Mercy: Second Chance Military Romance

by Abbi Hemp

  I smiled, unable to stop.

  “Promise,” I said.

  He kissed the side of my head. Getting ready for bed had never been so fun or exciting before. Is this love or a one-night stand? In that moment, I did not care in the least.

  ELEVEN

  James

  The next morning, she appeared so peaceful still asleep, I carefully got out of bed without waking her. As I stared down at her, I quickly got dressed, having to get home and go for my daily run before early practice, classes, and everything else.

  I stopped in the kitchen to see if she had a bottle or water or something to drink. Tabby, wearing a ratty brown robe, sat at their round metal and glass table for two.

  “Morning, sunshine,” I said. “Where’s your water?”

  She glared at me then pointed toward the refrigerator. I opened it up.

  “Hey, I didn’t say you could have one.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine with Haley,” I said, grabbing a bottle of water. “You can wake her up if you want, but it’s probably better to let her sleep.”

  “Why? So you can sneak out of here like the dog you are?”

  “What’s your problem?” I asked. “Seriously. You’re quite a bitch.”

  “Fuck you,” she said, standing up in a huff.

  “Whatever, sister. I’m out of here.”

  Holding the water bottle and not giving a fuck about her roommate, I left the kitchen and their house. On the few blocks walk to my house, I wondered what the hell had happened the night before. Instead of not thinking about her anymore, she wouldn’t leave my thoughts!

  I had no words to describe the pleasure and ecstasy of the night before. None of the ones I came up with even remotely compared to the way she made me feel when we fucked. Hell, it wasn’t even fucking, not like normally. It had been something more. But what?

  When I got to the house I shared with three other guys, I walked into the living room. Curtis stood next to the couch as Brian and Teddy played some kind of war game. My so-called teammate turned to look at me.

  “Where you been?” he asked.

  “Don’t you worry about it.”

  “You’re such a dick,” he said then walked out the back door of the house.

  I made myself a quick breakfast of oatmeal and a cantaloupe then got dressed in my running gear. The sex last night had helped burn calories, but I needed to be on top of my game.

  Coach and the rest of the team were counting on me. No matter what I tried, I wasn’t able to push Haley out of my mind completely. Not even after we had slept together.

  That usually worked, so I wasn’t sure what to do next. If I concentrated on class and football, I would be fine. She did not make it easy to stop thinking about her.

  On my way out of the house, I saw Brian and Teddy in the living room playing video games.

  “Don’t you two ever go to class?” I asked.

  They laughed.

  “Sometimes,” Teddy said. “You out for the day?”

  “Yeah, a run, then practice, classes, and more practice.”

  Teddy raised his fist in the air and said, “Keep it real.”

  “See ya fellas.”

  Outside, I jogged toward the trail around campus. With so much going on, by the end of the day, I would forget all the Haley craziness completely. At least I hoped it worked out that way.

  * * *

  At lunch, I found myself sitting next to Curtis in the Student Center food court. Unable to hold my secret in any longer, I blurted it out.

  “I was with Haley last night.”

  His eyes widened. I grinned and nodded my head.

  “It was fucking incredible, man.”

  “Coach better not find out. You’re supposed to be all football all the time.”

  “Meh. I’m not worried about Coach. You’re not going to tell him, right?”

  “Hell no, man. I keep my secrets.”

  “Like the one you and Haley have?”

  He frowned and said, “Aw, man, did she tell you?”

  I laughed.

  “No, not yet. We were busy with other stuff, but I’ll get it out of here.”

  “It’s not even a big thing,” he said.

  “You know what we need?”

  “What?”

  “Some old school bonding time.”

  “Touch-football game? I don’t know…”

  “Come on,” I said. “You can find some new fine young thing and then we’ll be even. I won’t have to worry about you telling, because I’ll have something on you.”

  “You’re crazy,” he said, shaking his head. “But game on. I’ve been wanting to relax before the playoffs at the end of the semester.”

  “Well, this is the best, sure-fire way to find a woman by the end of the day. I’m going to invite Haley and show off a bit.”

  “Oh, you’re bringing her to watch you lose, are you?”

  “Funny man. I’m a winner.”

  “Glad I caught up with you, bro.”

  “For sure,” I said, holding out my fist. “Brothers for life.”

  He bumped his fist against mine. If the afternoon game went well, Haley would get pissed about other women hitting on me during the game, and she would leave without me having to break up with her or anything. We weren’t going together, but I had to get out of her life.

  I needed to concentrate on the one thing that mattered most – football.

  I sent Haley a text message with an invitation to watch me play at the touch-football game.

  “Watch?” she wrote back. “I want to play.”

  I sent her a winking smiley face in return, telling her I would pick her up around five.

  TWELVE

  James

  Fall football games were the best, especially friendly ones where there wasn’t any tackling. I pulled up to Haley’s house in my Camaro, freshly cleaned inside and out. The smell of leather hung thick in the air, just how I liked it.

