Played by Love (New Adult Romance): A #Played Novella (2 page)

Anger surged in Ella’s veins. She wasn’t going to go meekly to her demise. Not like the last time when those drunk frat guys tore her Slave Leia costume and left her with only a stinking Chocobo outfit to wear at Comic-con.

Ella stomped her platform boots on the guy’s foot.

“Yeooch!” he yelped and loosened his hold. Must be her lucky night. He was wearing flip-flops. Ha ha.

He reached to grab her, but she dropped to a kung fu stance, swinging her Cloud Hands and Razor Fingers to power up. “Kiii-yah!”

Laughter burst from the guys around. Someone pushed her from the back, and another guy grabbed her arm.

“Nice try, little bug. I’ve got some sweet nectar you can suck.”

“Oh, yeah, check out my aphid farm, tender, juicy and succulent.”

“Let the ladybug go.” A male voice thundered, sounding exactly like a hero. It was Jaden, the Mamoru Endou soccer character. Yay!

Ella’s heart leaped like a four year old at an amusement park. Her hero, Jaden, was in time to rescue her from the horrid frat boys.

What? The frat guys were laughing.

“Go back to the computer lab, four eyes,” one of them jeered.

“She’s with me.” Jaden held his hand out, his superhero muscles bulging. Which hand would he play? The Blazing Knuckle or Fist of Justice?

Instead, he used words. “We have a coding session. PHP and Python.”

“Yes, I’m with him.” Ella gladly latched onto her protector. “We’re both computer geeks.”

“That you, Sloup?” one of the frat guys said.

“Nope, I don’t know you guys.” Jaden pulled Ella to his side. “I set up the IDE already and the mySQL database access, sweetie. Let’s rock it.”

“Song Boy, I love it when you talk tech.”

Her giggles were accompanied by howls of derision from the Neanderthals.

It took a certain kind of crazy to be a soccer goalkeeper—an obsession to use his body, any body part to block the ball from the net.

Some days, Jaden flew. Most days he crashed.

The Wildcat power forward barreled toward the goal. Clods of turf spattered him as he pivoted and shielded the ball from a sliding tackle.

Jaden spread his arms, crouched and alert, his weight balanced, but ready to explode the moment before the ball shot toward him.

He lunged and hit the turf hard, his fingers slapping the ball, but it sailed into the corner of the net. Shit!

“Goal! Wildcats win!” The opposing team whooped, jumping up and down and crowding around the striker.

Jaden bounced from the the ground, his knees and elbows scuffed, and shook himself off.

Vincenzo, one of the midfielders, gave him a hand. “Bum shot.”

The rest of his teammates filed past. Even though they clapped his back or fist bumped him, acting like everything was cool, Jaden felt the silent disappointment, as if only he had failed the team.

He noticed the girls hovering around Jax, Kolby, and Nick, the strikers for the team, the ones who attacked and did the scoring, except tonight, they couldn’t penetrate the Wildcat defense.

“Want to sign some autographs? Talk up the chicks?” Vincenzo nudged him with is elbow.

“You kidding? I shoulda punched that ball harder. I was a split second too late.”

“That was an awesome jump. Don’t get too down about it.”

“Yeah, well, Kolby wasn’t pleased.” Jaden pushed the locker room door and grabbed a towel.

Kolby was the team captain and head of the KAO fraternity.

“What’s partying tonight?” Vincenzo said. “Going to keep score at the funhouse?”

“Not tonight,” Jaden said. “Mark, the wannabe. He’s monitoring tonight.”

Mark, the scion of Shanghai billionaires, always wanted to live in a frat house. It took some doing, but Kolby and the board agreed to let Mark stay in Jaden’s room in exchange for some renovations.

The frat monitored sexual activities in the funhouse to prevent lawsuits. Sick, but in these days, boys couldn’t be too careful. Each act taken with a girl had to have clear consent recorded on audio.

“What if Mark’s jerking off listening in?” Vincenzo huffed. “Bet he turns on the video feed.”

“Let him get his jollies. That’s why I never bring a girl to the funhouse.” Jaden threw his gloves in the locker and tore off his jersey.

“They’re sorority girls.” Vincenzo flexed his muscles. “They know the deal.”

“Not my type.”

“Not your type? So you going to just go back to the nerd dorm and what, study?”

Jaden snapped a towel and turned to the showers. “Yep. Masquerading as a nerd means I have to be able to talk shop.”

