ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: The Playmaker (Bad Boy College Football Romance) (New Adult College Alpha Male Sports Romance)

by Carly White

Her? Chris looked over at Cassie, really looked at her and he saw how upset she was. She was acting like they were together and she was the jealous girlfriend. Cassie was breathing hard and her chest was hypnotic as it rose and fell. She was wearing the shortest shorts, baring her long legs and he was lost for a moment, forgetting why it was that she was looking at him in such a way for.

  “Cassie. I just went for a walk.”

  “Don’t lie to me like I don’t know. It was Karen, wasn’t it?”

  Chris didn’t want to lie to her, he felt like he shouldn’t have to, but she was looking at him in a way that made him feel bad about it nonetheless. Even though he shouldn’t feel bad about anything, he did when she looked up at him with those large blue eyes. “I am sorry okay. She jumped me in the hallway when I was on the phone.”

  “I’m sure. Big strong guy like you should be able to tell a woman no. Is it really that hard?”

  “I’ve been away for a long time Cassie and yes, I have needs.”

  Cassie was going to say something, but she stopped herself. What was she supposed to say? He was a grown man and not hers. “Can you just please stay away from my roommates? Now she thinks she got over on me with you and she is going to have a shit-eating grin from now on. Karen is like a freindemy and now she is going to gloat.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you two had something going on. If you would have told me….”

  “I asked you not to, so thanks for making it awkward for me. You are only going to be here a week or so, I have to be here another year, so please don’t embarrass me anymore.” Cassie no longer looked mad, but just disappointed.

  Chris was properly chastened. He hadn’t thought about it like that and since she had introduced him as her boyfriend, he could see her point. Chris told himself that he would make it up to her before he left. Chris wasn’t sure how he was going to do that, but he knew that he had to try. It was never his intention to hurt her.

  When she moved back to the bed and lay down, he looked at her confused. “What? After you go running off the first night banging Karen, you can sleep on the couch. Better yet, you can always go stay in there with her and embarrass me further. I am starting to think that was why James had you come up here. To make sure that I will not have a life here anymore.”

  “Look, I am sorry okay. Five years is a long time to go without a woman and she was walking around with barely anything on. I promise I didn’t go out looking for her. It just happened.”

  It felt like he had been busted by his own girlfriend for doing wrong. It was the look of betrayal in her eyes that made him look away and feel worse. “I’m sorry okay. I will make it up to you.”

  She didn’t answer him, turning over and putting her back to him as she faced the wall. The silence was worse than her sharp tongue. That was what he was used to. He wasn’t used to her saying nothing. With Cassie, it was just so out of character that he knew he must have really hurt her.

  He lay down on the couch and it was even more uncomfortable than he had imagined. Chris thought for a moment about going back to Karen’s bed, though it was to save Cassie’s feelings that he didn’t. What it didn’t do was save his back and it took an hour of tossing and turning to finally find a semi-comfortable position to lie in where he could go to sleep.

  Chris didn’t hear the soft sounds coming from the other side of the room over his own irritation. He didn’t see the tears rolling down her cheek. Cassie didn’t figure he would care. Bad boys were that way because they had no heart, she was sure of it.

  ***

  The alarm clock went off at seven and while Cassie was already up, used to early mornings and her routine, Chris was not. Squinting to the light overhead that she turned on, he glared at her as she blow-dried her hair. It was loud and she just smiled back sweetly at him.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

  “Like shit. You know that though.”

  “Well maybe you need to stay out of girl’s beds and you would still have your own to sleep in. And if it was Karen, you might want to get it checked out.”

  His face changed, his smile faltered and his eyes narrowed further. “What are you talking about?”

  She smiled back even bigger. “I knew it was her. She is a slut and you may want to, though the look on your face would be enough for me. I don’t think you actually catching anything would be better revenge than that.”

  “I never go bareback.”

  “More information than I wanted to know. Are you coming with me to class?”

  “What class is it?”

  “Sociology.”

  She heard him sigh loudly and sit up. “Yeah, that is what I am here for, to keep you safe.”

  “Could have fooled me, but you are more than welcome to come. We leave in ten minutes.”

  “That’s not much time.”

  Cassie just looked at him and as he took in her blonde hair, he wondered what happened to the red. When he asked her, she just shrugged. “You know, blondes have more fun and all that.”

  Chapter 6

  Chris didn’t go to college and he dropped out of high school before finishing. He started to remember why when the class was twenty minutes in and there was still another hour or so to go. He was slumping in his chair and Cassie knocked him. “Sit up. It is not that bad. Maybe you will learn why you are such a Neanderthal.”

  He grimaced and felt the phone in his pocket vibrating. “I will be right back.”

  “You can’t just leave in the middle of a class Chris.”

  “Why not? You pay these people thousands of dollars to sit up there and talk. What are they going to do, kick me out?”

  He was already up before she could say anything else. It was clear that he was going to do whatever he wanted and she was left watching him walk out like everyone else was. No one wanted to be there and even the professor looked like he was ready to leave as well. Cassie sat lower in her seat and waited for the end of class like all the rest of them.

