Rooster: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (28 page)

“Fear is good, it helps protect us.”

“That’s what I thought for a long time. You know what I realize it does now?”

“What?”

“Takes the things away from us that we should have.”

“And what do you want?”

Alex’s eyes twinkle as though I’ve asked the key question.

“The same as everyone else. The same as you.”

“I’m not answering that question for you.”

“I want to find my place.”

“That sounds way too philosophical for a man that got a 1.6 GPA.”

“I was misunderstood.”

“Clearly.”

“Why do you dislike me so much?”

“I don’t dislike you, I just don’t like you.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Of course. In order to dislike you, I have to have liked you first.”

“That sounds about right for a girl with a 4.0 GPA.”

“I was clearly very well understood.”

Alex leans back in his chair to contemplate me. Any bluer, those eyes would pass as gemstones. Hundreds of years ago, people would think this man was a God, I suppose not much has changed. God’s are often arrogant, aloof people, and they are often not liked at all.

I fold my arms and Alex folds his in a gesture that looks anything but natural. I tilt my head, he tilts his, I raise my eyebrows, he raises his. An impasse.

“Are you sure you still want to place that bet?”

“I want to raise it.”

“This ought to be good.”

“You will not only have changed your opinion of me, you’ll have slept with me.”

I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. Just when I thought he couldn’t get any more arrogant. My mouth hangs open in genuine shock.

“I already told you I don’t like overly confident men.”

“It’s a good job I’m meek then.”

Another head tilt. An unfold and refold of our arms.

“I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

“That’s why I told you not to bring the notepad.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you.”

I can’t help but laugh. Shake my head and laugh.

“Boat or helicopter?”

Is this the beginning of the worst decision of my life. If he can convince me he’s a good person, or even a person of any substance at all, It’ll be like trying to convince me the world is flat. That money is as good as mine. Even if I sleep with him, there is no chance he’ll be able to make me change my opinion of him. Zero chance. Nada. Nil. Zip. Zilcheramo.

“I hope you’ve got your checkbook here.”

“I haven’t told you my stake yet.”

“Does it matter?”

“You might begin to realize I’m serious.”

“Go on, humor me.”

“You win, I retire.”

“Being right means that much to you?”

Alex shakes his head. “Finding my place.”

“You’re awfully convinced of yourself.”

“Confident.”

“A fool rushes in.”

“Now you have your headline.”

I have to pause before I respond. I have to think carefully, divide the emotional from the sensible, the rational from the irrational. I have to weigh it all up in the blink of a pair of one-in-a-million gemstone eyes. Fuck it. I’m not that rosy cheeked undergrad anymore. I’m not that college virgin with big brown eyes and a heavy heart because a certain someone wouldn’t look her way, and I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.

I let my eyes find his and I take care to form the words without faltering.

“So, let’s go and find that story.”

Alex

It takes two hours for Lucy to get ready. That’s two hours to pack a bag, prepare herself for the next few hours, prepare herself mentally, perhaps, for me, and come back to where I’ve been sat, calmly waiting for her.

I’m calm because I know I’ve won. Lucy looks anything but calm as she looks at the boat, looks at the sea beyond and then looks at me.

“I thought you had a yacht.”

“I never told you I had a yacht.”

“It’s much smaller than I expected, Alex. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Just wait until you feel it.”

She’s watching it bob up and down as the waves lilt against the rock at the side of the island, carried there by the late morning breeze.

“Is it safe?”

“Come on, Lucy. I know you’re a city girl, but you must have been on a boat before.”

“You’ve got the real one moored up on some deserted beach island right?”

“You’re changing your mind.”

Lucy shakes her head, too stubborn to refuse now that there’s a chance she might have to show weakness. I like that about her, it means she’s not going to give up easily.

“So, where are you taking me?”

“Get in and I’ll show you.”

It makes us both laugh watching Lucy take tentative steps towards the edge of the wooden jetty, before stepping carefully onto the boat, stumbling a little before holding on, righting herself and finally sitting down.

“You’re a natural.”

“Born to sail.”

I watch her sit there for a while, a vest top on to let her shoulders breathe, glowing lightly in the hazy sun.

“What?”

“This is supposed to be relaxing.”

“I am relaxed.”

“You look about as relaxed as a death row inmate.”

“It’s my natural disposition.”

“You like to be cautious?”

“You can never be too careful.”

“Is this a sensible idea then? The middle of nowhere with a complete stranger?”

“I was hoping you might know the way.”

“I already told you I’m a little bit lost.”

“Then maybe we ought to get back to steadier ground.”

“I knew you’d come around.”

She eyes me suspiciously as I get aboard.

“Do you ever wear clothes?”

“You can ask me that again when you’ve got a better idea.”

“I told you that isn’t going to happen.”

“We’ll see.”