Nick, Jax, and Kolby strolled into the locker room, cell phones out, most likely loaded with selfies the fan girls sent. Well, maybe not Jax. Kimber had the Bear’s leading scorer locked down tight.

“No studying tonight,” Kolby said. “Beer, shots, girls, whoo! You game?”

“Jaden’s not,” Vincenzo said.

“Ah, don’t take the goal too hard,” Kolby said, slapping Jaden’s bare butt. “You need to get laid. Reserve a room in the funhouse.”

“Maybe later, I have to be somewhere.” Jaden cranked the shower full blast and slammed the water against his face. He licked his cracked lip and cleaned the dirt off his cheekbones. The goalkeeper was the only soccer player to emerge from a game looking like he got beat up.

Making the save was all that mattered, even at the cost of face plants and being kicked in the mouth.

Jaden dressed quickly and walked away as fast as he could from his frat brothers. They were exactly the obnoxious men Ella couldn’t stomach and if she found out that he, too, was not only in a frat, but monitored their sex games, she’d drop him like the proverbial hot eggroll.

Sensitive and concerned. That was how he had to come across.

He jogged up Bancroft toward the International house, or I-house. It was the perfect cover. Ella would never believe a jock or frat guy, especially an American, would live in the I-house, surrounded by foreign students.

The way those cavemen had treated her after the costume party was a disgrace. But then those Delta Upsilon Mu guys were the dregs of fraternities. Half of theem had criminal records and the rest were a bunch of strung-out losers.

He crossed the street in front of the I-house. Ella was standing on the steps playing with her phone, oblivious to the admiring glances cast her direction.

For being a ditzy nerd, she was sure sexy. Thin, petite, but well endowed where it mattered: full breasts, a cute perky ass, and a pixie spray of spiky blond hair framing her sweet heart-shaped face.

She was wearing black leather shorts with transparent tights and high-top black sneakers. Her black and white striped tank barely covered her midriff, and her fingernails alternated black and white. Silver and black wrap bracelets encircled her wrists and a gangster styled studded knit hat was propped over her head. There was no telling what she thought she was, especially with the spiked dog collar around her neck.

Instead of calling out, Jaden texted her a selfie with the corner of Bancroft and Piedmont behind him.

Her face lit with the text message and she opened it with a big smile. Giggling, she pointed her front camera at herself and snapped a selfie.

He snuck up behind her as she tapped out a message, and when his phone jingled, she swiped at her own phone. Her brow wrinkled when there was no incoming message.

“Boo.” He was looking over her shoulder, inhaling her vanilla and cherry scented perfume, and wondering what she’d do if he snapped her collar.

Ella jumped and flung her hand back, hitting him in the jaw. Her late model smartphone went flying.

Jaden leaped off the stairs, diving with his arms outstretched. His ribs hit the curb and his knees scraped concrete. The phone skipped up, over his fingers, but as his chin slammed onto the asphalt he closed his hand around it, saving it from imminent and complete destruction.

Cheers and claps rang out from the international students gathered around.

“What a save!” a guy said.

“Wow, is he a goalie?” another voice said. “He didn’t even try breaking his fall.”

“I wish he was,” a woman said. “Our team lost today.”

“Jaden, you’re hurt.” Ella bent over him, her brows furrowed. “You’re bleeding.”

Pain lanced his chin and his knee throbbed. But hey, he saved her phone, that was worth something. He couldn’t help grinning at her concern.

“Your phone, my ladybug, safe and sound.”

“My hero, again.” She sighed, her eyes starry, and just like in the anime, when the starry-eyed girl sighed, it meant he was getting a kiss.

She slanted over him and her soft, rose petal lips touched his, whispering, a light brush, and then it was gone, a sweet nothing.

Tease!

Jaden blinked and stood to his full height, then crouched partway so his face was level with hers. Good. She was still starry eyed until her eyes narrowed and she pointed a finger at his nose.

“Why are you crouching? Are you saying I’m short?”

“Didn’t want to look down on you.” Besides, he was hoping he’d get another kiss. “Thanks for meeting me here. Dinner?”

“Ann-yeong,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Wait, wait.” She unlocked her smartphone and selected an app. “I … love … to … have … dinner … with … you.”

Why the heck was she speaking so slowly?

The mechanical voice from the app said something that sounded like, “na-ning san-yook shiek sa-lad.”

Oh, no. Who gave her the idea of speaking Korean to a guy who didn’t understand it?

Jaden took the smartphone and changed the language. “No comprendo Corea.”

