Reckless (Bertoli Crime Family #2) (43 page)

I'm stunned. Getting a slot for working the sidelines of a football game is considered a privilege that only best training students get. Almost all of them are seniors or grad students, and for me, a junior, to be asked is surprising. "Uh, you got the right person, Coach? I'm just a junior."

“You were personally requested by Coach Bainridge. Apparently you did something right with Duncan."

What the hell? "Really?"

Coach smiles and kicks his feet up on the desk. "In my opinion, you've gotten under Duncan's skin, and in a good way. I've never seen him work this hard, and according to what the football coaches tell me, he's been doing the same during practice."

"Gotten under
his
skin," I repeat, thinking about how much Duncan's gotten under
my
skin. From insisting on working out shirtless unless we were doing squats or lying down for bench presses, to the near constant innuendo he's worked into almost every conversation.

He's still been coming in to get his elbow and his wrists wrapped before every practice, and he's insisted that I be the one to do it. It's benefited me in some ways though, I get to pour out my frustrations into the weight room more easily. “Coulda’ fooled me. If you ask me, he seems to enjoy attempting to torment me.”

“Well, whatever the case, you’ve had a positive effect on him, and everyone sees it. And don't lie to yourself — you’ve seemed to gain some confidence and work harder than ever yourself."

"Thanks, I think," I say, but I'm pleased either way. It was hard work, but I'm proud that Coach Taylor noticed my effort. “I had to push myself just to get him off his lazy ass."

"Uh-huh," Coach sarcastically says, not believing a bit of it. "Carrie, a hint. I've been in this game longer than you've been alive, and I won't lie to you, I've had more than a few workouts fueled by some attractive woman nearby. But don't let it go deeper than that with Duncan, okay? I know your father or older brother, but... he's bad news. He’s a man’s man on the field, but he’s got some growing up to do off of it.”

I take a deep breath, knowing he’s trying his best to be friendly and look out for me, he does that from time to time. “So I’ve noticed — you don’t have to worry about me. I appreciate the responsibility, though.”

“Don’t thank anyone just yet… it’s not going to be a walk in the park. The football coaches want Duncan happy and playing hard, so if he wants you on the sidelines, well, that’s probably where you’ll be. Make sure you’re ready to put up with his shit for the whole season.”

Football. Big opportunities lay with people who got slots to work the sidelines for football. But at the same time, I had to be careful not to get tagged as Duncan's next conquest, the next in his long line of
Touchdowns
.

Still, I couldn't pass up the chance. “I’m ready, coach. When do I need to be here?"

"The players have to report at nine tomorrow morning. We start getting ready at eight. You get tagged with a lot of grunt work, Carrie. Setting up water stations, towels, crap like that. We start tape ups at eleven, a guy like Duncan'll get his closer to game time, say noon or so, so I'll pull you to the stadium training room then. Game time is actually the easiest."

"Oh, that'll be nice," I say. "I've never seen a game in the stadium before. Too busy with my bookwork."

"Well, hold onto your hat, Carrie. Because tomorrow, you get to see your first game."

* * *

I
'm
nervous as the players start filing in for the game, coming off the team bus. Western does things slightly old-school, in that even for home games the team rents a hotel and everyone comes in on a chartered bus, supposedly to get everyone's mind in the right place. I've already been working for ninety minutes, setting up the sidelines. Towels, tape, ice packs, and of course the emergency kit, although if there is anything too serious, the ambulance crew from University Hospital takes over.

"Hey PAT," one of the players, Vonnie James, greets me as he gets off the bus. "Hope you’re ready."

"Pat?" I ask myself, trying to figure out why he'd call that. I mean, he doesn't know me that well.

“What’s up, PAT," another player greets me, and his buddies chuckle. I'm flustered, and start to feel embarrassed when I see Jason Simmons, the head intern, come by.

"Hey, Jason?"

Jason's a nice guy, and for a while as a freshman I had a bit of a crush on him. He's engaged to be married after he graduates next May, and my crush faded last year anyway. "Yo, what's up Car?”

Calling me 'Car' instead of Carrie is one of the ways my crush on Jason faded away. It’s stupid and I hate it, but ah well. "Hey, about three or four of the guys have called me Pat. What the hell’s that about?”

Jason grimaces. "They're not calling you Pat, but PAT, as in Point After Touchdown," Jason says as he forces out his words. "It's gone around the team, they know Duncan's been gunning for you. They call every girl he's got his eyes on
PAT
."

"They... what?" I ask, getting angrier as I listen. "They think I'm some sort of what, next booty call?"

“Yes,” Jason admits. "I'm not saying I agree with them, just... they're jocks, they're gonna talk."

"Oh, I'll give them something to talk about," I growl, turning on a heel and marching back to the stadium area. I know there's nothing I can do about it until I get a chance to talk to Duncan, but it still pisses me off. It pisses me off so much, in fact, that I have to be tapped on the shoulder to go back to the training room, where I find Duncan waiting for me.

“About time,” he taunts as soon as I come in. "Were the water bottles a little low on ice or something?"

"Shut up," I hiss, grabbing my scissors and tape. Duncan doesn't need a lot, the tape is mostly there to minimize the small chance he's got of hyperextension after the surgery, and it doesn't take me long. "In fact, just sit there and don’t even speak to me. Let me finish and go play your stupid fucking game."

