SACK: A Football Bad Boy Romance Read online

  "Not too much fun," Katy warned, but her expression softened. "I'm the fun police, remember? Can't get too much out of control."

  Chase laughed out loud at her callback to his earlier nickname for her. "You got it, officer."

  He threw back the rest of his drink, setting his glass down on the table behind the wraparound couch with a thud. "So, how about dancing? Is that allowed under these newer, stricter anti-fun rules?"

  "As long as you keep your pants on, I'm fine with it," Katy answered.

  He stood up, but looked over at her before heading out onto the dance floor. "Hey, come with me," he said suddenly, holding out a hand to her.

  Chase felt gratified to see a look of surprise flicker briefly across her face. "What? Why?"

  "Why not?" he shrugged. "Because it's Thursday night-"

  "-Monday-"

  "-and we're out at this club to have fun! You looked like you were having fun out on the dance floor before I got the bouncer to bring you over here. Let's go get wild on the dance floor!"

  He saw a skeptical look still dancing around on Katy's face, but he reached down and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. She had small, delicate little hands, he observed, just like the rest of her. Her personality, on the other hand, seemed anything but delicate. He thought wryly to himself that it seemed as if the Creator, in an effort to compensate for her lack of height, instead gave her a personality three sizes too large.

  Chase led Katy out onto the dance floor, using his broad shoulders to cut his way into the mass of people. "If I feel your hands trying to slip under my clothing," Katy warned him as they found a spot, but Chase held up his hands in mock surrender.

  "No funny business! Just having fun! Come on, fun police, lighten up!" he insisted, putting on his widest and most innocent look.

  At the sight of his wide eyes, Katy laughed out loud! "You're not fooling anyone," she told him, but she turned partly away from him, throwing up her own hands and slipping into movement in time with the thumping bass beat.

  Chase did the same, unable to keep a smile off his face as the short little woman in front of him rapidly forgot about his presence, shaking her hips to the music. Katy might not be the most coordinated dancer, but she certainly made up for that lack of coordination with her enthusiasm! Her eyes partly closed, she rocked and shimmied back and forth, her mouth occasionally moving in time to the lyrics.

  Once again, Chase caught himself thinking about her body underneath her jeans and blouse, wondering how it would feel. This time, however, he squashed those thoughts. Don't diddle the fun police, he ordered himself. If he'd learned anything from the lesbian in Colorado, it was that one of the quickest ways to ruin a friendship was to sleep together.

  So instead, he just danced alongside her, using his size to keep the crowd from sweeping in and crushing them.

  The song ended, and Katy looked up, her face flushed and her eyes bright with excitement. Her cheeks reddened a second later, as she caught sight of Chase's expression. "Oh god, I'm so- I, uh, I need some air," she called out, raising a hand to wave ineffectually at herself.

  Without pause, Chase turned and pushed forward, cutting a path for her towards the back of the club, where the crowd was sparser and more spread out. Moving through the dim lights, mostly deep blue and purple accent lights back here, they found an empty corner.

  Katy slumped back against the wall, catching her breath, but she was still smiling when she looked back up at Chase. "Okay, fine, that was fun," she admitted.

  "Glad you thought so." Chase leaned against the wall beside her, squatting a little to put himself closer to her height. "And look - I even managed to keep my pants on for once!"

  Katy rolled her eyes at him - but didn't lean away.

  There was a feeling, Chase had learned, that came before a physical connection. Sometimes, he would just look at a woman, get a glimpse of her face, and know that the two of them would fuck before the night was over. Other times, it wasn't until he got up close to her, close enough to feel the magnetic attraction towards her lips. It was a strange sixth sense, but it felt almost unerring, never leading him in the wrong direction.

  He knew how it went. He'd be talking to a girl, and then there'd be a lull in the conversation. Their eyes would lock on each other, her lips would part slightly, and he'd feel himself leaning in, drawn towards her.

