Dirty Player_A Football Romance Read online

  I smiled. “I’m not famous. My dad isn’t even famous.”

  “He is to some people. He is to me. People should pay more attention to politics. This stuff is important. Anyway, I’m just giving you a compliment.”

  “I know. Thank you. But you shouldn’t have.”

  “And now you can come and watch me play baseball.”

  “I’ve come to watch you before,” I said.

  “I know. But it’s different now. You’re a part of the school. You can watch all my games. Even my training. There is a specific spot in the stands where you will get the best view of the field. I’ll show it to you the next time that we’re out there. You won’t regret it.”

  I had no idea why he thought that would be a good idea. I didn’t even really like baseball, although I didn’t tell him that. Also, he wasn’t even that good at it. He was okay, but he wasn’t the star or anything. I don’t think he realized it, though. I had a feeling he thought the team would fall apart without him. There was something sweet and annoying about his confidence. I couldn’t decide which I thought it was. He talked all the way until we got to the office, talking about why he thought it was a good thing that I was at the school. Everything he said was basically an echo of what I had heard from my own father. Sometimes I wondered if he even had a thought of his own. Everything he said matched my father’s words.

  “Okay,” he said, looking down at me. “This is it, then. Good luck on your first day. I’ll see you soon. You’ll be fine. I love you.”

  I smiled up at him. He was being so nice to me, so why then was I so annoyed with him? Why did I wish that he wasn’t there? I knew why. I wasn’t in love with him. I knew it the moment I heard him tell me that he loved me. This time I didn’t say it back. I hoped he thought it was just because I was too nervous. I waved at him and walked into the office.

  I spent the next half an hour with the dean as he ran through my schedule and gushed about how happy he was to have me in the college. I felt annoyed again, and once again I forced myself to smile. I knew that not everyone got a meeting with the dean and I didn’t know why I had to be so different. I hated it when people treated my family like they were royalty. There was nothing special about us. My father would be upset if he knew that I was having these thoughts. We’d already had the discussion before.

  “So what? Just because other people are trying to get in, doesn’t mean you can’t. Also, I worked hard to get to where I am. I’m not well known for no reason, Candice. I’m well known because of what I do and what I have done to get to where I am. If I can get my daughter into the finest college in the country, then there is nothing wrong with that. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to do that? Aren’t you happy that you are going there?”

  I wasn’t, not really. But I didn’t want to fight anymore. So I told him that I was just being difficult and that I really was grateful for everything. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice that I didn’t really mean it.

  I thanked the dean and made my way to my first class. He had given me a small map explaining to me where I had to go. I found it easily and quickly made my way to the back of the class before it filled up. I didn’t want anyone to notice me.

  A petite girl with long dark hair sat next to me. She smiled at me but didn’t seem to recognize me, and I immediately felt hope wash over me. On the other side of me was a good-looking guy who looked like he spent more time on his hair than anything else. Even while the teacher spoke, I noticed his hands kept moving towards his head, making sure that his hair was still in position. The class was good, and the lesson was interesting. More interesting than I thought it was going to be. Mostly, nobody seemed to notice me. Afterwards, I made my way to my second class, and then to my third. In my third class, the teacher spotted me and decided to make me stand up in front of everyone while he introduced me. My cheeks had burned, and I had looked towards my feet to avoid all the eyes that had glared my way. I heard them whispering as I made my way back to my table. Why couldn’t my father just be like everyone else’s? He was a hardworking man with an impressive career, but sometimes I just wished he was a plumber or an accountant. Someone just as important but in a completely different way.

  The classes had gone well, for the most part, but as I made my way back to my dorm, I realized that not one person had come up to talk to me. I had never been good at making friends before, but I figured that someone would at least come and welcome to the school. They must’ve known that I would’ve been nervous. I felt annoyed at that. But, as with everything in my life, I didn’t need anyone but myself. I would prove to them that I was worthy of being in the school. If there was one thing, I had learned from my father it was that hard work got you places, and I was more than prepared to put that hard work in. I would just have to ignore the looks that came my way. I was used to them. Soon, people would get used to me.

  My phone beeped, and I saw that I had a message from Derek. He had been called into an emergency meeting with the coach. Some pep talk that was compulsory, and he couldn’t meet up with me like he wanted to. I replied back and told him that it was fine. I said I was tired anyway and that I had a lot of work to get through. I have to catch up with everyone, so busy, and so tired. Don’t worry, I’ll see you tomorrow, I typed back. I felt guilty the moment I sent the message. I wasn’t tired at all. I just felt like being alone.

  I looked in the little mirror and sighed. I didn’t even look much like my photo from the magazine anymore. But a haircut could only change a person so much. I was my father’s daughter, but I was also my own person. I felt more determined than ever to make something of myself.

  Chapter Three

  Dominic

  The girl from the bar found me at school. I was walking in with Tim when she came bounding over. She started telling Tim how I was not interested in sitting with her at the bar, and then she started flirting with him as if he was much more interesting to her suddenly.

