Flip the Field
A BWWM "Love At First Kiss" College Romance
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Copyright © 2021
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by Jamaica Brinkley
Proofread by Brooke Crities
Contents
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
More “Love At First Kiss” Novellas
Acknowledgments
Also by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
About the Author
About This Book
The “Love At First Kiss” shared world features twelve interconnected steamy New Adult contemporary romance novellas set on a college campus in New England.
Flip the Field
A BWWM “Love at First Kiss” College Romance
She’s trying to forge her own way. He’s trying to fit in. Will their love put them on the same path or destroy their happily ever after?
Amerie
Thackeray College should be my new beginning, but to my classmates, I’m the senator’s daughter. I don’t fit in, so I stop trying. It’s all I’ll ever be. But a passionate kiss with the mysterious new guy on the football team has all of campus talking. He doesn’t care who I am. He knows what he wants, and he wants me. Gambling my future on someone like him is a risk, but for love it’s worth it.
Brady
I didn’t ask for it, but Thackeray College is my second chance. The people are different. They play by a unique set of rules and no one’s willing to share the playbook. Then I see her. She’s way out of my league, but I don’t care. I want her but loving me may destroy her future. If she’s willing to risk it, then I’m all in.
We’re from different worlds, but it’s those differences that bring out our best. But will it be enough when the world tries to tear us apart?
Chapter One
Brady
Bang, bang, bang!
“Florida.”
I grabbed a pillow and covered my head.
“Man, get up.” Matthews’ squeaky voice crawled under the door, through the pillow fibers, and into my ear. “We’re gonna be late.”
I threw the pillow at the door. The doorknob squeaked. I peeked with one eye open. Blissful silence.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Fuck.” I threw the covers off, leaped out of bed, and tried to yank the door open. It was locked, dampening my rage. I took a deep breath, unlocked it, and opened the door for Nathan Matthews. All six-foot four of him was arms and legs. He and I had known each other a long time ago, playing against each other in high school football. Now, he’d unofficially appointed himself my Thackeray College guide. His misguided mission was to make sure I experienced all that college had to offer. Tonight’s activity: a fucking lobster bake. What college party in the entire world welcomes its students back to campus with lobster?
It was a long way from my junior college in Arizona, and even further from my little hometown outside of Sarasota, Florida. Hence the nickname. Matthews was from Florida, too, but everyone called him Matthews. “Florida.”
I groaned. “Stop calling me Florida.” I grabbed my discarded blanket and plopped back on my bed. My arm covered my eyes to block out the sun. It didn’t work. “Go without me.”
I’d been up since seven a.m. My day consisted of conditioning work in the gym, followed by special sessions with my position coach. I’d been on campus for three weeks and had a whole playbook to learn so I didn’t look like a dumbass during practice.
With no afternoon practice, I had hoped to catch up on some much needed sleep. I flopped on my stomach.
“Dude,” Matthews emphasized his fake surfer accent. “We need to get you ready.”
“For what?” The mattress muffled my voice.
“You can’t miss the lobster bake.”
Lobster bake.
I had spent the last two years at a junior college playing football in Arizona and at no time had I thought my life would end up here, at Thackeray College in Maine, eating lobster and mingling with people I had nothing in common with.
“We can’t be late or we’ll miss the good ones.”
I’d bet my last hundred dollars Matthews didn’t know a good lobster from a bad one.
I pushed up off the bed and sat up. My head was pounding.
“What are you doing?” I managed to stand.
“Finding you something to wear that’s not black and depressing.” Matthews flipped through my closet. He’d dressed up for every occasion in black slacks and a white button down, ironed stiff.
I rubbed my face and pulled on some jeans I had slung over a nearby chair.
“Aren’t you going to shower, first?” He pulled out a Thackeray College t-shirt. “Where’s your dress clothes?”
“Don’t have any.”
“You can borrow something of mine.” He disappeared into our shared common area. I followed. Two other teammates, Jimmy and Daniel, sat side by side on the worn brown couch playing a video game. They were both dressed up, too.
Matthews came out of his room holding three options for shirts.
“What does it matter what I’m wearing?” I shrugged.
“Dude, the lobster bake is the event of the year,” Matthews sighed. “Lobsters as far as the eye can see.”
“Aah, lobster.” Jimmy sighed and shoved a handful of potato chips in his mouth. Daniel smacked him on the side of the head.
“Y’all go without me,” I waved off the shirt and headed back toward my room. “I’m allergic to shellfish.”
“Dude.” Matthews stepped in front of me. I blinked and stepped back. As the star wide receiver on the Thackeray College football team, he moved as fast off the field as he did on it. “Come on, Brady. Don’t be that guy.”