  She walked over from where she had been sitting on the porch and got in the passenger seat. The jeans and grey sweatshirt looked well worn.

  “My football clothes,” she explained when she saw me checking her out.

  “I didn’t say anything, but I was imagining that cute as hell body underneath the clothes.”

  She smiled.

  “You’re a horn-dog, aren’t you?”

  “Hey, I have a body made to play hard.”

  On the drive to the park north of campus, neither of us mentioned the events of the night before, or that we were about to attend a social event together. People would talk when they saw us together. I didn’t care. The only people invited were friends and teammates, my fam.

  Still, it might be good to bring it up, I thought.

  “Hey, you know football players aren’t supposed to have steady girlfriends or anything, right? Coach wants us all football all the time.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she said. “I understand. It’s no big thing. I’m so busy now anyway. I mean, you’re good in bed and all, but I don’t have time for a real relationship right now either.”

  “Right,” I said, somehow sad she hadn’t been offended by me bringing it up. “Let’s do this.”

  I opened my door and got out of the car, stretching to the sky. She walked around the back of the Camaro and stopped at my side.

  “Looks like they’re all here already,” she said, pointing to the grassy field sixty yards away.

  “Yeah, I’m always late. It’s cool. You’re with me.”

  “Big man on campus, huh?” she teased.

  “You know it.”

  I winked at her. Side by side, we made our way to the dozen others standing around with flags tucked into their belts or pants. Curtis tossed a football up in the air, catching it confidently.

  “It’s okay if you don’t play well,” I whispered.

  She punched me in the arm.

  “Oww,” I said, laughing and rubbing it.

  “I’m tough too, you know.”


  Introductions were passed out. Everyone, including Curtis, didn’t say anything about Haley showing up with me.

  “Women versus men?” I asked.

  “We’re going to kick your ass today,” Janet Frost said.

  As captain of the women’s track team, she knew how to run.

  “Oh, hey, Haley,” she said as we formed two groups of people in the field.

  “Get ready to have some fun, ladies,” Curtis said. “We’ll kick off to you.”

  “Bring it,” Haley said, a trash-talking star. “You boys are going down.”

  All I thought about was her going down on me as the guys walked to one end of our makeshift field. Curtis stopped and placed the ball on the ground. Eric, the kicker for our team, sent it sailing down toward the group of women.

  Haley grabbed it. I half-expected her to drop to a knee, but instead she sprinted down the field toward us. Game on, I thought, running toward her.

  She screamed, dodging Curtis and two others who had reached her first. I ran behind her, laughing too hard and unable to catch her.

  When she crossed the two trees that signified the goal line, she threw the football to the ground and lifted her arms triumphantly.

  I stopped to catch my breath, still smiling from ear to ear. As we played, I forgot all about forgetting her and moving on with my life.

  She made life more interesting when she was around. And pleasurable. I found it hard to locate any of her faults. We all had them, but in the first pangs of love, they were hard to spot.

  Needless to say, the women won the game, with Curtis allowing two women to tackle him to the ground and steal his flag, losing it for us. I didn’t care, so happy to be playing with Haley.

  “Great game,” she said, breathing heavy.

  “Let’s get a water from the car.”

  “There’s a water fountain over there,” she said, pointing outside a bathroom on the far side of the field across from the parking lot.

  “It’ll be good to walk it off,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  “Walking off might not be all we get to do,” she said.

  I turned my head and saw a mischievous grin on her face.

  What’s she up to now? I wondered.

  At the water fountain, she took a drink. I did the same. She then took my hand and dragged me behind the building and into the trees.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Shhh…”

  She stopped next to a tree and bent to her knees on the soft forest floor. I smiled down at her, surprised she would do something so sexy and dangerous.

  As I watched, she took my cock out and stroked it a few times with her small hand before sliding her mouth of the tip. Fuck. She worked more into her mouth.

  While she sucked, she continued stroking. I found myself getting hard quick. Between someone seeing us and the sensation of her lips on my swollen shaft, I had no chance.

  Her beautiful eyes peered up at me, open so wide. I never wanted her to stop. Ever. My dick got even harder as I got close to coming. I tapped her on the shoulder urgently.

  She did not stop. I stood up, tapping harder.

  “Come for me,” she said. “I want it.”

  My cock slid back into her mouth. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry out as pleasure built up, getting closer. All of a sudden, I wasn’t able to stop myself.

  As I came, shooting one powerful spurt after another, she swallowed every lost drop, making the experience that much better. Most women jacked me off those last few seconds.

  “Fuck,” I said, breathing heavily.

  She stared up at me, her hand still clinging to it.

  “Did you like it?”

  I nodded.

  “Good,” she said, smiling. “In totally unrelated news, I need a favor tomorrow.”

  I grinned.

  “Here we go.”

  “It’s not bad. You might like it.”

