by Ann Jacobs
The Rookie
Calling the Signals #1
Ann Jacobs
Contents
Prologue
1. Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Ann Jacobs
Here’s a short excerpt from THE MVP, coming soon
Prologue
The Rookie
Bobby Anthony stared down at the check, counting the zeroes again to be sure there were still six of them following the significant number nine, before the dot and the pennies he’d never have to pinch again.
Damn it, I’m a fucking millionaire.
Settling onto an old-fashioned wooden porch chair, he looked out over the arid west Texas landscape around tiny Hedgecock, Texas. Dust, oil wells and buildings that had seen better days partly blocked the view of Hedgecock County High School that could now boast it had produced four pro quarterbacks in the last thirty years.
Folks around here liked to say it must have been the water that did it.
Bobby doubted that. After all, there were at least twenty-one other positions in the game, but his alma mater had never sent anybody but quarterbacks to the pros, as far as he knew. He imagined it had been a need to escape from this one-horse town that drove the most competitive kids to the high-profile position. The need to become more than just high school stars kept them working harder than anybody else. At least that was what had motivated Bobby to do what three others had done, and move on toward a dream of fame and fortune.
That and old Coach Williams, who’d retired this year after nearly forty years. He had a real knack for picking and developing passers.
Bobby could hardly wait to get on with the next stage of his life. Not that he wouldn’t always have fond memories of home. He’d always be thankful to his mom for keeping them together after his dad left. Glancing at the check again to be sure one or two of those zeroes hadn’t suddenly disappeared, he decided he’d use a chunk of his signing bonus to make Mom’s life easier.
Opening the refrigerator door, he grabbed a gallon milk jug and some chili Mom had put away for his lunch. The first thing he’d do was get Mom all new appliances, and buy a new air conditioner for her bedroom to replace the one that had conked out a few years back. She wouldn’t have to roast alive during another miserably hot west Texas summer. Hell, he’d have the whole damn house rewired and put in central air. That was the very least he could do.
After wolfing down his lunch, he headed to the bank, set up new accounts and deposited the check, taking bank president Caleb Tate’s advice and spreading the money among several Texas financial institutions—ones that hadn’t needed to take the stimulus money offered by the Feds.
Then he started up his mom’s pickup and went to wait for her at the Burger Den across the street from the high school. At least the high school hangout was air conditioned, which the pickup wasn’t. It was damn hot for the first of May.
“Hey, Bobby.”
He’d have recognized that voice anywhere. Tina Black. After all, they’d been friends since grade school, occasional lovers their last two years in high school. “Hi, Tina, what have you been up to?” He took a seat across from her in a worn wooden booth. He hated seeing her like this, all ragged out, not at all like the pert blonde he remembered. Even her sky blue eyes looked dull, as if she wasn’t getting enough rest.
“Just working in the elementary school lunchroom and taking care of Mom.” She sounded tired, probably was. The stress of living in the same house with her slime ball of a stepfather had to have worn her down. “How about you?”
Somehow it didn’t seem right to mention that he’d just become a millionaire. “I signed with the Gamblers. I’ll be heading to Memphis pretty soon for rookie camp.”
Tina smiled, but still her eyes looked sad. “I’ve missed you. Welcome back for whatever time you’ll be here.”
Bobby had missed Tina, too. Not that he had any interest in resuming their long-ago affair. What he wanted now was a woman who would represent his future, not his past. When he pictured that woman, he saw her as a lush beauty who’d keep his cock at attention. But he also wanted a woman who loved football almost as much as he did and who would capture his heart in a way Tina never had. He knew his college teammates mostly relished the idea of all the groupies who gave out head like candy, and he couldn’t say he was immune to a woman throwing herself at him. But what he imagined beyond that was…more. Maybe it was Mom’s fault he had the embarrassing romantic streak. He just liked the idea of finding a woman to love and protect, one who’d stand by him in the ins and outs of his career, have his babies and make him as proud of her as she’d be of him.
Still he considered Tina his best female friend. He worried about her, about her sick, narcissistic mother and the pervert she’d married a few years ago. “What’s going on at your house?” They’d spoken on the phone after his graduation last December, and her silence about the strange household she lived in had concerned him. When she didn’t answer right away, he asked, “Is your mom doing better?”
“Worse.” Tina looked away, stared at the menu as if she were starving.
Bobby took her hand. “Worse how?” Since she’d had an accident that left her paralyzed a few months after marrying Edgar Garcia, Tina’s mom had been fragile. Not to mention bitter and emotionally needy.
“She doesn’t leave her room anymore. Her heart’s not right, and she won’t let anybody but me take care of her. Not even Edgar. Of course he’s not upset about his newly found freedom.”
The bastard. If he was still making Tina’s life miserable, Bobby intended to have a chat with him. He clenched his fists, anticipating them colliding with Garcia’s fat, obnoxious belly. “He’s not bothering you, is he? Look at me, Tina, and tell me the truth.”
“No. Not the way you mean. Edgar’s got a new girlfriend at that strip club across the county line.”
