SACK: A Football Bad Boy Romance Page 8

  Already, I had to struggle to hold back snickers. Chase caught my expression and smiled back. "Oh, it gets better," he went on. "So I show up at this party, and of course, there are a bunch of fraternity bros who want to play beer pong with me, see whether I'm any good at throwing for that game, too! I say yes, but I'm still thinking that they're just taking pity on me. It isn't until we're almost done with the second game of beer pong that I look up and realize that half the party is clustered around the ping pong table, watching us!"

  "So what happened next?" I asked, leaning in. Among his many other good qualities, Chase happened to also be great at telling suspenseful stories, I observed.

  "Well, I sank the last shot, and the whole party erupts into cheers! I'm high-fiving bros left and right, when this girl walks up to me and asks me if I need a drink after that game. She was the classic sorority girl - blonde hair, plaid skirt, tight little sweater that left nothing to the imagination." Chase frowned for a moment, but I waved him on. "Anyway, I'm tongue-tied, staring at this woman, and she just reaches out and takes my hand, leading me upstairs from the game room. I see a couple of the other football players pointing at me and clapping, hollering, but I still don't understand what's going on."

  "How long before it all clicked?"

  "Oh god, this is so embarrassing!" he admitted, running a hand back through his hair and leaving it even messier. "But we were up in someone's room, she shuts the door, and I'm still oblivious! I ask her where the drinks are!"

  He paused for a moment as I burst out laughing, unable to hold back any longer. "You really thought there was a drink for you, and that was it!" I gasped out, in between big, sobbing laughs.

  "I really did!" he insisted. "And she scoots closer, tells me that she thinks i'm up for a little more activity before I have another drink. And that's when it finally clicked."

  "Because she mentioned more activity?"

  "No," Chase finished his story with a smile, "because when she scooted in closer, she literally shoved her hand down my pants and grabbed my dick."

  My mouth dropped open. "No way. I don't think anyone I knew in a sorority would be that forward!"

  "Well, this girl was," Chase said. "And that night, after the party was over, I remember just laying awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. The girl came back to my room with me, even though football players weren't supposed to have anyone else stay over, and she kept me up for a while! But eventually she passed out, too, and I was the only one still awake, just staring up at the ceiling and thinking."

  "What were you thinking?"

  He thought for a moment, and I again sensed that he was picking his words carefully. "I laid awake thinking," he said slowly, "that this was the start of a different chapter for my life. This was the start of something new."

  "And was it?" I asked.

  He looked back at me, and slowly nodded. "More than even I realized at the time, yes."

  Chapter thirteen

  After he'd settled the bill, Chase offered a hand to Katy, helping her up from her seat in the steakhouse booth. She smiled up at him, and he couldn't help noticing how the white shawl she'd put on around her shoulders had slipped down, leaving one shoulder bare and exposed.

  For a moment, looking at that shoulder, Chase almost forgot about his main goal - making sure that Katy wasn't following up on the deflated footballs.

  In fact, several times already, he'd had to force his thoughts back to that goal. He didn't intend to get distracted, but he kept on finding himself drawn thoroughly into the conversations with Katy! She just listened so intently, paying so much attention to his words in a way that Chase couldn't remember anyone else ever doing.

  And also, whenever she laughed, she had a tendency to lean forward against the table, clapping her hands together. Normally, this wouldn't matter much - but in her current outfit, the little black dress that she wore, this motion gave Chase a tantalizing glimpse of considerable white cleavage, if only for a moment.

  He certainly hadn't told more jokes because of this fact, trying to sneak more looks at her body. He just wanted to be funny tonight, that was the only reason.

  "So, where to next?" Katy asked, as he helped her up out of the booth.

  "Well, that offer to join me in the steakhouse bathroom still stands-"

  She crossed her arms and glared at him, tapping one high-heeled shoe and raising an eyebrow. Chase lifted his hands up in surrender.

  "If you're not up for making this a great night, we can still have fun, too!" he changed his tune slightly. "There's a bar around the corner with live music and dancing, if that sounds like a better option."

  "As long as you can keep your pants on and not leave the place with a prostitute, I'm down," Katy gave in.

  He smirked back at her. "Well, I did pay for dinner, so what does that make you?"

  "A friend," she fired back, turning and strolling out of the steakhouse without glancing back to see if he would follow.

  For a moment, Chase just watched her go, considering those words. A friend.

  In terms of his goal, keeping her close so that she would tell him first about any suspicions of the deflated footballs playing a larger role in the previous games, having Katy regard him as a friend was a definite success. But still, a little bit of Chase found himself wishing that he could find a way to make them something more.

  After all, friends don't usually cast surreptitious glances at cleavage or a cute little round ass standing out in a dress.

  A second later, Chase hurried after her, catching up in time to hold the door open for her. Katy broke her huff for just a moment to nod her head to him, and then regally proceeded outside, as if he was just some manservant! Chase caught himself rolling his eyes before stepping out after her.

  As he'd said, the bar was only a block or two away. Still, by the time that they reached the entrance, Chase could see Katy shivering a little.

  "Here, let's get inside and warm up," he said, once again pulling the door open for her.

