Alien Romance: Interview with an Alien (Football Paranormal Invasion Abduction Alpha Sci-fi Romance) (Fantasy First New Adult Contact Science Fiction Mystery Sports Alien Short Stories)

by Robin Cavanaugh

  He completely shifted just before disappearing into the trees. The feeling of his body taking on its panther form was freeing. Though he spent most of his life in human form, it was only when he took his panther form that he was truly himself and felt connected with the world around him.

  Blaine ran until he reached a clearing with a tall rocky formation that hid the opening to a cavern. He entered the cavern and starting pacing around the center chamber, hoping that he could work out some of the aggression. He could hear his own growl reverberating off of the walls, but didn't try to hold it back. Few people would be able to hear it, and even if they did it wouldn’t seem strange for the sound of an animal to come from the woods.

  He walked around the cavern for several minutes before he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. He had shifted back to human form and was already talking by the time that Jacob made it into the chamber.

  "She's going to trade me," he said.

  "What are you talking about?" Jacob asked.

  "When I went back to the locker room to get my bag, I heard that Lenore woman and her father talking about the team."

  "Where were you?"

  "I was standing right outside the door so I heard every single word. She said that she doesn't care about the team and how it looks. All she cares about is if we win so that there will be more fans. She said that she's been watching the practices and wants to change up the dynamic by trading me."

  "To who?"

  "I don't know," Blaine said. He turned and dug his fingers back through his hair as a long breath escaped from his lungs. "I didn't hear. I got so angry that I had to leave. How can she do this?"

  "She's the one that's calling all the shots," Jacob replied. "She can do just about anything that she wants to, and that apparently includes destroying the team by trading you."

  "What the hell is the team going to do if she does that?" Blaine asked. "I'm sorry. That came out as far more conceited and self-important than I intended it to."

  "It was a little," Jacob agreed, "but it was also true. You're one of the best pitchers in the league and you're the only one that I'm able to catch for like I do. If she trades you, there's no way that the team is going to do anywhere as well as we have been doing, and we definitely aren't going to get a better pitcher to fulfill her apparent obsession with us winning first in the league this season."

  "But what can we do about it?" Blaine asked. "Like you said, she's the one calling the shots. Her father gave her absolute control over the team and she doesn't seem to be having any trouble whatsoever taking on that responsibility. If she really thinks that trading you to some other team is going to be what it takes to push the rest of the team to the top slot, then that is exactly what she is going to do."

  Blaine paused, going over what Jacob had said in his mind, and then nodded.

  "Exactly."

  "What?"

  "That is exactly what she is going to do. If she thinks that trading me is going to be what is going to push the team to success, then that is what she's going to do."

  Jacob narrowed his eyes at Blaine, looking confused.

  "Isn't that what I just said?" he asked.

  "Yes. The point is, though, what if that's not what she thinks?"

  "But that is what she thinks."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "What if we can change her mind? What if we can make it so that even she can't possibly think that trading me is what would be good for the team?"

  "Then she'd have to keep you and everything could stay exactly like it is supposed to."

  "Perfect."

  *****

  "I understand where you are coming from, Mr. Maddon, but I hope you understand that as the owner of this team it is my responsibility and my prerogative to make whatever changes to the team that I consider appropriate."

  Lenore leaned back in her chair and rested her hands on the top of the desk in front of her. The manager sat across from her, looking vaguely shell-shocked at the revelation that she was planning on trading Blaine Williams before the beginning of the season.

  "I do understand that, Miss Fletcher. What I don't understand is how you came to the conclusion that Blaine should be traded."

  "I don't believe that I need to justify my business decisions to you."

  Maddon looked angry, but she wasn't going to let that control her.

  "No. I suppose that you don't," he said. He had slowed is speech as if making sure that she understood every word that he was saying. "But as the manager of this team, I do deserve to understand the motivations behind changes that will make a dramatic difference in the dynamics of my team. Taking Blaine out of our team will completely change how we structure the games. We will need to train another pitcher and adjust the way that the rest of the team reacts to the different batters on our opposing teams."

  "Well, Mr. Maddon, I believe that is your job. I make the business decisions. You make sure that the team is at its best. It is really that simple. You will figure out a way to adjust to the lack of Mr. Williams being on your team because that is what is happening. You must remember that in a trade, you will also be getting a new player. You will have to adjust to his presence as well. That is part of the game."

  "I am well aware of the game. I have been in this industry for more than 50 years and have been managing teams for longer than you have been alive."

  "My age is not applicable in this conversation, Mr. Maddon," Lenore said, feeling herself bristle slightly, "and I thank you to show me some respect."