Better some hooker than Tina. Still, the creep’s cheating had to be making her mother even more whiny and demanding than usual. “I wish I could help you, hon. Get you away from all this.”
“I’ve got to stay. I can’t leave my mother to die with no one but Edgar to take care of her.“ From the look in her eyes, Bobby guessed she’d welcome a white knight to rescue her from the hell her life must have become.
Too bad he wasn’t that white knight, though for a minute there he wondered if he should try to be. “I know. Look, it’s after four, so I have to go drag my mom out of the school office, or she’ll keep working until dark. If you ever need to get away, just call me.”
Tina smiled and squeezed his hand. “I will.”
But he was pretty sure she wouldn’t call. Tina had her pride, and she’d always been as stubborn as any woman could be. “You do that, honey. Remember, friends take care of one another.” He bent and brushed his lips over hers then made his getaway.
Today he wanted to celebrate, not worry about Tina. After all, he told himself, there was nothing he could do to help her out of her situation at home as long as she wasn’t willing to leave.
Walking through the school’s entryway, Bobby spared a glance at the newest batch of football trophies behind locked glass doors of the same case that had been there ever since he could remember. He ran into several teachers he’d had, ones who’d been around since long before his time and would probably still be teaching until they died. After all, this was Hedgecock, and jobs other than working in the oil fields had always been hard to c
ome by. When he opened the door and stepped up to the counter in front of his mom’s desk, he cleared his throat. “May I have a tardy pass?” he asked the way he’d asked four years ago when he’d still been a student.
“Bobby, you scared me half to death. Did you get your business taken care of?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad you sent me to Mr. Tate. He helped me set up accounts so my signing bonus will be safe and earn a few bucks until I can get an investment manager to take it over. Come on, you’ve been working long enough. Let’s go eat. My treat for once.”
“Aw, you should be taking Tina. Or do you have a new girlfriend you’re waiting to tell me about?” Bobby loved the way his mother smiled. She was forty-one, but she could have passed for thirty. Somehow the harsh environment hadn’t scarred her or made her grow old before her time, the way it had a lot of the local women.
“No girlfriend at the moment. The ones I dated at Tulane were a little too rich for my blood. Besides, they all seemed to like dating the school’s star quarterback a lot more than they liked me for me. When I find my dream girl, you’ll be the first to know. Meanwhile, grab your purse and come with me. We’re going to have steaks and share a pitcher of beer. Maybe we’ll even sing some. I hear they’ve got karaoke down at the café now.”
“Yes, they do. I’m not sure I’m up to singing but I’ll help you celebrate becoming a very rich young man. I’m awfully proud of you, did I ever tell you?”
“All the time, Mom. While we’re celebrating, I’m going to lay out what I want to do for you. And what you can do for me.” Bobby thought of Tina, figured that if he asked his mother to keep an ear open for any problems that might crop up with her mother or Garcia, she’d do it. After all, she’d done all the right things for him when he was growing up. “Let’s go.”
The next day he drove to Pecos and bought his first car, a shiny red Escalade truck the soon-to-be defunct GM dealer had special-ordered for some oilman who’d decided he didn’t want it after all when the economy suddenly went belly-up. Bobby also bought his mom a tricked-out Chevy SUV, to be delivered as a birthday gift next month, when he’d be at rookie camp. That ought to surprise her big-time. And she wouldn’t turn it down, it being from him for her birthday.
A week later, after watching the installers hook up the new appliances and drag away the old ones, Bobby left home and Hedgecock, Texas, headed for a new, exciting life, new challenges. He also hoped he’d find a woman who cared more about him than the position he played.
Chapter 1
After he’d gotten to camp and spent a few minutes thumbing through the biggest playbook he’d ever seen, Bobby decided the women would have to wait. He’d have to spend most of his waking hours studying, not checking out the incredibly hot young women who were on one corner of the second football field, trying out for the Gamblers’ cheerleading squad. He noticed one, though. A gorgeous girl with a hot body, creamy skin, big brown eyes and long black hair that looked so soft he wanted to run his fingers through it. And he couldn’t resist making a point of running into her on the training center parking lot.
“Hey there!” he called out, and she turned and shot him a thousand-watt smile.
“Hello to you, too.” She stepped over closer, close enough that the sweet smell of her perfume wafted into his nostrils. “Good luck making the team, rookie.” Her gaze slid slowly up his body, and it was all he could do to resist pulling her close and seeing if he could rest his chin on top of her head.
“Thanks. I’m Bobby Anthony. And you are?”
“Marly Ragusa. Gamblers fan forever.” She paused for a minute, her pretty mouth gaping open. “Omigod, you’re the new quarterback the Gamblers took in the first round.”
“Yeah. That’s me.” Another woman with a love affair for passers, he imagined. But that was okay. He didn’t have to find his dream woman right away, and at the moment he sort of liked the idea of latching onto this gorgeous QB groupie. When they talked, he found he liked her sassy smile and big brown eyes. What really turned him on was her frank interest in him, along with the whole package of slender but curvy babe. If only he didn’t have to hit this book tonight…
“My dad and brothers have been shaking their heads ever since the Gamblers picked you. Surely you don’t think you’ll knock Keith Connors off the top of the depth chart.”