  Walking out, she didn’t expect to see Chris but he was waiting for her. When a boy from class walked up to him and they did some weird handshake, she grabbed Chris by the arm and pulled him away from the door. “Please don’t tell me you are slinging outside of my classroom.”

  “Okay, I won’t.”

  “What is wrong with you and James? He sends me up here to ‘get out’ and then you bring all your crap up here. It is not even noon and you have left class, sold drugs and slept with one of my roommates. You are seriously the worst boyfriend ever!”

  Chris moved in and tilted her face upwards for a kiss. She didn’t see it coming and it was only the shock that allowed him into her mouth. He pushed her body up against hers, pinning her to the wall behind her and he didn’t stop until he heard the soft moan that he was waiting for.

  He pulled away and it took her a minute for her eyes to reopen. She was no longer angry. All Chris could see in her depths was confusion and something else that he couldn’t quite put a name on. She touched her lips softly. “What was that?”

  “The way I shut my girlfriend up. Now are you ready for lunch?”

  She nodded, but wasn’t thinking about food. Cassie had fantasized about kissing Chris when she was younger. The real thing was better than she’d imagined. What she hadn’t factored in was how she would feel with him so close to her, his smell and touch overwhelming her senses.

  Chris turned away and started walking towards the parking lot unfazed, like he kissed girls like that all the time. Cassie suddenly felt jealous of Karen, something she thought she would never feel, but it wasn’t fair that she was the one that got to be with him and not her.

  ***

  They went to a small bistro near the college in walking distance. Chris wanted to scope out the surrounding area and see if there were other dealers than the one he had seen yesterday. Cassie just thought they were on a walk and she was still reeling from the kiss. She couldn’t be bothered to care about what else was going on. All she could thin
k about was the way his hard body had felt against her. She had seen him shirtless many times, with the rippled chest and tattooed biceps, but to have it pressed against her was something else all-together.

  Cassie passed the place and was almost completely red by the time she realized it. If there would have been another place to go that was decent, she would have just kept on walking, but there wasn’t and she had to back-track. “I thought you knew where you were going.”

  “I do, I just got sidetracked.”

  Chris smiled big. “What has you so sidetracked?”

  She knew that he knew, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing it. “I have a big test next class and I need to keep my grades up is all. It’s a lot of work and I was never good at the programming classes. I don’t know how I am going to fit you into that one. We have assigned computers and it’s a pretty small class.”

  “Don’t worry. I think I have had enough lessons today. I will meet you after class.”

  “Are you really going to follow me around everywhere while you are here?”

  “Well not everywhere, but I want to stay close. I wouldn’t be here if James hadn’t asked me and you know he is not one to take threats lightly. I just got back out, so he must know something that I don’t know. It will be over soon and you can go back to doing, whatever it is that you do.”

  “Good. The sooner, the better.” Cassie looked down for a moment as she moved through the double glass doors to Mel Roy’s on 3rd. She went there a lot. Cassie never being one to cook and she waved to the waitress and went to the small corner booth that she used whenever it was open. It had a great view of the small park across the street.

  “What’s good?”

  “All of it. They have good BLTs that I am sure you will like.” He had always been crazy for them before he went in and by the way his face lit up, she was sure that he still was.

  “Yes, that is what I will have. Order for me while I go make a call in the back.”

  “The back? What does that even mean?”

  Chris shrugged. “I will be back there. I need to get this and I don’t want people listening in. That’s what it means Cass. I swear sometimes you act like you don’t know how this works.”

  She watched him go and then ordered like he wanted. He was gruff since their kiss or maybe she was looking into his tone more. Cassie still did not want a babysitter, but she couldn’t think of a sexier one. Chris was brash and rude, but the man was built like an inked god. It was hard not to notice the way people looked at him, women in particular around there that weren’t used to the rugged city type. He stood out everywhere they had been and with all the attention he was getting, it just made it harder for her to deal with it.

  When he came back the food was already on the table and starting to get cold. Something was wrong, but true to his nature, he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “So are you going to be leaving soon?”

  “Not yet Cass. What is it that you want to do so badly, that you want me out of here?”

  “Nothing. There are a few parties I wanted to go to. There is one tonight at Beta Phi, but there is no way I am going with you.”

  “Why?”

  Cassie could think of a million reasons, but none of them she could say out loud. She had a date and with Chris so close to her brother, she knew he was never going to allow it. James didn’t want her dating anyone and if he knew Bryan, there was little doubt that he would hate him. Bryan was everything that Chris and James were not.

  “I just need some time alone.”

  “I am letting you go to class by yourself.”

  “That’s because you don’t want to go. I am not taking you to a party to embarrass me.”

  Chris just shook his head no like it was the end of the discussion. It sure felt like it to. They ate the rest of the meal in silence and took off on their own directions afterwards. Cassie figured that he would pop up later that evening and when Bryan called her, she told him that something had come up and that she might be a little late. She would be there, but maybe not as soon as she had hoped. Cassie had to figure out how to shake Chris so they could go out. Cassie had liked him from her first year and even though he was a professor, she couldn’t wait.

