Dirty Player_A Football Romance Page 21

  I got back to the school, parked the car, and made my way to my first class of the day. It was Professor Jackson’s class, and I was looking forward to seeing Dominic. I had hated going to that class without him. Dominic was already there, and when I went to sit next to him at the back of the class, the two of us immediately held hands. During class, his hands made their way to my leg, and I battled to concentrate as his hand moved up and down. I almost groaned out loud at one stage and had to shake myself off and remind myself that I was in public. It just felt so good to see him again. He wrote in his notebook and moved it over for me to read.

  I wish we weren’t in class, the note said.

  I chuckled. I got out my pen and wrote back.

  Let’s go back to your dorm after this.

  He read the note, and then leaned over and whispered to me. “I have practice after class, but I need to be with you.”

  “We’ll be quick,” I whispered back.

  He smiled and squeezed my hand, and I willed the time to hurry up. I needed to get out of there and get him into bed before I went completely crazy.

  When class was over, we made our way out the door before anyone else and practically ran all the way back to his dorm room. By the time we got there, we were out of breath.

  “How much time do we have?” I said.

  “Enough time,” he said and pinned me against the door. It had only been two days since we’d seen each other, but it felt like an eternity. He kissed me passionately, and my body cried out for him. A shiver ran down my spine despite the warmth of his room. We pulled our clothes off hurriedly and made our way to the bed. There was no time to waste. Although, I wasn’t sure if things would be any different even if there wasn’t football practice to go to. I was too impatient to be with him. There would be plenty of other times to slowly make love. But at that moment, I wanted him, and I wanted him now. I couldn’t wait, and neither could he. He pinned me down onto the bed, kissed me hard on the mouth, and pushed himself into me. I let out the moan I had been holding in since class and wrapped my legs around him so that he could deepen inside me. He leaned down and bit my shoulder, then sucked at my neck as I groaned and writhed underneath him.

  I loved making up for lost time with Dominic. I loved the way I felt with him inside me, filling me, making me feel whole. My body responded both physically and mentally to him, and as I gripped the sides of the bed sheets in pleasure, I knew that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. Suddenly he pulled himself off me and moved down to lick me, tantalizing my most tender skin. I cried out in surprise and pleasure as I felt his warm tongue against me. Then he climbed back up and rolled me over so that I was on top of him. But we somehow miscalculated the roll and the small bed and landed up on the floor. He was the first to land, and then I followed with my head landing with a thud on his shoulder. I burst out laughing, but before I had the chance to get up, his fingers had trailed down over my stomach and found their way in between my legs. I stopped laughing and sighed happily at the feel of him inside me. Then, it was my turn to take him, and I made my way down the floor and wrapped my mouth around his shaft. He was salty in my mouth, and he seemed to harden with every flick of my tongue. I sucked one last time and then climbed on top of him. He slid inside me as if he were the missing part of my puzzle, and I rocked my hips as I hovered above him. Gently at first, and then harder and harder, driving him deeper within me. His body was warm and sweaty against mine, and we thrashed fervently against one another. At that moment, I forgot all about what had happened. I forgot about the time in jail, about my father, about Derek, about my mother’s divorce. I forgot about the fact that we were lying on the floor in Dominic’s dorm room and that he had to get to practice. I forgot everything. The only thing that I could think about was this feeling—the feeling of having Dominic inside me. And then, as we moved up and up toward our climax, we fell and crumbled together in ecstasy.

  “Who knew the floor could be this comfortable?” I said as I reached down to kiss him. Sex on the floor was definitely a first for me. It was, actually, starting to get a little uncomfortable, but at the moment it had seemed like the best place to be.

  He laughed. “You’re amazing, Candy. And if we didn’t get here quick enough, I would’ve done this to you in Professor Jackson’s class. I was getting to the point where I didn’t care who was around me.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, I felt the same way. Well, the floor of your dorm room is definitely better than in class. We’re already the talk of the school.”

  “Should we climb back into bed?” he suggested.

  “Oh, I would love to. But, uh, don’t you have to get to practice?” I asked.

  “Oh shit! Yeah, I forgot,” he said. “Look what you do to me.”

  He got up and checked the time and saw that he still had a few minutes to get there. He changed, kissed me on the mouth, and ran out. I pictured him running all the way to practice and giggled at the thought of it. I just hoped he had remembered to put his underwear back on. I looked around the room but didn’t see it. I put my own clothes back on and then lay back in his bed. I didn’t have class for a while, and I didn’t feel like leaving his room. I liked being there.

  Suddenly I got a message from Dominic telling me that he had made it just in the nick of time. I replied and told him that I was still lying in his bed. In your bed, not on the floor next to it, I added.

  He immediately replied. Stay there!

  I lay back and smiled. I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Dominic

  Two weeks later

  There was a time when I thought I would never be able to play again. I thought my name had been tarnished for good. I appreciated being on the field more than ever before, and I knew without a doubt that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had always known it, but having it almost taken away from me only made that more prevalent to me.

