10
RYDER
At the gym, I punished myself. I went as hard as I could, pushing my muscles to their very limits, until sweat was pouring off my body and every cell was screaming for relief. It still wasn’t enough.
I wasn’t sure anything would ever be enough to do the job. To get her out of my head.
I didn’t know what it was about the girl who I’d found in my bed, but ever since she appeared, she wouldn’t fucking leave. Every thought, every moment, every inner roar, it all focused on her. On her silky blonde hair, her soft pouty lips, the way her eyes fluttered closed as I slid all the way inside of her.
Fuck, I was hard as steel in the middle of the fucking gym. I was also damn near ready to collapse and I still had to meet Coach to go over game footage again before the day was out.
“Yo, Elliott, killer party man,” one of the defensive tackles said, clapping me on the back and nearly making me collapse under the force. I’d been getting greetings like that the whole time I was holed up in the college’s athletic gym. Most of the rest of the team worked out here too, and since everyone had been at the party, it was all anyone was talking about.
“I’m still feeling it,” he said, holding his head for effect.
I laughed, even though I didn’t feel amused at all. I was just annoyed. Annoyed that I had to be here, away from her. With people that weren’t her. With no prospect of finding her.
I’d played it off as well as I could with Mason because the last thing he needed was to know we were sweet on the same girl. Again.
Okay, so I’d never actually been into one of the girls Mason wanted like this one. Mostly they’d just been easy pickings. And yeah, I know the whole ‘bros before hoes’ rule, but Mason and I were more than bros. No girl was ever going to come between us. I knew he got his panties up in a twist sometimes about a girl coming to my room right after leaving his, but what could I do? I couldn’t stop them. Was I supposed to turn them away?
Besides, he’d left this one in my bed. What did he expect was going to happen?
Still, I didn’t want him to know how hung up on her I was. Because I knew it was fucking pointless. I knew there was no chance of finding her, no chance of seeing her again, and even if I did, I was pretty sure after learning what I had at brunch that she thought I was Mason when she grabbed my dick. He didn’t need to have that leverage.
“Hey man,” I said, calling out to Hudson — the other running back’s name — I knew it was a long shot, but what else did I have?
“Yeah?” he asked, turning with an eyebrow cocked.
“There was this girl at the party, cute little blonde thing with a killer body. Did you see her?”
He looked off into space like he was thinking about it, but finally frowned and shook his head.
“Sorry man, not sure I did. There were a lot of girls there, hard to keep focused on any one, you know what I’m saying?” he chuckled, elbowing me with a cheesy grin.
I chuckled back, but there wasn’t anything behind it.
Rexford, a offensive lineman, dropped the heavy barbell he’d been lifting and sat up on the bench stretching.
“I think I might’ve seen a girl like that. Sounds like the one that Tundell spilled his drink on.”
I perked up at mention of the drink spilling. That fit with Mason’s story.
“Did you see who she came with?” I asked, my heart in my throat.
Rexford shook his head. “I didn’t, but I’m sure someone has to know. She steal your wallet or something?” he asked. I’d only been on the team a few years, but that had been long enough for everyone to know that I wasn’t the type of guy to get hung up on a girl. Half these assholes probably thought I was celibate because I never went out to the clubs with them when we were traveling. Little did they know my bear was raving mad about women, but never had I experienced anything like the pull toward this one.
“Something,” I grumbled, picturing her lips parting on a cry, her legs spreading for me, welcoming me in, her pussy gripping me like a bespoke velvet vise. I clenched my fists tight and tried to force the memories from my head. I could stop obsessing over her if the spontaneous explicit replays would stop.
“Elliott, get your ass in here,” Coach called from his office door. That earned a bunch of snickers and taunts from the rest of the team like I was getting called into the principal’s office.
Coach had two rules. Don’t party and no relationships if you’re trying to make it to the pros.
“What’s up, Coach?” I asked, closing his office door behind me. He grumbled and folded his hands on top of the desk.
Nervously, I shifted from one foot to the other. I didn’t know what this silent treatment was about, but I wasn’t a fan. I’d fucked up enough times in my life that I’d learned a valuable lesson. Own up to your fuck-ups fast and the end result is a lot better.
Coach was just sitting there, his expression a grim line, his hands folded so tightly that his knuckles were white.
“Coach?”
He pinched his eyes and sighed.
“Heard you had yourself a little party, Ryder,” he said, using my first name. That was always concerning. First names were reserved for when someone was really pissed and didn’t want to deal with you anymore. That couldn’t be what was going on here though, could it? One party after years of hard work and a nearly flawless season hardly seemed worth this kind of reaction.
