The Recruiting Trip (The University of Gatica #1) (8 page)

She nodded and gagged. “I think I have to throw up again.” She leaned over to her right and sure enough, tossed more disgusting purple liquid. “I’m never drinking again.”

“Go get your car,” Tyler said to Jani. “Both of you go get it. I’ll carry her to the front by the road and help you get her in the car.”

Aileen forced out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

“You okay?”

“Sure.” The concern on Tyler’s face reminded her how only a few moments earlier his lips had been brushing against hers. She straightened. Now was
not
the time to be thinking about that.

Jani slammed on her breaks as she stopped in front of the emergency doors of Scott Thompson Hospital. Aileen sat in the back, close by Linda who, thankfully, hadn’t thrown up again. Her face had gone quite pale as they rushed to the hospital, but she hadn’t cried or moaned once. She was pretty tough, Aileen had to give her that.

“Should we have called nine-one-one?” she asked Jani.

“No. If we can avoid Coach Anderson or Maves finding out, it’ll be way easier. For everybody.” She jumped out of the car and ran inside, returning a moment later with a nurse pushing a wheelchair.

The nurse helped Linda out of the car and into the chair. “Bit of a crazy night, girls?” she asked. She looked at both of them. “Have either of you two been drinking?”

“No! Honestly.” Jani pointed to Linda. “I think she had enough for the three of us.”

The nurse scrunched her nose. “And then some.”

Aileen and Jani followed the nurse. Jani answered questions as the nurse asked. She handed Jani a clip board to fill out whatever she could for Linda.

Aileen sat down in a waiting chair, while Jani went into a cubicle the nurse closed off with curtains. A doctor with short, dark, slightly mussed brown hair, bright blue eyes and in need of a shave came by and slipped into the curtained room.

Aileen heard Linda cry out as the doctor set her shoulder back in place. The doctor reappeared a moment later from the curtains with the nurse. He filled in a prescription and handed it to the nurse.

Just as Aileen felt herself begin to nod off, Jani tapped her on the shoulder. “Ready to go?”

Aileen blinked and tried to focus. “Linda okay?”

“She’s in the car. She’ll be fine. That sexy Dr. Bennet fixed her shoulder. He says she’s going to have one hell of a hangover but her shoulder is fine. It’ll feel bruised but apparently Linda’s had it happen a lot. I guess when she was a kid she dislocated it with swimming or something and it slips out pretty easy.” They began walking to the car. “Sorry about all of this.” Jani walked beside Aileen, her head down. “This isn’t exactly the kind of thing that makes you want to come to a university.”

Amazingly, Aileen didn’t care. She was sure when she got back to Ohio she’d reconsider but the moment before crazy Linda had appeared kept replaying in her mind. The way Tyler had looked at her, the feel of his lips against hers, the way her skin tingled when he touched her. She couldn’t seem to get that out of her mind.

“Is it okay you don’t mention this to Coach?” Jani asked. “I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“I won’t say a thing. You have my word.”  They had reached the car where Linda lay in the back seat.

Jani hugged her. “Thanks. I know you probably aren’t coming here, but if you do I’d love to be roomies with you. We’ll kick ol’ Linda out.” She shook her head annoyed at her roommate.

“I heard that.” Linda mumbled from inside the car, her eyes still closed. “She can have my room if she comes. I’ll move downstairs. I promise to NEVER drink again.”

Jani rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard that one before.” She unlocked Aileen’s door. “Come on, let’s get you back to the hotel.”

They drove back to U of G in silence.

At the hotel Aileen said good bye to the Jani and Linda. She went straight to her room, changed and crawled into bed. She felt exhausted. As she drifted off, she pictured Tyler kissing her and wondered if she would see him again the next day before she left. Probably not. The only happy thought she had was that she would see him again that summer at Nationals.

Coach Anderson picked her up and took her out to breakfast at a very nice restaurant. It wasn’t in College Corner, but on the other wide of campus. On the way, they drove toward Tyler’s house and for a moment Aileen thought they might be picking him up to join them for breakfast. She didn’t expect Coach Anderson to, especially because he probably knew about the party the night before, but she was worried about getting in trouble somehow. However, she need not have worried. They passed Tyler’s house and kept going until they reached a quaint little restaurant with a cheerful milkmaid on the sign. The outside looked like a hole-in-the-wall style eatery, but the inside was fairly posh.

They settled into a round table with a window overlooking a golf course. It was an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet with a chef in a high hat making omelets. They smelled heavenly.

Coach Anderson set his briefcase down and tucked his phone into the breast pocket of his shirt. “You hungry?”

She smiled. “Always.”

They went over to the omelet bar and she ordered everything on it: mushrooms, onions, ham, sausage, peppers, and cheese. Her flight left late that afternoon, but the shuttle would be leaving close to lunch and she figured this would be her last meal till the airport. She didn’t plan on wasting it.

The chef cooked the omelet from scratch and ten minutes later Aileen and Coach Anderson were sitting back at their table.

