Bishop
My hands were valuable parts of my body.
Without them, I wouldn’t be able to execute spin passes so that my teammates could catch the ball at long distances while running at fast speeds.
Without them, I wouldn’t be able catch the ball safely and secure it.
Without them, I wouldn’t be able to whack off to the images of a blonde girl who has my dick twisted around her long legs and sultry eyes.
I had Googled her.
I had stooped that low.
I didn’t find much about her. Just more of her family. Some of which I already knew because of Rikko.
I checked her Instagram account. She didn’t have many images on it and she rarely posted, just like me. The last time she posted a pic was when she was at a Texas spa. She had tiny shorts on and a white tank top and my dick had surged to life.
So I whacked off.
Again.
I imagined her beneath me, on top of me, on my side.
I never knew how active my imagination was until I pictured Kara in many different stages of undress.
Satan had a place reserved for me in hell.
It’s a special place for assholes like me.
Assholes who wanted their frat brother’s girlfriend.
She always sat in the front of the class and when Professor Milliken was lecturing, I often imagined Kara’s pink lips wrapped around my cock.
Which was why I had to rush out of class so she and I didn’t have a chance to talk, so that I wouldn’t be able to add more to my spank bank.
I’d seen pretty girls. There’s a lot of them everywhere.
I couldn’t say that Kara was the only one who made my dick hard because that would be a fallacy.
But the truth was, she was the only one who made my dick that hard that fast.
Her mile-long legs and hot curves were just a part of the equation because I also fantasized about her whispering theorems to me and it made me come just as fast.
But there was no way I could act upon my attraction to her.
She belonged to someone else.
So I’d become content to think of her in the four walls of my room but as soon as I stepped outside, logic and reason were my masters.
I would have been satisfied keeping everything in and going on with my drama-free, woman-free life until three days ago, while we were walking out to the parking lot after practice, Ian said, “There’s a cute girl in my class who’s been asking about you.”
I was going to shrug it off when he added, “It’s okay to have fun once in a while. We’re graduating soon and you’re not gonna be able to take this time back. Why not have some fun, dude? She’s pretty dope. I would have asked her out, but she mentioned you. I guess she’s been watching some of our practices?”
There were lots of women who watched us practice.
“Your sister’s doing good, right?” He was the only one I talked to about Bridgette. He didn’t wait for my reply, he just looked down on his phone and seconds later, I had a girl’s phone number on my screen.
“Her name’s Nora. She helps me with homework sometimes.” He continued to sell the idea to me.
An idea that was gaining ground in my head.
Then for the kicker, he added, “She’s the opposite of Blondie.”
He must’ve known that I had the hots for Kara. I didn’t think I was obvious at the frat party, but Ian, being my closest buddy, must have sensed something there. Normally I hung out inside the house with everyone else but that night, I stayed outside because I was avoiding her. He wasn’t dumb so he must’ve figured out why I was staying away.
“I’ll call her,” I said before I clicked the alarm on my car, letting me know of its location. SDU had a big-ass parking lot and sometimes I couldn’t remember where I parked, especially when everyone was trying to find a space to park in and I grabbed the first empty one.
“Good,” he called out before jumping in his Dodge Charger.
As soon as I got inside my car, I texted Nora, “Hi, it’s Bishop. Ian gave me your number.”
She’d responded right away, “Hi Bishop!”
As if the exclamation point made me see how excited she was, I asked, “Wanna meet up?”
Three days later, after one cancellation because she had work at the Student Bookstore and I had a late practice, here we were at Red One.
It wasn’t too far from campus and I texted Nora if she’d like to try it and she said, “Yes.”
I picked her up at an apartment south of campus, which she shared with two other girls.
The first time I saw her, I thought of how right Ian was. She was a tiny brunette who was pretty cute.
She kissed my cheek after I handed her a small bouquet of flowers; it’d been a while since I’d taken a girl out on a date but I thought that flowers were always in fashion.
She’d joked that she was allergic to them and I immediately wanted to throw them in the garbage, but then she’d laughed and said, “Psyche!”
She made me laugh and it was one of the best ways to start a date.
I didn’t have a reservation at Red One, but I figured that if we the place was full and we couldn’t get in, there were lots of cool restaurants in the area and I’d wing it.
Nora was lively and had a great personality.
She also had a great rack, it was probably what caught Ian’s attention in the beginning. I couldn’t fault my friend though. Boobs were great.
The hostess at Red One said it was only going to take a few minutes, so Nora and I were waiting patiently by the small lounge.
We were both checking out the restaurant’s modern décor, the high steel chairs and the abstract paintings on the wall when a flash of blonde caught my attention.
I’d recognize that hair from anywhere.
If you stuck me in a room with fifty blondes, I’d know which one was Kara. Her hair had the striking silvery shine that looked golden in the soft lights.
