Seduced by the Game

by editor Lisa Hollett

  “What happened to the girl?” Kelly hadn’t seen Keith with anyone, and he only ordered for one when he’d ordered his takeout.

  “That’s Keith’s story to tell. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

  “I think I’ll just go talk to the girls for a while. It was nice talking to you, Zoe. See you later.”

  Kelly walked toward the group of girls gathered around the volleyball net, but she stopped just short of reaching them to pay attention to Keith in the water again.

  The sun was reflecting off the ocean so brightly, it was hard to see him clearly, so she walked a little closer. He had his back to her, and each time he came up out of a wave, she watched, mesmerized, as the water cascaded down over his muscular back. Walking closer still, she could see a tattoo on his left shoulder of an intricate Celtic knot. Out of nowhere, a picture formed in her head of her licking it. Down, girl.

  Before her mind could run away with any more wayward thoughts, she turned around and finally made her way over to the other ice girls.

  “Girl, you’ve got a fan.” Tansy pointed behind her, and Kelly turned around to see Keith looking her way.

  “You put out for him already, Kel?” All the girls knew that Holly was the nasty one. Every group had one. Someone who wasn’t happy unless they were putting someone else down.

  To Kelly’s credit, she ignored the barb and spoke to Tansy. “Nah, I don’t think so. We’ve just spoken a couple of times. He does have a killer ass though.”

  “Well, looks like you’re going to speak again. He’s coming right for you.” Tansy turned and shooed the girls away, leaving Kelly there alone.

  “You want to go play some volleyball with me?” Keith pointed to the net, thankful he’d finally gotten his wits back. “It looks like they’re getting a game together. Let’s go see if we can get in on it.”

  “Sure. Why not?” Kelly let him lead her over by the hand. Half-naked bodies were already lining up on both sides of the court. It was a girl’s dream.

  “You have room for two more?” Keith directed his question to Ace, who seemed to have taken charge of setting up the teams.

  “Sure. You two play over here, and we’ll put another chick on the other side to even things up.”

  Kelly squeezed Keith’s arm. “He is such an asshole. And this is only the second time I’ve been around him. Want to know about the first time?”

  “I can only imagine. What did he do?”

  “A group of us girls went to the pub after tryouts for dinner. The guys hang out there a lot. Anyway, he comes over to our table and says to me, ‘You know, if I were you, I’d have sex with me.’ And then he held out his hand, like I was going to leave with him. And when I didn’t get up, he simply turned to Holly and lifted his eyebrow. Guess what happened then?”

  “I’m gonna say she got up and went with him.”

  “Yup. The funny thing is that Holly sees everything as a contest. She brags about sleeping with him to me every chance she gets. Doesn’t she see how counterproductive that is? I didn’t want him in the first place.”

  The volleyball came flying through the air, landing on Kelly’s toe, causing her to jump. “What the hell?” She bent down and picked it up, looking for the culprit. Of course it was Ace.

  “Sorry, doll. You ready to play now? You can serve first. We’ll let you girls have two tries.” Ace walked over and slapped her ass before taking his spot on the other side of the net.

  “You’re going down, Hawthorn.”

  Ace was all too happy with her comment—she should have known better. “It’ll be my pleasure, sweetheart. Anytime. You just say the word.”

  “You pig! That’s not what I meant. Oh, forget it.” His laughter only pissed her off more, and the ball hit the net on her first serve. Shit. Her second serve was much better, flying over in a nice arc, and the volleying began.

  The end of the game was getting close. Ace’s team only needed one more point to win. When the ball came over to their side, Keith and Kelly both called for it and wound up colliding, falling to the ground. Keith crashed down on top of her, and they were lying nose to nose.

  “Oops. Sorry about that.” But he didn’t get up.

  “Um, are you going to let me up?”

  “Do I have to? I kind of like it here.” Yes! That was kind of smooth.