  “Alright Cassie, I will talk to you later. Call me before you leave. I can’t wait to see you.”

  Chapter 7

  Cassie watched the clock through her class. Her mind alternated from the kiss from Chris and Bryan, who was hopefully going to take her mind off of the former. She had already heard rumors about Karen and her new ‘hot’ boyfriend, so her mind was settling more on Bryan by the end of the class. Hoping that he wouldn’t be there, she groaned inwardly when he was waiting patiently for her.

  “I can’t believe you are really going to do this. Isn’t it enough that you are staying at my house? How about you go get some gang-whatever stuff done and you let me go to that party?”

  He shook his head no again and she glared at him, but that didn’t seem to faze him either. Taking a deep breath as they got into her car, she asked him again nicer. She wanted to go bad and Cassie wanted to see Bryan. They had never been intimate, but with the way her body was feeling, it was all she could think about.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t. I have a duty to you and I gave your brother my word that nothing would happen to you.”

  “Nothing will. It’s just a party. Come on Chris. I am sure you are sick of babysitting me already.”

  “It hasn’t been so bad Cassie. Besides I just talked to James and some stuff has went down so he was calling to make sure you were alright and to keep you in my sight.”

  “Why do you even listen to him? I never got it.”

  “Your dad saved me years ago and I have loyalty. You guys are like family.”

  Cassie didn’t like the sound of that. She had been having less sisterly feelings and thoughts about him. She wondered if that was what he thought of her. Did he look at her like his sister? “Well I have never kissed family like that before.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, well on the loyalty part of it, you guys are like family.”

  “And the other part?”

  He looked towards her, his dark eyes held something not brotherly at all for a moment before he looked back at the road. “You are hot as shit Cassie, you know that, but you are still off-limits to me. If I could, I would .”

  “Wow, well thanks.” Cass’s face started to get red. She had not been expecting such an answer, though at second thought she should have. Chris was many things, but he never lied to her. If anything, he was always to blunt with all things. He just told it as it was and then left her to deal with it. He had lied about Karen though. Not for long, but he had withheld that information at first.

  “You seem surprised.”

  “I am.”

  “You know how I feel about blondes. When I first came home, I spotted you in the crowd. I would have never thought it was you.”

  “So you like the blonde hair huh? You should see the roots. I just wanted a change. Everyone knew me as James’ redheaded sister. So when I came up here, I dyed it and no one knew who I was. If you guys start slinging up here, that is going to change.”

  Chris hadn’t thought about that and he could see her need to distance herself from it all. She wanted to get into social work and having that kind of background, could make it hard. “No one will know who we are. I didn’t bring my bike and jacket for that reason. That is why I am driving a four-door sedan with you.”

  “Yeah, but they know you were my boyfriend.”

  “You shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Don’t I know that now. If I would have known you were going to bang my roommate, I wouldn’t have.”

  “You act like you don’t know me at all.”

  Cass sighed and looked out the window. “Maybe I had hoped you would have changed by now.”

  He looked over at her for a moment. She had the most wistful sigh to her voice and it made Chris
wonder if she wanted what he wanted. It could never happen though.

  “Men like me never change Cass, sorry.”

  ***

  Cassie waited until Chris was asleep. She gave him back the bed with the excuse that she felt bad how uncomfortable he had looked that morning. Chris was tired and he was asleep before nine thirty. Getting up slowly from the couch, she heard it groan under her weight and she looked back at the bed with apprehension. “Where are you going?”

  “To go take a shower. Try not to fall into someone else’s bed while I am gone.”

  “Ha ha.”

  She grabbed her towel and a change of clothes like she was going where she said. Chris turned over and she stopped to take in the bare expanse of his back and hip. The sheet was pulled down to his waist and she had the urge to pull it down and see what he was wearing underneath. Shaking her head of the thoughts, she left the room. Cass couldn’t have him, but she could have Bryan. Chris had just gotten her hot and bothered for him.

  Walking passed the bathroom she stuck her stuff inside and kept going down the hall to the stairs. She passed Karen on the way out and wanted to slap the smug look off of her face. “Don’t you dare go in there Karen. I won’t let it go again.”

  Karen looked at her surprised that she knew. Cass had a reputation of losing her cool and the woman backed up slightly without thinking. “Yeah I know. Don’t think you are special. He told me all about it.”

  Her eyes were big and Cassie just smiled back at her before she left. She didn’t have any misgivings about Karen, she never had liked her. It was Chris she trusted not to do it again before her. Women were far less loyal than their male counterparts.

  Calling Bryan as she was leaving, he told her he was still at the party and that she should come down. It wasn’t the first time the two had went out, but it was going to be the first time they were to get intimate. Cassie’s body needed something more and since she couldn’t have what she wanted, she was going to have to make due.

  Bryan wasn’t so bad. He had been all she could think of until a day ago when Chris came back into town and once again turned her life upside down. Bryan was the opposite of Chris. He talked softly and always said the right thing. Cass couldn’t see him saying or doing the things that she knew Chris did. It was different in a way that Bryan seemed to be more of a man. He wasn’t as muscular as Chris, but she was sure that he would be enough under his button down shirt.