Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance

by Kristen Flowers

  Typing his name into the search bar produced a short interview clip from a gaming news website. I looked at it carefully and was pleased to notice it had been uploaded less than two hours ago. It was about Mind Lash and Via Mace so it was definitely a good starting point. I clicked on it with a nervous sigh.

  “Here with us we have the mastermind behind a game that is taking the world by storm, in both good and bad ways, Mr. Hayden Dunn. Congratulations by the way! Mind Lash is really hitting it big before it’s even out of the gates.” The reporter was friendly and easy going, but it was clear that she was smitten by him.

  Hayden chuckled and rubbed his hand behind his head. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to play it cool or modest but either way, it bothered me. There was a lot about him that bothered me—the way he confidently sat in the chair, his handsome smirk, and his light blue eyes nestled under dark eyebrows. He was a handsome bastard and he knew it. That only fueled the fire for me to hate him even more.

  “Thanks,” he responded casually.

  “So how does it feel, Mr. Dunn?”

  “Oh, please, call me Hayden.” He paused briefly and pursed his lips. “I’m elated but at the same time I’m lost.”

  “Lost?”

  “Yes. I’m lost in a wonderland.” He laughed as he lightly scratched his sharp jaw line and five o’clock shadow. “It’s all so fantastic, but there is just no way my mind is catching up and taking it as reality.”

  “So is this literally a dream come true for you?”

  “If it is really true then, yes. It is totally and completely a dream come true.”

  “That’s really something, just like your game! Tell us a little something about it or its lovely heroine that isn’t already out on all the circuits.”

  This was the first time Hayden looked directly at the camera and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me if those baby-blue eyes were honest or not. The only thing I could figure out was that looking into his eyes, even through the screen of my laptop, was pissing me off more with every passing second. I wanted to meet him in person and really stare him down.

  “Now,” Hayden finally replied. He turned back to look at the woman interviewing him and went on, “I love what everyone is already saying about the game, it’s flattering really, but I can’t give much away before the release!”

  The woman made a noise of disappointment, but quickly followed it with a chuckle and nod of her head. “I understand and I’m sure our viewers do too. I’m sure you had a careful hand in selecting what clips have been released to the public already?”

  “Oh, definitely. I’m not one to take a backseat, ever. I don’t take things lightly and I’m passionate about what I do. So I handpicked every one of those clips. I really wanted to give a good glimpse into the game, give people out there an idea of what Via Mace is all about, but not really ruin any of the great elements or surprises in the game.”

  “Sounds like you were curating the perfect exhibit,” the interviewer chimed. Hayden chuckled and gave shrug of his broad shoulders. “Well, now, you mentioned you’re passionate about what you do. Tell us more on that. Have you always worked in the gaming realm?”

  “No, actually,” Hayden responded quickly. The interviewer seemed briefly thrown for a loop by his answer. “I used to work for a rather large and well known company. It was my first great job but, unfortunately, I lost it a few years back. After that I went through a rather arduous bout of unemployment, but I suppose I owe my success in large part to that. That was the catalyst that really made me decide to turn my life around. From then on I was going to follow my passion.”

  The interviewer ended the segment shortly after that with some generic closing words. I felt gypped. I wanted to know more about the first job he had lost and why. Somehow it felt important but, then again, I was in a mode where everything about this man seemed important to know.

  “Surely there’s something else out there,” I muttered as I clicked around and entered different searches until an interview, about a year old, turned up. It was a panel style interview rather than Hayden Dunn in the spotlight by himself, but he was there and that was what mattered to me. He looked pretty much the same only he had a bit more scruff on his face.

  “We’re here with the main creative team of Twin Groove, an interesting interactive game with a minimalistic approach. We’re going to have a quick interview with the team followed by a short one or two question segment with each member.”

  I skipped ahead until I saw Hayden’s isolated face against a solid royal blue background, just the background to make his eyes pop. “As the newest member, we’re curious to know, how did you get on the team?”

  “It was a stroke of luck, I suppose. I ran into an old friend of mine who works in print. I had been down on my luck, particularly in the employment department, for quite some time. I’ve always been a creator and was known in my circle of friends as the gaming nerd. Well, turns out that kind of passion can pay off.”

  “So you weren’t working in the industry prior to that—right place, right time sort of moment?”

  “Not at all. Don’t get me wrong, my old job was great and I did like it, but it didn’t compare to this. Working in the video game industry is everything to me. It’s what I love so it doesn’t even feel like work.”

  I paused the video as it faded into the next team member’s face. At that point in time he worked for a company called Innovate Tomorrow. I wondered if he would still be listed on their website. I found the link to it and clicked on to the homepage, my eyes skimming over the content until I located a navigation bar.

  “Our team,” I read aloud before clicking on it, but Hayden’s photo was nowhere to be found. That meant he had broken away from them at most a year ago, despite the fact that he was the new member of the team.

