ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: Bad Boys of Sports: A Complete Collection (Alpha Male, Football, Hockey Secret Baby Romance) (Contemporary Sports Romance) (13 page)

CHAPTER 5

In the mirror, Angelica took her glasses off, then put them back on. Then took them off, then put them back on. She was about to attend her first tutoring session with Bruce, and she wanted to look her very best. Even though they were supposed to be focusing on studying, she wouldn’t mind it if he focused on her, if only a little bit.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked leaning in the doorway to her bedroom.

“The question is,” Angelica responded, not even turning around to look at him, “what are you doing? Seriously, why are you always here?  Don’t you have football practice or something?”

“I just so happen to know that you secretly love having me here,” Chris replied with a tug of his eyebrow. 

“Yeah, I love your being here like I love this pimple on my forehead.”  She applied more makeup to the pimple with frustration.  Of course, it had to pop up on her first day of tutoring with Bruce.

“Here, let me pop it,” Chris offered, plopping himself in front of her with a look of concentration as he reached for her forehead.

“No don’t!”  Angelica tried to slap his hands away, but he persisted.  Chris could be so stubborn, Angelica sighed.  “Fine, do your worst if you must.”

“But seriously, where are you going? Aren’t we grabbing dinner with Nikki at Dean’s Café as per the usual Tuesday night?”  He deftly popped the pimple, pinching her just a little.

“Didn’t Nikki tell you? I was asked to tutor Bruce so that he can graduate and play in the final games.”

“What? Of course that idiot is failing his classes, isn’t he?  Why can’t he get someone else to tutor him?  Don’t you have your own studies to worry about?”

Angelica shrugged her shoulders, took her glasses off, and examined her now pimple-free forehead.  She turned to look at Chris. “I’m not too busy to tutor him,” she replied. “Besides, I think he’s a cool guy.  I’m kind of looking forward to it getting to know him better.”

Chris slid off the bed and walked over to Angelica, stopping only a few steps in front of her.

“You deserve better, Angelica,” he said softly, his tone suddenly very serious.

Angelica rolled her eyes.  “Not this crap again, Chris!  I’m so sick of you playing the role of my overprotective big brother.  First of all, we’re not related.  Second, even if you were really my brother, you’d be more like my little brother in terms of age.  Third, it’s really none of your business who I do or don’t sleep with.  That choice is entirely up to me!”

“Hey, let’s not get crass here.  Besides, I never said you can’t sleep with someone.”

“Well, you might as well have!  You’ve chased away all my dates since high school, saying they’re not good enough.  And now I’m twenty-two, about to graduate college this year, and I’m still a virgin thanks to you!”

“You should be proud that you’ve kept your purity instead of whoring around with douchebags like all the other college girls.”

“Don’t give me any of that ‘purity’ bullshit Chris.  I’m a girl with raging hormones, just like everybody else who’s in college.  In a word, I’m extremely horny!”

Chris flushed and stared at her intently.  “You’re horny.  As in, like, right now?”

“No!  Arguing with you and having you squeeze my pimples doesn’t exactly get my panties wet, Chris.”

The corner of Chris’s mouth picked up, and he leaned into her face.  Angelica’s breath hitched as she looked up into Chris’s dark eyes as his towering body hovered close to hers. 

“How about now?” He put a hand on her hip, giving her a light squeeze, letting his large, warm hand linger there.  “What if I squeeze you there instead.  Are your panties wet yet?”

Angelica blinked as heat flooded her face and body before she pushed him away.  “Ugh, don’t be gross Chris. You’re like my brother.”

“That’s funny ‘cause I could’ve sworn I heard you say a second ago that we’re not related.”

“Whatever, stop messing around.  I’m just saying that I plan to lose my virginity before I graduate, and there’s nothing you could do to stop me.”

He picked up her glasses off of her desk and gently placed them on the bridge of her nose, right where they belonged.

“And all I’m saying is that you should be a bit choosier about the lucky guy who you’ll let in when the time comes.  The assholes you’ve dated in the past just wanted to screw you and be done with you.  You deserve someone who sees how smart and beautiful…and how special you are.”

Silence fell between them as something began to stir in Angelica.

“Chris…”

A loud banging came from the downstairs door, and from the kitchen, they heard an excited shriek from Nikki. “Bruce is here, Angie!” She called up a second later.

Chris smiled down at Angelica and moved away from her. “I guess I better let you get to tutoring then.”

Angelica opened her mouth to stop him, but she wasn’t sure what to say. After he had left, she turned and looked in the mirror one more time. Sighing, she took her glasses off and ran to the bathroom to put her contacts in.

