Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (20 page)

So I threw on my
coat, grabbed the book I was reading from the nightstand, and braved the
streets outside. I was determined to seek out solace at one of my
neighborhood’s many coffee houses. There weren’t many people out and I hoped
nobody would pester me. Even though I was weary to step outside my door, I
couldn’t stay cooped up all day long.

Ignoring that it
felt like a lose-lose situation, I locked my door and stepped out on to the
street. I didn’t want to stray too far from home so I walked just down the
block to the Blue Café. I laughed under my breath at how appropriate of a
choice it was based off the name. I certainly did feel blue as I stepped
inside. That feeling quickly changed into something else when I heard someone
behind me cry out.

“Via Mace! Via
Mace!”

Another voice
followed up with, “Hey! Hold up, Via!”

I heard the
artificial clicking of cell phone cameras and I instantly found myself
wondering why I had been naïve enough to think it would be okay to walk outside
without being bothered. Before I knew what was happening, I was surrounded by a
small group of avid fans. All of them were trying to get my attention, ask
questions, and most importantly take a photo with me. The barista was openly
staring the entire time, but I couldn’t figure out if he was annoyed at the
scene or gawking at me with the crowd.

It took a long
time for the manager to step out and order the crowd to disperse. “This is a
place of business,” she called out. “This is not some sort of meet and greet!”
The crowd thinned and eventually I was able to nab a corner table shrouded in a
small bit of privacy. I let out a heavy sigh into a warm cup of coffee with an
espresso shot cradled between my hands.

A young woman
stepped inside and went straight to the counter to place an order for a medium
iced Americano. It wasn’t until she sat at the table right next to me that I
realized this was no ordinary customer. This was a fan that had worked the
system and was much more skillful at getting close to me. The sneaky glances
from her and the suspicious angle of her phone confirmed my suspicions.

Once my annoyance
subsided I had an idea. If I could find out something about Hayden’s company
and where it was, perhaps I could stage a run-in with him. If I couldn’t set up
an appointment, I would have to force one. I looked up Innovate Tomorrow as a starting
point and realized it was actually based out of San Francisco. I gulped.

Maybe, just maybe,
Hayden
was based out of the city too.

It had been a
difficult night for me. It wasn’t just the nightmares of what people were saying
about me and Via Mace, or the seemingly endless messages and calls I had
received that kept me tossing and turning at night. No, my brain was kept awake
because I was busy trying to think of ways to track down Hayden Dunn. It was a
slim to none chance of me actually seeing him, but it was my best shot. By the
time I had gotten home I was completely wiped out. It didn’t matter how much I
wanted to keep researching him, I knew it was best to give it a rest and start
fresh the following day.

So when the sun
rose and the morning chatter of the commuters started up, I practically leapt
out of bed and brewed a strong cup of coffee before setting up my laptop on the
dining room table.

“Time to get to
work,” I said, watching my computer boot up and tapping my index finger on the
handle of my coffee mug. By the time I was on a second website I found my mug
was in dire need of a refill. As I walked over to my coffee maker and poured
the remaining hot liquid into the cup, I mused on just how odd it was that I wasn’t
getting ready to head over to the office.

 
“Fuck!” I cried out after burning my tongue on
the scalding hot coffee. I had taken a large swig of it without thinking. Now I
was seething over how unfair the situation was. Nothing in my life seemed to be
going right, not even the coffee. I set the cup down on the kitchen counter and
stormed over to my computer.

“Enough is
enough,” I groaned. It didn’t take nearly as long to find out where his office
was located and it was all thanks to a fan page that was organizing an event
for the grand release of Mind Lash.

Without wasting a
second, I walked to my bedroom to pick out an outfit that looked business
casual. I threw it on, pulled my auburn hair back into a bun to easily cover it
with a black-and-white patterned scarf, before topping off my look with large
and dark sunglasses. Somehow I managed to hide the fact that I was the
real-live version of the new headline-making kick-ass video game vixen.

I walked out on to
the street and hurriedly made my way to the bus stop knowing it would arrive
within the next three minutes. Two minutes later, it pulled up and I smiled
when I looked inside of it. It wasn’t nearly as busy as it was just thirty
minutes ago. I slid into a seat near the back door and pulled out a book to
keep busy for the rest of the ride.

