were ten minutes left in the game, and she intended to make every one of them count.

  The ref gave her the signal to take the free kick. Jaime ran over the ball in a fake-out, and Lainey followed up with a hard, curving drive to the back of the net.

  The crowd exploded.

  The scoreboard read 3–0.

  This was heaven, all right.

  FOR THE FIRST TIME, Lainey was happy to be in the locker room with her loud, abrasive teammates. They’d just kicked the Boomerangs’ asses in their second preseason game, and the thrill of victory was in each one of their eyes. Momentum was in their favor as they entered the regular season. Coach Labreilla had a noticeable lilt in his incomprehensible voice during his postgame speech. Frank was in a good mood, which probably had a lot to do with the stands looking considerably fuller than they were the last home game they played. Even Carson Chester stopped by to congratulate them on a job well done in his own pompous way. Somehow, the Battle of the Sexes shenanigans were translating into a genuine fan base.

  Jaime was standing on top of a bench, leading them through a made-up chant that had even Lainey—who did not chant—muttering along. This was the first time they felt and played like a team, not just a group of individuals arbitrarily thrown together.

  Lainey couldn’t imagine how the day could get any better.

  “Hey, Captain, what’s the plan for the fund-raiser? Come up with anything yet?” Alyssa inquired, reminding her that the day could possibly get a lot worse. Between the week spent at the soccer camp and the sexual vortex that swallowed up her time and brainpower last weekend, Lainey hadn’t made any headway into developing a viable fund-raiser.

  “Working on it.” She gathered her bag and jacket, ready to head home. But as she turned to leave, a voice stopped her cold.

  “Knock, knock. You ladies decent?” Gabe was standing at the door to the locker room with Tessa beside him, clutching the pink sign in front of her. “We were hoping to get a few autographs.”

  A collective “awww” resounded through the room as Lainey’s teammates lined up to grant the girl’s wish.

  “Hey, Lukas, got plans tonight?”

  Alyssa answered for her. “Of course she does. Let’s see. Go home. Do some stretches. Eat a healthy dinner of raw vegetables and lean protein. A hot bath, and then an early bedtime.” She listed off the items on her fingers.

  “How about joining Tessa and me for some ice cream instead?”

  “That’s not a good idea,” Lainey said quietly. Not because she didn’t want to go. She desperately wanted to experience that same exhilarating passion and carefree-ness she’d given in to the weekend before. But those kinds of desires were dangerous when a guy like Gabe was involved. She didn’t know what to expect when they’d parted company last Sunday, but it hurt more than she’d anticipated when she didn’t hear a word from him
afterward. She spent all her free time picking up shifts with her uncle to make up for the obscene check she’d cut at the charity gala, which helped only a little bit to keep her mind off Gabe.

  “It’s a great idea,” Alyssa said, grabbing Lainey’s arm and ushering her toward Gabe. “But I insist you get photographic evidence of her eating ice cream. Otherwise I’ll never believe it.”

  Gabe held his hand out to her while his sister flashed her big, pleading, puppy-dog eyes.

  “Fine,” Lainey relented. Saying no to Gabe was one thing. Saying no to Tessa, knowing the girl idolized her, was impossible. Besides, she didn’t want to argue with him in front of her teammates. Not when things were finally starting to go well on that front.

  “Wait a second,” Jaime said, casting a suspicious glance at Gabe and awkwardly slinging an arm around Lainey’s much taller shoulders. “What exactly are your intentions with our captain, Havelak?”

  Gabe cupped Tessa’s ears. “I can assure you my intentions are quite dishonorable and very, very naughty.” His disarming grin succeeded at winning her teammates over.

  Jaime cracked a devious smile and leaned into Lainey’s ear. “Well, hot damn, Ballbuster. I’m so proud of you. Looks like you’re getting cock and spoon tonight.”

  Lainey had no idea how her hand ended up inside Gabe’s as they walked along the boardwalk overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but it sure felt nice. Watching his tongue drag long, lazy licks over his cone had Lainey feeling something a little more intense than “nice.” Memories of the night they spent at her uncle’s cabin burned through her mind, sending vibrations all the way to her core.