“That sounds petrifying. Travis, I hope you’re doing everything for this woman so she doesn’t have to do anything herself,” Leo said.
“I’ve got it under control,” I said with a grin.
Jasper fired up the grill to cook us up some venison steaks. Out of all of us, he was the hunter. The one who did it year-round. If it was an animal and legal to hunt, he did it. Deer. Bear. Quail. Squirrel. One time, I caught him trying to make a roach stew for the hell of it.
It was fucking awful and I made sure he understood it.
“When did you catch this one?” Ava asked.
“Fresh from the basement this morning,” Jasper said. “It wandered up into my driveway and I took a shot right from my door. Most convenient kill I’ve ever made.”
“You still drag those things down into your basement?” Leo asked. “I figured you would’ve set up a shed or something by now to make it easier. You know, with a drain pipe or something.”
“That’s why I use the basement. Sure, it takes some work hauling the animal down there. Especially those damn bears. But there’s a bathroom for me to wash off and a drain pipe in the middle of the floor. Got my butchering bench right over it,” Jasper said.
“What are you doing with the fur this time?” Ava asked. “Are you making anything?”
“Why? You wanting something? Because I’ve got no issues making you something,” Jasper said.
“I was thinking about making our little girl a blanket. You know, pink fleece on one side and the animal fur on the other,” Ava said.
“That’s a fucking tremendous idea. Jasper, you could turn that shit into a side business,” Leo said.
“He’s got his hands full with the company right now,” I said. “The new business we’ve acquired requires his personal expertise.”
“What? In wooing women?” Ava asked.
“In a manner of speaking,” Jasper said with a grin.
“I don’t even wanna know,” Ava said.
“Oh, Leo. I was wondering if you could jerky some of this venison for me. I can get it for you after we eat,” Jasper said.
“Yep. You give me what you want, tell me the flavors, and I’ll get it to you,” Leo said.
“Now that’s a side job I can get behind,” I said. “Leo’s jerky is the best.”
“Really? Do you sell it?” Ava asked.
“I’ll give you some of mine when I get it back,” Jasper said. “He does all kinds of flavors. What’s your favorite?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really been a jerky eater,” Ava said.
“Oh! Oh, my heart! It hurts. Those words stung, beauty. Cut me right to my core,” Leo said.
“You can stop being dramatic now,” I said. “We don’t want to distract Jasper while he’s cooking. Remember what happened last time?”
“Last time?” Ava asked. “What happened last time?”
“He stumbled back into the grill and burned his ass,” Leo said.
He said it with such a straight face that I wasn’t sure if Ava believed him.
“No he didn’t,” Ava said.
“God as my witness,” Leo said.
“I mean Jasper’s tall, but his butt doesn’t come all the way up to the grill,” Ava said.
“You starin’ at my ass?” Jasper asked.
“That’s actually a good question,” I said with a grin.
“I’m just saying,” Ava said with a giggle.
“Wanna see the burn scar?” Jasper asked. “It’s right there on my left ass cheek.”
“She’ll pass,” I said.
I heard a car pull up as we all turned our heads. Ava locked up beside me as the car came dragging to a stop. Leo and Jasper looked at one another before Leo came to Ava’s side, standing just in front of her in case things got rough. Despite my opinion of the situation, Ava wanted to invite her family to this get together. She wanted to try and make amends with them after spending a few months away from their grasp. I loved her big heart and her willingness to make things work, but I also knew people didn’t change.
But, for Ava’s sake, I supported her decision.
We watched as her brothers stepped out, their eyes widening at her protruding stomach. They looked so much like her, it was almost impossible to deny who they were. They ran and gave her a massive hug, doting on how good she looked and how they had missed her. I shook their hands and they clapped my back, then I introduced her brothers to mine.
Then, I looked over and saw her parents step out of the car.
Their eyes were hard on me as we all stood around Ava. The last thing I was going to let them do was ruin this for her. These family cookouts were supposed to be a stress-free time for all of us to get to know one another and update each other on our lives. It was a time for Ava to get to know my family and for me to get to know hers better. And I wasn’t going to allow her bullshit parents to ruin that for us.
I’d drag them off this property with my bare hands if I had to.
“Hey Dad,” Ava said.
The sea of men surrounding her parted as her father and mother approached us. Their eyes raked up and down her body, clocking her stomach and drawing in deep breaths. I watched their faces closely, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice in case anything went south.
But then, a smile bloomed on her mother’s cheeks.
“You look gorgeous, sweetheart,” she said.
Ava and her mother embraced as her father rubbed her back. Ava soon threw her arms around her father’s neck, holding him close to her. I watched in partial shock as her parents embraced her, but the moment was pierced with the sound of another car coming up the driveway.
And I gawked when I saw my parents behind the wheel.
