Raw Passion (MMA Sports Romance) (16 page)

See, because college football was practically a religion in Juniper Flats, Texas.  On Saturdays, the whole town would shut down for a game.  Tailgating was expected.  And anything less than a win from the hometown Fighting Armadillos was a wild disappointment.  With those kinds of expectations, the pressure on the players and the coaching staff was immense.  But Brett seemed to thrive under clutch situations. 

When Brett was the quarterback for the team, he led the Armadillos on a comeback for the ages.  Down by four with only five seconds left in the fourth quarter, Brett escaped an almost surefire sack and threw a thirty yard touchdown pass as time expired to cap off an eleven point fourth quarter comeback to win the schools first national championship. 

If his legend wasn't large enough after that, just last year Brett led the Armadillos to an undefeated season as the head coach, finished off by a blowout thirty to six victory in the national championship game.  After that, in a state like Texas where football was king, Brett Stanton was more popular than the governor. 

It was certainly a good time to be Brett Stanton, but being one of his kids was a whole different story.  With his wife Isabel, Brett had three daughters--Alyssa, Vikki, and Maureen.  Thanks to Brett's multi million dollar salary, the girls had a very comfortable childhood.  There was never a worry about money.  But the hours of a head football coach were long.  During the season, it seemed like Brett spent more time with his coaching staff at the stadium than he did at home with his kids.  And the pressure to always win meant that even when Brett was home, his mind was a lot of the time still focused on work. 

It was more than that though.  Being a child of the most famous person in Juniper Flats meant that the girls were always going to be in the shadow of their father's achievements.  At school, so much of the time it seemed like instead of being Alyssa, Vikki, or Maureen they were just Brett's daughters.  It was hard to forge their own identities with that kind of cloud hanging over them.  Not to mention everyone in town always wanted to talk about football with them.  But they were girls.  They wanted to talk about girly things every once in a while.  What their father did or didn't do on third down and long in last weeks game was hardly what they wanted to spend their time talking about. 

There were also a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks at school.  Boys that were all too eager to criticize Brett to the girls face as if the girls had any sway over what happened in a game.  For Alyssa Stanton, eighteen years of that led to football burnout.  She didn't want to think about football.  She didn't want to think about football.  She wanted to escape the sport and the town to forge her own path. 

That did not go over well at home.  Alyssa was the first born.  The one that carried the weight of her fathers expectations.  And those expectations were pretty clear.  Todd Driscoll was a blue chip quarterback recruit that also happened to have grown up right down the street from Alyssa.  Their families were friends with each other.  They hosted barbecues on the fourth of July and rang in the New Year together.  Alyssa and Todd were the same age, in the same class, and in Brett's eyes--the perfect romantic match for each other.  Todd had already been offered a full scholarship to Texan University, and was expected to start at quarterback no later than his sophomore year.  Alyssa's mother Isabel meanwhile was thinking further down the road, imagining wedding bells already. 

Then there was the matter of Alyssa's professional future.  Brett was a charitable man, so when he got his first big coaching contract, he set up an organization called the Brett Stanton Foundation.  Currently his wife Isabel was running it.  But it was clear that Alyssa was to be groomed to take over the position one day.  Yup, Alyssa's parents had gone and planned out her future for her.  The problem was, no one bothered to ask Alyssa what she wanted.  But Alyssa's decisions were about to shake up the family forever.

Chapter Two

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Alyssa Stanton's dreams were so vivid, so life like, so real that Alyssa sometimes mistook them for real life.  Especially when her dream man spoke to her like that.  Then again, Alyssa had always believed words like that were meant for women far more pretty than her.  More captivating.  More show stopping.  But mostly, women that weren't her.  Alyssa wasn't out for attention.  She didn't want to be noticed.  She didn't run her mouth off like she was on some crazy reality show.  Alyssa was brought up not to act like a fool.  Not to bring drama down on every situation.  Not to tarnish the family reputation. 