  “Not as good as what just happened.”

  “Me sucking your dick?”

  “I love when you talk dirty.”

  “Can you help me?”

  “Sure,” I said, not knowing what she wanted.

  “Great. Are you free around two in the afternoon tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. You want me to come to your apartment? Some afternoon delight?”

  “No, the Medical Sciences building. I need someone to demonstrate some stuff in class.”

  “Oh,” I said. “I don’t think…”

  “Please?” she interrupted.

  “Okay. Well played, by the way.”

  “I enjoyed it too. Does that make me a slut?”

  “Not in my book,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. “As long as you’re not doing it to dozens of guys.”

  “Just you,” she said, looking deep into my eyes.

  I hugged her tight then kissed her forehead.

  “Talk to you tomorrow, then. I’ve got a full schedule the rest of the day.”

  “Me too, but this was a nice break.”

  She smiled, making me want her even more.

  We walked back to the field together then went our separate ways.

  THIRTEEN

  Haley

  I sat in the lecture hall near the front and kept peering at the double-doors. Where the hell is he? I thought as the professor looked at me and pointed to her watch.

  At the last possible moment, James appeared. Many of my classmates pointed at him and whispered amongst themselves as he jogged down the steps.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Practice ran over.”

  “It’s fine,” Professor Carrington said. “Carry on, Haley.”

  “Thank you,” I said, standing and walking over to the podium at the front of the room.

  Somehow, perhaps due to the marvelous blowjob I’d given him, he had agreed to lie and say he suffered grave injuries to his testicles. I would get extra credit for having him come to class and answer questions. I needed the extra points badly.

  “As you all probably know, this is James, quarterback of our football team. Back in high school, he took a hard hit to his testicles, and they were damaged. After two years of treatments, he’s all better and playing like a star. He’s here to answer any questions you might have.”

  I looked out at the other students scattered throughout the room that held three-hundred people. Two of them raised their hands.

  “You,” I said, pointing to a woman in front wearing an ugly green sweater.

  She stood up, giggling before she even asked her question.

  I glanced over at James, who shuffled nervously from one foot to the other.

  “Does everything still work?” she asked then sat down.

  James tilted his head back a bit and smiled as he glanced over at me.

  “Let’s just say I have no complaints, and hope to have three children someday.”

  I pointed to another student whose name I didn’t remember.

  “What techniques did you find most helpful for healing?”

  “Well, it was a dislocation,” James said exactly like I’d coached him. “It was so bad, I had to see a specialist, what I called the ball doctor at my young and tender age.”

  The students laughed. I glanced over at the professor and saw her smiling as well.

  “What mostly helped was rest, medicine for the pain, and antibiotics.”

  Another woman raised her hand. I pointed at her. She stood up.

  “Can you show them to us? For science?”

  The class cracked up. I looked over and saw a grin on James’ face as if he were enjoying all the attention.

  “I would, but I’m seeing someone special right now.”

  He turned and looked at me for a few seconds before turning back to the other students.

  “They’re normal, though. And I have two of them still.”

  Everyone laughed again. Ms. Carrington stood up and clapped her hands.

  “Okay, class. That’s enough. Let’s give
a big thanks to Mr. King for showing up to discuss his sports injury with us.”

  I smiled, filled with joy as he bowed. As he walked up the steps to the doors, I watched him, unable to believe he was still interested in me. The rest of the period flew by as I thought about the night before and how I wanted to do it again. All night long maybe.

  After class, I stood in the hallway and called him. Quite a few people gave me a pat on the back as they passed, mostly the women who had participated.

  “Hey,” he said. “How did I do?”

  “You’re the best,” I said, walking toward the door of the building. “You coming over tonight?”

  “I should be studying for mid-terms, but I’d rather spend the night with you.”

  “Aww. You’re so sweet.”

  “Don’t tell anyone.”

  I smiled, falling for him even more.

  “Come over about eight. Tabby will be gone.”

  “How are things going with her?”

  “Ugh. Don’t even ask. She’s become even more of a bitch if that’s even possible.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about her,” he said casually.

  “Easy for you to say. You’re not living with her.”

  “I am spending more time at your place.”

  “Not nearly enough for my liking.”

  “Who’s the romantic one now?” he asked.

  “You caught me,” I said. “I’ll light the candles before you arrive.”

  “Smart. It will give us more time. Bye, Haley.”

  “Bye, James.”

  I slipped my phone into the front left pocket of my jeans and headed home with a bounce in my step. A one-night stand didn’t often repeat. If we slept together again, we might have something real. Not only had I found a man, he was a superman.

  * * *

  Back at the apartment, my mood soured as soon as I opened the door and walked inside. Tabby sat on the couch, her dirty bare feet resting on the arm of my recliner.

  “Hey,” she said, taking them down and standing up. “You’re home early.”

  “Yeah, I need to get some homework done before tonight.”