The building
housing Hayden Dunn’s office, which was now the headquarters of his own
start-up gaming company, was located in the heart of the business district. He
had to be doing quite well for himself. The monthly rent in that area was sky
high. That was something that left a bad taste in my mouth. There was something
about it that made me think he had gotten rich off my misfortune. I had a score
to settle.

My mind was torn–
there was no way for him to know me and have made Via Mace based off memory
alone, but it also seemed impossible for him to
not
know me.

None of this made
any sense and my head was starting to spin, so it came as a relief when I saw
my exit coming up. The last thing I needed to add to my list of unfortunate
events was to miss my exit and get stuck on the bus going who knows where.

The bus pulled to
the side of the road and I quickly got off before the line of people waiting to
get on started filling up the bus. I muttered a few curse words underneath my
breath the moment I saw it. I didn’t expect to see droves of fans outside the
building I was looking for.

 
“Guess I don’t have to ask around,” I said
aloud, catching the attention of a rather spry looking young man beside me. He
flashed a goofy grin at me, but the confusion in his eyes wasn’t masked. I
didn’t fit in with the crowd of fans in the least bit, but I wouldn’t let that
stop me. I made my way through the crowd until I found a security guard I could
talk to.

He stared down at
me for a moment, but didn’t say a single word. He was waiting for me to cross
some invisible barrier before he would reach out and hold me back. But he
definitely wasn’t going to do me the courtesy of asking if I needed any help. I
couldn’t blame him, not with all the loud fans surrounding us trying to push
their way past security for some reason.

I was glad for the
cover of my sunglasses as I rolled my eyes and looked at the people around me
with disdain. There was no reason for them to be there causing such a
commotion, blocking the sidewalk, and trying to force their way into a place of
business. I wasn’t like them– I had
real
business that needed to be taken care of. My determined attitude gave me the
confidence to turn and face the security guard. Somehow I was going to persuade
him to let me past. Security was probably thinking I was just another crazy
fan, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get past them.

There was a shout
from the back of the crowd and suddenly things got louder. In an instant mayhem
broke out as the crowd started shoving and hollering at each other. I was
pushed into the guard. He held me up nicely, but only for a brief moment,
before pushing me back. Two other guards came up beside him and started blowing
whistles.

“Hey! Listen up!”
the guard in front of me shouted with a booming voice. “I don’t know what
y’all
think you’re going to accomplish here, but this needs
to stop. Now, look, I know you’re all excited but this is too much.” The entire
crowd was silently staring at him. “Mr. Dunn can’t see anybody now because he’s
crazy busy with the upcoming release of Mind Lash, as you all know. So if you
do not have a pass or appointment, please don’t loiter here!”

The crowd murmured
and scoffed. Many of them looked disappointed but the crowd started to thin out
anyway. I grimaced; I didn’t have a pass or appointment but I certainly had a
valid reason to request some of Hayden Dunn’s precious time. I stepped in front
of the security guard and straightened up before taking off my scarf and
sunglasses in an attempt to convince him to let me in. I had wanted to stay
anonymous and prevent anyone from noticing me, but I saw no other way.

Once the guard saw
my face his eyes lit up and his mouth
fell
open. Even
he couldn’t deny my resemblance to Via Mace. As the security guard’s jaw
dropped in shock, the other two guards were too busy making sure the crowd was
dispersing.

“Look at me,” I
said as quietly as possible so others wouldn’t hear. “I don’t have to say it
because you can see it. I
need
to
speak to Mr. Dunn and I would say it’s appalling obvious why, wouldn’t you?”

I expected
sympathy from him. I expected the man to understand and silently step aside so
I could go on about my business. But the moment his mouth opened wider and laughter
fell out, I realized how foolish it had been for me to expect that. How he
could find my predicament hilarious was beyond me. As if that weren’t
bothersome enough, he called over his two buddies to join in on his laughter.

“Oh shit!” one of
them laughed so loudly the few straggling fans turned to look at me. I was
rooted to the spot as everyone pulled out their phones and clicked away with
pictures. Everything and anything they said was completely lost. The sound of
their voices and the shocked laughter all mixed in with the typical city
sounds. It was all so loud I thought my head might explode.