I blinked. “What guy?”
“You know how you are,” He shook the shirts in front of my face. “If you’re going to be our team’s leader, you have to show up.”
“You read that in How To Be A Leader In Eight Easy Steps?” I took the shirt.
“Yeah, prick,” He shook his head. “That’s step four.”
Matthews had touted my leadership ability since I arrived in campus. He had regaled the team with stories of my heroics in high school. I had taken my team to two consecutive state championships and won them both. It was clear at my first practice that I had a better arm than our current quarterback, but he was a senior. No way I’d get in unless he hurt himself.
Of course, Matthews conveniently left off the part of the story which explained why a four-star recruit wasn’t playing for a power conference team. Which was fine by me.
I didn’t play nice with others sometimes. Obnoxious, full of themselves, arrogant assholes specifically made my stomach turn, mostly because I used to be one of those guys and it got me in trouble. Besides, our starting quarterback, Duncan Duberville, had it covered. As long as I kept my head down
and stayed in the background, I’d be fine.
“Lobster bake’s calling our name.” Matthews motioned for us to follow. I pulled on the blue button down, brushed my shaggy brown hair out of my eyes and followed in step behind Jimmy and Daniel.
The elevator arrived almost full. “What up, Logan?” I nodded as the hockey player scooted to the side. All of Thackeray’s student athletes shared the same dorm.
“Brady.” He held out his hand. I shook it and patted his back.
Logan was new on campus too, but he was already a big-time hockey goalie and all of campus knew about him. The season hadn’t even started yet. He’d told me he had taken a gap year to play junior hockey and get better. I took a gap year, too, but I wasn’t sure I could apply the skills I learned to the football field.
We strolled across campus, following the crowd toward the football stadium. The smell of seafood hung heavy in the air. Several stations were set up in a semi-circle with miles and miles of food and drinks. Tables had been set up in the center.
Matthews and the guys spoke to people on the way. Thackeray wasn’t a big school, and although I knew no one, it appeared everyone knew me. Girls waved. Guys pointed. I was two seconds away from heading back to the dorm when I skidded to a stop.
Daniel bumped into me and grunted.
I yanked on Daniel’s shirt to get him to stop. “Who’s that?” I gestured to a table a few feet away.
“Hey, Amerie.” Matthews headed in her direction.
Daniel chuckled. “Good luck with that.” He followed Matthews.
Amerie was easily the hottest girl I’d seen in my twenty-one years on earth. Her eyes narrowed at the sound of her name. She pushed her long brown hair off her shoulders and flashed Matthews the sexiest smile. It made my cock hard, and my chest tightened.
Matthews wrapped his arms around her and rested his hands on her lower back, just above the top of her ass. I was jealous. I continued toward them, pushing down the urge to pull his hands off her. If I broke a finger or two in the process, it was the price he owed for putting his hands on her. Lucky for him, he let her go.
“April.” Matthews hugged the cute brunette with bright green eyes next to Amerie.
Amerie. God, the sound of her name made me hard.
I stood a foot to the side of them with my hands in my pockets.
“I want y’all to meet my boy,” Matthews stepped to the side. “Amerie, April, I’d like y'all to meet Brady.”
“Hey,” April waved.
“Hi,” Amerie nodded and smiled. “Welcome to Thackeray.” Her voice made me check to make sure my shirt wasn’t wrinkled. She had a sophisticated air, but then she licked her lips and I fought the urge to grab her and kiss her face off.
I should probably at least speak to her first.
I opened my mouth, but before I could form a word, Duncan came out of nowhere, wrapping an arm around Amerie’s waist and practically carried her away from me. Like I needed another reason to hate him.
My chest tightened. They disappeared around the back of one of the tents.
I turned back to April. She frowned.
“I thought they were over,” Daniel approached with a plate full of lobster tails.
“They are,” April said.
“They used to go out?” I asked.
“Briefly,” Matthews tried to steal a lobster from Daniel’s plate. He got his hand slapped for it.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Have you met Duncan?” April scoffed, putting a hand on her hip.
“Well, I mean, yeah,” I looked back toward where they had disappeared. “Only for the last couple of weeks, though. I don’t know his life story.”
“Then you have your answer.” She shook her head.
I narrowed my eyes.
“He’s a dick.” April said in a sober tone.
Matthews and Daniel chuckled.
April rolled her eyes and shuffled off in search of her friend.
Chapter Two
Amerie
Duncan dragged me behind one of the food tents and no one tried to stop him.
I opened my mouth to scream at his stupid, smug face, but I didn’t get a chance.
“Duncan.”
Oh thank God.
His coach approached from the opposite side with his wife and four kids in tow. “Come have some lobster with us.”