~

2 Hours Later

“Wow, I wish Professor Trang could break things down for me this easily,” Bruce said, gathering up his books and notes.

“I’m sure he could if he had the time to sit down one on one with you,” Angelica assured him. “Anyway, I’m happy to help. Your first makeup test is Friday before your game, so let’s try to get in one more study session tomorrow okay?”

Bruce nodded his head, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. “You’re the boss,” said with a sexy grin was painted on his beautiful face.

Angelica smiled back as she felt a blush bloom into her cheeks, but tried her best to ignore it. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was another fawning girl. Instead, she brushed her curls into her face, hoping that the golden ringlets would hide her obvious reactions to him.

“Listen, you guys kind of took off last week and Chris seemed pretty intent on getting you home by himself. But I wanted to tell you that I thought that what you did at the party was pretty badass. I mean, Mark definitely had it coming. That guy’s a dick, and is always causing trouble.”

Bruce stepped up to her, his lips only a few scant inches from hers. “Actually, I found it very hot.”

Angelica felt her knees grow weak as she looked up into his blue eyes. They were full of heat and wanting, and it made her want to lose her mind a little bit.

“You did?” She breathed, her body moving forward without even realizing it.

Bruce nodded his head, his lips moving down to hers. “A girl like that, so fierce and sassy, and sexy – hell yeah. I’d love to have that on my arm.”

It wasn’t quite the compliment she had dreamed of, but it was close enough. So when his hands moved to her waist, she didn’t stop him. Instead she leaned into it and closed her eyes as his lips came down on hers.  The sensation of his wet lips on hers was wreaking havoc to her insides, and she hoped he couldn’t tell her heart was beating as wildly as it was.

The door behind them opened and slammed shut, jolting them from their kiss. Standing in front of them was Chris, and he was not amused. He looked downright pissed and ready to pull Bruce away from Angelica.

“I should go,” Bruce whispered in her ear, his eyes no longer on her, but on Chris. “You have my number. I hope you text me.”

The men danced around each other like two wolves sniffing each other out before they attacked one another. Their chests puffed out, and they both walked with their eyes glued to one anther’s form. When Bruce reached the door, he threw Chris a sarcastic smile.

“See you at practice,
buddy
,” he smirked, closing the door behind him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Angelica yelled as soon as Bruce was out of the house.

“What did I do?” Chris asked, pressing his hands to his chest.

“Oh please. You two were circling each other like two animals. What’s with all this macho stuff Chris? I get it. You’re a man. Hear me roar. Blah, blah, blah.”

“I didn’t do that,” Chris defended.

“Yes you did,” Angelica shot back, her hands balled up on her hips. “And now he probably thinks we’re together!”

“What’s wrong with that?” He asked, his voice rising to match hers. “You should stay away from him Angie; he's not good for you. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”

“He’s not. He’s a decent guy, and very sweet. He’s just misunderstood, Chris. You football players, all you do is put on this big man façade and whatnot, when in reality all you want is someone to be vulnerable with!”

“The type of vulnerability he’s after from you is the kind that makes him even more macho, trust me.”

“So what, Chris?  Maybe I want to be that kind of vulnerable with him too.”

Chris scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Angie, wake up. He’s not secretly wounded. If anything, he just pretends to be to get nice girls like you to open their legs.”

“Oh, screw you!” Angelica screamed, running up the stairs.

    “Angie!” Chris called, heading towards the stairs.

    “Leave me alone, Chris!”  She yelled down after him.

CHAPTER 6

Angelica laughed as she set down her beer. After her argument with Chris, she texted Bruce to apologize for his rude behavior. He quickly told her it was fine, and proceeded to invite her out for a few drinks. They agreed to meet Wolf’s Tavern two nights later. They were having a really good time so far, laughing and getting to know one another. The conversation seemed to keep going back to Bruce, but she didn’t really mind at all. It was fascinating for her to hear about how he got into football and how it became his passion.

“Enough about me,” he said at one point, reaching across the table to grab her hand. “Tell me about you. Professor Trang told me you were a genius or something.”

Angelica shrugged her shoulders as if it weren’t a big deal. “I have a photographic memory. It’s like every second my eyes are open I take a mental picture, and if I need to remember something my mind just flips through them until it finds what it’s looking for.”

“That’s amazing,” Bruce said, genuinely impressed. He leaned further into the table. “You’re full of surprises.”