The mechanical voice said, “I don’t understand Korean.”

Ella took the phone back and said, “How about Chinese?”

The mechanical voice said, “Que hay de chino?”

Jaden grabbed the phone and fiddled with it. “Chinese it is.”

The mechanical voice translated, “Tsino ito ay.”

“You scrambled the languages,” Ella said, taking back her phone. “You’re so funny.”

Funny wasn’t what he was going for. Sexy, smooth, hot was more like it. He slowly rose to his full height and stretched. She did look pretty tiny, now that he was staring at the top of her head.

“So, we’re having Chinese. I know just the place.” He laced his fingers around Ella’s.

“What about your chin? Don’t you need to disinfect it?” She tilted her phone at him. “Wait, let me get a picture of you. I like how you look like a tough guy.”

“That’s cuz I am,” Jaden said. He snatched the phone from her. “Longer arm.”

Hugging her close, he pointed the phone at them. “Say cheese.”

“Take another one,” Ella said. She took a step up on the stairs and tipped on her toes, kissing him.

He dutifully took several more selfies with her, then handed her camera back. “Ready?”

“Oh, stand up there and do a tough guy pose,” Ella said. “Wipe your hair over your eyes.”

Snap, snap.

“How about another one? Unbutton your shirt.”

He loosened the top two buttons of his shirt, feeling like a celebrity. This Ella character was so fun and spontaneous, and she was really into him.

“Mister, please, can you take a picture with me?” A woman with a Japanese accent broke into his thoughts. Her friends bounced and squealed. “Is he a real K-Pop star?”

Did he just win a lottery and wake up a rock star? Too bad the guys at the frat couldn’t see him now, surrounded by legions of adoring fans.

“Me, too.” Another woman handed her phone to him. “Can you autograph my tank top?”

He gladly obliged, flexing his muscles, hugging and mugging with the women of the world, right there on the steps of the International House.

“Hey, isn’t he the goalie who effed up the game?” a man called out. “What’s his name, Sloup?”

Uh oh. Not good. Ella hadn’t caught on yet, her fingers flying over her virtual keyboard, busily texting or posting to social media.

“Yeah, that’s the dude,” another man said. “Broke our winning streak.”

“No, no speak English,” Jaden said, then mixed it up with some unintelligible sound.

“Come on.” He laced his fingers around Ella’s hand and pulled her from the gathering crowd. “Let’s go eat. I have no idea why those guys think I’m a soccer player.”

“I know,” she chirped bouncily.

“You do? How?”

“Easy! You forgot your glasses.”

“What a workout,” Ella said, loosening her hair. She unstrapped her hip-hop ankle high dance shoes and wiggled her toes. She and Tricia had signed up for a benefit at Berkeley’s People’s Park to raise money for a community feeding program. The crowning act would be a dance contest where people bid for a date with the hottest dancers.

“I’m dog tired.” Tricia wiped the sweat on her forehead. She fist bumped a guy from one of the bands and stepped off the makeshift wooden stage. “Wonder who’s going to bid for us?”

The audience hooted and cheered, sprinkling the air with wolf-whistles and cat calls, as the announcers reminded the bidders of their names.

“You made sure Jaden will be here, right? I mean, he’s not busy is he?” Ella scanned the milling crowd.

“There’s a game at Edwards stadium. He might be a little late.”

“Late? Are you telling me he’d rather watch soccer?” Ella felt her heart constrict. This explained why Jaden hadn’t texted her this morning, breaking their routine.

Tricia pulled a can of mango juice from the ice chest and handed it to her. “Chill, he’ll be here.”

“But if he doesn’t outbid the rest of the guys …” Ella looked away from the group of Delta Upsilon Mu guys leering at her. “Do you think I’m too forward? Maybe Korean guys don’t like aggressive girls.”

Tricia gestured to a log bench in the shade. “Maybe you shouldn’t think of him as a Korean guy.”

“What if he’s not into me?” Ella pushed the tab and took a long swallow of the juice.

On stage, a brightly arrayed Latin jazz dance trio shook to the conga.

“You worry too much.” Tricia played with her smartphone. “Looks like the Bears are up by a goal.”

“Humph. I don’t care.” Ella dabbed the sweat from her face. “Sports is so boring. They’re all variations of the same thing, moving a stupid little ball up and down the field. Did you know my psychology professor says it’s a metaphor for sex? The goal lines or basket or net is the female, and the ball or puck is the male.”