The Hard Way: a Sports Romance

by Katie Ashley

  After my “sentencing”, I had done a little reading about The Ark. It had been a run-down YMCA when Amad had purchased it and then renovated it. There were two stories that included an indoor basketball gym, an Olympic-sized pool, and a small outdoor playfield that had once been a parking lot.

  Once we got out of the hallway, Avery motioned to an open room. “This meeting area is where we do quiet activities like art projects and tutoring.” There were two cafeteria-like tables set up along with several easels.

  She pointed to the right. “Over there is the theater room where we watch preapproved movies on a schedule of ten, noon, two, and four. Kids are allowed popcorn and sodas inside.”

  “That’s a sweet setup.”

  Her eyes widened at my comment. I suppose she hadn’t expected me to have anything nice to say about the place. “The kids really enjoy it. We do a monthly fieldtrip to the local movie theater as well since most of the kids would never have the opportunity to go.”

  “I see.”

  We walked on past the main room. I knew we were getting close to the pool when the smell of chlorine entered my nose. I peered through the glass to see a couple of kids splashing around. “Pool hours are from nine to three,” Avery said.

  “I’ll have to remember to bring my suit.”

  “That won’t be necessary since we have a lifeguard on duty during those hours.”

  “Maybe an after-hours swim?” Since I was still being a relentless tool, I added, “If memory serves me correctly, you and I enjoyed a swim together back in the day.”

  When Avery’s body tensed, I knew she was remembering that day. What she wouldn’t be able to recall was that that was the day I had the first stirrings for her above and below the waist. In a pair of cutoffs, a faded tank top, and a worn pair of cowboy boots, she was straight out of every guy’s farm girl wet dream. I’d also gotten to see the usually straight-laced good girl go a little bad, but I’ll get to that later on.

  Avery quickly recovered and started past the pool. She swept a lanyard with a set of keys over her heard. After unlocking the door, she opened it and motioned me inside. “This is the athletic storage room.”

  The room was lined with wall-to-wall shelves. There were almost deflated footballs and basketballs along with some beat-up looking bats and dingy gray baseballs. “Damn, this equipment looks like it’s been through the wringer.”

  “We do the best we can with what we have. The center is all privately funded, and with a very tight budget, we have to pay for staff, utilities, and food.”

  I held up my hands. “Excuse me for making an observation. I was just expecting better considering Amad Carlson is in charge of all of this.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “I just imagined as a baller, he would care about having good sports equipment.”

  “He’s a busy guy who doesn’t bother himself with the ins and outs of The Ark.”

  “Maybe he should. Maybe someone should give him a call and ask for a little more dough for new sports equipment.”

  “Maybe we should just be grateful for what we’re given and not always expect to have the best handed to us,” she countered.

  Ah, now she was she was making it personal. Back in the day, she hadn’t been a fan of the spoiled-little-rich-boy part of me. She had succeeded in making me see the world differently, at least for a little while. We’d only had four months together, so she needed more time to eradicate the eighteen years of indulgence I’d been accustomed to.

  “Maybe I can check around at Tech and see if we have some extras that aren’t so worn out.”

  Talk about shocking someone. The blown away expression on Avery’s face was priceless. Of course, it also stung a little. Once upon a time, she had been able to see that deep down inside me there was a halfway decent guy. “You’d really do that?” she asked.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Just seems out of character for you.”

  “Yeah, well, if I remember correctly, there was a time when you didn’t think I was such a heartless bastard.”

  Avery didn’t respond. Instead, she whirled around and hustled out of the storage room. After I followed her, she locked the door back. Without another word to me, she started down the hall.

  “Here are the basketball courts.”

  “Really? And I would have thought that was a baseball field,” I quipped with a wink. I mean, the mood desperately needed some lightening.

  My effort was rewarded with Avery rolling her eyes. “I see you’re still a smartass.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Oh, I know so. Only a smartass would feel the need to do childish pranks.”

  I grimaced. “Ah, so you know about that, huh?”