  "I mean you no disrespect, Miss Fletcher, but I do ask that you appreciate my side of this situation. We are not just talking about you taking one of my star players right before what could be a team-changing season for us. With you refusing to explain to me why you have come to this decision or who you plan to trade for, you are greatly limiting my ability to act in my position on this team. If I don't know why you want to trade Blaine, then I will never know when you might just decide to trade another player and completely screw up our team dynamic again. As long as you are making decisions that are totally out of the blue, we aren't ever going to be able to finalize plays. We can’t settle into how we interact and play as a team because we'll never know what's going to happen tomorrow. One of the players might pronounce a word wrong or wear a color tie that you don't like and end up getting traded."

  Lenore felt anger building in her stomach. When she first interacted with Mr. Maddon he had seemed kind, gentle, and friendly. Though there was obviously some resistance to the idea of a new owner, he was welcoming enough and had even tried to convince the team to be more cooperative with her. As soon as she had mentioned her plans for Blaine, however, his entire demeanor had shifted. Suddenly he had become combative and aggressive, talking to her in a way that she hadn't expected.

  "I don't appreciate the implication that the decisions that I am making for my team are arbitrary."

  "Your team?" Mr. Maddon demanded, his voice elevating and sharpening.

  "My family owns this team, Mr. Maddon."

  "Your father owns the team, and at least he has some emotional investment in it. You could care less about the team or any of the people on it. All you want to do is line your pockets no matter what it does to anyone else."

  "I caution you to choose your words carefully," Lenore said, concentrating on keeping her tone calm and even. "The players are not the only people who can be removed from this team."

  Maddon glared at her for several long, uncomfortable seconds. Finally, he stood and stalked out of the office, allowing the door to slam behind him. She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, letting out a long breath as she tried to release the tension that had built in her shoulders. Lenore hated that he had pressed her for an explanation about trading Blaine.

  Even though she understood that he wanted to know why she would make the unexpected decision to split up the most intimidating pitcher and catcher pair in the league or let go of a player who had been responsible
for the majority of the wins in the team's recent history, she didn't want to think about it. The truth was she didn't want to trade Blaine because of his performance or even for the good of the team. She wanted to trade him because of the way she felt when she saw him for the first time, and how much more intense those feelings got when she saw him and Jacob together.

  *****

  "I'm exhausted," Jacob said, peeling off his glove and letting it drop down into the dirt of the bullpen. "We've got to stop for the night."

  "We can't just stop," Blaine said. "If we're going to show Lenore that she needs to keep me on the team, then we have to keep pushing."

  "We aren't going to be able to show her anything if my hands fall off from catching pitches for six hours straight."

  "It hasn't been six hours."

  "Fine. Four. But that is still pretty excessive."

  Blaine gave a deep sigh and nodded. He knew that Jacob was right. They had been pushing themselves to extremes over the last several days trying to polish their skills to the point that they would be able to prove to Lenore Fletcher that he was far too valuable to the team to simply trade away. All of that pushing, however, meant that they were practicing for several hours beyond their usual practices with the team and their bodies were starting to pay for it.

  Blaine peeled off his own glove and dropped it down to the dirt. He looked around to reassure himself that they were the only ones in the darkened stadium. Though it was the middle of the night and they had had to get special permission from Maddon to remain in the stadium after practice, he still needed to make absolutely sure that there was no one watching them.

  When he was finally satisfied that they were completely alone, he stepped into the middle of the bullpen and let himself shift. In panther form, he was able to stretch his body more deeply, enjoying the pulling sensation in all of his muscles as he pressed his hips up toward the top of the cage and his chest down toward the ground, extending his front legs in front of him. Finished with that stretch, he reversed the movement, taking a step forward with his front legs and pushing down with his hips to stretch his back and the muscles in his back legs.

  The feeling was glorious and he knew that the deeply satisfied sound of his purring would entice Jacob to shift as well. He knew just how good it felt to be able to move around in this form, especially in a context that they generally didn't get to experience it in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his suspicions proven as Jacob shifted and mimicked his stretching movements.

  They paced around the bullpen for several minutes, allowing the change in their body form to bring relaxation and soothing stretch to their muscles and joints. Being in this form also brought intense awareness to all of Blaine's senses. When he was a panther, he was able to see much further in the distance and smell even the slightest hint of new fragrances surrounding him.

  It was these senses that suddenly told him that they were not as alone as he thought they were. It was subtle at first, just a faint scent carried to him by the night breeze. He took a deep breath of it, trying to recognize it. Then his senses prickled and he knew that they were being watched. He had a panicky feeling. He knew that if someone saw them walking through the bullpen as panthers that it wouldn't be long until their secrets were revealed, or until an animal control organization came out to investigate and they were no longer able to shift, even in the woods.

