-13-
JAY
When I pulled into the Findlay, Ohio travel plaza’s parking lot, I spotted her Kia Rio with an OSU sticker in the back window, and was relieved. When things sounded too good to be true, they usually were, and I’d been worried Kayla was jerking me around about getting together.
She stood outside her car, leaning against it with her enormous purse on the rooftop, and her gaze turned away from the sun sinking in the sky. I hadn’t been able to get here any earlier. After my second practice, I’d showered as fast as possible and jumped in my car.
When she realized it was me, she gave a smile and . . . damn. Once again, she looked fantastic. She had on shorts and a tight black tank top, and my gaze lingered on her curves. I ran a hand along the seam of my jeans, adjusting. It was fucking insane how my dick threatened to pop a boner already. We hadn’t even spoken yet.
I undid the locks on my car, and she climbed into the passenger seat. “Hi.”
“Hey. You look nice,” I said.
“Thanks.” She gave me a once-over, taking in my jeans and gray button-down shirt. “You, too.” Was the way I looked having the same effect on her? Her voice was uneven.
“How long did the drive take?”
“About an hour, forty-five.” She clicked her seatbelt. “Can you tell me where we’re going now?”
“Nope, but I’ll give you a hint.” I gestured out the windshield. “It’s that way.”
She stared off in the distance where bright lights streamed down, as I put the car in reverse and backed out of the spot.
I’d gone back and forth on what to do tonight. Taking her to a movie wouldn’t work. If I was going to sit in the dark and not be able to talk to her, I’d rather do stuff other than watch a movie. My schedule and the commute ruled out a late dinner, so I’d eaten on the drive down. I had to keep a strict eating schedule or risk not hitting my target weight. Coming in under or over by three pounds would mean extra hours in the gym, and ain’t nobody got time for that.
No obnoxious dive bars, either. Kayla was too good-looking, and I didn’t need competition. I was already starting in the hole with her because I played for her arch-rival.
“A football game?” she asked.
“I thought we could cheer for the visitors. They probably need some bodies in the stands. Dave’s and my high school team was decent, but when we traveled, it was kinda sad.”
Pleasant surprise warmed her expression. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s rough cheering to empty bleachers.”
“If it’s lame, we can always go somewhere else.”
“I dunno. It could be fun.”
It seemed like the Kayla I’d met at the wedding was back, and I was thrilled. I wasn’t sure how much work I was going to have to do tonight to get her over the rivalry, but the answer seemed to be none.
I paid for our tickets into the stadium, and we walked around the fence toward the visitors’ stands. It was dotted with a few people in purple watching the varsity game already in progress, but the home team was up by seven.
“You want any snacks?” I asked.
She shook her head, not looking at me as we climbed the metal stands. No, she was already engrossed in the game playing on the brightly lit grass.
A huge roar came from the crowd of green jerseys on the other side of the field as the quarterback passed the ball and the receiver gained fifteen yards. Kayla made a face and leaned in close to me, her voice low. “What kind of defense was that supposed to be? Zone?”
I gave half a smile. “How was practice for you?”
“It was good. The new cheerleaders picked up the routines fast.” Her gaze drifted to me, like she was reluctant. “And how was practice for you?”
It was hard for her, but at least she was trying. “It was fine. Hot.” I’d rather keep the focus on her. “How many more weeks of camp do you have?”
“Just one. School starts the week after.”
Another swell of shouts came from the large stands across the field. Kayla’s expression hardened. “Did the coaches forget to teach their boys how to block?”
She wasn’t wrong. “Maybe we should watch the cheerleaders.”
Her lips pressed together. Uh oh. I played, which meant when I wasn’t on the field, I was on the sidelines watching my teammates. I didn’t know shit about cheerleading. “They’re not any good either?”
“They’re fine, the problem is me.” She softened. “Cheerleading in high school is totally different from college. Here it’s all about school spirit and performing. In college, we do more stunts and less of the cute routines. People come to watch the game, not us.”
The girls in purple cheerleading uniforms danced on the track, performing more for their coach than anyone else, since the stands were nearly empty.
“Like, their precision is good,” Kayla continued, “but this cheer they’re doing isn’t easy to repeat. It needs to be simple and familiar for the crowd to get into.” Her gaze went back to the game.
“You like cheering in college better.”
She nodded. “I love it. My high school didn’t have a co-ed squad, and I’m all about stunting. The guys can throw me really high. Also, I get to watch the games for free, from the sidelines.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Can’t beat that.”
My days were grueling, and the season hadn’t started yet. It was easy to forget everything except how much work football could be. The enthusiasm in her voice was nice. A needed reminder as I was about to head into training camp.
“Our cheerleaders travel with us when we fly,” I said. “Most of the male cheerleaders are—”
“Gay?” Her tone was defensive. “That’s a huge misconception. Most of them aren’t.”
“I was going to go with ‘athletic,’ as you like to say.”
“Oh.” She relaxed. “Yeah. One of our guys used to play football in high school, but he’s too short to play at the college level. So, he tried out for the squad last year, and the guy’s a freaking beast. Nobody’s better. He said football’s all about lifting weights, but cheerleading? All about the abs and back.”