I hesitated to approach them, but Scott had already seen us and he was waving.
“Nora, do you want to meet my friend Scott and his girlfriend?” Girlfriend. The word burned like acid in my throat.
She looked in the direction I was pointing my hand at and said, “Scott Strauss?”
“Yes,” I said smiling. Scott was SDU’s most popular athlete. How could he not be? In his freshman year, he’d lead the shittiest offense in the NCAA and two years later, SDU was now in the top 10. I had nothing bad to say about the guy. He lived, breathed, and ate football.
I understood him though.
There wasn’t much I would not do to be at the top of my game.
Well there was. I wouldn’t do drugs and performance-enhancing shit, but when it came down to it, I lived and breathed playing the game I loved.
I eyed Kara’s back and from my standpoint, I couldn’t help but check out the way the golden waves of her hair flawlessly swept over her white top. She was wearing dark skinny jeans that I’d bet a thousand bucks hugged her curves just right.
I felt my cock tighten inside my jeans.
Shit.
Why?
Why couldn’t my dick react that way to Nora or to any other girl aside from the blonde beauty who was now facing us, whose ears were adorned by hoop earrings that did nothing to distract me from her pink, parted lips.
I did the introductions and the next thing I knew, Nora was sitting by Kara and I was sitting by Scott.
The server came and I ordered a beer on tap. Scott followed suit and soon enough we were all conversing like regular ole’ buddies. As regular as buddies who didn’t know that one of their buddies had the hots for his long-time girlfriend.
I’d asked Rikko, nonchalantly of course, how long she’d been dating Scott. Rikko had said since Scott was a senior.
So. Yeah. Long time.
Scott’s voice interrupted my continued descent to hell. “Where did you guys meet?”
Nora was cuter when she smiled, she was really adorable. “Oh. I knew his friend, Ian, from Soc II and I asked him to give my number to Bishop.”
Kara took a sip of her wine glass, her delicate hands wrapping around the stem. “Aww, that’s cute.” Then she took a fast sip of her wine. And another.
Nora said, “It’s our first date.”
Scott chuckled, “Man, I forgot how long it’s been since I’ve been on a first date. I’ve been with Kara for so long that dating seems trivial at this point.”
Kara’s blue eyes darkened, “Actually, that’s not true. Every time we broke up, you were on a few first dates with women.”
Shit. Were they having a lovers’ quarrel right now?
I looked away and flagged the server, any server, because I didn’t see Claud, the guy who was in charge of our table.
Scott faked a cough then said, “Kara, you know those times didn’t count.”
Nora supplied, “Kinda like Ross sleeping with hot copy girl, Chloe, in Friends? That didn’t count, right?”
A small gasp came out of Kara, “Oh my gosh, yes! How could Ross do that to Rachel? He kept saying they were on a break…”
Nora laughed, her head shaking, “When men sleep with other women – they’re on a break. When women sleep with other men, even when they’ve already broken up with the guy they’re seeing, they’re seen under a different light.”
Where the fuck was the server?
I’m all for feminist rights and equality, but this topic was way too heavy for a first date.
I’m sure Scott was feeling the same with the way he was chugging down his beer.
Claud approached our table. Finally.
“You ready to order?” His eyes rounded around the table.
“Yes,” I said, inhaling a breath. I had a sister and she loved to watch reruns of Friends. To this day, we’d never agree on Ross and Rachel and the whole “break” thing. And I’m not in the mood to debate that tonight.
“The squash pasta for me with grilled chicken, please,” Kara said as she wiped the side of her face with a napkin.
“Blackened lamb for me please.” Nora gave her order.
“Short rib sandwich, with a double side of fries. Thanks,” I said, I had to carb up because I needed to run tonight after dropping off Nora.
Scott said, “Beef burger for me. Medium ra –“
“Well. Medium well,” Kara finished for Scott. He tilted his head to Claud and motioned with his hand, “What the pretty lady says.”
Kara looked at Scott oddly, her brows knitting but forced a smile to Claud.
“And another order of Saison on tap,” Scott said, his voice neutral but at the same time, I thought he was waiting for Kara’s approval or disapproval. Neither came as Kara took a sip of water without saying another word.
I raised a finger, “Another glass of Sculpin for me.”
We rarely drank during the season and our break was going to be over in a few days, so we were both taking advantage of it.
Claud left with our orders and I thought we had a reprieve of the rising tensions at our table when Kara asked, “Bishop?”
Why did my name sound so right coming out of her mouth?
I lifted my eyes to her cerulean blues and answered, “Yep. That’s me.”
Scott chuckled and Nora giggled.
Kara’s eyes were still on me and her voice was sharp. “Hypothetical situation.”
Scott shook his head, “Semantics Kara.”
I guessed there was a hidden meaning behind what was coming, but I was never one to back out of hypotheticals and semantics so I went with it. “Shoot.”