  “I don’t know the specifics, but I do know you pulled a prank that got you in enough trouble to have you here.” She gave me a pointed look. “Not to mention, I do know about your past indiscretions.”

  With a laugh, I countered, “I didn’t hack into a laptop this time.”

  “If you weren’t flexing your hacking skills, what exactly did you do?”

  “Streaked through an alumni dinner to get back at a professor who gave me my first C.”

  Avery blinked at me a few times. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

  “Nope.” I swept my right hand up. “And that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”

  The corners of her lips quirked as if she was fighting a smile. “Nice courtroom allusion there.”

  “Thank you. I thought it was a nice touch since I remember one of us wanting to be an attorney.”

  “I start law school in the fall.”

  “Holy shit. You’re already through undergrad?” When Avery nodded, I said, “Now I remember that you graduated early and started college.”

  When a strangled cry came from Avery’s lips, I instantly regretted mentioning her starting college early. Everything that had gone down between us had happened in December of senior year just before the end of the semester. I hadn’t had to see her again after that until she’d stood before our class a salutatorian.

  “I need to show you the gym,” she said in a strained voice.

  I refrained from making a smartass remark that I really didn’t need to see inside because I got the basic principle. Instead, I opened the door and allowed her to brush past me. When her perfume entered my nose, I couldn’t help closing my eyes. Damn, she smelled good. It was the same mixture of peaches and strawberries she’d smelled like in high school, some kind of natural shampoo she got at the local farmer’s market. It was nice knowing at least one thing about her hadn’t changed.

  There were about twenty boys and three girls out on the court. Their ages ranged from roughly fourteen to seventeen, and they represented all colors and races. Some were just absentmindedly dribbling balls and shooting the shit with friends while others engaged in a game complete with a volunteer ref making calls.

  The sound of a real whistle caused both of us to stop. When we turned around, a grinning African-American teen waved at us. “Lookin’ good, Miss P,” a guy said as he wagged his eyebrows. He looked around sixteen, and the fact that he was clearly jailbait didn’t seem to stop him from flirting with Avery.

  “Thank you, Darion.”

  He jerked his chin up at me. “Who’s that? Your boyfriend?”

  A chorus of “oohs” and kissy noises rang around us, which caused Avery’s face to turn blood red. It reminded me of the old Avery I had known who always wore her embarrassment on her sleeve.

  “No, he’s not my boyfriend.”

  Darion curiously sized me up. “Then what’s he doing here?”

  Without missing a beat, Avery replied, “He’s here to volunteer with you guys.”

  My brows shot up in surprise. In a low voice, I asked, “Is that what we’re calling it? Volunteering?”

  Turning her back to the guys, Avery hissed, “It’s better than them thinking you have t
o be here with them, or that you’re a spoiled, overgrown child who can’t keep out of trouble.”

  “Watch it with the claws, Prescott.”

  After giving me an eat shit and die look, Avery whirled back around to the guys. “This is Cade Hall. You can call him Mr. Hall.”

  Darion motioned to my Tech shirt. “You a fan?”

  “Actually, I go there, and I play football.”

  His dark eyes widened. “You for real?”

  “Yeah.”

  Darion whirled around. “Marcus, Antoine, get over here!” When the two teens threw him questioning looks, he added, “This dude plays football for Tech!”

  That was all it took to have the guys hustling over. “You really play for Tech?” the tallest of the two asked.

  “Sure do.”

  Darion grinned. “Damn, I can’t believe I’m meetin’ a real baller!”

  When I glanced at Avery about the cussing, she gave a slight shake of her head.

  “I mean, Jamal Jenkins came by two years ago before I was hanging out here, but Antoine got to meet him, didn’t ya?”

  Antoine nodded. “He gave us signed balls, too.” He gave me a look that asked where my signed balls were.

  “I’ll be happy bring you guys some balls next time. Maybe I can get some of the other guys on the team to sign them as well.”

  “That would be tight,” Marcus said.