The boat isn’t small at all, Lucy’s just joking around to goad me. It’s a beast of a machine I bought new that has two decks, a covered area underneath with a kitchen and space to chill out and sleep in, and a space up top for sunbathing. It’s capable of hitting top speeds of 90mph, but I rarely open it up. I take it out from time to time to shallow waters near some of the smaller rocky outcrops that surround the island, and let it drift and bob about under the sun, or I take it to the secret beach about twenty minutes cruising time from here, that cost me almost as much as the island I’ve built my home on. I haven’t decided what we’ll do today, but I’ve been saving that beach for someone special, so if Lucy comes around, and she allows herself to get lucky, that’s exactly where we’ll be heading. No point in jacking it to the max straight away, though, I’ve got to let her work for it a little bit first, especially now I know she’s definitely interested.

What kind of hotshot lothario would I be if I didn’t make a game of it? Where would the fun lie in that?

She’s been quiet for a while, staring out at the big blue expanse of sea beyond us, nothing but the sound of the birds in the sky above and the put-put-put of the diesel motor to fill the gaps in conversation.

From time to time I look over to her idling away peacefully, the softness of her beautiful face better defined than I remember it, even more attractive.

I’m not lying when I say I spent four years at LSU frozen by a fear of failure, which led to me missing out on some of the things that I only realized I actually wanted, when it was already too late to get them. From the outside I was a king, which was amazing from the inside too, after all, a king is a fucking king, no matter how you look at it, but I feel so disconnected with the person I used to be, and this five years in the wilderness has given me a lot of time to think that what I did back then - all those parties, all that fucking - was more about doing what other people expected of me that what I truly wanted myself.

And Lucy was the one that got away. Alright, she was the one that never knew she was the one, that was never in the net in the first place, but it’s still the same. I don’t remember half of the girl’s names I was with a college, but I do pretty much remember every game that Lucy came to, where she sat, what she wore, how fucking incredible her smile was, when she chose to give it.

That’s the kind of shit that you can’t admit in college, whichever jerk jock you are, and especially not as the king of the football team. I was meant to fuck cheerleaders and throw balls, and I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, which is why I got so good at it but I wish I’d done more.

I cut the motor, let the boat drift a little, and drop the anchor when the water stills. Lucy has the look in her eyes that tells me she’s spent the parts of the journey she hasn’t been looking over the side of the boat, staring at my ass.

“This it?”

“Welcome to paradise.”

There is a large rock of nothing to one side, too shallow at the edges to get too close to, and nothing much else beyond that.

“How did we end up here?”

“Now come on, you haven’t been sleeping have you?”

“Nine years ago, you moved from Pittsburgh to Louisiana on a football scholarship to study at LSU.”

“You’ve got your work face on.”

“I thought you were bringing me to your office.”

“You need to learn to relax a little bit more.”

“I’m here to write a story.”

“There won’t be one if you don’t let yourself experience one.”

“I’m not the subject, I keep reminding you.”

“Not yet you’re not.”

“I told you, I’m not into games.”

“I’m going to be smiling when you admit you were wrong.”

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Now is definitely the right time to take my vest top off. I’m not conceited, certainly not in the way Lucy and the rest of the country accuse me of being, and I’m much more aware than everyone gives me credit for. I take my top off to see how Lucy reacts, because this is a game and it makes me smile watching her try not to look at something she clearly wants to.

“You’re not hot in that?”

“No.”

“Sun can be strong here, you’d look good with a tan.”

“I wouldn’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

“You’d have slept with me six years ago.”

Lucy rolls her eyes. “I’m glad I was sensible enough not to make that mistake.”

Take her to the edge and then cool off. Show her what she’s missing out on, offer it to her point blank, call her bluff and then take it away again until she begs me to give it back. That’s how this is going to work, because it’ll make her want it more.

What’s better than resisting temptation because you’re being defiant, thinking you’ve lost the opportunity to get it because of your inability to admit your desire and then allowing yourself to get it?

Her eyes are going to go so wide when I slide my dick inside her. I can feel it twitching just looking at her. And this isn’t just getting something I feel like I missed out on, or maybe it is, and I won’t know until the moment it happens, but right now, it kind of feels more important than that. I’ve learned to trust my instincts a lot over my life, it’s how I got to where I am now, and right now, instincts are screaming at me with a voice that’s cutting through me like raw electricity.

I do it because it’s the moment, and it’s fun, and I want to see the look on her face. I loop my thumbs into my board shorts and go to pull them down.

“You don’t mind, do you? It’s just that I like to get naked out here.”

Lucy’s hand is up into the air quicker than a traffic cop, and I pause for a moment, bent over towards her slightly, my shorts already half way down my ass and out of her line of sight until she realizes I’m joking.

“Let’s just keep this clean shall we?”

I straighten back up. “Alright. I hope you brought your bikini, though.”

“I didn’t realize that was essential office wear.”

“It is out here.”

I dump myself into one of the seats across from her.

“Are you always this excited?”

“I don’t get guests all that often.”

“I can see how much you like the solitude.”

“Come on, this place is beautiful. Doesn’t it remind you of Louisiana?”

“I had a shit time at college, I’d prefer not to think about it.”

“Everyone has a shit time at college.”

“Everyone except the prom king and the captain of the football team.”

“I had to study too.”

“I can see how valuable that became for you in later life.”

“You know, we haven’t seen each other for over five years, but it feels like it could have only been yesterday seeing you up in the stands watching the game, that goofy mountain dew hat crammed onto your head, you used to hide your face with, your ears sticking out.”