Tackled (Alpha Ballers #1) (10 page)

Drake yawned. I could tell it was mostly for show, but he sold it well. With those looks and that talent, he could have a career in movies if, you know, the whole football thing didn’t work out for him. But I were getting ahead of myself.

And visions of him doing naughty things to me in bed meant I was definitely getting way ahead of myself. I couldn’t even see myself in the rearview mirror, I was so far ahead of myself.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that, long day.”

“It’s 9am.”

Drake grinned. “I know it is, I’m saying, it’s gonna be a long day.”

“Usually people use that as an excuse after the fact.”

“Well, if there’s one thing you should know about me it’s that I’m a little ahead of the curve.”

“And not afraid to let everyone know that, aren’t you?”

Drake shrugged. “I just never found a good reason to hide who I am, is all.”

“I get that. And that’s what I’m here to capture. That’s what the Globe wants me to report on.”

“Yeah.” Drake’s demeanor had changed a little bit as he considered this. Like he was guarding himself, suddenly, like he didn’t want parts of his personality as on display as they were just a few seconds ago.

“And to do that, I’m going to need to see you every day, got it?”

“I understand. I’ll try and fit it into the schedule. It’s not like I’m just laying by the pool working on my tan while I’m here, you know.” Visions of Drake getting some rays down on that sexy body of his flooded my brain and it took all my strength and force of will to keep it together. “Film study, playbook study, weight room, meetings, and that’s all outside of practice.”

“I know you’re busy, but the team and the Globe have made special plans for this. It’s gonna be tough, but you should be used to that by now.”

“Yeah, alright. We done here?”

Suddenly it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. Drake had been animated and lively, if a little juvenile, just a minute ago, and now he was talking like a veteran who wouldn’t tell anyone from the media anything.

“Yeah, we’re done. But keep in mind, we’re here to see the Drake from a few minutes ago, not this guy. You understand?”

His face darkened. “Yeah. Loud and clear. I gotta go.”

“Great. I’ll see you this afternoon after practice and we can get started. The first couple days will be a little rough, I’m sure, but we’ll get the hang of it.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you around.” Drake turned and walked away, and I had to try my damnedest to look subtly while I marveled at his sexy V-frame from the rear.

The thing that man could do to me…the things I’d let him do to me…Ugh. No. NO. I could not let my stupid libido get in the way. Of course, it was worse considering it had been months since I had had sex, but now was not the time to go and do something reckless.

Not with the guy I worked with. Not with the guy who my career depended on.
 

That scared me more than anything - I needed Drake Rollins to do well here for my own sake, but I wasn’t even convinced he knew the gravity of the situation for himself. Did he have what it took? Talent-wise, absolutely. There wasn’t a wide receiver in this draft class that could hold a candle to him in on that front.

But inside his head, did Drake have what it took?

I would figure that out soon enough. And so would the Patriots. And both of our careers hung in the balance.

UGH.

“Wait a second,” I heard Drake’s voice calling out as I was about to turn around and see about my own room. I looked back at him walking toward me.

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna need something from you.”

I stiffened, holding my breath. Anything, anything, I wanted to say, but of course, I couldn’t say that. “Yes? What is it?”

“Dinner.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. You get all this time I don’t have, these interviews and video chats and what-not, and what do I get?”

“You get a shot with the team, Drake. Don’t forget, no one drafted you!”

I knew I shouldn’t have said that as soon as it came out, but I couldn’t take it back, and though Drake looked angry for a split second, he composed himself really well and took it in stride. “I know that,” he rumbled, his voice low and soft. “You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“Sorry about that, but I was trying to make the point-“

He cut me off with a wave. “I know what you were trying to say.” He raised his voice. “And to any passing Patriots personnel, I deeply and humbly appreciate the chance the team has give me.” No one turned to look at him - for all intents and purposes we might as well have been alone in an empty room. He lowered his voice again. “But I’m still going to need something from you.”