  “Yes, you do. If I don’t get this sand off of me, I’m going to freak out. Here’s a little secret about me. I hate being dirty. And I can’t stand getting sand on me. I’m not a very good beach person.” She pushed on his chest and he let her up. Grabbing her hands, he hauled them both to their feet.

  “Come on then, princess. Let’s go wash off.”

  The water was more refreshing than she could recall it ever being. The feeling of the cool waves washing over her hot body was pure bliss, with the added benefit of getting clean again.

  Keith stood back and watched her, enjoying the view. Her pink bottoms rode up when she bent low to splash water on her arms. He wasn’t sure which view he’d rather have, the front or the back. She had a fan-fucking-tastic ass.

  Hunger drove them out of the ocean and over to the buffet table that was set up under the tent. Keith put together a plate of food, piled high with ribs, corn, and salads. He took her hand again and led her over to the jetty to eat. They talked about where they grew up, their childhoods, parents, anything, and everything. Before they knew it, the sun was setting.

  Kelly let out a gasp as she realized how late it was. “Oh my God. I need to go.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to let my dog out. I was going to bring her, but she doesn’t like being around a lot of people. She’s a rescue dog and came from an abusive home.”

  “Good thing you left her home then.”

  “Do you like animals?” Kelly didn’t trust people who didn’t like animals.

  “I love them. I’ve actually been thinking about getting a dog. I miss having an animal around. I just wonder if it’s fair to get one when I travel so much.”

  He could tell he’d said the right thing. Not that he didn’t mean it, he did. “There are plenty of us to take care of the team’s pets. I volunteer at the animal orphanage on Saturday mornings. You should stop down. I’ll help you pick out a companion. But now I have to go. Thanks for spending the day with me.”

  Keith walked her out to her car. “It was my pleasure, Kelly.” He threw caution to the wind and gave her just a quick kiss on the cheek before she got in her car.

  “What was that for?”

  “I just wanted to.”

  Her smile made his insides warm. “Oh, um, okay. Night, Keith.” She got into her car but quickly jumped back out of the seat. “That kiss was pathetic.”

  She pushed up on her tiptoes and fused her mouth to his. He quickly took control and pushed her back against the car as his hands reached out to squeeze her sweet hips. They went from zero to sixty in no time at all.

  “Jesus, you can kiss,” Keith mumbled against her lips. He broke away to nibble a path to that sensitive spot girls had right beneath her ear. Her low moan was all the further encouragement he needed. Letting his hands roam up her ribs, he softly brushed the underside of her breasts as his thigh nestled between her legs, applying gentle pressure, drawing a surprised gasp from her.

  Kelly put her hands on Keith’s chest and pushed against him slightly, but when he started to pull away, she moved her hands to wrap them around his neck. When his hands wandered downward to cup her bottom, she hoisted herself up against him and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Oh my God,” Kelly said as she tilted her head back, her heart beating erratically. Keith took advantage of her position and trailed kisses along the column of her throat.

  “Fuck yeah! Somebody’s getting laid right in the parking lot! Do it to her, Lambert. Guess I was wrong about her being cold, eh?”

  Keith pulled back from Kelly and turned to find Ace standing entirely too close to them. “Ace, get lost. Seriously, man
, not now.” Keith was the captain of the team. He couldn’t make a scene. Don’t hit him. Don’t hit him.

  “Know what I would do? I’d put her on her hands and knees. See that ass bounce as I was fucking her.” Ace provided visual effects which had Keith seeing red.

  “Too far, Ace. Too far.” As he reached out to grab Ace’s shirt, he felt a tug on his arm.

  Kelly had seen enough. “Stop, Keith. Please. He’s drunk. Don’t listen to him.”

  Brandon and Vlad caught sight of Ace’s drunken behavior and hastened over to get him. Keith gladly gave him into their keeping. “Never talk about her again. In fact, don’t even look at her. You won’t like the consequences if I ever find out you’ve disrespected her again, do you understand?”

  “We’ll take care of him, Keith.” As they dragged him away, he was still making crude motions with his hips.