  Chase had learned to go with this feeling. When he felt himself pulled towards a girl, he didn't resist, but swept her up in his arms as their lips met. Once that first kiss happened, he knew that he had to immediately find an exit, or at least a quieter corner, because clothes would soon be coming off in a frenzy of sloppy make-outs and exploring, wandering hands.

  Right now, crouching down to put himself at the same level as Katy as they leaned against the wall, Chase felt that magnetic attraction, tugging them together.

  He looked at Katy's eyes. They stared back into his, dark but glistening in the dim lights. She glanced down towards his lips, her mouth parting slightly.

  As if slowly pulled by invisible strings, they leaned in towards each other...

  Chapter eight

  Oh my god, what was I doing?

  How did I end up about to kiss this man?

  And why couldn't I seem to pull away?

  I stared up at Chase, trying to force my suddenly sluggish thoughts to move. Respond, I screamed out in my head, but all I could do was lean in, feeling him doing the same, staring up at his blue eyes, gleaming even in the darkness.

  We hadn't even been flirting! We'd been out on the dance floor, and after a few awkward moments, I managed to muster up the courage to cut loose and actually get into the rhythm of the music. I had turned partly away from Chase, but the few times that I glanced back at him, he seemed to be grooving along with me.

  Normally, I didn't dance at all, except for when I was alone in the bathroom and singing into my shampoo bottle. I knew how to move to a beat, but I always felt like I looked ridiculous, butt going one direction and breasts doing their best to go in the other. I always wanted to dance like those backup dancers that I saw in Pitbull or Shakira videos, but I never managed to convince myself that my amateur moves looked anything but embarrassing.

  Tonight, however, I'd really gotten into it! I don't know if it was the alcohol, the thrill of my new job, or knowing that most eyes were on Chase, not on me, but I really enjoyed shaking my booty to the thumping music!

  And then, after a little while, when I needed some air, we'd stepped over here to this more secluded corner. I really hadn't been thinking about Chase as a romantic prospect at all, not any longer. It wasn't until I leaned back against the wall, looked right into his eyes, that I felt him pulling me in.

  "I - we shouldn't," I managed, not pulling away.

  Chase blinked back at me - and then, suddenly, he straightened back up to his full height, breaking the eye contact between us.

  As soon as he looked away, I felt my limbs snap back under my own control, as if a spell over me had just broken. I sucked in a breath of relief, quickly taking a step back, putting a little distance between us.

  "Um, that was..." I started, but my voice trailed off. What could I say about it?

  "Don't worry about it," Chase replied. Did he look a little embarrassed, now? "I was having fun and I, uh, I couldn't push you back right away."

  I could still feel little cobwebs of attraction clinging inside my head, urging me to throw myself at the man. Even looking a little embarrassed, I couldn't deny that he looked sexy as hell, his blonde hair slightly tousled, those blue eyes dancing even in the dim light. I could see the bulges of his forearms standing out, his biceps rolling with his every motion. For just a moment, as I blinked, I felt as though I could feel those arms sweeping me up into their embrace, pulling me up to waiting lips...

  Wait a minute. I thought back to Chase's last words.

  "Excuse me? You couldn't push me back right away?" I repeated. "You were the one who tried to kiss me!"
r />   "No way!" he retorted. "I stepped over here so we could get some air, and next thing I know, you're leaning in to kiss me!" He smirked. "I know that I'm irresistible to just about every woman, but you're going to need to learn to control yourself-"

  He didn't get the rest of this sentence out, because I socked him in the stomach with my fist.

  It felt like hitting a brick wall. "Oh my god, fucking ow!" I grunted out, wheeling away and clutching my stricken hand to my chest.

  Chase frowned. "Did you just hit me?" he asked incredulously. "Was that what you tried to do?"

  "Shut up," I winced through gritted teeth. "Oh my god, are your abs made of rock?"

  A moment later, Chase's hands reached out and gently but firmly pulled my wrist away from my chest, holding out my hand and rocking my fingers back and forth. "Any of this hurt?" he asked, watching me.

  "Well, yeah, all of it," I said, but he ignored this.