  Sure enough, the inside of the bar radiated warmth, already mostly full of people listening to the music of the live band up on stage. Chase and Katy made their way over to the bar without incident, although murmurs followed after them, and several people pointed at Chase and whispered excitedly to each other.

  "Looks like you're recognized," Katy pointed out to him as they leaned up against the bar.

  "I've gotten used to it," he replied with a shrug. "After a while, you just sort of stop noticing."

  They ordered a couple beers and downed them, but slowed down on their second drinks. Sipping at the beer bottles, they leaned back against the bar, looking around at the dancers and listening to the music. Katy leaned partially against Chase, using him for support, and he could feel the warmth of her body soaking into him.

  "Looks like fun," she commented after a minute.

  "Want to try?"

  She glanced up at him. "What, you dance?"

  Chase grinned. "A big part of being a quarterback is being agile on my feet. How do you think I train that?"

  "By dancing??" Her mouth dropped open. "No way. You're messing with me. This is a joke."

  "I sometimes wish that it was, but my coach in high school had some pretty definite ideas on how to train," Chase admitted, once again rubbing his hand across his hair as he did whenever he felt a little embarrassed. "I thought the weird part was going to be going out dancing with the rest of the football team, but that wasn't even the worst of it."

  "Oh my god. You have to tell me what the worst part was."

  Chase winced. "The worst part is that the dancing happened at the local senior center, because that was the only dance hall that the coach could find that would play music at practice times. I learned how to do most of my dancing while holding an eighty-year-old woman in my arms."

  He groaned and leaned away as Katy burst into a fit of giggling laughter. She started to get control of herself, but then turned and looked up at him, and the
laughing began anew.

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she choked out. "It's just the thought of you, as a teenager, dancing with some senior citizen with gray hair to the polka or something-"

  "Swing."

  "Ohh, that's even worse!" She thumped her head against his chest, hitting him a couple of times with her fist. "Ohh, I can just picture it! You better not piss me off, Chase, or else I'm going to share this for the whole world to find out!"

  "There just might be some pictures remaining out there online that I haven't managed to find and destroy," Chase admitted, and Katy raised her head up.

  "I'm going to find them," she promised, an evil glint in her eye. "Then, I'll have blackmail material on you forever!"

  Before she could tell him what she intended to blackmail him to do, Chase reached down and gently lifted her hand, still curled into a fist, off of his chest. "Well, before you go off searching for any remaining pictures, let's see if I remember anything," he said, leading her out towards the dance floor.

  Suddenly, however, she seemed reluctant. "I don't know. I'm not big on, well, dancing."

  "You were dancing before, at the other club, weren't you?"

  "Yeah, but that's not the same!" She looked defensive as Chase paused, looking at her and waiting for an explanation. "At the other club, I was just out with Miranda, and I'd had a lot to drink, and no one else was looking at me. I wasn't with anyone, well, famous!"

  "We can fix part of that," Chase answered. He ducked back to the bar, flagging down the bartender. "A couple shots of Grey Goose, here!"

  Katy accepted the drink, throwing it back in a single slug that even Chase found strangely impressive. "Still, everyone knows it's you!" she insisted, as he tossed back his own shot. "They're all going to be looking at us!"

  "No, they're all going to be looking at me," he corrected her, once again taking her hand and urging her out towards the dance floor. "Come on, no one will notice you twice! And I'll lead, so all you have to do is move along with the flow."

  She still looked nervous, but managed to put on a small smile. "I hope you're ready for some high heels stepping on your feet, then."

  "Compared to the big clunkers that Mildred used to wear, you'll feel like a spring breeze," Chase retorted, and he pulled her into his arms as the next song started up and she laughed at his joke, leaning slightly forward and giving him another one of those oh so tantalizing glimpses down her top.

  At first, he did feel a little uncertain on his feet. His first few steps were hesitant, listening to the beat of the song. But then, muscle memory came rushing back to him, and his movements became smoother and more assured. He still remembered hearing his old coach shouting out the counts, yelling at them to move faster, to pick up their feet more.

  In his arms, Katy giggled at first, and then gasped with delight as he swung her around, now really getting into the tune. "Wow!" she exclaimed, as he sent her out, tossing her away from him, but holding onto one of her hands so that he could pull her back in a spin. He caught her up against his chest, looking down into her wide eyes, feeling her heart rapidly beating as she pressed up against him.

  That meant, he realized a moment later as he spun her out again, that she had to be able to feel his heartbeat, as well. He wondered if she'd take its rapid beating just as excitement and arousal, not as anything more.

  It wasn't anything more, of course. Definitely not. He just enjoyed being in motion, holding a pretty girl in his arms. That was all.

  They danced together for several more songs, and soon Katy wasn't just following his movements passively. It didn't take long before she picked up the general motions of the dance, moving along with him, anticipating his moves. She grinned, her white teeth flashing as he let go of her, letting her spin on her own before returning to his hold.

  "I think I'm getting it!" she shouted when they next came together.

  Chase nodded, slipping his arm around her waist and guiding her into the next steps. "I think so, too!" he called back. "Mr. Henderson would be proud of you!"