  I was in the locker room with the boys, getting ready to go on. I walked over to Tim and grinned at him.

  “Man, it’s good to be here,” I said.

  “Yeah, I was worried for a while. I thought we might have lost our best player. I’m not sure what we would’ve done without you. I was thinking of quitting if you got taken off.”

  “Are you serious? You’d do that?”

  “Of course I would. Why would I want to be a part of a team that isn’t fair? Thankfully it didn’t come to that, though.”

  Just then, Coach Bane walked up to us. He must’ve overheard our conversation. He was still acting a little sheepish around me, and I knew that he felt guilty for everything that had happened. I couldn’t even be too upset with him. He wasn’t the first person to have let Lionel take control, and he probably wouldn’t be the last. I still liked Coach Bane, and I was glad that I had confronted him. He seemed to look at me with a lot more respect than he did before. He smiled nervously at Tim and me. I knew how much he appreciated us keeping things to ourselves. We could’ve told the whole team about what he had done, but we hadn’t said anything. They knew that something had gone on with Candice’s father, but they had no idea that the coach was involved.

  “Thank you for playing today, boys. I’m glad to have you both on the team. And, Dominic, I’m proud of you.”

  I smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m going to play my heart out today. I don’t think anything can get in the way of me and my dreams now. Even if I don’t make it to the NFL, I’m going to play football for the rest of my life. I know it.”

  “I know you are. You’re much too determined to let anything stop you. And, uh, thanks for not saying anything,” he said.

  The coach called everyone together and did a little speech about how impressed he was with all the work we had put in during practice.

  “Now, go out there and show them what you’re made of. And remember . . .”

  “HAVE FUN!” the team shouted back. It was a little ritual we had always done before a ga
me. The coach was a big believer in enjoying the game no matter whether we were winning or losing and he was always trying to instill it in us. He didn’t need to try too hard with me, though. If there was one thing I was certain of it was that football was more than just a career path for me. It was my hobby too. There were two places where I felt the most at home – one was with Candice, and one was out on the field. I looked at the coach and smiled as I made my way out, and felt the familiar tingle of nerves and excitement full me.

  As I got out, I looked out onto the crowd. I scanned the faces until I found the one that I was looking for. Candice stood in the stands next to her mother and my father. A truce had been made over the past two weeks, and my father had finally accepted the fact that Candice and I were together. I think my father could tell that I was never going to be with anyone else, and he couldn’t deny how happy she made me.

  Marian waved frantically at me, and I waved back, smiling to myself. She’d moved out of the big house into her own small apartment and had invited me over often to have dinner with herself and Candice. She was like a whole new person, smiling and laughing constantly. Even though, from this distance, I could see her excitement. It was like she had regained her youth and energy all over and was nothing like the shy and timid woman that she had become over the years. I was happy to see them all there, especially today, probably the most important day of my life.

  I turned my attention away from them and focused on the game. I had to win this game. I had to do it for Coach Bane, for Candice, for my father. But most of all, I had to do it for me. And knowing that they were all in the stands, watching me, just made me play even harder than I had before. Instead of making me nervous, they just made me more determined, and I played the best game that I had ever played in my life. It was important for me to do well. I needed to make sure that I had a good career ahead of me so that I could afford to take care of Candice for the rest of my life. I might have been young, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know what I wanted in life.

  We won the game, and the crowd erupted in cheers. The coach came out onto the field and congratulated us all, then he rushed up to me and beamed.

  “You did it!” he said. “You were amazing out there.”

  “Thank you, coach. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

  He smiled. “Good. So, are you ready?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

  Today was important for me not just because of the football game. Today was the day that I was going to propose to Candice. I had planned it over the course of the week, and I’d detailed my plan with Coach Bane because I needed his help in order to execute it correctly. I had thought of telling Marian or even my father, but in the end, I decided that the fewer people that knew, the better. Also, I only wanted to ask her if I won the game. It wouldn’t have been the same if I had lost and then proposed. Which is why the pressure to win had been elevated for me but had also served as a fuel to make sure that I didn’t lose. I knew, going onto the field, that I was going to win no matter what. Nothing was going to stop me.

  Coach Bane stood with a microphone in his pocket, and now that the game was over, he took it out and walked over to the middle of the field. The crowd started to notice what he was doing, and a hush fell over the crowd. I walked up behind him and grinned at Tim when I noticed the confused look on his face. For the guy that refused dates for such a long time, I sure had changed. Yet, despite this, I didn’t think Tim or any of the other guys would be surprised by what I was about to do. They all knew how I felt about Candice. It wasn’t something that was easy to hide.

