Tackled (Alpha Ballers #1) (11 page)

It took me a few minutes to get to the place I had texted Lily to meet me at, just beyond the facility, in a little strip mall a few blocks away from the entrance. I didn’t have a car around here, but I assumed Lily did. If we could avoid taking Uber or Lyft that would be great, even though I doubted anyone around here would recognize me.

Of course, there was that video going around…and New Englanders were rabid about their Patriots…yeah, if we could avoid being recognized that would be good.

Lily showed up a few minutes later, walking up to me as I sat on a bench outside a convenience store. I stood up as I saw her approach, and immediately wanted to sit back down again.

Holy shit, she looked blindingly hot. Like, damn, where has this girl been hiding? Her dress was deep blue and clung to her body like a sheath, showing off all her curves in a way that made my eyes want to jump out of her head with every step she took.

I was mesmerized. As she walked up, Lily had a tense and wary look on her face, but I think she saw the effect she had on me almost immediately, because she softened and even started to look a little amused.

“Drake.” That was my name!

“Lily.” Now we’d gotten the tough part of the evening out of the way.

“I found a dress.”

I looked her up and down. “I’ll say.”

She blushed, which was funny, because I was still ogling her just like before, no change on my part. It was like she suddenly got embarrassed to be there with me. “Down, boy.”

“Huh?”

She stepped closer. “Nothing. Where are we going?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” I stammered. Wow, this was not like me at all. With the number of girls I had been with since I started working out, practicing hard, and catching every touchdown thrown my way, I could not even remember the last time I had been this un-smooth with a girl. Get it together, Rollins, it was time to play. I blinked a few times, shaking my head slightly to clear out the Lily’s-curves-shaped cobwebs as best and as fast as I could. “Do you have a car?”

“Yeah, the Globe assigned me one in case the team wouldn’t let me travel locally with them.” That was no surprise. The Patriots were pretty well known around the country as the least media-friendly professional football team.
 

They took secrecy and paranoia to a new level, and after even just two days on campus I kinda understood why that was. There was a lot going on here, lots of things cooking to out-scheme and out-fox the competition both on and off the field, and it the media got wind of any of these things, all that work would be for nothing.

All of it was above-board, of course, and well within the rules of play. But still, one of the best ways to get an advantage in football, and in life, was to keep your opponents guessing, and then hit them with something they never even expected. That was just one of the ways the Patriots worked on improving their game throughout the year.

Which is why this whole inside access deal with me and the Boston Globe was so confusing. Like, why would the team agree to this?

“Great, we’ll take your car, then.”

“Of course we will, you don’t have a car here.”

I furrowed my brow. “How do you know that?”

“If you did, I’d know about it. The team has provided me with all the information I need on you, Drake, and I’ve done a little digging myself.”

Shit. “Right.” I didn’t say anything else, just started staring at her body again. Fuck, she looked good. I wasn’t even hungry anymore, I just wanted to taste her.

But I knew I had to stay away. She was the enemy. She was definitely not in my corner. When this was over, she’d go back to Boston and cover the Patriots like nothing had changed, and I’d be out picking up the pieces of my life.

I had to show her, I had to show them all, and make the team.

“Drake? It’s a little chilly, let’s go.”

“OK, yeah, let’s go. I’ll drive.” She reached into her purse, pulled out the keys, and tossed them to me.

Her throw was high and to the right, but I reached up and snatched them out of the air behind my head, one-handed. Lily smiled and clapped. “Do that in a game and you’ll make the highlights like Odell.” She turned and started walking away, I guessed to where she had parked.

I laughed and followed her. “Odell? Yeah, he’s alright, I guess. A little flashy for my taste. Doesn’t have to look good as long as you score.”

She turned to me, but kept walking. “Points have a beauty all their own, yeah?”

“You said it.”

After we made it to Lily’s rental car, we both got in and we were off to the restaurant.

It wasn’t far away, but we didn’t really talk during the drive. I had only been in the state for 3 days and certainly wasn’t familiar with the territory, spending all my time at the facility, but I had picked out a good Mediterranean place on Yelp, and it wasn’t too tough to find it. It was a small place, a real hole in the wall, which was exactly what I wanted; less chance of anyone recognizing me there.