  "Now I just have to master catching a ball, and I'll be ready for the NFL!" she shouted gaily as she let him sweep her up against him.

  The song came to an end, and several people around the edges of the dance floor applauded! It wasn't until the music had faded and the lights came back up a little brighter that Chase and Katy looked around and realized that, despite what Chase had said earlier, they'd managed to attract an audience.

  "Nice dancing!" one guy in a cowboy hat called out from his spot leaning on the bar.

  Still flushed and breathing quickly, Chase and Katy smiled at each other. "Another drink?" the football player asked.

  "Yes, please!" the short, curvy young woman in his arms responded, letting him keep hold of her arm as they headed off of the dance floor, towards the bar.

  "We'll be back in five minutes," the singer of the band called out into the microphone. "Grab some water, and then we'll have some more great songs ready to go!"

  Chapter fourteen

  This next time, as Chase swept me back out onto the dance floor, I didn't hesitate. This was fun, I told myself! I was really getting into this! Why had I always thought that dancing was so hard, that I couldn't keep a rhythm?

  Despite those fears, keeping up with Chase, when he had his arms out and around me, seemed easy, almost effortless. I loved when he spun me out, trusting that he wouldn't let me fall, that the tug would come at the right time to switch my direction and send me flying back into his arms where he could catch me.

  Even knowing that the other people standing around the edges of the dance floor were watching didn't bother me, much to my own surprise. For once, I was the center of attention, and I didn't mind it at all!

  By the time the band took its next break, I felt hot and flushed - the shots that we'd tossed back had definitely taken effect by this point. "Hey, maybe we could sit the next one out?" I asked Chase as we ducked over to the bar to get another gulp of liquid.

  "Sounds good. I think they have tables further back."

  As I followed Chase back deeper into the bar, I felt a sudden sense of deja vu. "Hey, does this feel familiar at all?" I asked him.

  He looked back at me, unsure of what I meant at first - and then his face cleared. "You think that I'm luring you back here to kiss you again?" he asked, grinning at me before taking a gulp on his beer.

  "I wouldn't put it past you," I shot back.

  He put on a hurt expression. "Oh, you think so little of me? You don't trust me to not kiss you?"

  "I don't trust you as far as I throw you," I told him. "That's why I'm out with you - to keep you from doing something stupid."

  "Right. And you definitely aren't enjoying yourself at all. This is all suffering for you."

  "Hey, I'm allowed to enjoy myself and chaperone you at the same time!" I defended. "Here's a booth, back over here. Now let's sit down, back in this place where we can't get into any trouble!"

  We slid into the booth; it was a corner booth, so we sat next to each other, our butts bumping against each other. I leaned back against Chase, propping my legs up on the leather of the booth's bench.

  "No trouble at all back here?" Chase commented, his arm snaking around me. "I'm sure we can manage something."

  I frowned, but I didn't want to move his arm off of my chest. He felt warm, but in a different way from the flushed heat running through my veins. Now that we weren't moving any longer, I suddenly felt a chill sweep through me, and the warmth of his arm helped to block some of my shivers.

  For a minute or two, we just sat there, both us getting our breath back. "Hey, Chase?" I finally spoke up, after another minute.

  "Yeah?"

  "Why did you kiss me that first night, anyway?"

  I felt him stiffen slightly. He didn't speak for a minute, waiting so long that I started to draw breath to repeat my question.

  "I don't know," he finally said, looking over at me. I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "
I'm used to that always being, well, the next step, you know?"

  I shook my head. "The next step? What does that mean?"

  He slumped down a little further in the booth. "I don't know, not really. Most of my interactions with people are either in professional relationships, like my agent, or when they want to fuck me. I guess that I'm not good at the part in between, whatever that is."

  "You mean, being friends?"

  "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a lot worse," Chase said, and I laughed. "But yeah, I guess I don't have much experience with making female friends."

  I twisted around a little as I leaned against him, turning so that I could look up at him as I leaned against him in the secluded booth. "Why can't you just treat me like a dude, then?"

  "I don't want to see most of my dude friends naked," he answered immediately, smirking down at me.

  "Really? I want to see most of your dude friends naked." The words slipped out before I could consider whether they were smart or not, but Chase laughed again.

  "But still, I don't think that I can just treat you like I would another man," he said after he finished laughing, returning back to the previous topic. "I can manage it for a couple minutes, but then I see or hear something that distracts me, and I slip back into my old method of seeing you."

  "What sort of thing do you see or hear?"

  He grinned again. "Well, right now with you leaning against me, I can totally see down your dress. That's a pretty distracting view."

  Gasping, I slapped a hand to my chest, trying to block him. "Oh my god, how long have you been looking at that for?"

  "Not long enough to get my fill of the view."

  I couldn't help smiling at his open flattery, but I still shook my head. "But this isn't going to work between the two of us. We can't just hook up, even if we both want to-"

  I bit my lip at that little slip, hoping that Chase didn't catch it. He didn't say anything, letting me continue, but the slight widening of his smirk told me that I hadn't been fortunate enough for him to overlook my accidental reveal.