  "If it was broken, you'd be crying right now," he said, letting go of my fingers - but not my wrist. "Now listen - you admit that you wanted to kiss me, and I'll go back to my hotel now, instead of heading out to find an after party." He grinned at me, flashing those white teeth. "Best way to get me out of your hair for the evening."

  I narrowed my eyes up at him. "I didn't want to kiss you."

  God damn, he was fast. A second later, Chase slipped his hands from my wrist to down around my waist, pulling me in tightly against him. I could feel the warmth of his body soaking into me, the tightness of his muscles as they wrapped around me. Oh wow, I really could feel his muscles bulging.

  "Yes, you did," he said again, gazing down into my face. His lips were only inches away.

  Once again, I felt that magnetic pull of my lips up towards his. If I rose up on my tiptoes, I would just be barely able to reach... "I didn't."

  "You want to now, though."

  "That's different." I knew this was a weak defense, but my brain couldn't come up with anything else to say. Too much of it kept on straining for me to lean in a little more, to part my lips and meet his.

  For a moment, Chase just looked down at me, regarding me. I sensed thoughts dancing and darting behind his eyes, but I had no idea what he might be considering. I opened my mouth to ask what he intended-

  -and he leaned in, crossing that last inch or two of space between our mouths.

  Oh my god.

  For some reason, I'd expected his kiss to be as hard as the rest of his body, hard and powerful. But instead, Chase's kiss felt soft, gentle, inviting.

  Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned into it, kissing him back!

  The contact between us only lasted a second, maybe even less. Before I'd even fully come to mental terms with what I was doing, Chase released his grip around me, stepping back and breaking the kiss.

  For a moment, once again standing without support, I just blinked as I tried to sort out my scattered little fragments of thoughts. "You- you just-" I stammered, unable to come to terms with what had just happened.

  When I looked up at Chase, I thought that, for an instant, I saw surprise also painted across his face, as if he hadn't even expected to kiss me himself. The expression vanished a second later, however, replaced with the sly grin that I felt more accustomed to seeing on his face.

  "Looks like I'm heading back to my hotel," he said, reaching up and tapping his forehead with one finger in a mockery of a salute. "See you later, Katy."

  I stared after him, my mouth still hanging open, as he strolled back into the crowd, heading towards the exit from the club. It took a good minute before I could even think coherently, and I sagged back against the wall as I tried to get myself under control.

  I had, it seemed, managed to break my declaration - in less than a day, no less!

  Admittedly, I pointed out to myself desperately, he was the one who kissed me. That wasn't my doing at all. It had been all Chase.

  But I hadn't pulled away, hadn't broken the kiss or told him not to do it.

  I reached up, running one finger gently around my lips. I could still feel the faintest impression of his mouth on me, of his soft kiss. And as much as I knew that it was a bad idea, a part of me desperately wanted to do it again.

  I turned, looking after where Chase had left, and even took a couple of steps in that direction before I managed to get myself under control. What was I thinking? This was a terrible idea!

  What I needed to do, I decided to myself, was get out of here. Go somewhere else, sober up, and then, when I next see Seth Chase, make it very clear that we will most definitely NOT be repeating anything like that kiss again.

  I managed to get all the way out of the club before, with a pang, I remembered Miranda. I'd just left my best friend behind. That would probably come back to haunt me - but looking back at the long line of young partygoers waiting to get into the club, I doubted that the bouncers would let me back in.

  Instead, I flagged down a cab. "Yah, where to?" the driver asked me, as I struggled into the backseat.

  I paused for a moment. I needed someplace to sober up, somewhere that I wouldn't get in trouble or run into anyone else. I opened my mouth, intending to tell the cabbie my address - but then felt another idea seize me.

  "Hawks Stadium," I told the man, turning and checking behind me to make sure that I had my purse, with my official, hot off the presses Hawks identification inside.

  "You sure? No one's playing there, you know. Place is totally empty."

  "Just what I want," I insisted. "You can just drop me off by the side entrance."