Apparently the drama queens didn't get everything after all, because an unmistakable hunk stood before her with a sultry look in his eyes.  And what a delicious man Alyssa had caught the eye of.  The guy had a body that looked like it was a gift from the Gods.  Perfectly sculpted.  Designed to make a woman's heart skip a beat.  As if he was an underwear model.  And damn would he look good in his underwear.  But the guy was more than just an unmistakable catch.  He also had a warm, comforting smile, dazzling deep blue eyes, and soft kissable lips. 

Alyssa could imagine those lips pressing against hers, his tongue giving her a wild delight.  His hands deftly moving down her body, leaving her itching for the right touch.  It would be absolute bliss.  The kind of love that changed a woman.  Rewired her for untamed desire.  And Alyssa would never be able to get enough. 

Alyssa was instantly smitten.  She could tell that life would never be the same.  That her days would be filled with happy surprises.  And that her nights would never be short of passion.  Such a find was hard to come by.  He seemed almost too good to be true.  Yet there he was standing in front of her in the suburbs of Chicago. 

Amazingly enough, the world had not collapsed with Alyssa's departure from Juniper Flats.  She was still walking and talking, living and breathing same as ever.  Alyssa and the man laid in the grass, peering into each others eyes while holding one another.  A brisk breeze gave Alyssa goose bumps and a good excuse to cozy up.  The flowers were in bloom around them, adding an intoxicating perfume scent to the air.  It was perfect.  The guy gave Alyssa a soft kiss on her lips, which gave way to a deep tongue kiss.  The man then ran his fingers through Alyssa's hair as he gazed into her eyes. 

"I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?" Alyssa replied, in disbelief. 

But the man nodded.  "Without a doubt."

"How many women have you seen?" Alyssa joked. 

"Enough to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you," the man answered.  He had nothing but the right answers. 

"How lucky am I to have a man like you in my life?" Alyssa asked. 

"Trust me.  The pleasure is all mine," the man responded. 

There was no keeping a smile off of Alyssa's face at that point.  It was almost too good to be true.  "Do you ever feel like you're living in a dream?"

"I am.  Your dream," the man answered. 

"What?" Alyssa asked. 

"Alyssa, this is all a dream," the man continued. 

Chapter Three

Before Alyssa knew it, she awoke back at her folks house in Juniper Flats with no dream man in sight.  It was the most rude of awakenings.  And reality hardly planned to take it easy on her.  Alyssa knew it was too much to ask for reality to live up to her dreams.  But it was another thing for her real life to not even compare to the torrid thoughts in her head.  Alyssa found herself all too single. 

A lot of Alyssa's friends told her it was because her standards were too high.  But why wouldn't she have high standards?  What, was she supposed to just settle for any old guy?  Alyssa wasn't about to do that.  When it came to giving her heart away, opening up, and entrusting someone to appreciate her feelings, only the right man would do.  To be fair though, Alyssa didn't feel like she was being unreasonable.  And in her mind, her standards were pretty low.  She just wanted a little romance.  She wanted to find a man that would love and respect her.  That listened to her.  That had a good sense of humor, but wasn't a goofball.  That was smart, but not pretentious.  That was in good shape, but didn't spend more time polishing his guns than being with her.  That was sweet and caring.  And of course was easy on the eyes. 

Alyssa hadn't found that man yet.  Not even by a long shot.  Although she'd had a number of boyfriends in the past.  So many of them seemed to be fumbling their way through life.  One thought he was just the coolest thing ever.  Another thought that playing video games was a good idea for a date.  Then finally there was the bad boy that proved to be way more edgy than Alyssa was prepared for.  But even though the few guys that Alyssa had dated all had strikingly different personalities, one thing about them was all too similar.  They all acted as if a successful relationship was all about how many make out sessions they could sneak in.  As much as Alyssa loved kissing, that didn't mean she wanted to spend all her time being tongued and groped.  She wanted a man, not just a hormonal powder keg.  But finding a good man in Juniper Flats had proved harder than Alyssa even expected. 