“I’m gonna try.” They’d told him Keith wanted to keep his personal life out of the news, so Bobby couldn’t explain to shocked teammates and fans why he’d been brought in, an elite prospect to back up the league MVP. “I’m also thinking about having some fun, but if I’m going to have a shot at doing more than carrying the clipboard for Keith this season, I’m going to have to get up close and personal with this playbook.” He showed her the fat book, then tucked it back under one arm. “Maybe you’d like to help me find a place to live once training camp is over?”
“Sure. I’ve lived in Memphis all my life. I’d love to show you around.”
Bobby would have liked to show Marly around his bedroom, but now was hardly the time, confined as he was to the practice field and the two-bedroom hotel suite he was sharing with three other rookies. “It’s a date, then. After the first home game. Here’s my cell phone number.”
She loaded it into her phone, grinned and gave him her number, too. “Call me when you get a chance. You go on now. Study. I want you sticking around, at least for this season.” With that she stood on tiptoe and gave him a hug. “Welcome to Memphis. You’re gonna like it here.”
He had to touch her, hold her, tilt her head back and give her what he’d meant as a casual peck. But it was more. When she traced her tongue along the seam of his lips he gave up, deepened the kiss, held her so close that her heart pounded hard against his chest. “I think I’m gonna like it—and you—a lot,” he told her when he finally came to his senses and let her go.
Although he’d much rather have spent the night getting to know Marly, Bobby managed to shove his fantasies in the nether reaches of his brain and concentrated on memorizing the Gamblers’ incredibly complex playbook, breaking only for dinner in his room—a large pizza with salad that he washed down with a carbo supplement drink. Nobody could accuse him of ignoring the trainers’ suggestions that he pack on five or ten more pounds.
It was eleven o’clock. Lights-out time. Bobby picked up a funny card Tina had sent him and tucked it into the playbook to hold his place. Sighing, he stripped to his boxers and crawled into bed. Lying in the dark listening to his roommate snoring on the other side of their hotel room while the air conditioner hummed in the background, Bobby closed his eyes.
And let the hot cheerleader with the big smile and soft, sexy drawl invade his mind. He imagined her silky hair draped across his chest, her legs tangled with his. Her breath would tickle him, turn him on as he explored the velvety smooth expanse of her back and perfectly rounded ass. Pleasantly aroused, he wrapped his arms around the extra pillow and drifted off to sleep.
It wasn’t a pillow but a slender, curvy woman whose hard little nipples burrowed into his chest while her legs opened enough for him to slide between them. Her arm felt warm around his midsection, her fingers gentle as they kneaded his butt. Marly.
“Fuck me, please,” she murmured against his throat, the arousing feel of her warm, damp breath punctuating the request he wasn’t about to deny.
“Like this, Marly baby?” He pulled her close, dragged her over his body, guided his sex to hers and sank inside the hottest, tightest sheath he’d ever had.
“Mm. You feel so good. I love it.” The way she moved on him was his steamiest fantasy come true. Her long hair fell over them like a silk curtain, creating erotic sensations when strands brushed his chest and throat every time she sank down on him, taking him, squeezing him as if she wanted to keep him inside her forever.
He grabbed her hands, drew them to his chest. “Fuck me harder, sweetheart. Oh, yeah, that’s right. Keep squeezing like that.” God, but he wanted to come so much. Yet he want
ed this to go on and on, the dizzying sensations and slapping sounds of sex. The sense of closeness he’d never felt before with Tina or any of his college groupie lovers.
“Oh, yes. You feel so good inside me.” She squeezed him harder, then leaned down to sip the sweat from his brow. “I love the way you fuck me.”
Because he couldn’t take the delicious torture much longer, he rolled her over on her back, raised her legs over his hips and claimed her. Hard, fast, he pounded into her, barely cognizant now of anything but her hot, wet flesh surrounding him, grasping his cock. And the sounds of wet flesh on flesh, the musky smells of sex, the feel of her firm breasts beneath his chest. Her nails dug into his shoulders as if she was desperate to hold on, enjoy the sensations as long as she could before letting herself come.
“Go ahead, Marly, come for me.” His control was gone, the humanity in him losing out to pure animal lust. Gathering her in his arms, he gave in, coming in hot, short bursts as his climax triggered her own.
Bobby woke suddenly when he heard himself bellowing out his satisfaction. Fuck. He’d forgotten to put on a condom. “Marly, I’m so damn sorry,” he whispered, gathering her close, not realizing for long, terrifying moments that the delectable woman he’d just fucked had morphed into a standard, hotel-issued bed pillow.
What a fantasy! As he used a towel to clean the mess he’d made, he shook his head. Damn it, he intended to make this dream come true—and to find out if the real thing was as mind-blowing as his wet dream.
Time had gone quickly since that day in June when she’d run into Bobby Anthony. The regular season had begun. Marly looked around the stadium, found it looked the same, even though her own excitement was off the charts. It was the prospect of seeing Bobby again, the anticipation of their date following the game.
