Fair Catch (Love and Sports Series)

  Everyone was already gone, Lexi stayed behind to take a shower and try to make herself semi presentable. She put on a pair of navy blue yoga pants and a tight white t-shirt along with her lime green Nikes. She knew it wasn’t a dress and high heels but she just got out of practice, she wasn’t going to get much more out of herself in the fashion department. She made sure to throw her hair up in a messy bun with a headband and put on a generous amount of mascara to make her eyes pop.

  Looking at herself in the mirror, she approved of her reflection. She wasn’t sex on a stick but she wasn’t half bad either. She grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. She made her way to the half wall that was just outside the events center to wait for Jake. It was a beautiful day and she might as well enjoy the weather while she waited for Jake. She knew Jake’s practice ran a little later than hers so she was prepared to wait. She sent a text to Jake to let him know where she was.

  Nerves ran through her body as she couldn’t believe she was actually going on a date with Jake...again. This morning she had sworn him off. How was it that he was able to change her mind so quickly? Wait, her mind wasn’t changed. She was just going out to dinner with him because she owed it to him since he took care of her during one of her lowest points. She was going to hold true to what she told herself. She had no time or room for a guy in her life.

  The side door to the events center opened up and Jake appeared wearing a pair of Cal U gym shorts and a dark grey football shirt. His hair was wet, most likely from a quick shower and he was wearing flip flops. She was glad she went super causal because she would have felt stupid in jeans and a nice shirt. She hopped off the half wall and met him on the sidewalk.

  He beamed at her with one of his kill-me-now smiles. “Hey gorgeous, are you ready?”

  “Yup.” They walked toward his Jeep while she asked, “How was practice?”

  He rubbed his shoulder before he opened the door for her. “Oh you know, painful as usual.” He shut the door and jogged around to his side. She surveyed the interior of his Jeep and came to the realization of how much she loved his car. How stupid was that? It was a just a car, but it was so him, rugged on the outside but soft and safe on the inside. “How about you?”

  She looked at him confused. “Huh?”

  “How was your practice?”

  “Oh, it was a hell of a lot better than yesterday. That’s for sure. It is obviously our off season right now so we focus a lot on technique and drills. It can get really boring at times. I prefer to do situational plays and scrimmages.”

  “Doesn’t everybody? Drills can be so monotonous at times.”

  Lexi agreed with him. Their conversation struck her as strange because the only other person besides her teammates that she talked about her sport with was Parker. No one else seemed to care, so it was refreshing to have another understanding ear to talk to. It didn’t really dawn on her that Jake was going through the same thing as her. Trying to play the sport he loved at a high level while also trying to earn a degree. No one really knew what they went through, unless they were actually in the same boat.

  They continued with mindless chitchat until they pulled up to Panera. Lexi couldn’t help but let out a little giggle.

  “Something funny?” He asked.

  She shook her head and exited the car. He met her in the parking lot. “I just never pictured you as a Panera guy. I expected a Mexican joint or, I don’t know a steak.”

  “What can I say? They have the best mac and cheese. Is this alright? We can go somewhere else.”

  “No, this is great. I love it here but I’m sorry to say, I’ve never had their mac and cheese.”

  Jake stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “You have never had the mac and cheese? That is crazy.”

  “I love the Fuji Apple Salad, I always get it.”

  Jake just shook his head. “Women and their salads.”

  When they got in Panera, they ordered, a salad for Lexi and mac and cheese and a sandwich for Jake. They both got drinks, picked up their food from the counter and found a cozy little booth in the back corner, where no one could bother them. Lexi eyed Jake’s mac and cheese and she had to admit, she was jealous when she turned back to her salad.

  They started eating and at first Lexi was self-conscious but got rid of that feeling right away when Jake got sauce from his sandwich all over his face. He acted like nothing was on his face as he continued to tell her a story about Mason getting stuck in the bathroom at the football house their sophomore year. Jake had a huge glob of sauce on his cheek and Lexi knew he knew it was there, how could he not. She could feel it touching her own skin, it bothered her so much. Occasionally she would wipe the same side of her face hoping Jake would get the hint.

  “So coach was on the field screaming where the hell Mason was and why he was missing practice. None of the guys knew where he was and I started to get nervous coach was going to have a heart attack because he was so mad.” Jake took another bite into his sandwich letting sauce hit his chin, Lexi cringed and he smiled.

  “Are you trying to be disgusting on purpose?” She said with a laugh while handing him a napkin.

  “No just trying to ease the tension.” He wiped his face and continued with his story. “So me and the other guys got back to the house, where Mason’s car was, his phone was in the house along with his backpack. We started to get really nervous because it wasn’t like Mason to miss practice. I started to get terrible thoughts in my head like he committed suicide or a jealous student shot him to death, you know the typical over-reactions.” Lexi nodded in agreement. “Well after calling his name we finally heard him yell out from upstairs. We all went running to his voice and followed it to the bathroom where the knob from the outside had fallen off so he had no way of getting out. We got the door open and there he was with a towel wrapped around his waist and the shower curtain wrapped around his shoulders.”