Alyssa also made it a point not to date football players.  The ones she'd met were all so cocky.  And when they weren't spending their time being obsessed with themselves, they were spending it focused on playing a stupid game.  Alyssa wasn't interested in taking a backseat to some stupid little ball with laces on it.  She wanted to be the focus.  And the more time a guy spent pouring over his playbook, the less time he'd have to pour over her. 

Alyssa wanted to pretend that her father had nothing to do with her aversion to football players, but the fact was that he absolutely did.  More than either of her siblings, Alyssa resented how much time her father had spent away from the family when she was growing up.  If it wasn't practice, it was watching game film, or coming up with new plays.  Almost every night her father seemed to work late.  And that wasn't even just during the season.  In the off season, there was plenty more work to do.  Her father had to go on recruiting trips. 

It was one thing if Alyssa's father was spending his time curing cancer or ending poverty.  It was another that all this time and energy that Brett could have spent at home with his family was instead spent obsessing over football.  That was a hard thing to stomach.  Whereas the fans only cared about how many wins Brett led their favorite team too, Alyssa was more hung up on the softball practices and recitals her father didn't show up for.  That had a cumulative effect on not just Alyssa but her mother too. 

Sometimes Alyssa looked over at her mom and felt so sorry for her.  Even when her father was at the dinner table, his head was often still on the football field.  There were a few times that Alyssa saw her mother wanting to speak up, but she never did. 

Alyssa didn't want to have a life like that.  She didn't want to date football players because she didn't want to end up marrying one eventually.  She never wanted the same look in her eyes that her mother had.  That look of quiet desperation. 

While football players were off the table, Alyssa didn't what kind of guy she'd ultimately end up with.  But most likely that man wouldn't be found in Juniper Flats.  Not only was it a small town, but it was a football mad town.  And Alyssa didn't want to be with some fanatic.  Her friends had told her stories about pro football widows.  Women with husbands so passionately devoted to football that on Saturdays and Sundays when the games were on, the women felt husbandless. 

Alyssa hoped she'd find a man with other passions.  Music or movies, art or nature.  Something they could enjoy together instead of something that would drive them apart.  Where she'd find that guy though, she didn't know. 

Chapter Four

"I can't believe Dallas University is taking so long to send out their acceptance letters.  My nerves are completely shot here," Julie Abbott said. 

Julie was Alyssa's best friend.  They met in kindergarten and had been close friends ever since.  And even though they were both looking forward to college, it almost certainly meant after graduation they'd find themselves in different cities.  Julie's first choice was Dallas University.  Apparently they had a top notch zoology program.  Alyssa's future was still up in the air.  But with college acceptance letters arriving in the mail everyday, they'd both have their answers soon.  In the meantime, it was nail biting time. 

"Yeah.  I think we're all a little antsy to find out where we'll be going," Alyssa said. 

"Oh come on.  Stop pretending like you'll be going anywhere but Texan U," Julie replied. 

"Julie, nothing is for sure," Alyssa said.  "Besides, who says I want to go to Texan U?"

"Wow, the stress must be really getting to you, because you're acting crazy all of a sudden," Julie replied. 

Just then Todd Driscoll made his way over to Alyssa. 

"Hey Alyssa.  I didn't see you at the game the other day.  What's up with that?" Todd asked. 

Todd was just the kind of football player Alyssa was trying to avoid.  But ironically he was exactly the guy Alyssa's parents wanted her to wind up with.  But he was more than just a football player.  He was also a basketball player too.  So instead of endlessly yammering on about how many touchdowns he'd thrown, instead he yammered on about how many blocks and rebounds he was getting per game.  Sports was rarely far from his mind though, and romance was never on his mind--which was great when he was talking to other guys.  But when he was talking to women, the sports references grew old in a hurry.