We sat at the table and browsed our menus, but I knew immediately what I was going to get, so I spent my time looking at the wine menu. Lily took a bit more time, so I ordered a bottle first, and we sipped at the dark red while she finished up choosing her food.

After we ordered, we sat and stared at each other. I couldn’t help but imagine her in a darker room, alone with me, while I tore that dress off her and made her moan. I felt my cock thickening against my leg under the table, and I wanted to reach our and take Lily’s hand and guide her toward it.
 

Of course, I didn’t. “How’s life at the Patriots facility so far?”

“I’m just getting settled in. It’s a little weird, because no one will talk to me. I have to wear this giant ‘PRESS’ badge at all times when I’m on campus, and once they see that, people just give me blank stares, if they don’t simply turn and walk the other way.”

I laughed. “Yeah, you’re the enemy around here alright. I bet you’ll never even see Bernie Adams’ office, let alone the man himself.”

Lily’s eyes brightened. “I know, and that bums me out. My dad and I have been a huge fan of Bernie since as long as I can remember.”

“So you know what he does for a living, then?”

She smiled. “I have a little idea.”

Bernie Adams was a legend in New England. He’d been working for the Patriots forever now, and no one quite knew what he did. His official title was “Director of Special Projects” or some shit like that, which sounded hilariously clandestine for someone who worked for a professional football team.

“Well, that’s as far as you’ll get.”

“I sure hope not.”

We didn’t say anything else for a minute as we both suddenly got very interested in our wine glasses. After a couple more sips, I finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You look sexy as fuck tonight, Lily.”

I couldn’t tell whether she wanted to laugh or slap the shit out of me. I had a hunch if we had been alone it would have been the latter, but she settled for the former. “You really know how to charm a girl, don’t you, Drake?”

“Yeah, a little bit.”

“Well, you don’t need to do that with me, OK? Let’s try and keep this professional.” Oof, that hurt a little big. OK, a lot. I wasn’t used to getting turned down like that, and I couldn’t remember the last time it had happened.

“Right, right, professional. But remember, this is off the record, yeah? None of what we say or do here tonight makes it into any of your columns, got it?”

“I got it.” She pulled out her purse, and made a big show of rummaging around in there.

I felt the first twinge of anger rise. “What’re you doing? Were you recording this?”

She laughed. “No, dummy, I’m texting the camera guy hiding in the bushes and filming us to take a break until tomorrow.”

I gave her a blank stare.

She blinked, smiling. “I’m kidding, Drake, kidding! I respect what you said earlier. No recordings of any kind. Want to check my phone and my bag?”

I waved her away. “Nah, I’ll trust you this one time.”

“Good.”

We were silent again as the food arrived, and spent a few minutes investigating and testing our our meals. The plate I had ordered was delicious, and despite what I had thought earlier about skipping dinner and getting right to being all over Lily, I found myself famished, and demolishing my meal right there.

Lily watched as I devoured my food, while she ate at a much more refined pace. I couldn’t help it, though, even though I had eaten full meals at breakfast and lunch, with snacks in between, after a full day of working out and practicing, I was hungrier than an ox.

“What?” I stopped eating for a moment. She was staring at me. “Never seen a guy eat before?”

“Not like that.”

I slowed down a little bit, and she still stared at me. I set my fork down and looked back at her. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can. What’re you doing here, Drake?”

“We’re having dinne-“

“That’s not what I meant,” Lily interrupted. “The Patriots. Why are you here?”

“Huh? I want to make the team.”

“Everyone wants to make the team, why do you want it? Is it for the money? You’re an undrafted free agent. You’re not going to get paid much.”

I darkened. I really didn’t like it when people brought up my contract status, and Lily knew that. “I know there’s not a lot-“

“In fact,” she cut in again, “it’s probably only a little more than you’d make if you got a real job.”

“A real job? Football is a real job!” If had a dollar for every time I had heard that line before, I wouldn’t need to play professionally, I could just live off my piles of collected dollars.

