Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (15 page)

“You know,” I
said, “I’ve been learning too.” He turned to look at me curiously so I started
to rattle off some of the football knowledge I had been studying. His face instantly
lit up.
 

“You know what
this means, right?”

I shook my head.
He gave me a swift peck on the lips and cradled my face between his hands, “I
can't wait to see you in the stands at Homecoming tomorrow, cheering me on.”

 
“I need to go check on my mom,” Ivy said not
long after she started to get dressed. She slowed down for a moment when she
saw the disappointment in my eyes. She knew I wanted her to stick around, lying
naked in my bed and possibly going for round two. But I knew she couldn’t do
that. She couldn’t spend all night with me again.

I remembered how
worried she was the last time and how the guilt had eaten away at her. Her
mother was depending on her and even if her mom assured her it was okay to go
out and live her life, Ivy couldn’t just make that change from one day to
another. It probably made her feel selfish and irresponsible. As much as I
wanted her to stay with me, I admired her strict dedication to her mom. Ivy was
truly a loving and caring person. But still, it was worth a shot to try and get
her to stay with me. I wanted nothing more than to have her by my side.
 

“Come on,” I said
sweetly. “I really like having you around,” I admitted. Ivy looked at me,
completely caught off guard. I didn’t expect her to actually stay. All I was
doing was expressing my desire for her not to go. I was just being honest—with
myself and with her. It was something I had never done with a girl after having
sex with her. These so called ‘feelings’ were totally uncharted territory for
me. It made me feel vulnerable, which was something I didn’t like.

“She’s all alone,”
Ivy said worriedly.

“It’s great you take
care of her,” I told her sitting up, “But there’s such a thing as looking out
for her too much. She can still take care of herself and I’m sure she wouldn’t
want your entire life to revolve around her. Besides, didn't we rush to check
on her last time and she was perfectly fine?”

She took a deep
breath before finally relenting. She knew I was right about all of it even if
it was hard for her to come to terms with it. I was shocked that she actually
decided to stay. Maybe I really did mean something special to her. Maybe she
didn’t want to be away from me just as much as I didn’t want to be away from
her. She climbed back in bed and curled up against my body, head resting on my
chest. I didn’t bother to put my clothes back on and she didn’t either. I put
my nose to her hair and drew in a deep breath as the two of us quickly fell
asleep.

“So are you really
ready for that test?” It was early morning and that was the first thing out of
Ivy’s mouth when we first woke up.

I laughed, “That’s
really what you’re thinking about now?” Ivy shrugged, paused, and then pressed
her lips to my chest as she breathed in my scent. “I am,” I told her, “But I
would have never been ready for it without you.”

“Oh come one, we
barely studied today,” she objected.

“Maybe, but you’ve
still helped me in general. The methods you taught me to study and the
motivation you inspire make all the difference. You really are amazing.”

“I’m just a tutor
passing on techniques I know,” she muttered.

“It’s not just the
tutoring, you’re smart and strong. You’re independent. You do more than I can
imagine anyone doing. And you handle it well. I can’t even,” I paused and Ivy
looked up at me. “I just can’t even imagine how incredibly difficult your home
situation is, but look at you. You’re so selfless and caring and dependable.
I’ve never met anybody like you.”

“Oh,” Ivy
muttered. I hoped that I wasn’t making her feel awkward with my shower of
compliments.
 
“I don’t think I’m all that
selfless.” She said, eyes cast down.

“What? How can you
even think that?”

“Well, I’m here
right now, aren’t I?” She pulled away from me, clearly agitated. I looked at
her trying to figure out what to say next. Ivy stood up and quickly got
dressed, “I need to go.”

I jumped up off
the bed. Disappointment was already starting to course through me. Like always,
my first instinct was to turn to anger. I hated that about myself.

 
“Ivy!” She stopped dead in her tracks, but
didn’t turn to face me. “I just want to be with you, dammit. You know, I’ve
never wanted to actually be with a girl before but how can I
be
with you if you won't spend any time
with me?”

That was the
breaking point for her. She spun around in a flash, “Oh! So I’m supposed to
just feel flattered that the superstar football player is interested in me? And
because of that I’m just supposed to screw off on all my responsibilities?” She
looked behind me and saw her bag on the floor. She walked over to snatch it up
before turning to me and going on, “You’re so fucking selfish! You’re still the
same, spoiled prince whose daddy has given him everything so he can’t possibly
understand we don’t all live that kind of life!”

She was seething.

I nearly gasped at
her with a red face. She had gone too far. “Ivy, look–”

She held her hand
up and cut me off, “Has it ever even occurred to you to say thank you to your
dad? Do you even know or care about quality time with him? I’m sure it’s
all
about what he can give you; seeing
as how when things don’t go your way you just lose it. You think I’m too
invested in taking care of my mother only because
you
are incapable of understanding what it is to be a good son.
What makes you think you can be a decent boyfriend?” Ivy shook her head and
stormed out.