I could deal with lifting all day, but inclined sit-ups? Pass. “I gotta ask. If your male teammates are straight, how do you get anything done? They have to be hitting on you non-stop.”
“Other cheerleaders in my squad? Never.” She acted like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Think about it like this. The guys are my coworkers. We see each other for hours every day, sometimes when we’re not at our best, because we’re tired, or sick, or frustrated practice isn’t going well. Personalities don’t match, not to mention, it screws up the team dynamic.”
“Okay,” I said. “No dating within your squad. What about outside of it?”
Kayla tensed for a split-second. So fast, I nearly missed it. “Where are you going with this line of questioning, Eighty-Eight?”
Yeah. Where the fuck was I going? We weren’t supposed to talk about exes on a first date; I knew better. Except, I couldn’t kill my curiosity. “I wanna know why you’re single.”
She turned slowly to look at me and her expression was impossible to read. “Why are you single?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, stalling while I came up with an answer. I could give her the standard one that I didn’t have time. Most guys on the team didn’t lock a girl down during the season. But I went with the real reason. “I’m having a great career at Michigan. That makes it hard to tell who’s genuine.” Did she understand what I meant?
“Ah. The football hoes are climbing over each other to get a chance at you.” She smirked. “What a hardship.”
She was teasing, but I was serious. “There was a girl last year who changed her major, trying to get the same classes as me. She failed half of them, but said it was worth it to get to know me.” I shook my head. “I can’t get mixed up in that level of stupid.”
“I should mention, there are lots of smart women at other schools. Like, say, Ohio State.” She batted her eyes dramatically.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
There were a few groans from around us as the home team jammed the ball in for a touchdown, and the shouts from the crowd across from us echoed on the field.
“At least we’ll get a look at their offense now,” she said.
She was silent during the kickoff, but sighed when the first rushing play went nowhere. It hadn’t fooled anyone. She glared at the backs of the coaches standing in front of us.
“Hey,” she said loudly. “Why’d you run that play, coach? You don’t like first downs?”
The coach didn’t turn to look at us, but I covered my grin with my hand. “We’re supposed to be rooting for them.”
“C’mon, Eighty-Eight. I thought you knew I only cheer for winners.”
She’d left herself wide open. “Then, when are you transferring to Michigan?”
Her face twisted. “Why would you say something so vile? I’m all nauseous now. Can we not talk about it? I like to pretend I don’t know.”
“You’re going with the head in the sand approach?” My tone was dubious. Was this why she was so chill? She was just pretending?
The home side let up a big cheer. Unbelievable. The coaching staff had called the same play a second time.
Kayla was up on her feet and against the railing at the edge of the stands, getting as close as she could to the field. “You know there are other plays out there, right?” she said. “You must’ve noticed the other team was running them.”
That caught the coach’s attention. The middle-aged man turned and threw an annoyed look up at her and then did a double-take. He’d probably expected some overly involved mother of a player, not a young spitfire heckling him.
I stood and joined her at the railing, mulling over her comment about pretending my school didn’t exist. It was a huge part of who I was. I practiced and trained at least thirty hours a week. If this thing between us was going somewhere, sooner or later she’d have to deal with it, but I’d do my best to make it easy on her.
“You’re a senior, I’m a senior,” I said. “It’s one season.”
“Just because we graduate, doesn’t mean that school part of our lives stops. I’m always going to be from Ohio State. And you’ll always be from Michigan.” She made a face. “Yuck.”
I rested my hands on the cold railing. “Uh, did you just say yuck?”
Her eyes peered up at mine. “I meant yuck, because I just realized if you go pro, it’ll say that when they show the starting lineup.”
Whoa. I laughed. “Wow. Two really big assumptions there.”
“That you’d go pro?”
“Yeah. And start.” The third assumption, which I left out, was she’d still be paying attention to me in the future. That was a good sign, right?
“Would you go to the NFL? Oh, come on!”
I followed her gaze out onto the field where the players collapsed into a pile. “Are you shitting me?”
They’d called the running play a third time. Could the QB not throw? Were the receivers unable to catch a damn ball? The last two times the running back had rushed straight into a wall, but this time he was tackled for a loss of seven.
“I might have looked up your stats. You’re good.” She sounded embarrassed, but it turned me on. She was interested.
“Would I like to play professional ball?” I said. “Hell, yeah. Will I get drafted? Right now, maybe.”
“But if you had a great season . . .”
I smiled. That was the plan. “And a good showing at the scouting combine wouldn’t hurt, either.” The grueling week-long showcase in February could dramatically improve my stock at the draft.
“Well, I’m not too sorry to say, you’re going to lose at least one game this year.”
“We’ll see in November, won’t we?”
The offense had left, and special teams moved onto the field.
Kayla faked outrage. “You’re not gonna go for it on fourth and seventeen?” she yelled. “You could use your secret play! The law of averages says it should work.”
I chuckled as the inept coach spun around and his body language screamed he’d had enough. “You think you know better, girl?” His hands rested on his hips. He looked proud to put her in her place. “You want to come down here and coach?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, someone’s got to.”
The coach’s mouth fell open. Kayla gripped the railing with both hands and vaulted over it, moving too fast for me to stop her. She dropped down onto the track and marched toward the coach, whose jaw hit the grass.
Well, fuck me. This girl was crazy, and I loved it.