  “What an asshole.” It was all Keith could do to keep himself from going after them and planting his fist in Ace’s face.

  The mood was most definitely broken, but maybe that was for the best. Keith had been getting carried away. He probably would have had sex with her right there in the public parking lot at that point. “You better get going. Your pup is waiting for you.” He tried to give her a smile, but he knew it fell short.

  “Thanks for defending my honor, Keith. And for one hell of a kiss, but...”

  “No. No ‘buts.’”

  “I have to say this, Keith. I like you, and I know I’m the one who jumped on you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now. Look, I have to go. See you tomorrow?”

  “You don’t want a relationship, but you’re asking to see me tomorrow? What’s that mean, Kel? Are you asking me out or what?”

  “Um, no. We have a game, remember?”

  “Oh, right.” He closed her door for her and stepped back. “See you then.” Awkwardddddd.

  Chapter 6

  Preseason passed by in a blur, with the Scorpions splitting their wins and losses right down the middle. Keith didn’t see much of Kelly in that week and a half, and he wondered if she was avoiding him altogether. What he did see of her though, he liked very much. She was by far the hottest ice girl they had.

  To blow off some steam before the intensity began in earnest, the team got together the day before their home opener to play games, swim, eat, and drink—nonalcoholic beverages. Henry hosted the event at his monstrous house in the hills. It was a tradition he started over ten years ago when he’d bought the place, shortly after being named the Scorpions’ general manager.

  With the privacy the house afforded came a long, steep, winding driveway. Keith could only imagine what the view would be like at the top of the hill, and he wasn’t disappointed.

  The two-story, yellow stucco house sat majestically at the end of the driveway, surrounded by mature trees. A large infinity pool, complete with a waterfall and two hot tubs took up a portion of the backyard, but left plenty of room for the barbeque and sitting area. He even spied a horseshoe pit and volleyball net set up on the side of the house as he walked around to join the others already there.

  He showed up by himself and immediately looked for Kelly. It didn’t take him long to find her. She was already in the pool in a different swimsuit than the one she wore to the beach.

  She looked fantastic. The suit was electric blue with a thick, white trim that made it slightly retro looking. It was a two-piece, but wasn’t any more revealing than her ice girl outfit. The bottoms were boy shorts that showcased her rounded hips to perfection. The halter-style top dipped low, but wasn’t so skimpy that she was in danger of falling out of it, so it left a bit to the imagination. Keith approved wholeheartedly, and was having a hard time not staring at her. It didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Why do you waste your time on Big Belly Kelly? You could have one of the hot girls, you know.”

  Will this guy ever learn? Again, Keith had to fight the urge to haul off and plant his fist smack-dab in the middle of Ace’s face. “Big Belly Kelly? We can’t be looking at the same girl. And did you forget what I said about talking disrespectfully about her?”

  “Huh? Oh, you mean at the beach. I don’t really remember a lot of that.”

  Keith decided to let that go. Since Ace was a teammate, he didn’t have a lot of choice. “Is this all because she turned you down, Landry?” Keith purposefully used Landry’s real name for two reasons. Number one, Landry hated it, and number two, Landry hated it.

  “Come on, man. You can’t seriously believe that I couldn’t tap that if I wanted to.”

  “Oh, I absolutely believe it. From what I heard, you were only able to land Holly. Of course everyone lands Holly.” Landry had nothing to say to that and Keith walked away, leaving him to stand there alone.

  Kelly swam up to the edge of the pool as Keith was slipping off his shoes. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “Okay. Haven’t seen you in a while.” He was surprised to feel the jolt of anger that rose up in him at her casual greeting. By the look on her face, she could hear the coldness in his voice.

  “Yeah. Look, I think we need to talk. Are you coming in here or do you want to go take a walk on the beach?”

  “I’m coming in there.” He pulled off his shirt and slipped into the water. “Let’s go over to the waterfall.” There were a couple of people in the area, but the noise from the water splashing down from the rock wall would give them some privacy. “What’s up?”