Ava rushed to my parents, hugging them tightly as they got out of the car. We all embraced as the steaks rested on the grill, with Jasper running into his cabin to get more food. My parents were introduced to Ava’s and tensions slowly dissipated. My anxiety and my protective stance turned into one that was welcoming and warm, and I was shocked as to how my father and her father got along.
Despite all the bullshit those two had gone through with their companies, it was shocking how much they had in common. They talked about their golfing trips and their experiences traveling abroad. They both had a love for Barcelona and classic literature. The two of them talked like they were old friends, sipping from beer bottles while Jasper cooked up more steaks. I held Ava close to my side, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
“Did you ever think you would see this?” I asked.
“What? My father getting along with yours? Not a fucking chance,” Ava said.
“How do you feel about all of this?”
Ava turned her gaze up to mine as she stood to her toes, her lips hovering in front of mine.
“It feels like home,” she said.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her deeply as Jasper continued to cook food behind us. Leo bonded with her brothers, cracking lewd jokes and bragging about his sexual escapades. Our parents laughed over memories and talked about future ventures for their companies, and I held my world in my arms.
The mother of my child and my unborn daughter.
Nothing could get better than this.
“I love you, Ava,” I said into her lips.
“I love you, too, Travis.”
Hard Catch
A Sports Romance
Sophie Madison
ONE
Brooke
As I walked back to my apartment on the edge of campus, I considered how my first two years had gone. Buffalo State University. My dream school.
Things were good, I was good. Good grades, nice apartment. I was lucky. Just two more years and I could be whatever I wanted to be. Whoever I wanted to be.
With a half-mile or so to go until I got home, I heard a group of drunk frat boys behind me. Why did I take the shortcut through the darkest part of campus? I scolded myself.
I picked up the pace. I could pr
obably outrun them if I had to. Jackasses, I hated that I even need to consider it.
“Hey, baby. Wanna party?”
I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as I walked even faster.
“Where you going, babe? We won’t take very long.”
Laughter filled the air behind me. Why didn’t I call Jocelyn to come pick me up? I’d stayed late in the lab working on assignments before, but I had always made sure she came to get me.
“You better fucking stop, bitch.”
The tone of the taunting voice had changed. My heart beat faster as I clutched the straps of my backpack, wondering if I should stop or keep going. I glanced down the dark, deserted path ahead and saw nothing.
“You hear me, bitch?”
They sounded close. Too close. I gripped my phone. Dial 911, I told myself.
“Get her!” someone yelled.
A hand grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. I stopped and spun around, phone in my hands.
“I’m recording this,” I said, holding up the device.
“Fuck you and your phone,” the man said then slapped it out of my hand.
It skidded across the bricks of the walkway.
“What the hell?
I took a step toward the phone. When I bent over to pick it up, the group of five guys whistled and made crude comments about my ass.
“You’re lucky you didn’t break it,” I said as I stood up with it in my hand.
“Oh? Are we? Little girl’s got some balls, does she?”
They reminded me of wolves as they circled around me. One took a swig from a fifth of whiskey then handed it to someone else.
“Look, I’m calling the police. You don’t want to be here when they arrive.”
I held my phone up and turned on the screen.
Would they leave if I acted calm and not afraid? That was my only hope.
“Come on,” he said. “Let me get a taste of you at least.”
“No!” I shouted then attempted to walk past him.
He and the others stopped me, closing the circle.
“You’re not hot enough to fuck, but I’ll give you a little lick,” red-shirt said.
“Get her, Derek,” someone said.
“Don’t use my name, asshole!” he shouted angrily.
“Look, if you let me go on my way, we’ll call it a night, okay? No harm, no foul.”
“Like I said, let me get a little taste, and I’ll let you go on your way.”
He reached for me again. I pulled away. Someone behind me put his hands on my waist and said, “Settle down, honey, and it will all be over quick.”
I would never forget the darkness in his voice, or what happened next.
Out of nowhere, Austin King, star Running Back for the Buffalo State Giants, appeared in between two of the others, joining their circle.
“What’s up, fellas?” he said, putting his hands on the two shoulders next to him.
“What the fuck do you want, Austin?” Derek, in the red shirt, asked haughtily.
“Can’t you guys get laid back at the frat house? Do you need to be out here harassing young women like…” He looked over at me. “What’s your name?”
“Brooke,” I said in as steady of a voice as I could muster.
“You don’t need to be harassing a nice lady like Brooke. Not tonight.”
“What do you have to do with her?” Derek asked.
He and the others stepped back, surrounding Austin and myself.
“Do you really want to do this?” Austin asked in a cocky voice.
I stared at his body so fit, huge, and ready for anything.
“Let’s just go,” I pleaded.
“No,” he said, not taking his eyes off Derek. “These idiots need to learn a lesson.”
“Yeah?” Derek and the others laughed. “What are you going to do about it? There’s more of us than you, dumbass.”