  Blaine spun around, searching through the stands for a hint of movement. He didn't notice anything, but shifted back into human form anyway, not wanting to put himself or Jacob at any further risk than he already had.

  "Did you hear something?" Jacob asked, looking as nervous as Blaine felt.

  "No. I thought I smelled something and I could feel someone watching us."

  "I didn't see anyone in the stands," Jacob said.

  "I know," Blaine responded. "Neither did I. I thought that we were alone. I wouldn't have shifted if I thought that there was someone else here."

  "Could it have been a custodian or maintenance worker?"

  "If it was, we would have seen him. He would have made enough noise that we both would have been able to hear him."

  Both men fell silent as they continued to stare around the stands, waiting for whoever they thought might be watching them to become more obvious. After a few moments, there was still no change in the stadium and they gathered their equipment to leave. They walked out of the stadium wordlessly, both anxious to get away from the strange feeling.

  "What did you think that you smelled?" Jacob asked when they were finally back in their apartment.

  Blaine was stepping into the shower and he could barely hear Jacob over the rushing water. He stepped under the flow and let the hot droplets ease the tension in his shoulders. He pondered the question that Jacob had asked him throughout his shower, trying to come up with a way to describe it. It was unlike anything that he had ever experienced. At once it was so familiar and yet completely new like it was more than one scent blended together to create a different experience.

  When he stepped out of the shower, he dried off, dressed in lounge pants and a tank top, and joined Jacob in the living room.

  "It was sweet," Blaine said.

  "What?" Jacob asked as if he had forgotten that he’d asked the question in the first place.

  "What I smelled when we were at the stadium. It was really sweet. But at the same time, it was a little salty and kind of musky. I can't really describe it. I haven't ever really smelled anything like that before."

  "What do you think it could have been? Something from the concession stand?" Jacob asked.

  "I don't know," Blaine responded. "But if I ever smell it again, I am going to find out."

  *****

  Lenore struggled to catch her breath, gasping against the hand that was pressed against her mouth. It had been several minutes since the boys had left the bullpen, but she was still gripping the edge of the desk in the skybox, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide as she tried to process what she had just seen.

  She knew that she wasn't really supposed to be in the stadium that night. The team had had their practice and it was over hours before, which meant that she really didn't have any reason to be there. When she found out that Jacob and Blaine had been scheming with Mr. Maddon to sneak in extra practice hours, however, she couldn't resist.

  She returned to the field several hours after the rest of the team had left so that she would be able to do a little clandestine observing of the two men practicing. She knew that they wouldn’t have any idea that she had gone up into the private skybox from the back entrance, enabling her to hide behind the heavily tinted glass so that they couldn't see her as she watched.

  Lenore had anticipated seeing the two pushing their spectacular bodies to their limit within the bullpen. She was looking forward to getting a bit of her own private show even if they didn't know that they were on display. What she hadn't anticipated was watching Blaine drop his glove into the dirt and then transform right before her eyes into a magnificent panther. Moments later Jacob had done the same, joining his best friend as they prowled around the bullpen like it had become a trapper's cage.

  She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was impossible. She had always heard the rumors that there was a strange and ancient family who lived deep in the woods and that had the ability to change their form from human into animals, but she always thought that it was just a myth. It had never once even crossed her mind that there might be some truth to the stories.

  Now she had seen it for herself. She had actually witnessed the two most incredibly sexy men she had ever seen in her life transform into powerful, beautiful panthers and then right back into men as if there was nothing unusual about it. She didn't know what she was supposed to do or think. She had already been struggling with her feelings for these two men. Now she had to cope with the reality that they were not at all what she thought them to be.

  *****

  Blaine couldn't stop his eyes from trave
ling from the field up to the bleachers. Rather than sitting in their usual seats as they had been since the first time he had noticed them watching practice, the two had moved over to the bleachers and were watching them with the same silence that they always did. He didn't know exactly what to think. The bleachers were where the truly devoted fans chose to sit, which made him feel like they were at the point that they were trying to get the real view of what it was like to watch the team play a game.

  The bleachers were also much farther away from the team, which made him worry that Lenore wouldn't be able to see the benefits of all of the extra practices that he had been putting in. It had been more than a week since he had heard the conversation between Lenore and her father, but she hadn't yet said anything about her plan to trade him. Blaine wanted for that to be comforting. He wanted to think that it was because she had changed her mind and was just going to let it go, but the truth was that it made him feel even more nervous. Even though he seemed to be getting exactly what he and Jacob had been working toward, it was making it worse being in a state of not knowing what was going to happen. It was as though each moment that passed without her finally calling him into her office and breaking the news that the pressure was building inside him.

  "Blaine!"

  The sound of Maddon's voice broke Blaine out of his thoughts and he turned toward the manager.