  “You look good today,” she said to Tim.

  “Uh, thank you,” Tim said and looked at her in surprise.

  “Hi, Penny,” I said.

  “Hi,” she said and turned away from me to look at Tim. “So, Tim, any chance you want to get a drink later this week?”

  “Uh, sure,” he said although I could see that he wasn’t sure at all.

  “Great. Here’s my number,” she said and handed him a piece of paper. I wanted to ask her how on earth she already had her number on a piece of paper for him. Had she planned to give it to him or did she always walk around with her number?

  When she walked away, Tim looked at me and burst out laughing.

  “Dude! She’s so into you,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows. “Uh, I think you’ll find she was hitting on you, not me. Aren’t you the one with her phone number?”

  “Yeah, but the whole time she kept checking to see what your reaction was. She isn’t interested in me at all. She was just trying to make you jealous. So, were you jealous?”

  I laughed. “No. That only made it worse. Did she really think I would be interested now that she hit on my best friend?”

  Tim chuckled. “You can’t blame her for trying. I’m pretty impressed.”

  “You should totally call her up and ask her out. See what happens,” I said.

  “Poor girl will run a mile. I doubt she’s expecting me to phone her. I think she’s just hoping that you will be jealous enough to take that number from me. Hey, where are you going? Class is this way.”

  “I know. But Professor Jackson asked me to come and see him this morning. No idea why.”

  “Professor Jackson? Are you in trouble?”

  “I hope not. Don’t know what I could’ve done, though.”

  “Yeah, you’re one of his favorites. I sincerely doubt you’re in trouble. Okay, well, I’ll see you later then. Practice later?”

  “For sure. See you then.”

  I made my way to Professor Jackson’s classroom. I had always liked him as a teacher. I wasn’t sur
e if Tim was right about me being one of his favorites, but he was definitely one of mine. I knew he liked me, but that was because I actually put in the work unlike some of the other guys in the class. Sometimes I wondered why people came to college in the first place. All they cared about was partying and having fun. Nobody really seemed to want to work, and then they got upset when they didn’t get good grades. I was only liked because I was a hard worker, and there were definitely very few of those around campus. I knocked on the door, and he called for me to come in.

  Professor Jackson always made me chuckle. He was a young guy, not all that much older than the rest of the students, but he gave off the impression of being much older. He’d told us to call him Geoffrey many times, but none of us could do it. He’d always be Professor Jackson to us. Today he was wearing a tweed jacket that looked like something my grandfather would’ve worn. It suited him, though. I wondered what he would’ve looked like as a teenager. It was something I just couldn’t picture. To me, he would always be this older wiser man who walked around in tweed jackets and brown loafers. He smiled when he saw me and gestured for me to take a seat. His smile made me think that I hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “Dominic, thanks for coming in,” he said.

  “No problem. Everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine. How’s the football going?” he asked. He always asked me about football even though it was clear he didn’t know much about it at all. But whenever he saw me, he always asked. And just the same I always asked him what he was reading.

  “Going good. I think the team is pretty strong this year. I hope so at least.”

  “You still have those NFL aspirations?” he asked.

  “Absolutely! That’s the aim.”

  He chuckled. “Well, good for you my boy. You have a lot of talent in other areas, but I know better not to push a student that so clearly wants to go a certain way in life. Nevertheless, I’m glad that you are still studying hard and trying to get good grades. That says a lot for you.”

  “Thank you. So, what are you reading?”

  “Oh, I found an old Ernest Hemingway book. Not a popular one. I think it was unedited or something. Selling for a fortune, but I found one at an old tucked away bookstore. I always say that those bookstores are the best places to go. I prefer my books as hand-me-downs anyway. I like to know that they have been loved and treasured,” he said. He had a faraway look on his face, like he always did when he talked about books. Then, when he realized I was still there, he quickly shook his head. “Sorry, I get carried away. Now, the reason I asked you in today has nothing to do with books or football. I asked you to come by because of the class project.”

  I frowned. “Yeah? All okay?”

  “Yes. I know I put you with Sam, but I’ve decided to do some reshuffling and instead put you with the new girl. I’m not sure if you’ve met her yet? Lovely young thing. Although I think today might be her first day, actually. I met her when she came in to meet with the dean a few weeks ago.”

  “New girl?” I said and shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Who is she?”

  “Candice. Goodness, I forgot her surname. Something with a B. Her father is some well-known guy around town. Anyway, I thought you’d be the best partner for her. She’s a smart girl who is grades above her peers, between you and me, of course. Don’t let the others know this. I don’t want to put a spotlight on her. I think it would be nice for the two of you to work together. I have always thought that you were years above everyone too. And it will be nice for her to have someone like you helping her. It’s not always easy being the new.”