  “That doesn’t make you look too good,” I smirked with slight satisfaction. Somehow the thought of Hayden Dunn being a slime ball who was too invested in his own greedy ambition to discern right from wrong made me feel like he could fall from grace. But that smirk quickly turned upside down when I realized that was who I would be dealing with if I did in fact get a hold of him.

  I went to the home page for Mind Lash, but there was nothing more than a photo of Via Mace, a counter, and a link for a pre-order form. I let out a heavy sigh. There had to be some sort of current website for Hayden Dunn but I was quickly realizing that that he kept a lot of things about himself and his company secret. It seemed impossible for someone who worked with computers and game consoles not to have a web page but, for some reason, a domain for him didn’t come up.

  I had no clue of his current company and no way to contact him. I took a deep breath before standing up and walking to my kitchen for a glass of water. I leaned against the cool metal door of my refrigerator, sipping slowly and staring out my window. There had to be some way to find contact information on him. People were getting him for interviews and statements. I was sure he wouldn’t close off the opportunity for some kind of business partnership either. So why could I not seem to locate any of this elusive information?

  I figured there was some piece of the puzzle I was missing. I drew in a deep breath as I resisted the urge to call my brother and bounce ideas off of him. I set my glass of water down on the kitchen counter and walked back to the living room where I plopped back down on the couch with my laptop.

  Clicking my tongue and lightly tapping my finger on the space bar went on for a couple minutes before I decided to check out the Twin Groove home page. That was where I found a link to a fan-run forum.

  “Bingo,” I whispered excitedly.

  There was no way fans of that game wouldn’t look into the people who had created it and I was right. One of the threads was devoted entirely to the main creative team. The facts listed under Hayden were pretty basic and were far fewer than that of the other team members, but I made note of them anyway.

  Painstakingly, I read through the posts and was thrilled to find they had pi
cked back up a few hours ago with a new link– it was a link to another forum dedicated to the upcoming Mind Lash game. One of the top posts on the Mind Lash forum was titled “All About Hayden Dunn.”

  I didn’t really find anything new on there. He seemed to be low profile, until I reached the most recent post. It was a link to an article from a gaming web magazine. The link redirected to a brief interview with and a small blip on the man of the hour. The interview was only three questions, all of which were basic.

  It was the blip that caught my attention more than anything. At the closing of it there was a statement that made me feel the way I had earlier– helpless as my world came crashing down around me. It turned out there was no way I could just call in to get an appointment with him. His popularity was practically soaring at this point. That explained why I had been hard pressed to find any contact information for him. I figured he was on one of those exclusive lists someone only had access to as a reporter or someone else in the industry. I wasn’t either of those. How could I confront him if it was impossible to even get a meeting with him?

  I closed my laptop with a snap and set it aside, proceeding to bury my face in my hands. It wasn’t a time to cry, but the strong feelings swirling in me were undeniable. My stress levels were at an all-time high so there was only one thing to do—I could write a song. Just like the old days back in college.

  My job wasn’t what I loved, but what I loved was something that always helped me get through difficult times. It relieved my stress and lifted my spirits so if there ever was a time to call upon that passion, it was now. Unfortunately, as soon as I started writing I realized that I couldn’t focus.

  I walked to my living room window and placed my palms open, flat on the sill as I stuck my head outside to draw in a deep breath. The streets were quieter now that it was the middle of the workday. I enjoyed the quiet times and the way the fog still hung on the streets around me. There was definitely a calming effect and even if it wasn’t enough to really get my head on straight, it was enough for me to find it in myself to move forward and try doing something else. Nothing good would come of continuing to look up information on Mind Lash, Via Mace, or Hayden Dunn.

  So I threw on my coat, grabbed the book I was reading from the nightstand, and braved the streets outside. I was determined to seek out solace at one of my neighborhood’s many coffee houses. There weren’t many people out and I hoped nobody would pester me. Even though I was weary to step outside my door, I couldn’t stay cooped up all day long.

  Ignoring that it felt like a lose-lose situation, I locked my door and stepped out on to the street. I didn’t want to stray too far from home so I walked just down the block to the Blue Café. I laughed under my breath at how appropriate of a choice it was based off the name. I certainly did feel blue as I stepped inside. That feeling quickly changed into something else when I heard someone behind me cry out.

  “Via Mace! Via Mace!”

  Another voice followed up with, “Hey! Hold up, Via!”

  I heard the artificial clicking of cell phone cameras and I instantly found myself wondering why I had been naïve enough to think it would be okay to walk outside without being bothered. Before I knew what was happening, I was surrounded by a small group of avid fans. All of them were trying to get my attention, ask questions, and most importantly take a photo with me. The barista was openly staring the entire time, but I couldn’t figure out if he was annoyed at the scene or gawking at me with the crowd.