  The cabbie risked another dubious look back at me, but shrugged and pulled the cab away from the curb. Twenty minutes later, he brought the car to a stop outside the employee's side entrance to the stadium. I handed him a twenty and climbed out of the cab.

  I hadn't just come back here because I needed someplace quiet where I could be alone. If that was all I wanted, I would have happily returned home to my dinky little apartment. No, I was here because, standing in the slightly chilled night air outside the Kitty Kat Club, I'd remembered that I needed some pictures of the stadium for my next social media posts.

  Look on the bright side, I tried to tell myself, as I headed for the side door. Not only did I go out and have some fun tonight, letting off steam, but I also got Seth Chase to promise to return back to his hotel room instead of continuing to get drunk! Hopefully, this means no pictures of him splashed across the tabloid headlines tomorrow!

  All it had taken to get him back was a kiss. I tried to ignore that part.

  My Hawks badge came with a little microchip inside of it, giving me access to the behind-the-scenes parts of the stadium. I let myself in, heading for the locker room. As I walked, I dug my phone out of my purse, checking to make sure I had enough battery left to take these pictures.

  I needed... probably a couple pictures of the inside of the locker room, maybe one or two of player uniforms sitting out, I thought to myself as I stepped into the locker room. That would be enough for now, although I'd have to take more soon enough.

  The locker room's lights bloomed after I flicked the switch just inside the entrance. I moved through the big area, snapping pictures with my phone's camera here and there.

  A couple balls sat out on one of the wooden benches in the room, and I picked one of them up, pretending to wind up and throw it at one of the dirty laundry hampers. The ball felt big in my hands, slightly squishy under my fingers.

  I frowned. Maybe these balls were out because they needed to be reinflated. They seemed a little too soft.

  Tossing the ball aside, I didn't give it another thought. I finished snapping my pictures, checked them over, and then headed out of the locker room.

  By the time I made it outside again, my earlier drunken haze had been replaced by overwhelming exhaustion. I needed, I told myself, to get off to bed.

  Once I'd gotten some rest, I'd be able to figure out how to put this whole night - and that confusing, annoying kiss - behind me.

&nb
sp; Chapter nine

  "Yes! Go, go go - YES!"

  I burst up from my seat, although I took care to watch where I threw my arms so that I didn't knock over any of the drinks on the table in front of us. "That's what I'm talking about!" I shouted out, pointing down at the field through the huge window in front of us. "Did you see that throw? Perfect!"

  "Yes, Katy, everyone saw it," Miranda assured me next to me, reaching out and patting my shoulder as she pulled me back down to my seat. "We're all watching the same game, remember?"

  I sat back down, but the smile stayed on my face. With this latest touchdown, the Hawks just further extended their lead over their opponents. The game wasn't even half over, but anyone just tuning in now could easily guess who would end up cinching up the victory.

  I was out with Miranda and a couple of her friends from her investment bank business, sitting up in one of the sky boxes at the Hawks stadium and watching the Hawks play their game. The rail at which we sat, in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass window, was covered with beer glasses, a couple of pitchers, two plates of nachos - and Miranda's customary martini, looking curiously out of place.

  Miranda was more into chatting with me about the players than she was into watching the actual game, but the other two guys from her investment firm both turned out to be avid Hawks fans, and they fawned over me for a few minutes when they heard about my position with the team. I'd gotten four complimentary sky box tickets for every single game in the season, and I'd offered the other three to Miranda, inviting her to bring a couple of her friends out.

  "So, Katy, what happened to you, the other night?" Miranda asked, as the Hawks prepared to kick off again, passing the ball back to their beleaguered opponents. "We were having fun with Seth and DeShaun, and next thing I know, you and Chase are both gone!"

  I winced a little as the eyes of the two male investment bankers both turned towards me, all of them widening. "Nothing happened," I explained hastily. "We were out on the dance floor for a while, having fun and dancing, and then I felt tired. Chase said that he felt the same, and we both headed out to leave."