“Did you enjoy your weekend?” he asked her as they ate.

She nodded and wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. “I did. I really enjoyed it.”
Especially kissing your hurdler.

“That’s good to hear. Do you have any questions about the program or the school?”

Can I see Tyler one more time before I leave?
She tried to think of something good to ask. She shook her head, unable to come up with anything because images and thoughts of Tyler kept her brain from thinking clearly. She wanted to see him so bad but knew that wasn’t going to happen. She wished she had said goodbye to him last night. She hadn’t even gotten to do that.

Coach Anderson reached for his briefcase. He pulled out papers and set them in front of Aileen so she could read them. “I’ve had a National Letter of Intent drawn up for you.” He moved his empty plate and folded his hands on the table. “You don’t need to sign this now. That’s not our intention. We want you to think about where you want to go and weigh all your options. We hope you chose University of Gatica, but understand you have to go where it is best for you. If you did come here, it would be on a full scholarship. Your school, books, living, everything would be included. You would make a great addition to the team and would fit in perfectly. That would be up to five years of schooling and competing.” He tapped his thumbs together. “It’s renewed every year but, between me and you, I can promise you we would never change the amount of your scholarship.”

Full scholarship. Those were big words. She had been offered a full ride to Stanford, and the other three universities she had visited. Each time the offer on the table surprised her. These coaches were putting a lot of faith in one fast race she had done. It seemed crazy.

“Do I need to decide today?”

Coach Anderson shook his head. “This letter,” he tapped the paper sitting on the table, “expires in seventy-hours. If you wanted to sign it now, I wouldn’t stop you.” He smiled. “However, I think you would prefer to take it home with you. Talk it over with your parents. Your coach. This letter expires on February fifteenth.”

Aileen picked up the contract. That’s really what it was. A contract between her and the University of Gatica.

“If the fifteenth date passes and you are still unsure of where you want to go, I’ll continue to stay in contact with you. I’d love to hear how your outdoor season goes. I know you mentioned you wouldn’t be competing indoors.”

“I wish I was, but my coach thought it was better for me to rest up. I haven’t really done a lot of indoor meets.” A thought occurred to her. “I have a question. If I signed with Gatica, would you stay in contact with my high school coach? Do you then make up my workouts or does he? Or do you guys work together?”

“What would you want to do?”

He was smart. He was giving her the opportunity to decide. She appreciated it. “I think I would want to try the program. You don’t know what you can do unless you step outside of your comfort zone.”

“Well said.” Coach Anderson smiled. “Most of the athletes here like my sprint and hurdle program. You are welcome to stay in touch with your high school coach and I could send him copies of your workouts if you wanted me to.”

She flipped through the Letter of Intent, surprised at the numbers, and so glad she wasn’t going to be borrowing money from the government to pay for school. “Is there a date you need to know my decision by?” She understood that the school had other athletes they wanted and they couldn’t hold a full scholarship offer forever.

He chuckled. “I’d love to know what you are thinking right now, but it’s none of my business. Take the Letter with you and read it over on the plane ride home. We will wait as long as it takes you. I’m willing to risk holding the scholarship. You are worth it.”

Wow
. Aileen didn’t know how to respond.

As Coach Anderson drove her back to the hotel, he chatted about anything and everything that had nothing to do with track or school. He got out of the car, shook her hand. “Have a safe trip back. I’ll call you on Monday if that’s alright with you. Thanks again for choosing Gatica as one of your visits.

Aileen watched him drive off, the sun shining bright against the melting snow. She sighed and turned to go back to her room to pack. Maybe she would call Becky. She had close to three hours before the shuttle would arrive to take her to the airport. She started to walk towards her door, but was pulled up short by the sight before her.

Tyler stood in the doorway, his hands pressing against both sides of the door frame, and a coy – almost anxious - grin on his face. “I know you’ll be on your way to the airport soon…”

Aileen smiled, kind of enjoying his nervousness. It didn’t seem like something he had to deal with very often. “Yes?”

“I heard that Linda’s okay.” He tapped a fist lightly against the wood frame, as if trying to figure out what to say next. “I’m sure you are, uh, you have a lot of great universities to choose from. I get that. I imagine you are leaning toward Stanford.” He tapped against the door frame again, leaning toward her. His chest muscles tightened and his biceps curved as he held his body just out of her reach.

A stirring deep inside her belly swirled. It made her knees weak and her breath disappear. She shouldn’t, but she desperately wanted to hold onto the feeling. She tried to concentrate on his face as he spoke.

He chuckled and flashed her a delicious grin. “Anyways, I just came by to tell you that I get it. It’s a hard decision to make. I hope you chose Gatica, but I totally understand if you don’t.”

“There are a lot of offers and things to weigh and compare.” She dropped her head forward to steal a shy look through her eyelashes. “I appreciate you coming by.”