  Lexi burst out in laughter. “Why did he have the shower curtain wrapped around him?”

  “Apparently the bathroom tiles were cold.”

  Lexi could not stop laughing. Picturing Mason in such a scenario was one of the funniest things she had heard in a while. “Did Mason tell your coach what happened?”

  Jake took a sip of his drink. “Well, once we found Mason we called coach right away. Coach called an early meeting the next day and made us all do fifty yard sprints for half an hour.”

  “What? Why?” Lexi asked in an outrage.

  “As coach put it, if Mason was dumb enough to get himself locked in a bathroom then we should all pay the price as his teammates for having to put up with his stupidity.”

  “That makes absolutely no sense.”

  Jake shrugged his shoulders. “It really doesn’t but we did them together, the entire time trying to hold back chuckles. That year at the team Christmas party coach got a mason a nice floral shower curtain with a note attached that said ‘to keep you warm on the bus.’”

  Lexi burst out in laughter again. “Well at least your coach can show a little bit of a sense of humor. I swear it’s a pre-requisite of a division one coach to be completely devoid of humor.”

  Lexi was almost done with her salad but kept eyeing Jake’s mac and cheese and finally gained enough courage to dip her fork quickly into his bowl and snag a bite. She reveled in the taste of the melted cheese when it touched her tongue. Jake was right, that was the best mac and cheese she had ever tasted. She looked at him and saw a huge grin on his face.

  “What are you smiling at?”

  “It’s funny how you so easily reached over and stole some of my dinner without even looking guilty. You know it’s a dangerous thing to steal a sturdy football player’s dinner, especially after a grueling practice.”

  “Oh please, what are you going to do, wrestle me to the ground?”

  Jake started to get up and said, “Don’t mind if I do.”

  “What are you doing? Sit down you oaf.”

  Jake chuckled, “You’re all talk.??
?

  “What? You think you could beat me in a wrestling match?”

  He looked Lexi up and down and laughed. “Uh, sorry to say short stack but I would own you.”

  Lexi lifted her chin in defiance. “I might be short but I’m quick and scrappy. I would have you down so fast you wouldn’t even know we started.”

  “I doubt that. I’m sorry to say but I probably have about one hundred pounds over you.”

  “I guess we will never know.”

  “I’m willing to settle this challenge. You’re the one backing down.”

  “I’m not backing down. I’m just saving myself the hassle of giving you a free grope session as you try to prove yourself as a man by taking down a girl half your size.”

  “So you admit I can take you?”

  Lexi rolled her eyes. “You’re infuriating.”

  “Yes, but you like it.”

  Lexi looked him in the eyes. They were done eating now and just sitting there enjoying each other’s company. Lexi couldn’t remember the last time she felt so relaxed and at ease. Her doubts of being with Jake left her brain completely and the walls she thought she put up this morning were once again in ruins. She was giving herself over to Jake and she was scared to her core, but she knew she couldn’t avoid what he was doing to her anymore. She was giving in and if she was going to give in then she was going to do it on her own terms. She wasn’t going to let him whisk her away so fast. She was going to take things slow, incredibly slow.

  “I do like it.” She must have shocked the hell out of him because his reaction was priceless, she rendered him speechless. The only response he was able to muster was a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She decided to cut the night short while she was ahead. “Thanks for dinner, but I have to get back to my place. I have a bunch of reading to do for a class and I don’t want to fall behind.”

  “I understand.” He threw their trash out and escorted her back to his Jeep. “Thank you for coming out of with me tonight. I had a great time.”

  “Me too, thank you for asking.”

  They drove in silence back to her apartment. She didn’t want the night to end, she didn’t want to say good bye to him right away but she didn’t want to get in over her head. One step at a time she kept telling herself.

  They pulled up to her place and they both got out of Jake’s Jeep. He met her at the front of his Jeep and grabbed her hand as he entwined his fingers with hers. Her stomach did flips and she felt the heat in her body rise a couple of notches. They walked hand in hand to her door and turned around to face each other. He looked so good it was almost painful to look at him. How was it possible for one single human being to be so incredibly attractive? Wasn’t it a crime?

  He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Can we do this again, Lexi?”

  He looked so vulnerable when he asked her. She wanted to ease his anxiety. “I would love that.”

  “Great. I’ll call you.”

  He started to lean in and she knew he was going to kiss her but she wasn’t ready so instead of letting him make his move she released his hand, gave him a quick hug and went into her apartment. She was breathing heavily and not from her fast movements. She almost kissed Jake Taylor. Was she crazy? She leaned her head against the door and thought about their evening. It was amazing, it was something that she felt like had been missing from her life and that something was fun, pure fun.

  Her phone chimed and the noise brought her back down to earth from her thoughts. She looked at the screen and surprise, surprise, it was from Jake.

  Jake: I had an amazing time with you tonight short stack. Thanks for coming out. Sweet dreams oh and P.S. don’t think you can avoid that kiss every time. It’s going to happen.