“You need a counting lesson.”
Austin put his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. Four of his buddies yelled and hollered as they rushed up the path toward us. The frat guys stepped back, forming a line.
“About time you guys caught up,” Austin said when the newcomers lined up next to us.
I recognized two of them from the football team. One, Trey, I had helped with a knee injury during summer break.
“What’s going on?” Trey, a defensive lineman, asked as he stared at the fraternity brothers.
“These guys were just about to leave,” Austin said.
He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned like nothing mattered in the world.
“You’re fucking lucky,” Derek said, pointing a finger at me.
Austin took two steps forward, followed by Trey and the other beefy football players. The frat boys took off running down the path, hooting and hollering as if they’d won the confrontation.
Fucking idiots.
I turned my attention to Austin. He dropped his arms and stared directly into my eyes.
“Thank you,” I said as I put my hand on his arm.
Those muscles, though!
“No problem,” he said. “What are you doing out so late?”
“I’m on my way home from the lab. I can’t tell you how lucky I am you were here, those guys are...” My voice ran dry.
“Total creeps. Not all guys are like that, you know.”
“Some are the white knight types, like yourselves?”
“Yeah I guess we are.”
I maintained eye contact.
“You’re Brooke, right?” Trey asked.
“Yeah.” I turned to face him. “You remembered.”
“You really helped with my knee.”
“Good. Sports medicine is my dream.” I turned to Austin. “Thanks again, but I need to get home. My roommate is probably worried sick.”
“I’ll walk you the rest of the way,” he said.
“That’s not necessary.”
Shut-up! Let him do it!
“I insist.” He turned to Trey. “I’ll see you guys at practice tomorrow.”
“Don’t stay out too late,” Trey, said as he held out his fist.
“For sure,” Austin said, bumping the fist with his own.
As the others took off down the path toward the direction the frat boys had gone, Austin turned to me. He still had that cocky grin on his face as if everything always went his way.
“Do you live close?”
I nodded.
“Not too much farther. You really don’t need to walk with me.”
“Brooke, it’s fine. I want to walk with you.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to keep the butterflies in my stomach. I needed to figure out a way to repay him. And my lips wanted everything to do with it.
TWO
Brooke
We walked side by side, a thousand thoughts running through my mind.
“You’re quiet,” he said.
“Oh, not usually. I mean, I am when I meet someone the first time, but not when I get to know them. This whole situation is super weird. Ugh. And now I’m rambling.”
He laughed.
“Breathe. You’re fine now.”
The way he said it made me want to believe him.
“You guys are having a great season,” I said, trying to make small talk.
“Yeah, I’m the…”
“I know who you are,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m usually at all of the games.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t noticed you before.”
“I’m not, anyway you can go,” I said. “I’m good from here.”
“I’ll walk with you the rest of the way.”
“Thanks, why were you out here anyway?”
“We were on our way to a party on campus.”
“I thought the football players weren’t allowed to party.”
“Nah,” he said. “We can go as long as we don’t get ourselves into too much trouble.”
“Oh? So what can you get away with?”
&
nbsp; I’m pretty sure I knew what he was getting at.
He peered over at me and grinned.
“All sorts of things.”
“Yeah, I know all about your reputation.”
“My reputation, huh?”
“You’re a player in more than one sense of the word.”
“Clever.”
I turned away, rolling my eyes. Any chance I had with him was probably shot now.
“My house is the blue one at the end of this street.”
“You walk all this way yourself every night?”
“No, I was at the lab late tonight. Jocelyn usually comes to pick me up, but we’ve been arguing.”
“Jocelyn?”
“My roommate.”
I glanced over. He had this look about him. He felt both dangerous and safe, if that was even possible.
He turned toward me. “Will your roommate be home?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“I thought you might want to invite me inside, you know, to thank me.”
I stopped. He continued for a few steps then did the same, turning around to face me.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“You’re no better than those assholes,” I responded, totally offended.
“At least I’m giving you a choice and not groping you.” He stepped forward. “No offense, but I have no trouble getting laid. I thought you might want to…”
His voice trailed off.
“I might want to what? Do you?”
“Is that even a question?”
“Well, I’m not just another woman to add a notch in your belt. Thanks for walking me home but I’ve got it from here.”
I walked past him, brushing up against that hard, buff body.
Why did he have to be so fucking hot?
“Hold on,” he said.
I felt his hand on my arm. I stopped and spun around.
“What? Don’t you have women to go fuck or something?”
“Calm down,” he said, which infuriated me even more.
“Look, I appreciate your help, but I’m not the type of woman who just sleeps with a guy when I first meet him.”
He shrugged. “Your loss.”
Ugh. What an ass!
“No, it’s your loss, Mr. Football Star.”
6+ Us Makes Eight_A Teacher and Single Dad Romance Page 59