Kara’s right hand went to the side of her ear. I noticed that when she was nervous, she liked to touch her ears. She’d done it twice during the frat party. You’d never know that she was nervous from her voice though.
“If you broke up with someone, what’s an acceptable timeframe for you to sleep with someone else?” Her eyes held a defiant glimmer in them, her irises flaming and God, she was gorgeous.
I swallowed a chunk of air and coughed.
Scott was padding my back, “Dude, you alright? Kara, I think that’s an absurd question.”
Nora shook her head, “Double standard you mean?”
Kara smirked and said, “You can calculate the photon energy from a transition in an infinite square well potential in less than a minute and yet you can’t answer a hypothetical question?”
Fuck, she’s good.
Professor Milliken had given extra credit to the person who could solve the problem he’d written on the board last week. I needed all the points I could get in class to keep my GPA up so I raised my hand. I didn’t have my answer right away, but I solved it while I was writing on the board.
Nora’s eyes were wide as the saucer plate on the table, in awe of the girl sitting to her right, “You? You look like that and you –?”
She had a hard time forming a sentence.
“Double standards,” Scott laughed. His head rocking side to side. “Yeah, Kara’s a crazy scientist.” I also heard the pride in his voice.
“I’m sorry. You’re right, Scott. I’m just taken aback. Your girlfriend looks like Candice Swanepoel from Victoria’s Secret, but she speaks like a NASA scientist. I need a minute…” Nora said in fits of giggles. “Damn double standards.”
Kara raised her wineglass to Nora and glasses clinked. Kara’s right eyebrow was raised and she was still waiting for my answer.
I reached my left hand to my neck and rubbed an invisible sore spot.
“It depends,” I said, hoping that Claud would come around again to drop our orders off.
“On what?” Kara asked, her eyes intent on me. Was this what it was like when I had her full attention? In a space of a nanosecond, I allowed myself to imagine what would it be like to be with her. As fast as the thought came, it was also the same rate I allowed it to linger in my head. Which was nada. Not even a fraction of a second.
“If I really liked the girl,” I responded honestly, taking another drink of my beer.
“Let’s just say you really liked the girl…” She pushed on, Scott’s eyes were now volleying back and forth between Kara and I.
“Kiki, leave the man alone,” Scott said, casting a look of disapproval.
A flash of dismay and surprise panned over her delicate features as she said, “I can’t.”
Then as if regrouping herself, her brows knitting together, she continued, “I just want to know.”
If you were mine, I’d never think of sleeping with anyone else. Because I’d keep you.
I’d keep you.
Nora had a strange look on her face, probably trying to make sense of why we were on this topic. “Umm...when’s the food coming? I’m hungry.”
The sound of Kara’s laughter broke through, and I found myself smiling, too. I looked to my side, ready to raise my beer to toast Scott when I saw him looking at his girlfriend, as if he was studying her, trying to figure her out.
Claud came with another server helping him carry our orders.
As we ate our food, the lively conversation moved on. We stayed on neutral topics like the state of the country and our upcoming games.
I allowed myself to enjoy the company of Kara, Nora, and my frat brother who I’d never really hung out with.
Scott and I ran in different circles.
We had the frat in common, but he had his own set of friends and I had mine.
By the end of the night, I shook hands with Scott and said, “It was cool hanging out with you and Kara.”
I was about to shake Kara’s hands when she reached for me and gave me a hug.
She also gave Nora a big hug and I saw Scott open his door for Kara to climb into his Audi.
As soon as we reached my Chevy Silverado, I opened the door and helped Nora get in the passenger seat. It was a cool night, being close to the ocean made the breeze even cooler. It would be nice to walk around the shopping area, but it was getting late and Nora had mentioned that she had to get up early for her shift at Giggles, the coffee shop a mile away from SDU.
I had to give it to her, she worked hard. It was an admirable quality. I could barely keep up with helping Aunt Nina at her moving company and this girl worked two jobs.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, I lowered my head and caught Kara’s soft scent on my blue shirt.
“I had a fun time tonight,” she stated, her voice sounding happy. “Scott seems like a good guy, he’s not like the aloof quarterback that those sports channels make him out to be. He’s pretty talkative and he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “He’s chill.”
“I could do away with the sexual tension though.” Her voice was teasing so I turned my head to look at her.
“Sexual tension?” My brows furrowed, “Between Scott and Kara?” Even saying her name aloud made me feel out of sorts.
“Nope. Those two talked like they’re best friends and not sexual partners,” Nora said matter-of-factly.
“What?” I couldn’t hide the disbelief that I was harboring inside of me. I thought I was the only one who thought about it. The way Scott talked to Kara reminded me of a friend looking out for his friend. And when he looked at her, his eyes were always cool, calm, his expression hardly changing.