  Lexi felt her face flush from reading his text. He totally called her out but she couldn’t help but giggle like a little school girl. She sent him a quick text good night and went to go brush her teeth. She stared at herself in the mirror and wondered what life would be like if she was actually in a relationship with Jake Taylor.

  Chapter 7

  “You’re killing me this morning.” Mason said while he tried to catch his breath. “Where are you getting all this energy from?”

  Jake was feeling great, he had felt great since his dinner with Lexi. They hadn’t been able to get together again in a week and even though it was driving him crazy to not see her, he knew he had a plan this morning to see her and he was excited. He had never felt so alive before, it was like Lexi had awakened something in him he never knew was missing.

  “Well, we should stop because I don’t want to tire you out for tonight.”

  “Are you not even tired?” Mason asked while leaning his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.

  “No, I feel great.” Jake said nonchalantly while Mason flipped him off.

  They both grabbed their towels and walked out of the gym toward the locker rooms. Jake stopped him and said, “I have to make a detour, I’ll see you a little later.”

  “Let me guess, checking to see if a certain blonde is in the weight room?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “It’s not. It just amazes me to see you like this.”

  “Like what?”

  Mason looked Jake up and down and said, “Not a dickhead.”

  Jake playfully punched him. “I’ll see you later, ice those knees. I expect a big score tonight.”

  They parted their ways and Jake walked toward the weight room like Mason predicted. He wanted to be able to catch Lexi before she left. It was a Saturday so he wasn’t even sure she would be there but knowing her work ethic, she most likely would be in there getting a workout in before practice. He admired her for her hard work. No wonder she was so good at her sport, she put more time in the gym than anyone else he knew, even more than him.

  While he walked down the hall toward the weight room he thought about how he was going to miss walking the halls of the event center. There were pictures of past athletes hung on the walls, displaying the amount of athleticism that had graced the halls. There was a picture of Jake hanging near the football locker, it was an honor to be on the wall and he didn’t take it for granted.

  He walked up to the weight room and peaked in. Lexi was by the free weights doing lunges in the shortest pair of spandex he had ever seen and tight tank top with a neon sports bra peeking out. She had ear buds in her ears with her iPod attached to her bicep. Her hair was pulled back in her classic messy bun that stood high off her head because of the massive amount of hair she had. Jake stood in the doorway admiring her from afar, trying not to drool over her luscious ass. Lunges had done her well.

  “Hey peeping Tom, are you going to work out or what?”

  The head trainer scared the crap out of him. Jake didn’t even know the guy was in the weight room. Jake felt a flush creep over his body from being caught staring at Lexi.

  “Uh, no I just need to talk to Lexi and I didn’t want to disturb her.” He walked past the trainer to avoid any more embarrassment and walked up behind Lexi who was looking at herself in the mirror while doing bicep curls. When their eyes met his, he watched hers widen in surprise. She quickly set her weights down, pulled out her ear buds and asked, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  “I came looking for you.” Jake looked at their trainer who was eyeing them. Jake tilted his head toward the hallway and said, “Uh, could we talk without an audience?”

  Lexi looked at the trainer, smiled and nodded. They walked out into the hallway and hovered by the water fountain. Lexi’s eyes were sparkling this morning and Jake hoped it had something to do with him.

  “What time is practice today?”

  “Ten, I wanted to get in a quick workout beforehand.”

  “I figured as much.”

  They stood there for an awkward moment before Lexi said, “What’s up, Jake?”

  He hated that he got so nervous around her. He never lost his cool before but he so easily did around her. It was as if he was
back in grade school and he was asking out a girl for the first time. He felt his hands start to get sweaty so he casually wiped them off on his shorts. He was leaning against the wall, trying to be as casual as possible.

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  “Not sure.” She said with a shrug.

  “Really? You aren’t going anywhere tonight?”

  “Nope, I think I’m going to just hang out at my place. Maybe watch some mushy romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks.”

  “So you didn’t plan on going to one of the biggest games of the season?” Jake asked almost hurt.

  “Oh is that tonight?” She waved her hand in dismissal. “Well, I had no clue and since I already made plans with my couch…I guess I’ll have to pass.”

  Jake just realized she was pulling his leg when she flashed her gorgeous smile at him. Jake rubbed his hand over his face.

  “Good Lord woman. If you traded tonight’s game in for Tom Hanks we were going to have to have a serious chat.”

  She laughed and grabbed his hand. She mingled her fingers with his and said, “Of course I’ll be there. Parker got us some seats on the fifty yard line. I don’t know how he managed such great seats since students usually sit in the end zone but I’ll take them.”

  He played with her hand and felt their palms come together, it was comforting, supportive. The little gesture of her taking his hand sent his heart rate to a sprinting pace. She was leaning against the wall now so he positioned himself in front of her so her back was up against the wall and his hand that was not mingling with hers was supporting him on the wall right next to her head. He watched her breath quicken and her pulse in her neck take off.