RUNNING GAME (A SECOND CHANCE SPORTS ROMANCE) (36 page)

T
his bartender chick
was putty in my hands, gazing at me with widened eyes and heaving breasts. Her lips subtly formed that slight little ‘
O’
that I like so much, and I couldn’t help but smile deeper.

She only seemed more aroused.

But I wasn’t going to overplay the charm.

My knuckles brushed lightly against her cheek, pushing a few strands of hair aside. She quivered beneath my touch, her eyes locked onto mine.

“Thank you for cleaning me up,” I whispered.

“Mhmm,” she nodded softly.

“How could I possibly repay you?”

“You’ll…think of something.”

“I think I already have.”

I leaned down towards her.

Down towards my prize…

And suddenly, the distant
clang
of a door.

She leapt up from the bed, from me, and hesitantly wandered to the doorway. With a hand against the wall, she carefully peered out.

A voice called out, distantly.

“Angel… Angel?”

It was the sound of an old man, older and raspier than the bikers. Sounded like it was probably an old bag of bones, at least from first impression.

At his calling, she immediately left.

So, THAT’S her name,
I thought to myself. It was fitting…

It was only then that I realized that I’d never learned it. Any immediate shame got dismissed with a quick shrug. Hell, half the groupies I’d fucked never had a name to their faces.

And the ones that did…well, I usually forgot those names by the morning.

I let a few moments idly saunter past, waiting for her to come back and tell me that everything was fine. As the seconds dragged on to minutes, I realized that this was a little more serious…

I couldn’t make any out any of the conversation from back here, but it sounded like the intruder and my improvised medic were having quiet the emotional chat.

Grumbling, I slowly rose from the bed.

She had been right here.

She was going to be mine.

My muscles ached, and I ignored how they snarled in pain. Steadying myself against the wall, I took a few injured steps, finally making it to the doorway.

Fuck. I’m in worse shape than I thought.

Entering the hallway in a slight hunch, I was able to limber up a little with each consecutive step. By the time I rounded the corner, crossed a storage room, and came to where they were, I could move far easier.

It was the bar.

The bar?

“I thought you said we were at your place,” I complained to Angel, who was speaking to some old, grumpy looking bastard of a man. They both immediately turned to me with mutual shock, their conversation temporarily forgotten.

The old geezer looked indignant.

What is he, her grandfather?

“This…
is
my place,” Angel replied, her eyes full of surprise and embarrassment. “This is where I work, and where I live…
home sweet home!
And what the
hell
are you doing up?”

“Angel,” the decrepit old man addressed her, his withering gaze locked disdainfully onto me. “Would you care to explain why a shirtless man is back there with you, in my bar, after hours?”

“I was telling you that someone saved me,” she answered. The look on her face told me that she was furious that I’d revealed myself.

Tough shit.

She continued, waving her hand in my direction. “Well,
this
is that someone.”

“I…see.” He turned to her, a disappointed look plastered across those old wrinkles. “So, in exchange for rescuing you, you just thought that you’d throw this stranger a little pity fuck?”

Angel was visibly stunned.

“Hey,” I told him. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but don’t you dare talk to her like that.”

The man chuckled. “Got a mouth on you, too. I’ll have you know that Angel lives here, rent-free, under a few conditions.
Rule number one, no boys.”

“I’m not a
boy
,” I growled.

“Yes…I can see that,” he observed, his withered glance sliding along my muscles. “And that’s even worse.”

He turned to face her, and she wilted under his angry gaze.

“Nice to see that you have such reverence for my rules. You have disappointed me, Angel. I thought that I had been
very clear
what would happen if you did. Have I not put you up here, taken care of you, and put up with your constant rulebreaking? And now
this.
”

“I’m sorry, Old Greg,” she murmured. “Don’t throw me back out. I was only patching him up, honest. He just woke up. Ask him.”

Old Greg glowered at me.

“Is this true?”

I thought about spitting out some sort of retort. Of punishing him for daring to come between us, or
her
for leaping up and ripping my prize away.

“Yeah, it’s true,” I answered begrudgingly.

“But you’re shirtless.”

“You’re observant, aren’t you?” He was seriously pissing me off, and I couldn’t help but take the pot shot. But before his indignant glare could smolder into action, I quickly added: “I took a few hits. She was making sure my ribs weren’t broken.”

After a moment to stifle his reaction, the old man nodded, apparently accepting this explanation.

“Which reminds me… next time, you let the
hospital
handle your wounded friends. Angel, you told me that you’re
supposed
to be letting that part of your life go. Always patching people up yourself. Isn’t that true?”

“Yes sir,” she quietly agreed.

“Because it doesn’t look like that now.” He pointed at me. “
He
should be seeing a doctor right now. Not lying around in the back of a bar. I mean, what kind of supplies do we seriously have? What if he needs an emergency room? You should have sent him from here in an ambulance.”

“I’m in good shape,” I cut in.

“No son, you look as bad as your attitude. Both of which are
absolute shit
,” he grumbled throatily. A slight cough rumbled out from his chest, and he quieted it with a handkerchief. “Tell me, is that
your
fancy jeep out front?”