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?” Chris asked, walking up to the table with a girl Angelica didn’t know. She looked pretty pissed that Chris gave another girl a compliment right in front of her, and this time, Angelica couldn’t hide her blush of discomfort.

“What are you two up to?” Chris said, sliding into the booth beside Angelica. “Take a seat,” he told the girl, pointing to the open spot beside Bruce. “These are our friends.”

“Hi,” Angelica said, waving her fingers at the brunette in a tight red dress and smiled. She realized Chris wasn’t going to introduce his date, and took it upon herself to make it less awkward.  “I’m Angelica.”

The girl, obviously upset that her date was not going as planned, ignored Angelica’s greeting, and looked directly at Chris.

“I thought we were going to get a drink?” she asked icily.

Chris raised his hands and looked around. “We’re in a bar, aren’t we?” He gestured to the waiter, and he came running over.

“I’ll have a Guinness. What’ll you have, Jessica?” he asked, looking towards the brunette.

“A Jack and Diet,” she sighed, realizing that the night was not going to go as planned, but still wanted to get a free drink or two while she still could.

After the waiter had taken everyone’s drink orders, Chris turned to Bruce with a sarcastic smile on his face. He was being a jackass, and he knew it. He also knew that Jessica was pissed at him as well. He didn’t care. He was in a weird mood, and some twisted part of him was just happy to be causing trouble for the over-hyped quarterback.

“So um, how’s this football season shaping up?” Angelica asked, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.

~

“No way man, that’s never going to work. They’re going to flag it as a foul, and you’ll get kicked out of the last game of the season,” Chris argued, his words slurring a bit.

Angelica had tried her best to involve everyone in an easygoing conversation, but the brunette did nothing but knock her drinks back and glare at Angelica while Chris and Bruce moved steadily towards football politics. The conversation was getting heated, even drawing the attention of other guys who were listening in. She was no longer having fun, and she blamed Chris. Everything had been going great with Bruce until he showed up with his Sour Sally throwing a wrench into their date.

“They won’t foul me if I play it right,” Bruce asked, shrugging his shoulders. “I have to take risks like this. Otherwise, we’re nothing, and I’m screwed.  This is the year we have to make the biggest impact.”

“Why, so that your chances of getting drafted will be higher?” Chris scoffed, his hand going up in the air. “Well, you can kiss that goodbye if you screw this up, which you will.  Just face it, Knox. You’re not NFL material.”

Bruce stood up, the insult hitting home, and Chris quickly followed him. For the first time all night the brunette smiled and perked up, looking as if she wanted to see a fight break out. Angelica rolled her eyes and for the second time, that week put herself between two men about to fight.

“Hey, you know what, Bruce?” Angelica attempted to cut in. “It’s after midnight, and I promised Nikki I’d be home by one. Would you be a gentleman and walk me home?” She asked, batting her eyes at him.

Bruce begrudgingly took his eyes off of Chris and looked down at her, his gaze softening.

“Sure,” he answered, his hand going to his wallet. The waiter had dropped their check off several minutes ago.  Looking down at the bill, Bruce winced, and pulled out his only cash; two fives and four ones.

“Hey babe, do you have cash to cover the extra? I drank a little more than I thought I would.”

Embarrassment flooded through Angelica as both Chris and his surly date turned to look at her. She reached for her purse, but Chris put his hand in front of hers to stop her. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the cash for his tab and the extra twenty that would cover Bruce’s drinks and a tip for the waiter.

“Call me old-fashioned,” Chris said, laying down the cash, “but when a man takes a lady on a date – especially one as cute as Angie here – he pays. Always.”

Jessica, having enough of being ignored in favor of Angelica, picked up her half-empty drink and threw it in Angelica’s direction before storming off. Angelica gasped in horror as she felt the cold liquid run down her face and the new shirt she’d splurged on for the date. It was by far one of the most awkward nights of her life, and she suddenly wanted it to very much be over and done with. Chris and Bruce looked at her, both mortified.

“Oh God, Angie, I’m so sor–”

“Just leave Chris,” Angelica snapped, picking up a napkin to clean up. “None of this would have happened if you would have just left us alone, so please just go.”

Chris threw another apologetic look but did as she requested and left. After he was gone, Bruce turned to her and apologized as well.

“Really, Angelica, I am sorry. I could have sworn I had another twenty in my wallet.”

“It’s okay,” she sighed, trying to give him a smile. “Can you please just walk me home? It’s been a really bizarre night, and I just want to go home.”

Bruce nodded his head. “Of course, babe. Whatever you want.”