  Darion’s eyes grew bright. “We’s just about done playin’ basketball—”

  “We’re,” Avery corrected.

  After waving a hand flippantly at her, Darion replied, “Fine then. “We’re about to go play football. You gotta come throw the ball around with us, tell us what you think of our form and shit.”

  “You want to play college ball?” I questioned.

  Darion nodded. “I started varsity this year as a freshman. Coach says I’m sure to get recruiters after me before junior year, maybe even lock up a scholarship by then.”

  With Darion starting varsity, he wasn’t just bullshitting me; he obviously had talent. I turned to Avery. “So, I guess I can hang out with the boys, you know, throw some balls around, something like that.”

  Avery shocked me by shaking her head. “No. I don’t think you’ll have time for that.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

  Ignoring me, Avery said, “Boys, go ahead and go outside. I need to talk to Mr. Hall for a minute.”

  Although they looked bummed out, they didn’t argue with Avery. “Maybe tomorrow then,” Darion said hopefully.

  “Maybe,” Avery said tersely.

  Once the boys jogged out of sight, I shook my head at Avery. “What’s your problem?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. I want to know what bug you have up your ass to not let me hang out with the guys.”

  “I’m sorry, Cade, but you’re mistaken if you think that you’re just going to ‘hang out’ for your service hours. You have a debt to pay to the athletic board at Georgia Tech.”

  “Well, duh, that debt could be played working with those kids.”

  She stared at me for a minute like the wheels in her head weren’t just turning but whizzing. “I’m afraid you just won’t have time to play today. We have a lot of work that needs to be done around here.”

  I cocked my brows rose at her. “Like what?”

  “Well, for starters, the staff and kids’ bathrooms need cleaning.”

  I jerked my chin up and smirked at her. “Hold the phone, sweetheart. You actually expect me to clean?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Babe, you should know me better than that. I’ve never had to clean my own apartment, so I’m sure as hell not cleaning some grungy homeless kid bathrooms.”

  Avery’s eyes flared. “Jesus, do you actually hear the bullshit you’re spouting?”

  “Yes, actually I do, and it’s not bullshit—it’s the truth.”

  “Other people might care about who you are, or that you play for Tech, or that your daddy is a big shot congressman, but I don’t. The posh little world you’re used to outside the doors of The Ark doesn’t mean anything while you’re in here.” A truly evil smile curled on her lips, one I would have never imagined the old Avery capable of. “Inside these walls, you do exactly what I say. If I say clean the bathrooms, you’ll do it, and you’ll do it to my satisfaction.”

  “If you think I’m going to be your bitch, you have another thing coming.”

  “Get this straight, sweetheart. You will be my bitch, as you call it.”

  I closed the gap between us. “Just try it, and I’ll rat you out to Tammy and get your ass fired.”

  “Is there a problem here?” a voice questioned behind us.

  I whirled around to see Tammy staring curiously at us. “Yes, there is a huge problem. Miss Prescott here is confused. She thinks she is my boss, and in turn, that I’m some little bitch who is going to clean shit. I was just telling her that you would sort it out, Tammy.”

  “My name is Tamar, Mr. Hall,” she replied coolly.

  “Whatever. I’ll just go throw around the football with the boys while you two get things straight.”

  When I started to breeze past her, Tamar grabbed my arm. “There is nothing to get straight, Mr. Hall. While I might be the head of the program here at The Ark, Miss Prescott is the day manager. That means that all employees answer to her, which includes you.” She pursed her lips at me. “I’m seeing now that you are living up to the reputation in your file, and it is not one to be proud of.”

  “So you’re actually going to let Avery boss me around and make me do menial shit?”

  “Yes, Mr. Hall, I am. It is clear to me that you have more than earned a little dirty work.”

  “Is that right?” I challenged.

  “It is. Now I will leave you to your work.” She glanced at Avery. “Carry on, Miss Prescott.”

  “Thank you, Tamar,” Avery replied. She then gave me a sickeningly sweet smile. “Now as I was saying about the bathrooms.”