“Fine. I understand. And for what it’s worth, I apologize for bringing up the draft again, I’ll try not to. Why dinner?”

Drake pulled himself back and smiled, standing taller and broader than before, showing off the physique that had stubbornly refused to leave my fantasies since I had first seen him on campus a couple years ago. “Because I’d like to get to know the girl who’s using me to further her own career. That good enough?”

I was dumbfounded. Of course, I’d forgotten how brilliant Drake Rollins was. Of course, he’d given this whole thing some thought and figured out all the angles. He knew my motives, he knew them just as well as I did. He knew I needed him.

“Dinner. Fine. At the cafeteria?”

Drake laughed, a roar of a laugh that got some heads turning. I knew I was turning bright red, but Drake paid them no mind. “Of course not, come on. We’re going out, in style.”

I raised an eyebrow, skeptical but rapidly warming up to the idea of going out with Drake. “You’ve got that kind of time?”

Drake stepped in, getting really close so only I could hear him. “Lily, you find the right dress and I’ll find the right time.”

Before that moment if you had told me it was possible for a girl to have an orgasm with absolutely zero touching I would have laughed in your face. After that moment, I might nod sagely and remember that moment.

“Oh-OK, yeah,” I said when I had finally found the English dictionary in my head. I stepped back, creating more space between us despite that being the exact opposite of what I really wanted to do. “I think we can work something out.”

“Great. Not today, cause I got stuff to do. Tomorrow’s the first day of practice and they’re going light on us just in case some guys came in from the off season a little out of shape.”

I picked it up. “Tomorrow night, then?” That was enough time for me to find a dress. I’d packed something formal for any team special events, but this didn’t qualify as one of those.

“Yeah. Tomorrow night.” He looked around. “Alright, I gotta get back and get ready for meetings and then lunch before afternoon practice. You good here?”

You could knock me over with a weather, but sure. “I’m good,” I said, nodding. “I’ll see you after practice. Good luck.”

Drake chuckled as he walked away. “I don’t need luck, Lily. I’m Drake Rollins. Once I’m in the building they can’t help but fall in love with me.” He waved jauntily behind him toward me as I watched him disappear.

I sat down on a bench nearby to where we had been talking. My head was spinning. I was just glad no one had paid attention to us.

How was I going to survive training camp with this guy? I could barely hold it together around him, and now spending time with Drake Rollins had become literally my job. If I wanted to get anywhere in this business, besides running home with my tail between my legs, I had to make this work.

And to start, that meant dinner.

Shit.

CHAPTER 12 - DRAKE

The first couple days of training camp just zipped by, so fast that my head was spinning. I thought I knew why that was, but I was still surprised.

After I left the oh-so-sexy looking reporter Lily Pearson in the foyer, I headed back to my room, found the team-issued iPad there waiting for me and went to the first of many wide receivers meetings.

Everyone else was already there when I arrived at the small meeting room. One wall was obviously for watching film and all the seats were facing in that direction. I sat in the first row while everyone snickered at me, until the wide receivers coach suggested I “move my ass to the back of the room where the rest of the undrafted shit sat.” Redfaced, I did what he said, and stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting, my anger seething and threatening to get the better of me.

Fuck that guy. I’d seen the highlights from last year, this sorry bunch of receivers. None of them were on the same level as me, and they must have known that. Bunch of haters, scared of some young kid coming in and blowing up their spot.

I’d show them. They’d know my name soon enough.

After the meeting got out we all had lunch. I tried to sit with Lance Parker and Hudson Asher, but they looked at me like they didn’t know me, so I ended up setting with a couple other undrafted free agents. The rest of the wide receivers had their own table.

It was like fucking high school, only for the first time in my life I was one of the uncool kids. Oh, and everyone weighed at least 180 pounds and was in crazy good shape. That part was different too.