“That’s right,” I answered.

“Good. Can you drive?”

“I think so,” I blurted out.

I realized my mistake too late.

“Fine. Get in your jeep and drive, then.”

I swallowed angrily.

Old Greg continued. “Closest after-hours clinic is a few miles down the Interstate. Head east. Look for
Brightsdale.
Pass the welcome sign, a mile down on the left. Can’t miss it. Big bright building, probably the only one with the lights on at this time of night.”

Angel’s eyes met mine. She was hurt and confused, but I could tell she was resigned to this.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t so convinced.

“You want me out? After I saved your tenant?”

Old Greg bristled. “Son, as the owner of the roof currently over your head, I want you seeking proper medical attention, instead of sniffing around my
tenant
as you so respectfully put it.”

I wanted to lash out.

I wanted to hit him.

But I bit my tongue.

When I didn’t snap at his words, the owner visibly softened – even if only by a little. With a deep sigh, he pointed over at Angel.

“Don’t get me wrong: you saved her. I’m grateful. The sheriff told me what you did, and I shudder to think what would have happened if you weren’t here.”

I couldn’t help myself.

“This sort of thing happen often?”

Old Greg soured.

“Not usually, no. I have no earthly idea what got into them tonight. You see, now I have to go through the trouble of figuring out a bouncer for a little while…”

“Right. Not a bad idea. Better than leaving her here alone with patrons you two clearly can’t control.”

He looked me in the eyes, deciding whether or not to jump into a fresh round of passive-aggressive arguing with me. Only, I was prepared to back it up a little more
viciously
this time, fueled by a rock-hard cock that demanded release.

This idiot had fucked it all up.

Things had been going
great.

“Yes… you’re right,” he conceded. “And I will figure out what to do about that very soon. Now then, I’m going to politely ask you to leave my bar. Make me ask again… maybe it’s not so nice next time.”

“Can she walk me out?” I asked him.

The crusty bar owner turned to her, and then nodded. “If Angel wants, so long as she’s back inside shortly. She’s got a damn hole in my roof that needs patching. I’m amazed, frankly, that you didn’t blow my whole fucking bar down.”

Pushing my confidence and arrogance aside, I decided to leave on a high note. “I’m sorry for the trouble, sir,” I extended my hand. “I’ll be on my way.”

Old Greg nodded quickly, but ignored the gesture all the same. “Two minutes,” he assigned me. “More than enough time for the two of you.”

I let his blatant disrespect slide, and instead just walked out the door. Angel dejectedly fell into step beside me right afterwards. We hung around at the jeep for a moment.

“You’re not coming back, are you?” She asked morosely as she twisted her hair in her fingers. It was kind of sad to see, even for me.

“Do you have a cell phone?” I redirected the conversation. “Some way of getting in touch with you?”

“No, no phone,” she responded quietly.

Wow. No phone, living in the back of a bar, and I barely saw anything that looked like it could be hers…

“That’s a shame, because I still owe you for trying to patch me up,” I told her. An opportunity was already formulating in the back of my head. “
RipFest
doesn’t shut shop tonight. We’re playing another set tomorrow night. You should come.”

“But that’s so far,” she mumbled, glancing vaguely in the right direction. “There’s no way I can walk that, and I have to patch that hole tonight...”

“Don’t need to walk it,” I replied calmly.
Yes, this is all falling into place.
“You’re staying here, right? I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

“You’d do that?” She was stunned.

“Of course. Least I can do,” I smiled. It was hard to keep my wickedness out of my voice.

Angel apparently saw that, and hesitated for a moment. It was enough for my smile to falter.
Fuck. Did I just overplay this?
“But I, well… I guess it’s true that I’m not working tomorrow night…”

“Want to see a real rock star in his element? I’ll get you a backstage pass. You’ll watch the show from the sidelines. No fighting through sweaty crowds and mosh pits. You’ll be safe with a view to kill for.”

“That sounds incredible,” she murmured, still carefully watching my eyes. “What time?”

“I’ll have someone pick you up here around 4 o’clock. That’ll get you there in time to see our set… And all the other sets, too. We’re sharing the stage with some fucking legends.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Old Greg is out of town tomorrow. He probably won’t even know that I’ve left. This could work.”

“You think so?” I asked.

“Alright,” Angel nodded, not without some reluctance. “Yeah. I guess it’s a deal.”

“You bet it is,” I whispered, slipping a fingertip below her chin. She shivered at my touch, staring into my eyes fearfully. It would be so easy to kiss her right now.

No. I’ll wait.

There’s a better time for this.

Instead, I told her goodbye, slipped into my jeep, and whipped out of the parking lot. Before she disappeared from view, I turned over my shoulder to give her one more little wave. I smiled knowingly to myself.

Just a brief delay.

No big deal.

I felt my usual confidence rush back into my veins, my swagger emboldened by my understanding of where I belonged in the universe.

Where
she
belonged.

Which was around my cock, tomorrow night.

Who needs the back of a rickety old bar?

I’d rather fuck you in the tour bus, anyway.