“Me, too,” he whispered. His smile disappeared as his face turned a different kind of serious. The kind of look one had when they really wanted to say or do something to somebody… like kiss them. “You can probably do better than here.”

His eyes never left hers.

A boldness blossomed inside of her. She heard his words but read them as something different.
You can do better than me.
That’s what he meant. She took a step back into the hotel room. “We can do better than here.” She held the door open and bit her lower lip when he froze momentarily in surprise.

Tyler’s eyes flitted from her to the bed behind her and instantly back to her face.

She wasn’t that kind of girl. She didn’t know what had happened to her that weekend, but she knew she wasn’t leaving Gatica until Tyler did something to stop the craving inside her. He was the only one who could do that.

His tongue ran over his lips and his eyes burned with desire. Silently he stepped into the room, his face inches from hers, except, he did not kiss her.

It drove Aileen crazy but she played along with him, watching his every move as she stepped back and leaned against the wall. She knew she had a cocky grin on her face. She couldn’t stop it. It was apparent that he hadn’t been expecting anything so bold from her. Neither had she. However, he obviously felt the connection she had noticed from the first time they talked at the indoor track. The feeling had obviously been mutual.

He pushed the door closed with his foot and pressed his strong hands on the wall behind her as he watched her. Slowly he slid them down and spread his fingers along her ribs and held her.

It took everything she had not to close her eyes and simply surrender to the feeling. She nearly did when he leaned in again, his breath hot against her skin as he continued to hold her gaze, his lips millimeters from her mouth then drifting to her neck.

Yet he still didn’t kiss her. He brought his hands lower to her hips and lifted her.

Instinctively her legs wrapped around him as he carried her to the leather couch and set her down. Her fingers trailed down his toned triceps and curled around his elbows. Just when she felt he was finally going to kiss her, he pulled back and sat on the coffee table. His chest heaved, but he did not say anything.

Aileen’s body followed him as if connected by a string. She leaned toward him and then hesitated. She sat up, and stared openly at him. She realized he wasn’t going to make the first move. He wanted to, but was making the decision completely hers. As she watched him, she pulled her button up shirt off, only her thin black tank top still on.

As her breath came out in small gasps, she gave up trying to reason with her brain. Some things did not require thinking. She pushed off the couch and straddled him on the coffee table, pressing her lips hungrily onto his.

He reached for her, one hand spreading against the small of her back, the other into her hair with curling fingers. She wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders and pulled her tight against him. The thick short hair at the nape of his neck tickled her arm and she had to run her fingers through it.

His face had just a touch of stubble above and below his lips that brushed and seductively scratched against her skin. The slight roughness excited her, offering a hint of something she wasn’t used to. He was a junior in university, three years older than her! His tongue slipped inside of her mouth and became her undoing. She had believed it was his eyes which captivated her, but that sexy mouth held a power she begged to be possessed by.

Her body pressed harder against him, unable to get close enough. No one had ever made her feel like this before; excited, terrified, on fire and frozen at the same time. She never wanted the feeling to end.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he whispered, pulling slightly away before resting his forehead against hers, “but I couldn’t stop myself.”

With her finger, she lightly traced his kiss-bruised lips. She had done that to him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“But I shouldn’t be—”

She cut his words off by pressing her finger against his mouth. Slowly she brought her head towards his and let her finger trail down his chin, his neck and onto his chest where she let her entire hand spread across his tight, strong muscles. His heart thudded under her hand.

Her lips brushed lightly against his, again and then again. “You should leave if you don’t want this to go any further.”

His shocked expression drew laughter from her. He grinned wickedly. “You blow my mind. One minute I think you’re this sweet little thang, then last summer when I watched you race, I figured you for a tiger in a cage just waiting to break out. On the track. I never thought it off the track. You’re unbelievably sexy and incredibly graceful. Like a female lioness… or a cheetah. In your walk, the way you attack the hurdles, in the weight room.” He groaned. “You could be my worst distraction.”

She had never thought of herself as a sexy. She closed her mouth when she realized it had fallen opened.

He brushed a lock of her hair away from her face and twirled it between his fingers before gently tucking it behind her ear. “I know you’re pretty set on going to Stanford. I don’t blame you. However, I promise I’ll do my best to show you the ropes here at U of G if you came. Gatica has some things Stanford will never have.”

“Are you offering to take me under your wing?” Somewhere in the back of her brain, a thought ran through,
Is he here to get me to sign for the school or because he wants me here
with
him?

He flashed her a sexy smile. “I’ll gladly offer my body and skills.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”

“Whatever it takes. Wouldn’t it rock to have two NCAA champions, in the same event?” His hands ran expertly down her back and up again, tracing her rib cage and making her body want to press tight up against him.

She entwined her fingers together on his neck. Still sitting straddled against him she squeezed her thighs ever-so-slightly so her hips edged closer against him. A hardness teased against her inner thigh. She knew exactly what it was. “Can I let you in on a little secret?” She brushed her lips against his ear, letting her hot breath tease his neck. “I don’t like losing, either.”