"Whoa, whoa, what's got your panties in a bunch?” Duncan asks, and I stop, looking up into his eyes. There's a hint of the guy I sometimes saw during our workouts, when it was just the two of us and there was nobody else around. A real guy, not the arrogant cocksure asshole he is around nearly everyone else.

"They're calling me PAT," I say, with a sigh. "I didn't agree to this because I want to play Touchdown with you."

Duncan nods, and pats me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of those idiots. I didn't tell Coach to have you here because of that. I did it because you do a good job helping me get ready to play. Now, can we do the wrists, or are you going to leave the tape so tight I'll lose my thumbs tomorrow?"

I can't help it, I give him a little grin at his little joke, and finish him up quickly. He hops off of the table to go back down the hall to the locker room. As he does, he pauses and grabs my arm, pulling me in and kissing me. His lips are amazing, and despite myself, I'm practically moaning in lust as his tongue finds mine, and we grow closer before I realize what the hell I'm doing, and push him away. "Asshole!"

"Yeah, I've been called that too," Duncan says with a chuckle as he leaves the training room, whistling to himself.

After he leaves, I notice that we weren't alone, and that Chelsea Brown is still in the training room, trying to look like she hadn’t just seen something she wasn't supposed to. “What?”

"Nothin'," Chelsea says, grabbing the last of her towels and going to the door. At the door she pauses, and turns around. "Actually, there is something. If you just want him to rock your world, then go on with your bad self, but don’t get emotional involved. That way you don’t get upset when you’re his next cut-off."

“His what?" I ask, curious despite myself. A minute ago, I was hot as hell, ready to jump Duncan's body. Now I was in chills, but couldn't stop my questions short of being smacked in the head.

"His cut-off. He grows bored pretty easily and moves on — that man's a dog. If you want to ride that cowboy, go ahead, but make sure your heart's got bulletproof armor."

I nod, and hear an announcement over the stadium PA. "We need to get to field level," I say. "Come on, it's game time. And Chels?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks for the heads up."

We get up to the field, and I'm pretty busy as the last of the pre-game festivities wrap up. Western's opponent looks pretty overmatched on paper, and I find out from listening to the scuttlebutt on the sidelines that they are. Most big schools like Western schedule a 'tune-up' game at the beginning of the season.

So it's with no surprise as I watch Duncan put on a clinic, catching three touchdown passes and getting over a hundred yards receiving. Western dominated the entire game, and when the clock ticked off the final score, the scoreboard read 77-6. A slaughter.

Watching Duncan put on a show was like watching poetry in motion, savage, hypnotic poetry that aroused your spirit for battle... and I had to admit at the time, my spirit for passion. I was hard pressed to keep my mind on my duties during the game, especially when he tips me a wink during the fourth quarter.
Damn him.

I’m cleaning up the water tables when I feel a presence behind me, and I turn around to see Duncan standing there, his uniform soaked through in spots, turning the bright green home jerseys to nearly black. "Hey... how was your first game?"

"Interesting," I say, trying my best to not get angry. I can still feel his lips on mine from before, and inside, a little voice that doesn't get to talk much says it wants more. "You played well."

“Against these scrubs? They'd lose to our second stringers, but yeah, it was fun," Duncan says, glancing back at the rapidly diminishing stands behind him. "Whew, that’s the best part though, but it's always sad to see them go."

"What's that?" I ask, intrigued even though I don't want to be. "The crowd?"

He nods, then shrugs. His eyes kind of open wide, and I see something that I've never seen in him before. He's showing me something about himself, something that I doubt few people have ever seen. "There's something about being out there, knowing that today there were eighty thousand people here, and there were times today when I could feel their eyes on me. They got to see me, who I am, making my name. It's a powerful feeling. I felt... complete."

"Is that why you do it?" I ask. “Just for the fame?”

Duncan stops, his eyes and face clouding over as he recovers his normal cocky bravado. Instead of answering, he smirks and takes my hand. "There's a party over at a house off campus," he says. "I was thinking, since you know you helped me so much over the summer and all, maybe I’d take you.”

"You're inviting me to a party?" I ask, and despite my misgivings, I'm flattered. But I won’t be a PAT, I have more self respect than that. Somewhere, I find the resolve inside me to pull my hand from his. "Sorry, maybe another time. When I'm not some trophy to celebrate a win."

Duncan's face falls for a moment, before regaining himself. He comes close, and I can't move for some reason, my feet are frozen to the ground as he strokes a thumb down my cheek. He leans in, and his warm breath sends shivers down my spine as he whispers in my ear. "Oh no Carrie, you're not just some trophy, or a PAT. You’ll see.”

He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, and I shiver again. Oh God he's so sexy, and his words... is there any truth to them? "Have a good evening, Carrie. I'll see you Monday."

* * *

I
'm
in my dorm room, struggling to try and study after the game. I can't get Duncan's words out of my head, and finally, after rereading the introduction to the general physical properties of organic compounds four times, I slam my book shut, groaning in frustration.

"Seriously?" I mutter to myself. "One kiss, a touch, and a whispered promise, and he’s got you right where he wants you. Get your shit together, Carrie."

But there's nothing wrong with a little fantasy
, a voice in my head whispers, and I know that voice. It's the same voice that came to life earlier today when his lips found mine, and his large, powerful hands pulled me closer to him...