“She likes you,” Nora said, her hazel eyes on mine. “She doesn’t know what to do with Scott and she’s struggling with it. But every time she looks at you, she smiles. I’m not sure if you see it, but she does.”
I couldn’t say anything.
And the last thing I wanted was to hope for something that was too far from reach.
I’d learned that a long time ago, that life didn’t really give you what you wanted.
It gave you what you deserved.
“It’s not right,” I said, it was pathetic. I was on a date with this cool chick so I didn’t have to think about the woman who was burning her image in my retina even when my eyes were closed.
“Sometimes the greatest risks aren’t the ones that are right,” she said, her voice soft. “That’s why they’re risks because you don’t know if they’re going to be good for you in the long run. You can anticipate but you won’t be able to really know until you’ve jumped in and felt how cold the water is.”
“You should be a psych major,” I said, humor filling my chest. “You could help a lot of people with your wise words.”
She reached inside her purse and grabbed a small tube that looked like Chapstick. She lifted the top of the tube and pressed it on her lips. “No, my brother is a Psych major and he needs it to help himself.”
“Thanks for going out with me tonight,” I said while I started my truck. “I had fun.”
“Me too.” She said, her eyes looking outside the window, “You owe me tickets for the next home game.”
Three years ago, you could find hundreds of seats empty in the bleachers when we played. Now, every time we played, the seats were filled way in advance. As captain, I had the privilege of two free in the front row for every game and I could give them to anyone. I often gave them to my teammates because they used them more than me.
This year, I was saving a few for my sister since she was only a few miles away. I was hoping she could attend a few of my home games.
“Owe you?” I mocked, my shoulders lifting in laughter. She was a great woman. She’d be a cool friend.
“Because I was expecting a good night kiss and all the sex.” Her voice was void of humor, she sounded serious. “I asked Ian to give you my number because I thought I was going to have wild, monkey sex with you. I’ve seen the way you order your teammates around and I was hoping that’s how it would be with you and me when we had the wild monkey sex.”
“Okay. Really?” Now I was busting out in uncoordinated chuckles. She was hilarious. “I could still give you a goodnight kiss.”
“Not a chance.” She shook her head, while making an exaggerated shiver with her shoulders across her chest. “Not when you’re too hung up on a girl who could make millions of dollars in modeling.”
I rolled my shoulders and I put my truck in reverse, “You’re too funny.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever.” She said mockingly, “Look where funny got me. No kiss. No –
“Wild monkey sex,” I finished for her. “I don’t know why you’d watch monkeys have sex anyways.”
She guffawed as I pushed on the gas and started to drive to the main streets. I was enjoying the peaks and valleys of the friendly conversation that Nora and I were having. She had no filter and because of it, I was comfortable enough to ask, “You think Kara likes me?”
We were at a red light and I watched as a few couples crossed the streets while holding each other’s hands.
“Yep.” Nora answered in a confident voice. “She does. It’s only a matter of time before she realizes that she’d rather have wild monkey sex with a star rugby player than a hot QB.”
There it was again.
Hope.
I’d tamped down the hope that Kara would see me as someone other than a classmate or a friend. And I didn’t know what Nora saw to make her think that Kara liked me but I’d take it.
I’d take the smallest hint of hope with her because seeing her tonight, being close to her, even when Scott was right there, I knew that her effect on me wasn’t normal.
It was rare. One of a kind.
The kind of attraction that only showed up once in a blue moon.
“So if Victoria’s Secret breaks up with hot QB…?” Nora asked, her voice pitch was higher. “Will you ask her out?”
“Will you stop saying hot QB?” I said, “It sounds weird. Scott’s cool and all, but I don’t see him as hot.”
I didn’t really correct her calling Kara Victoria’s Secret because she does look like the South African blonde bombshell. I’d say that Kara was hotter than Candice because Kara barely had any makeup on and she always looked like a knockout.
“Oh rugby. You just made my dreams come true,” she remarked, holding a wistful sound in her voice. “I’m so gonna dream of you and Scott together.”
Oh shit. No.
“I don’t roll that way,” I said. “Anyways…the answer to your question is I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what?” She returned, “If you’re gonna make a play for Kara if she breaks up with Scott?”
“Yeah.” I have no idea why I was discussing this with a girl I’d only met today but I guess I was doing it. “Scott’s my frat brother. It’s against the rules.”
She tapped her right hand against the side of her window, loudly, “Fuck the rules. You like the girl that much? You go for it. Rules are fucked up anyways.”
“I don’t know,” I said it again. But I knew what my subconscious wanted me to do.
Logic has ruled my life for so long.
It allowed me to become successful in every single thing I’d done.
It allowed me to win.
But this time, there’s one thing I knew for sure.
If Kara broke up with Scott and I was given the margin to make a play for her…
I might be willing to go, and say –
Fuck the rules.