Duncan’s arm loosened on mine and I seized the opportunity to slip away. April came around the opposite corner.
“You okay?” She ran towards me with her arms out. “What did he say?”
“I’m fine.” I shook the creepy Duncan feels off my skin and hugged her.
“He’s such a dick.” April curled her arm around mine. I nodded. We wandered the lobster bake, keeping one eye out for Duncan. I was glad to have escaped his clutches and I wanted to keep it that way for the rest of my life.
I sat with one eye on Duncan. I didn’t want him ambushing me again. When I scanned the crowd, though, another pair of eyes caught my gaze. “Who was that guy with Matthews?” I blinked and turned back toward April.
She looked to the sky. “Brady Hale.”
He was still watching me. It wasn’t in a creepy way, but like he was curious about me. As one of the few African American students at Thackeray, I was used to standing out in the crowd, but I had a feeling my color wasn’t what had piqued his curiosity.
“He’s from Florida,” April cut into her lobster tail and drenched it in butter. “He and Matthews played against each other in high school.” She brought the lobster to her mouth and then stopped. “He seemed awfully curious about who was manhandling you.”
“Really?”
“He asked about you after the dick kidnapped you.” April huffed and then stuffed the lobster between her lips. The sour puss look on her face turned to bliss. She moaned.
I giggled and peeked over my shoulder, but he was gone. “He’s playing football for Thackeray?”
“I think so.” April nodded. “He’s cute. In that sexy, bad boy, mysterious, kind of way.”
“What did he say?” I sipped my water.
“Nothing, really,” She dug back in her food. “He asked why you and Duncan broke up and I asked him if he’d spent any time with Duncan. He said yes, then I said isn’t it obvious.”
We looked at each other and spoke simultaneously. “He’s a dick.”
I loved April. She and I had clicked instantly. I didn’t have too many friends at Thackeray, but I considered her one.
“Hi, Amerie,” Emmy Williams was another.
“Hi, Emmy,” I waved her over. Emmy was, to put it kindly, intense, but she was great. Don’t let her doll eyes fool you –– she was smart and had ambitions to change the world. “How was your summer?”
“Amazing.” She hugged me. I hugged her back. She gave April a side hug before plopping down in the chair next to me.
“How’s your dad?” she asked. “He’s introducing a new bill on gun control next week. Have you read it?”
“No,” I giggled and shook my head. “If it doesn’t have sex in it, I’m not interested.”
April choked on her lobster. I patted her on the back.
“Is he coming up this semester?” Emmy ignored my joke.
“Yeah, maybe when the session’s done, for homecoming or Thanksgiving,” I nodded. Emmy stared at me with wide eyes and I laughed. “And I’ll invite you to lunch, I promise.”
“Yes,” She grabbed me around the shoulder and kissed my cheek. “You are the best. I’ve got to go.”
Emmy took off toward the other side of the party. I looked up and my eyes fell on Duncan. I cut my gaze away from him and camped out at our table until it was an appropriate time to leave. I managed to stay away from Duncan for the rest of the night.
The next weekend, I wasn’t as lucky.
We walked into the sorority party, making an appearance because at a small college, if you didn’t show up to an event, it generated more questions than it answer
ed.
April wasn’t the partying type. She went for my benefit, and to get out of her dorm room and away from her neighbor’s eclectic song choices seeping through the walls.
“You sure you want to go to this party?” She dragged her feet behind me while I tugged her forward. The Theta Delta Gamma threw the best parties.
And if I ran into Thackeray College’s newest football recruit, bonus.
“I don’t think Brady is the sorority party kind of guy.”
How could she read my mind?
“I’m not here to see Brady,” I scanned the room. “I’m here to enjoy and embrace the college experience.”
She snickered.
Brady was nowhere to be found. I hid my disappointment.
“OMG, Amerie, April,” A wall of blond hair flipped my way. I couldn’t duck fast enough. “You look amazing.” Theresa Ford leaned in to give me proper Hollywood air kisses. I reciprocated. She hated me our freshman year because Duncan went after me instead of her, but if the rumors were true, they were still sleeping together occasionally, when she wasn’t trying to fuck the hockey team or the rugby team.
“Come in and enjoy the party.” She waved around like she owned the place. Her high-pitched voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
When she was out of ear shot, I couldn’t resist. “As Mrs. Seinfeld would say, I hate her like poison.” April cracked up and dragged me toward the bar. Before I could grab my obligatory red cup, an arm pulled me backwards.
Not again. I recognized the muscular forearm locked around my waist and the smell of expensive cologne and cheap beer.
Flip the Field: A BWWM Love At First Kiss College Romance Page 1