“Yeah, I know, I meant a normal job. You have a degree in engineering, did you get that just to hang it up on the wall?” I was very proud of my engineering degree, but I didn’t really say that to anyone. There weren’t a lot of football players with degrees in the first place, let alone in something like engineering,
 

Sometimes it paid to not look smart around football players.

“I’m confused, it sounds like you’re trying to persuade me to give up, is that what you’re doing?”

“Maybe I am! Why do you want this?”

“I thought you were supposed to be supporting me, or, at the very least, not getting in my way.”

“I’m just asking questions, Drake.”

I sat back in my chair, looking up at the ceiling for a bit. Why was Lily acting like this? “I like playing football, Lily.”

“Everyone likes doing something, but liking something isn’t enough to do it professionally. What if you stop liking it tomorrow?”

“I won’t do that. I’ve been playing football since I was 8!”

“And I’ve been doodling in notebooks since I was 8 too, and I don’t call myself a professional doodler!”

“That’s not the same thing at all. Don’t trivialize what I’ve accomplished.”

That quieted her down a bit. We ate the rest of our delicious meal in silence, and after I paid the bill, we headed back out into the chilly New England evening. It was summer time, but still not the warm weather I was used to down south.

We walked back toward the car, the only two people on our side of the street, and I turned to say something to Lily when I realized she wasn’t there anymore.

I stopped and turned around, and she was 10 feet back, staring at me. I hurried back to her. “Is everything alright?”

“What do you want, Drake? Why are you here? Just tell me the truth.”

This again! I don’t know why she kept on asking me the same question over and over again! “I just…I-“

“Yes, Drake, tell me the truth, let it ou-“

“I just want to show them I’m good enough!” I growled, almost at a yell. I thought Lily would shrink back, or maybe even run away, but she held her ground, her eyes never tearing away from mine.

“I want to make the team,” I continued, “because no one believed in me. Because they let little shit get in the way of seeing how great I am. Because I’ve worked hard for this and I want it more than anything else. Because I just…I just want them to know I’m good enough.”
 

I felt the tears come forward, and I tried to wipe them away so Lily wouldn’t see them, but I knew already that she had. “I just,” I said, softer now, “I just want to show them I’m good enough, that I’m a valuable member of the team. I want…I want them to want me around.”

And then, the next thing I knew, Lily had jumped into my arms and I was kissing her.

CHAPTER 13 - LILY

I was in Drake Rollins’ arms, and he was kissing me.

Shit. How did this happen? How had I let this happen?

I didn’t really have time to think about that at the moment, because, hey, I was in a gorgeous man’s arms, and, even better, he was kissing me with more passion than I’d ever experienced.

I opened my mouth and let our tongues dance together for a few all-too-brief moments before I pulled away. Drake kissed me a couple more times, a soft brush of his lips against mine as we separated.

“Whoa,” I said first, opening my eyes and looking down, still in Drake’s arms and still wondering how I got there.

“You said it.”

I took my hands from around Drake’s neck and held them up. “How exactly did that just happen?”

Drake grinned, that smarmy yet oh-so-sexy grin that sent me to different planes of existence. “You found me irresistible and finally stopped trying to deny it.” I laughed, and he continued when I’d finished. “I would be surprised, but you know, I’ve seen it before. All too many times if you ask me.”

“Oh yeah?” I said, still laughing. “This kind of thing happen to you often?”

He pulled me in again, and I licked my lips. “Way more than I would like to admit, actually.”

“Uh huh. Shut up, Drake.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Just kis-“ and I didn’t even finish the word before Drake’s lips were on mine again and I was swept away by his scent and his touch and his tongue and the feeling of floating above the ground.

I could get used to this. I should not get used to this. Even if Drake Rollins was the kind of guy who could and would stick to one girl instead of having an endless parade of floozies in and out of his bedroom, which he most definitely was not, from the stories I had heard around campus for years, coupled with the high profile tabloid flings he had enjoyed since being done with school, there was still one other thing keeping this from becoming a real thing.