  “Thank you all for being such an amazing crowd today!” he started, and the crowd erupted in applause at the sound of his voice. “I want to thank you all for coming here. There’s nothing quite like winning a match, especially on your home ground. My team has worked hard to get to where they are today, and I am so proud of them. But, that’s not why I’m here today. I’m here because one of my star players would like to say a few words. Please can everyone put their hands together for Dominic Aarons,” he said and then handed the microphone back to me. As he did so, he whispered good luck to me, and I smiled nervously at him. I was not one for public speaking, and as I took the microphone from him, I noticed I was trembling. Thankfully, the crowd was so far away I couldn’t see their faces. I took a deep breath.

  “Hi everyone,” I said, and the crowd cheered. “Thank you all for coming today and cheering us on. Today was a lot of fun. And as Coach Bane has always taught us, you have to do things in life that you love doing. Otherwise, what’s the point? My goal has always been to go after what I want. A football career is one of them, and nothing is going to stand in my way of going after that dream. But that’s not the only thing in life I want,” I paused and took another deep breath. I almost wished I could see the look on Candice’s face now. The time had come for me to have my say and I couldn’t even really see her. I could just about make her out in the stands, and I focused my attention in that general direction.

  “Football isn’t the only love of my life. The reason I am standing here today is because I want the world to know that I’m hopelessly and utterly in love with the beautiful Candice Alice Westerly. Candice, I know we’re young, but we have been through more than most couples have to go through in their entire lives together. And, throughout it all, we have stuck together and overcome the odds. We might be young, but I have no doubt in my mind that you are the only woman for me. Candice, I stand here in front of everyone to let you know how much I love you. And to ask you if you’ll make me the happiest man alive by accepting my proposal. Will you marry me?”

  The crowd hollered and screamed the moment I said the words. For a while, I didn’t know what was happening. All I could hear was the deafening sound of their applause. I stood there, wondering what to do with myself, when suddenly I saw Candice running towards me. I ran to her so that she didn’t have to run all the way to the middle of the field. She ran straight into my arms, and I saw that she was crying.

  “Yes,” she said and smiled at me.

  I wiped away her tears. Took a ring out of pocket, and placed it on her finger. She looked at it and smiled, and despite the roaring crowd, I completely forget about them at that moment. It felt like it was just her and I together again.

  “You and me against the world,” I said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Then, I looked up and saw the crowd and laughed. I grabbed the microphone, which I had dropped onto the floor.

  “She said yes!” I said to the crowd, and they all cheered again. I had never heard so much noise in my entire life. It was the happiest day of my life. I looked at the coach and grinned as we walked past him. And when we walked out of the field, both my father and Marian were waiting for us, both of them looking tearful. They hugged us both, and I was relieved to see that they were happy for us.

  “That was amazing, my boy,” my father said. “You sure know how to make your pop proud.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Candice

  “You’re in the paper!” Lily said as she waved a newspaper in the air at me. She’d arrived at my dorm unannounced bearing coffee and holding the newspaper under her arm.

  “I am?” I said. It wasn’t the first time that I’d been in the media and I groaned at the thought of my life being displayed for all to see. I hadn’t said anything to the media about what had happened with my father, but I knew I probably shouldn’t be surprised that they had caught wind of it. “I’m not sure if I want to see it.”

  She grinned. “You do. It has nothing to do with your father. Well, he gets a mention, but only to say that you’re his daughter. The rest is just about the proposal.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” she said and opened the newspaper to the big spread that they had done on myself and Dominic. I blushed when I saw it and squealed.

  “I still can’t believe you’re engaged.”

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p; “I know,” I replied. “I’m still in shock myself.”

  “Let me see that ring again,” she said and then swooned when she looked at my finger. The ring was a small, simple silver band with a crossover in the front to make the infinity sign. It was just the sort of thing I would’ve chosen for myself.

  “It’s beautiful. I keep looking at it,” I said.

  “I don’t blame you. I would too. That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen. I was sobbing when I saw you out there. You know, I almost didn’t come to that game either. I had some family thing on, but I managed to get out of it at the last minute. I cannot tell you how happy I am now that I came. Imagine I had missed out on it all. I would’ve been devastated. I would’ve made him redo it just so that I could be there.”

  I laughed. “I wish I could do it all over again. I was in shock while it was happening.”

  “It was incredibly sweet. Everyone is talking about it.”

  “I know. And people are actually talking to me now. For once, people actually want to get to know me. I mean, all it took was a simple proposal.”

  She laughed. “Yeah. Well, it’s good to know I’m friends with the popular one now. I hope you don’t forget me in all this madness.”

  “Are you kidding me? I don’t want to be friends with people who only like me now that I’m engaged to the linebacker. You’re the only one I want to be friends with.”

  “Good to hear. Also, I have some news . . .”

  “You do? Tell me it involves a man.”

  Lily chuckled. “It involves a man.”

  “Tell me everything.”

  The two of us sat on the floor with our backs against the bed while Lily launched into the tale of this new man she met and the amazing date that they had. I was happy for her.

  “Best of all, he plays football and happens to be pretty good friends with Dominic.”