“What about it?” I asked, already sounding defensive. I stopped myself from folding my arms in front of my chest. I may have broken one of his rules, but it was on a Saturday night and hadn’t happened all season long. Surely he had to understand the need to let off a little steam. He was a young football player once.
He leveled his gaze at me, his mouth going thin. “Do you really think that’s the best use of your time and the team’s energy?” he asked.
At my sides, my hands balled into fists, and my bear was already beginning to claw to let loose. I was a grown-ass man. A successful college athlete practically guaranteed a spot in the pros. He couldn’t tell me what to do, and he sure as hell couldn’t scold me for what I did on my time off when it wasn’t hurting anyone.
“With all due respect, sir,” I said, measuring each syllable carefully, making sure he knew how I really felt about his implication. “The team’s worked incredibly hard this season and I felt they could use a morale booster before the big game. I told everyone they’d have to be back in fighting shape for practice tomorrow, so I’m not really sure what you’re taking an issue with.”
“I’m taking an issue with where your head’s at, son. I have my rules in place for a reason,” he grumbled, his voice rough and unforgiving. And I knew he didn’t mean to, but Coach’s words sent my head racing right back towards the mystery blonde from my bed. He was saying something else, something about priorities and my future, but then I remembered how her fingers felt on my cock, how wet she’d been, how her breath hitched just a little when she whispered ‘fuck me.’
Even sitting in Coach’s office, the memory was enough to have my dick surging to life, the memory of her hips rising to meet mine almost too much to bear. I remembered the way her body moved with mine, writhing in time with my strokes, finding a rhythm all our own that felt so damn natural, so unlike anything I’d ever felt with anyone before.
Hell, the fact that I was even thinking about her this long after the fact was unheard of. The fact that I wanted to track her down, press her into a wall and kiss her senseless was altogether different. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I didn’t know how to get her out of my head. How to get the thought of her legs wrapped around my waist, her back arching and her nails digging into my shoulders, from popping up whenever it damn well pleased.
“Are you even hearing a word I’m saying, Elliott?” Coach asked, holding my gaze with his own, his steely eyes drilling through me, boring a well straight to the center of my soul, exposing my darkest secrets.
“I’m sorry Coach,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve got a lot on my mind is all.”
“Well get it out of there,” he roared. “This is your moment, Elliott. You may not get another one.”
He shook his head, looking down at his clasped fingers and sighed, his voice softer when he spoke again. “This may be the only shot you ever get at this. Everyone that plays this game knows that every play could be their last. I don’t want you to lose sight of that.”
“I know, Coach,” I said, guilt gnawing at me in an unexpected way. I knew I was fucking myself over with this crazy out-of-nowhere obsession, but it wasn’t just me. There were fifty other guys on this team that had dreamed of winning the big game as much as I had their whole lives. And Coach and all the other staff, students and fans, too. There was a lot riding on me and I was just throwing it all away for what? For some girl whose name I didn’t even know. Ridiculous.
Crazy.
Unacceptable.
“I don’t know what it is that’s got you so distracted, but you need to snap out of it,” Coach said, looking stern.
I nodded quickly. “Yes, sir. You’re right.”
“I was young too once, you know. And on my way to the pros. I remember what it’s like to have the whole world at your fingertips and to feel like the king of it. I also know what it feels like to be so distracted by the now that you lose sight of your goals, and in turn lose it all.”
I looked at Coach with open-mouthed surprise. Most coaches had played at one time or another, but I’d never actually looked into Coach’s past. I didn’t know what he’d done, how many years, what had taken him out, but he sounded like he had a lot of experience and was trying to save me the pain of learning a lesson the hard way.
I couldn’t fault him for that.
He held his hand up in the air, turning it over with a frown on his face. “I let distractions keep me from my dream career, Elliott, don’t think I’m going to let it ruin our chances of being successful here, you understand me?”
I swallowed thickly as my bear grumbled, but nodded instantly. I had a contract, so there wasn’t a whole lot he could do in the way of threatening me, but he could make my life way more miserable than it needed to be and I didn’t really need any help in that department.
“Understood, sir. I’ll work on the focus.”
“See that you do,” he said, nodding. “You’re a hell of a leader, just don’t lead yourself astray,” he added.
I nodded. “Absolutely. Nothing’s more important than winning.”
“Atta boy,” he said proudly, standing from his desk. “Now, I want you to go out there and get your teammates fired up for a nice long run.”
My eyes widened and I looked back toward the door, knowing the guys weren’t going to be excited about that prospect at all.
“You boys are going to learn there’s consequences to having fun,” he said. I bit my tongue, knowing I’d already pushed too far.
Besides, he was right. I did need to get my head in the game. I needed to focus. I couldn’t let a pair of long legs and perky tits get in the way of me and my dreams. Not a fucking chance.