I was red in the
face with my hands and jaw clenched tight. My heart was racing a million miles
an hour. I couldn’t believe what she had just said.

I went out on
balcony and took deep breaths until I finally calmed down. I dropped down to
sit in the chair and look at the sky. It was hard to admit it, but she had a
point. Up until now I had taken everything for granted. In fact, I barely even
liked to deal with my father.

“Shit,” I muttered
as I stood up and walked back into the bedroom. I was going to call him for the
first time.

He was surprised
to hear from me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I
quickly answered. “How are you, dad?” There was a moment a silence. I knew he
was trying to make sense of the sudden phone call and interest in what I had to
say. Then he talked a little about his new hobby of photography.

“You did always
love taking pictures of us. Are you thinking of starting a side business?”

He laughed, “I’m
done with business, son, but I’d consider taking on some freelance photography
just to keep myself busy.” I listened intently, noticing how happy he sounded
as he went on about his new hobby. He told me little anecdotes in a tone of
voice I was unfamiliar with. I realized there were dimensions to my father I
had never noticed before. I always considered him as my dad responsible for
taking care of me, but now I was realizing he had a full life beyond his
children.

I was always too
self-absorbed to notice it.

“You know, dad,” I
started, “Maybe Coach Kingsley will be cool with you getting some shots of the
Homecoming game tomorrow.”

He was thrilled
and I ended the call on that note, feeling happy in an entirely new way, but
guilty at the same time.

I hadn’t been a good
person, practically my whole life. Ivy was the one who showed me that.

And now she had
just left me in fuming anger. My selfishness had finally pushed her away.

I only hoped I
hadn’t pushed her away for good.

I walked across
campus in the same clothes I wore the day before. I was angry and regretted
spending the night at Landon’s. I put my responsibility to my mother on hold,
only to get in an argument the next morning. I was certain everyone could tell
I was doing a walk of shame through campus and prayed to every god in the
universe that I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew.

“Oh no…” I
whispered underneath my breath the moment I saw Stella.

She quickly fell
in step with me. “Oh-ho-ho,” she teased, “I see someone seems to have run out
of clean clothes.”

I shot her a look.
I could feel my face blush with heat. I didn’t want to talk about Landon,
especially not after the heated argument that left me storming out of his
house. I knew better than to think Stella would miss the opportunity, though.
In an effort to disguise my personal relationship with him, I soon started
babbling happily about how he had improved his grades and how glad I was for
it. I also went on to say how relieved I was that I wouldn’t have the Coach
breathing down my back and hold me personally responsible for the prized
athlete being benched.

Stella lit up with
a cheeky grin, "And how would you grade him in the sack?"

I blushed furiously
and went into a little coughing fit. There was no way around it and no way in
hell I was going to be able to keep it secret from her any longer. If there had
been even the smallest chance, I had just blown it.

“He gets an A+,” I
said, finally deciding to give in.

Stella crowed and
pumped her fist up in triumph. “Oh man! Who could have ever seen this coming?”

“Certainly not
me,” I replied with a sigh. As much as I enjoyed being with Landon I couldn’t
push away the worry when it came to my job. Not only that, now I was weighed
down with guilt over our argument. I was too harsh on him.

“At least there’s
documented proof his grades are improving,” Stella mentioned casually.

 
“What do you mean?”

Stella raised her
eyebrows and quickly looked around before dropping her voice to a barely
audible whisper. “Have you been reading the emails from the Tutoring Center at
all?”

I felt sick to my
stomach, “I haven’t. I’ve been too busy studying and keeping up with
everything.”

"Yeah, busy
studying Landon Bryce's cock," Stella deadpanned.

I gasped and
smacked her on the arm, raising my finger to my lips and shushing her. Now my
heart was racing.

“There have been
rumblings of some grade fixing going on by tutors and student athletes. You know
how it goes with them and its sort of how you mentioned about being glad a
coach wasn’t breathing down your neck, only not all tutors get so
lucky
.” Stella laughed and winked at me
even though the conversation was entirely too serious to make the pun appropriate
in any way.

I stopped walking
and went cold. I needed to gather proof of Landon’s work. I couldn’t be
investigated for grade fixing because if anyone from the Tutoring Center
bothered to look closer at me and Landon I might actually lose my job. We
reached my house and I invited Stella in.

“It’s been forever
since we've hung out and chatted like this,” I told her longingly. Talking to
Stella had quelled my anger, even though that anger had only been replaced with
anxiety. Stella agreed so I fished my keys out of my bag and unlocked the front
door.

My entire world
crumbled in an instant.

My mother was
doubled over in agony on the floor.