  I didn’t mind so much. Sam was my friend, but he wasn’t the best person to work with on school projects. He was always so negative and didn’t want to put in as much effort as I did. I was always the one that ended up doing all the work. I hadn’t even wanted to be with Sam in the first place, but he had immediately volunteered, and the professor had agreed. Sam probably knew that I would do more work than him. He wasn’t going to be happy when he found out that he had been taken off my team.

  “Sure, sounds great. What’s Sam going to do then?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about him. I have reshuffled things around. I just wanted to put Riley in with you.”

  “Cool. Well, that works for me. When do I meet her?”

  “She’s on her way here now actually. I thought it would be best if the two of you met before class. I wanted to talk to you first, though. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Not at all. Not at all,” I said and hoped that she’d be better than Sam.

  Just then, I heard a small knock on the door, and when Professor Jackson told her to come in, I turned around to see who my new partner was going to be. I had no idea what to expect, but the vision that walked in was not the sort of girl that my mind had conjured up. This girl was beautiful. She reminded me of a movie star from the forties or fifties. Like a young Bridgette Bardot. Only her brightly dyed red hair gave away that she was not from the past. The mixture of old and new looked good on her, and I couldn’t imagine how I hadn’t seen her yet. This was a much better choice than Sam. Sam, for all his positive attributes, was not someone I really wanted to spend my time looking at. I realized I was staring and quickly gulped and stuck out my hand.

  “Uh, hi. I’m Dominic,” I said. My voice seemed unusual to me. Did I always sound so unsure of myself? Where had my confidence disappeared to? I generally didn’t have a problem when it came to talking to pretty women before. I wasn’t the overly cocky type, but I also wasn’t usually as much of a blithering idiot. I wondered if Professor Jackson could see how hopeless I was acting.

  She smiled, and the transformation was incredible. She went from beautiful to almost unearthly when she smiled. How could someone this beautiful be standing in front of me, shaking my hand? I really needed to get a hold of myself. I could not be making a very good first impression.

  “Hi, Dominic; I’m Candice. Hi, Professor Jackson. Good to see you again,” she smiled and I found myself smiling along with her even though she was smiling at the professor, and not me.

  “Candice, thanks for joining. Well, this is your new partner on the project I told you about. I thought it would be best if the two of you met face to face before class. I didn’t want to throw you in the deep end.”

  “Oh thank you,” she said to the professor and then she looked at me. “It was nice of you to switch to do the project with me. I appreciate it. I hope it’s not too much of a problem.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I said and chuckled. “I was paired with Sam before. Not sure if you’ve met him yet, but he’s not the most positive guy you’ll ever meet. He would’ve basically spent the whole time complaining about the project while I did most of the work.”

  Professor Jackson laughed. “You hit the nail on the head there. Sam is a good kid, but boy have I never met someone that likes to complain as much as he does. You did Dominic here a favor by joining the class. And, for a change, it will be nice to see Sam actually doing his own work.”

  “Oops, sorry. I didn’t mean to throw Sam under the bus like that.”

  “Don’t be silly. It’s clear as day that the boy does not work.”

  I laughed. “That’s true. Well, uh, Candice, as you can see, I’m happy to work with you.”

  “Oh, I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “It’s always a little nerve-wracking when you come in so late. Everyone has already formed groups. So this is nice.”

  We made some small talk about the project and the class, and I wondered how I was going to get any work done with someone like her to look at. Tim was going to have a field day when he saw her too. There was just something so different about her. Also, something so familiar.

  “Have we met before?” I asked her. It would be strange for me to have met someone like her and then forgotten about her. How could I forget someone as beautiful as she was? But she just seemed so familiar to me. I had thought so from the moment she walked in. At first, I
just thought she looked like someone from a movie I’d seen, but the more she talked, the more I got the feeling that I had met her before.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “Maybe I just have one of those faces.”

  “Hmm, I can’t place it, but I could swear I’ve seen you before. Maybe you just look like an actress or something. Are you famous?” I said and chuckled.

  For some reason, my question seemed to make her nervous. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair before chuckling back. “Not that I know of,” she said. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “But, you know, come to think of it, you actually do look really familiar to me too. I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

  “And I’m definitely not famous,” I said and laughed.

  I realized that the two of us were talking as though Professor Jackson were not even in the room, so I quickly changed the subject back to the project.

  “So, should we set some dates to meet up regularly for the project?” I said. “I think we’re going to have to do some good planning before we get started. I already have some ideas to run by you.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Professor Jackson said. “This project is going to make up most of your grade this semester, so I want everyone to work hard on them.”

  “I’m just going to have to find time around my practice schedule. Do you do any sport that we need to work around?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “None at all. So you just let me know what works best for you. I can then work around whatever schedule you have. Uh, would you like my phone number?”

  For some reason, I felt the heat rising to my face as she said it. Idiot! I berated myself. It wasn’t like she was giving me her number because she wanted to go on a date. Although, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a boyfriend. So much for not being interested in girls, I thought as I handed her my number and got hers in exchange. We thanked the professor and walked out, ready to start the rest of our day.

  “It was nice meeting you,” I said as we stepped out.