I didn’t even
realize when or how the few stragglers turned into a full on crowd, all
jostling each other to get closer to me. Everyone wanted to see me up close,
everyone wanted a million photos, and some even clamored to form a line so they
all could have the pleasure of taking a picture together
with
me. It wasn’t until a rude man with a messy beard and greasy hair
shoved his oversized body against mine and took a selfie that I snapped back to
reality.

“Get away!” I
cried, pushing against his arm. I stumbled to the side and was caught by the
fans, some of who practically squealed in excitement at having made physical
contact with the “real” Via Mace.

“Dude! I can’t
believe she’s here in the flesh!”

“No wonder they
were trying to get rid of us!”

“She’s even hotter
in real life!”

“You think she
could
really
kick my ass?”

There was a flurry
of comments, ranging from stupidly excited to awfully crass and bordering on
harassment. I couldn’t believe people were actually surrounding me, pointing at
me, and calling me Via. They were all super excited, like kids on Christmas
morning. Just as I was formulating an escape plan, something stopped me from
moving.

That’s when I saw
him
.

Hayden Dunn.

He was walking
through the glass doors, coming down to the lobby and toward the door.

My heart raced and
my pulse thundered in my ears, drowning out the voices of everyone surrounding
me. Then for a brief heart shattering moment, Hayden saw the huge crowd and
motioned toward the other end of the lobby.

He’s going out back,
I thought. Then he caught my eye
and everything seemed to stop. Nothing else made noise and my vision wrapped up
into a tunnel, everything existed only in our eye contact and from the look on
his face I was sure he could see me clearly. I swallowed against a dry throat.
He looked even more handsome in person; not at all like the video game geeks
surrounding me.

He held up his
hand to whoever was speaking to him before slowly walking toward the main
doors. Two men, who I presumed to be his personal guards or managers, scurried
to walk in front of him. The security guards outside stood like pillars as the
two men with Hayden walked in front of him. A hush fell over the fans.

I would have been
curious as to why his appearance wouldn’t have caused all out chaos had I not
been there to cause it first. All eyes were on Hayden, including my own.
Everyone was waiting on bated breath for our interaction.

Right then and
there for everyone to see, Hayden was completely awestruck when he saw me. His
baby blue eyes sparkled. He couldn’t tear them away from me. He was speechless.
He was stunned. He took a step forward, the guards not failing to keep him
safe, and placed his hand over his mouth.

My heart fell down
a flight of stairs as I stared back at him. He had sharp handsome features and
a confident demeanor that would turn heads the instant he entered a room. I was
more nervous than ever to talk to him. Was it because he was staring at me like
I was God’s greatest gift on earth? Or was it that he was gut-wrenchingly
handsome? Whatever it was, I was nervous, but I was also angry. This was the man
responsible for all this trouble I was going through. One way or another he was
going to rectify the situation. Drop-dead-gorgeous or not; he was still a
bastard to me.
 

“Wow,” he
breathed, taking another step forward.

“We need to talk,”
I finally announced. The crowd around us was growing even bigger. Each person
had a cell phone in hand to capture our exchange, but it was nearly dead
silent. Everyone wanted to hear what we were saying.

“I see,” he
replied. I wasn’t sure what he meant by it. He was still staring at me as if I
were a precious object to be protected at all costs. His eyes flicked up, down,
and over my body as if I was something he would only see once in a lifetime.

“I think you know why,”
I told him. If ever there were a time where the age old saying, ‘A picture is
worth a thousand words,’ applied to a situation, this was it. Only I wasn’t a
photograph; I was a flesh and blood human being with feelings and emotions.

Hayden leaned over
to the man on his right. “I can’t believe this,” he said loudly and slowly.
Although it was directed at the man he had no qualms about announcing it to the
entire crowd. “Would you look at that? My creation has come to life, Jones.”
His brilliant white teeth flashed in a stunned smile.

I was disgusted.
He had the gall to speak about me as if I weren’t there, standing directly in
front of him. Despite the anger coursing through my veins, I made a mental note
of Jones’s name and appearance. Hayden took a couple more steps forward until
he was standing close to me. He even went so far as to extend his arm and reach
out for my chin. Gently, he grabbed ahold of my chin and started moving my face
side to side to carefully study my looks. My skin felt electric the moment he
touched me. His hands were warm and his touch was so gentle it was like he was
afraid to break me.