  By the end of my first day, it was pretty clear that Avery held a grudge the size of the Grand Canyon against me and was going to make payback a real bitch. It started with having to clean the nasty-as-hell bathrooms. At first, I hadn’t wanted to clean the bathrooms on principle, but then I thought, how hard could it be to swish a brush around the inside of the toilet bowl and run a mop over the floor? I mean, it sure didn’t look hard when our cleaning lady did it.

  What I hadn’t taken the time to think about was the difference in what our bathrooms at home were like compared to public ones. I had once thought the communal bathrooms in the dorms were bad, but they didn’t have jack shit on the bathrooms at the center. I realized that when I entered the first stall.

  I’m not sure what could possibly get you turned on at the center, but some asshat had managed to blow his load all over one of the stalls—and we’re not talking about fresh cum. I’m talking about being given some spatula looking thing to rake that shit off. The janitor, whose nametag said Bill, had gleefully handed it over to me along with a box of gloves.

  “Dude, don’t you have some hazmat suit or something for me to wear?”

  He chuckled. “Nope. Have fun. I’ll be in my office watching Sports Center if you need me.”

  “Thanks a hell of a lot,” I grumbled.

  I spent the next hour scraping cum off the walls and bleaching out the shit stains in the toilet. Once I finished in the boys’ restrooms, I had to go to the girls’, and I couldn’t believe it when I found the girls’ bathroom was way worse than the boys’. Puckered lip marks on the mirrors took forever to scrub off, not to mention the effort it took to get up all the ground-in eye shadow and blush shit on the floor. The worst was having to unclog one of the toilets where a tampon had gotten stuck. That shit caused me to gag until I eventually lost my lunch.

  Once I finished something, Avery had to come check to make sure it was satisfactory, and nothing I did was sati
sfactory to Miss Raging Revenge Bitch. She always made me do it over. I had never been more grateful when the clock read six, meaning I could get the fuck out of there.

  When I got home, I wanted nothing more than to take a scalding hot shower to wash off the gross shit I’d gotten on me, but I was way too tired, so I trudged over to the couch and collapsed face first.

  When I closed my eyes, Avery’s face was all I could see—but it wasn’t raging revenge Avery, it was sweet, adoring Avery. The one with the shy smiles and red cheeks caused by me saying something that embarrassed her. The Avery who sucked in her bottom lip when she was really concentrating on something. The Avery who could debate world affairs and also drive a corn harvester on her family’s farm. God, I missed that Avery.

  I didn’t know how long I’d been lying there when I awoke to Jonathan shaking me.

  “Wake up. We’re going to be late to the party.”

  Groaning, I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. “I don’t think I’m going.”

  “Um, have you forgotten how epic Brittany’s parties are?” Jonathan questioned.

  Brittany was our neighbor on the fourth floor. She’d introduced herself three months before by flashing her tits at me in the elevator. She was a swimmer with a hell of a body and a trust fund that enabled serious partying.

  “No, I haven’t forgotten.”

  “Then why the hell aren’t you already up off the couch?”

  I yawned. “Because I’m tired as hell.”

  “Don’t tell me a bunch of teenagers wore you out.”

  Brandon snorted. “He’s probably exhausted from the hero worship.”

  “I wish,” I grumbled.

  Jonathan shoved my legs over before flopping down on the couch. “What happened?”

  “I didn’t get to throw around a football or just hang out with the kids.”

  “So what did you do?” Brandon asked.

  “I cleaned toilets, scrubbed floors, and cleaned and rearranged two storerooms.”

  Brandon whistled. “Holy shit, dude. You must have the most hard-ass boss ever.”

  “Yeah, she is,” I grumbled.

  “It’s a she?” Jonathan questioned.

  “Unfortunately yes.”

  Brandon scratched his chin. “Hmm, she must be one of those bitches who have it in for jocks. Like because some baller didn’t like her, she has some vendetta out against all players.”