W
hen I woke
up hours later in my familiar old cot, I crawled out of bed and brushed my teeth. Peering at my sleepy gaze in the mirror, I wondered why I was so exhausted. But then, it all came flashing back, in a slideshow montage of events in my head.

The bikers, trying to rape me.

The rocker, shirtless and
oh so handsome
.

The seductive way he looked at me.

How close I’d been to giving myself up.

Sweet Caramel Jesus on a stick.

How fucking stupid had I been? I could barely believe it. Hot or not, no boy had
ever
had that kind of effect on me. I mean, yeah, I felt like I was a little indebted to him for rescuing me and taking those punches. But…

Old Greg had been right.

I’d almost fucked him.

I’m such an idiot.

That look in his eyes…that seductive, low yarl of a baritone in his singing voice… and then there was all that bullshit at the end of the night. He’d been putting
serious
moves on me, coercing me to come along to see him play life. I could see the burning lust in his eyes, and I knew that he didn’t really give a rat’s ass about me.

No.

Nuh-uh.

Ain’t happenin’.

I groaned angrily at myself. I held myself to a higher standard than this. Sure, I owed him for what he did for me – but did I owe him
that?

I mean… he
was
really hot.

UGH.

No.

Still mentally grumbling to myself, I went on with my morning routine. After brushing my teeth, I hopped into the freezing cold shower for the millionth time. I’d learned to clean up
fast
without access to hot water in the improvised bathroom for over a year.

It was only while I was toweling off that I thought back to the concert he’d mentioned.
Didn’t he say that he was going to send someone for me?

I looked over at the time.

It was coming up on 11 AM.

Great. Only five hours of waiting.

Throwing on a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts, I cracked a few eggs, slapped on some bacon, and made myself fried egg sandwiches for breakfast. A tumbler of frigid tap water from the bar rounded out my breakfast of champions.

As I dwelled on recent events, I found myself savoring the warmth of the eggs. Alabama rarely got what you could consider
cold
, but there was a slight chill to the air outside – a cold front must have snapped through.

Didn’t help that this bar had the approximate insulation of a paper bag.

Should I go?
I wondered to myself.

Could I have been wrong?

Does he REALLY want to see me again?

Trent probably saw me as just another notch in his bedpost. It
had
been a long time, and he
was
really hot. Could I be okay with that?
After all,
I thought to myself,
maybe he’d already lost interest from being interrupted by my landlord.

It was just so utterly
lame
that the only time I brushed with fame, with someone from well beyond this shitty little town, it was with such a conflicting, obvious asshole.

He rescued me.

He wanted to fuck me.

I had wanted to fuck
him
.

Well… that thought had only lasted a few minutes. I’d been caught up in the moment, in my brush with fame. But I couldn’t let him have that kind of control over me… and wouldn’t you know it, the guy looked the type to get
angry
over that.

UGH
.

Why is this shit always so complicated?

I had to admit, though – if he was telling the truth about the concert… that would definitely be a hell of an opportunity. I’d only ever seen small, shitty shows here. This was way different. An opportunity I wasn’t sure that I could pass up.

Being backstage for a major rock venue.

Watching the rock stars go balls out.

It could be fun.

Resigning myself to this course of action, I decided to stop fucking around and just see where that went. However, I made it very clear to myself that he and I were
not
going to be doing
anything
that might sully my innocence.

So, I put on the radio while I tried to clean the back of the bar up. I went ahead and took my inventory count, swept out the storage rooms, reorganized the cold stock, and tried to fix one of the creaky shelves back there.

Just for kicks, I tuned it to the Top 40 station.

All the while, I kept my ears open for one of Trent’s songs, dragging the little battery-powered boom-box around from room to room as I worked. The stuff that was playing was mostly the kind of crap I didn’t have any patience for. Lots of young TV stars given a platform on the radio. Some super repetitive electronic music or whatever.

Is this the shit that people listen to now?

Luckily, there were some familiar sounds, older pop mainstays either making a comeback, or showing that they still really ruled the roost.

I missed the days of alternative rock on the radio. Living in this bar had given me an appreciation for country music, but still… the Nineties really pushed some stellar alternative rock bands to the forefront.

Finally, what I wanted to hear came on:

“
Featuring, by popular demand, their latest single, here’s ‘Wicked Wilds’ by Trent Masters and the Whiplash! Go see ‘em live at RIPFEST tonight! This is The Pitbull, and you’re listening to 106.7 The Pit!”

A low growl of the guitars swung into gear, building up a crescendo. A few bars in, the drums kicked in, complementing the instruments until Trent’s voice finally poured in over the music:

“
My lonely walk along the highway / A silent king with feet a-peelin’ / Empire of dust that shattered my way / My soul regret, I’ve lost the feelin’…”

I smiled to myself.

It was him.
Definitely
him.

I could see a clear picture of Trent Masters in my head, scrawling notes in a dirt-stained notebook. His boots were kicked up, while his band practiced chords and strummed along to their own hearts.

I liked the thought of it.

That’s why, when the private car finally crunched gravel just after 4 o’clock, I was dressed up in my best.

I’d even been waiting for half an hour.