  It took a long time for the manager to step out and order the crowd to disperse. “This is a place of business,” she called out. “This is not some sort of meet and greet!” The crowd thinned and eventually I was able to nab a corner table shrouded in a small bit of privacy. I let out a heavy sigh into a warm cup of coffee with an espresso shot cradled between my hands.

  A young woman stepped inside and went straight to the counter to place an order for a medium iced Americano. It wasn’t until she sat at the table right next to me that I realized this was no ordinary customer. This was a fan that had worked the system and was much more skillful at getting close to me. The sneaky glances from her and the suspicious angle of her phone confirmed my suspicions.

  Once my annoyance subsided I had an idea. If I could find out something about Hayden’s company and where it was, perhaps I could stage a run-in with him. If I couldn’t set up an appointment, I would have to force one. I looked up Innovate Tomorrow as a starting point and realized it was actually based out of San Francisco. I gulped.

  Maybe, just maybe, Hayden was based out of the city too.

  Chapter 3-Him

  It had been a difficult night for me. It wasn’t just the nightmares of what people were saying about me and Via Mace, or the seemingly endless messages and calls I had received that kept me tossing and turning at night. No, my brain was kept awake because I was busy trying to think of ways to track down Hayden Dunn. It was a slim to none chance of me actually seeing him, but it was my best shot. By the time I had gotten home I was completely wiped out. It didn’t matter how much I wanted to keep researching him, I knew it was best to give it a rest and start fresh the following day.

  So when the sun rose and the morning chatter of the commuters started up, I practically leapt out of bed and brewed a strong cup of coffee before setting up my laptop on the dining room table.

  “Time to get to work,” I said, watching my computer boot up and tapping my index finger on the handle of my coffee mug. By the time I was on a second website I found my mug was in dire need of a refill. As I walked over to my coffee maker and poured the remaining hot liquid into the cup, I mused on just how odd it was that I wasn’t getting ready to head over to the office.

  “Fuck!” I cried out after burning my tongue on the scalding hot coffee. I had taken a large swig of it without thinking. Now I was seething over how unfair the situation was. Nothing in my life seemed to be going right, not even the coffee. I set the cup down on the kitchen counter and stormed over to my computer.

  “Enough is enough,” I groaned. It didn’t take nearly as long to find out where his office was located and it was all thanks to a fan page that was organizing an event for the grand release of Mind Lash.

  Without wasting a second, I walked to my bedroom to pick out an outfit that looked business casual. I threw it on, pulled my auburn hair back into a bun to easily cover it with a black-and-white patterned scarf, before topping off my look with large and dark sunglasses. Somehow I managed to hide the fact that I was the real-live version of the new headline-making kick-ass video game vixen.

  I walked out on to the street and hurriedly made my way to the bus stop knowing it would arrive within the next three minutes. Two minutes later, it pulled up and I smiled when I looked inside of it. It wasn’t nearly as busy as it was just thirty minutes ago. I slid into a seat near the back door and pulled out a book to keep busy for the rest of the ride.

  The building housing Hayden Dunn’s office, which was now the headquarters of his own start-up gaming company, was located in the heart of the business district. He had to be doing quite well for himself. The monthly rent in that area was sky high. That was something that left a bad taste in my mouth. There was something about it that made me think he had gotten rich off my misfortune. I had a score to settle.

  My mind was torn– there was no way for him to know me and have made Via Mace based off memory alone, but it also seemed impossible for him to not know me.

  None of this made any sense and my head was starting to spin, so it came as a relief when I saw my exit coming up. The last thing I needed to add to my list of unfortunate events was to miss my exit and get stuck on the bus going who knows where.

  The bus pulled to the side of the road and I quickly got off before the line of people waiting to get on started filling up the bus. I muttered a few curse words underneath my breath the moment I saw it. I didn’t expect to see droves of fans outside the building I was looking for.

  “Guess I don’t hav
e to ask around,” I said aloud, catching the attention of a rather spry looking young man beside me. He flashed a goofy grin at me, but the confusion in his eyes wasn’t masked. I didn’t fit in with the crowd of fans in the least bit, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. I made my way through the crowd until I found a security guard I could talk to.

  He stared down at me for a moment, but didn’t say a single word. He was waiting for me to cross some invisible barrier before he would reach out and hold me back. But he definitely wasn’t going to do me the courtesy of asking if I needed any help. I couldn’t blame him, not with all the loud fans surrounding us trying to push their way past security for some reason.

  I was glad for the cover of my sunglasses as I rolled my eyes and looked at the people around me with disdain. There was no reason for them to be there causing such a commotion, blocking the sidewalk, and trying to force their way into a place of business. I wasn’t like them– I had real business that needed to be taken care of. My determined attitude gave me the confidence to turn and face the security guard. Somehow I was going to persuade him to let me past. Security was probably thinking I was just another crazy fan, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get past them.