And there were no girls around. That was probably the most important part. The other undrafted guys and I didn’t talk much while we ate - it was weird sitting at a table full of guys you were competing with for such a small set of roster spots.

Professional football teams come in to training camp with about a hundred guys on the team. By the time the 4 preseason games were over, a little under four weeks from now, that number would decrease to around 60. In the couple days before the season began, the team would have to cut even more people, down to the maximum of 53.

And there were plenty of people on the team who had guaranteed roster spots - the veterans who formed the backbone of the team. There was room of course for someone to come in and blow the doors off the team and steal a roster spot, but that didn’t happen often.

The Patriots had 35 roster spots pretty much spoken for, leaving 18 spots to divide among about 60 guys, all of whom needed this in order to make their dreams of a professional football life come true.

That kind of scarcity was really good at creating competition, and in this situation, competition didn’t really breed friendships. Especially between people who did the same thing.

I was a wide receiver - my job was to catch the ball when the quarterback threw it to me, no matter what, and then head as close to the end zone as possible. Sometimes, in crunch situations, instead of the end zone I was supposed to get out of bounds to stop the clock.

It sounded pretty easy, but it wasn’t, because while I was trying to catch the ball and make a play, the other team’s defenders were hell-bent on taking me down and stopping me in my tracks.

Luckily for me, and now for the Patriots, I was damn good at what I do. Best receiver in all of college football by a country mile. No one else could get out of a cornerback’s range faster than me, and safeties would chase ghosts before they could even find me on the field.

So that was a leg up on the competition, but it was no guarantee. If I didn’t perform on the practice field and in the preseason games, I’d be out on the street again.

After lunch we had another meeting, then we were off to the practice field. Practice was brutal, but it felt great to be out on the field again after months without.

Not too much happened that first day - some speeches by the coaches, some pep talks about big expectations for the season, a lot of administrative stuff. The coaches made it clear - we were expected to know the playbook inside and out in the next couple days so they could start installing and running through the more complicated parts of the offense.

Ugh, more studying. I thumbed through the iPad, looking at the playbook, and starting to memorize it, but man, there was a lot here. In college things were way easier. A big part of our playbook was “throw the ball to Drake,” and it had served us pretty well.

After practice, we had another meal and we were done for the day. Lily and I met for the first of our interviews - it was nothing exciting, just her asking questions about me on camera. No time for me to flirt with her at all, she was all business.

But damn, did she look fine. I had so much trouble concentrating on the questions she was asking me - all I could do was imagine her in a tight body-hugging dress, the faint outline of lace underneath, and imagine undressing her slowly.

OK, not too slowly - if I ever got my hands on that girl, I doubt I would be able to go slow at all. I would need to bend her over and stuff my cock into her as fast as possible.

The second day passed by just as quickly, and all of a sudden it was night time. I was tired as fuck from the morning session in the weight room and the afternoon practice on the field, but even though I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, I couldn’t wait for my dinner with Lily.
 

The best part of my day until the evening? When Lily had texted me and asked me when and where we should meet. Smart girl. I knew Lily and I couldn’t really walk around the facility dressed up like we were going out, not on a ‘school night,’ as it were, and I had a curfew too, so we had to get this show on the road. I had replied with a location and time, and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking up at every available clock I passed by.

It reminded me of school, but back in school I had always looked at the clocks because I was bored, and in a hurry to get to the practice field or the game.

Now I was eager to get away from football just so I could spend time with a girl?! And a girl who didn’t even like me very much? What was happening to me?

Was I…maturing? Nah, that couldn’t be it. Getting mature was overrated in my book - why do it when I could keep being a big kid like I always had? Seemed to work so far, why mess with a good thing?

A lot of the veterans didn’t want to live at the facility during training camp - they had family and lives outside of football they wanted to maintain. The rest of us, though, we lived in the facility, and didn’t have a choice about it, and it wasn’t exactly easy for us to get out unnoticed, but I managed, after dressing up a little bit.