  Kelly looked shy all of a sudden. Or nervous, he wasn’t sure which, but she wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. To his own disgust, he found it quite endearing. He had decided just last night that if she didn’t want him, that was fine. But it wasn’t fine. He still wanted her.

  “So?”

  “Geez, give me a second, will you? I’m trying to apologize and explain here, Keith.” She was holding something important back, he just knew it. “Let me just say all of this without you interrupting, okay? No pity looks, nothing.”

  “Okay.”

  “I don’t have time for you right now. That’s the bottom line. I wish things were different, but they’re not. Here’s the very short version of my story.” She stopped to take a cleansing breath, and, unconsciously lifted her chin before she continued.

  “There are a few things I danced around when we talked about our childhoods. Here it is. I don’t know who my father is. I grew up in Vegas, because my mother was an exotic dancer. She did the best she could, but it wasn’t very good. When I was thirteen, she was killed by her third—no, fourth husband. Apparently, she had burned dinner one too many times.”

  All Keith wanted to do was gather her in his arms and comfort her. What strength she had! To live through that and be the person she was today. “My God, Kelly.” He tried to hold her hand, but she withdrew it. “Where did you go after that?”

  “I was in three different foster homes before I turned eighteen. And I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I was rebelling and got into all sorts of trouble. Nope. I was the good kid. See, I didn’t want to end up like my mother. I excelled in school, but it just wasn’t ever good enough. The checks that came from the state were the only things that kept foster parents from dumping me out on the curb. But when the foster fathers became entirely too interested in me, I ran away. Again and again. No one was going to rule my body. They may have been in control of my food and shelter, but I was not going to be violated.”

  He had no idea what to do, what to say. All Keith knew was that he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let go. Never let anyone or anything hurt her ever again.

  Kelly shook her head to clear it. “Wow. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that those times are still lodged in here.” She lightly rapped her knuckles on her head for emphasis. “Anyway, when I turned eighteen, I got a job as a waitress. I had enough money hidden from odd jobs here and there to rent a disgusting trailer for a while. It was okay, because I knew I’d be able to save more money if I lived in a cheap pl
ace. As I began getting on my feet, I gave love a shot. It worked for a while. Or I thought it would.”

  Keith had a very bad feeling about where this story was going. “One night, I gave in and let him have sex with me. He liked it rough. After the second or third time of him bruising me so badly that I couldn’t go to work, I left.” She let out a humorless laugh. “Here’s the good part. He kicked me out of my own trailer, and there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. So I moved to San Diego to start fresh.”

  Keith couldn’t stop himself. He grabbed on to her and pulled her over to the ledge, still holding on.

  She allowed it and smiled at him before she continued. “There’s more crap after that, but the bottom line is that I’m good now. I’m independent; I have a couple of decent jobs. My apartment isn’t too scary to walk to at night, and I’ll be finished my bachelor’s degree in accounting in six months. Six months! I made it, Keith. I made it. I don’t want to screw that up.”

  To his horror, she had tears in her eyes when he looked at her. “I just don’t have room in my life for you right now. I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.”

  What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Just tell her what you feel. “Wow, Kelly. That’s amazing.”

  She actually snorted at his statement. “Amazing? It’s pathetic. Poor little orphan girl. How cliché am I?”

  “Are you crazy? You beat all the odds. Look at you! Look at all you accomplished. I had no idea you were in school. Where do you find the time? You have two jobs that I know of, volunteer at the animal shelter on weekends, and go to college? Shit, Kel, all I do is pass a six-ounce piece of rubber around the ice. I’m barely good enough to sit next to you.”

  “Oh, you’re good enough, Keith, but you scare the hell out of me. I’ve known you for how long, a couple of weeks? And I feel things for you I’ve never felt before. It scares me to death. There’s never been a man in my life who hasn’t disappointed me in some way—not one. I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on men in general, but that’s the way it is. I’m just not ready for a relationship, and you need to know that.”