Home Run Baby: A Sports Romance (62 page)

“Predicting the relationships between chemicals in a reaction is its own thing entirely called Stoichiometry…” Rose says, scanning the room through her glasses. “But that is chapter
two
, so we’ll dive into that on Friday.”

The class shifts all at once, instantly perking up as certain trigger words tell them the lecture is nearing its end. The same ladies that were swooning over Dr. Dickweed are now bored and disappointed but I sure as hell ain’t.

“If no one has any questions, then that’s it for today,” she says, trying to raise her little voice over the sound of people standing up. “Or you can come see me during office hours! I’ll be in there today from now until three!”

I toss my notebook into my backpack and wait, watching eagerly as the other students beeline for the doorway. Dr. Zach rises from the front row and walks up to her, instantly bringing a smile to her cute face and her cheeks turn an even darker shade of pink. I saw it in her the entire hour; that adorable, nervous twitch. This must have been her first day teaching, the poor thing.

I stand up and hold my backpack in front of me to hide the possible bulge as I make my way up to the front of the lecture hall. Dr. Zach leaves with his band of admirers just begging to throw their panties at him. That guy
must
be getting some undergraduate tail on a daily basis. He’d be stupid not to.

As I approach Rose, she pauses and her eyes slam to the floor to avoid mine.

“Hey, Ms. Hawthorne,” I say.

She clears her throat and shoves her books into her bag. “Hello, John.”

“Did you get my email?”

“I, uh…” She looks up. “Yeah. Sorry. I saw you sent one but I’ve been swamped. You know… lesson plans and… stuff.”

I smile, easily reading the embarrassment in her little eyes. She got the email, all right. She definitely did. “That’s okay,” I say. “You’ve probably been busy freaking out over your first time.”

She raises a brow. “My
what
?”

“Teaching,” I grin.

“Oh…” She lets out an awkward laugh but it quickly dies as she lowers her voice. “Was it that obvious?”

“Nah.” I shake my head. “Well… you are a little pink.”

Her head falls to hide her face. “Crap…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I laugh. “I’m sure teaching is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it.”

“Hopefully.” She throws her bag over her shoulder. “Until then, I’ll just keep imagining people in their underwear.”

“Well, if I’d have known you were doing that, I would have sat in the front row.”

She presses her lips together, holding back her smile. “I should get going. I have office hours today…”

“I’ll walk you there,” I say. “I actually have a few questions to ask about the lecture.”

“Really?” she asks, stepping towards the door. “Like what?”

“I’m gonna need you to explain Atomic Theory to me again.”

I hold the door open for her and she pauses, staring up at me with unblinking eyes. “All matter is made up of tiny, indestructible particles called
atoms
,” she says.

I nod. “Okay…”

“That’s about it.”

“Wow,” I chuckle. “You’re an
excellent
teacher, Ms. Hawthorne.”

“Thank you.” She walks outside and I follow, taking wide steps to keep up with her quick feet. “So… do you have another question?”

“Yeah. What are you doing tonight?”

She doesn’t stop walking but I notice her posture stiffen. “I have a class.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“I have to review lesson plans.”

“How about Friday night, then?”

Finally, she pauses on the sidewalk. “John…”

“I told you to call me Johnny.”

“Well, I’m calling you John.”

I smile. “So, you
did
get my email?”

She takes a steady breath. “Do you have any more questions about the lecture today?”

Her eyes tremble with a touch of anger and I wonder if I’ve pushed her too far. “No, Ms. Hawthorne,” I answer. “I do not.”

“Then I will see you in class on Friday.”

I nod as she turns away, once again disappearing into the crowd without even a quick glance back at me.

Well, shit.

***

“Hey, John. Can you spot me?”

I nod at Junior and step off the treadmill. I haven’t exactly made good use of my gym time today. This whole Rose situation has me pretty fucked up in the head. No girl has ever given me this much trouble before but, mostly, I can’t get that look on her face out of my mind. That cold resistance. That painful annoyance. All directed at me.

It makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

I stand over the barbell as Junior lays on the bench beneath it with his hands extended upward to grip the bar.

“You okay?” he asks me.

“Yeah, why?”

“You seem a little…” he lowers the bar to his chest and I keep my hand hovering beneath it,
“serious.”

I stare down at his handsome, upside-down face. I’m usually the one giving advice on how to pick up girls but I’m clearly out of my element when it comes to Rose.
The forbidden woman.

Junior Morgan knows a thing or two about that.

“So, how did you do it?” I ask him.

Junior straightens his arms, forcing the barbell upward. “Do what?”

“You know — bang the coach’s daughter.”

He pauses. “I never thought I’d have to explain the birds and the bees to
you
, John.”

I sigh. “I mean… the coach told us hands off Eliza, remember?”

“I do.”

“But you definitely didn’t do that.”

“No, I did not.”

“Okay, then. How did you convince her that was a good idea? Spill.”

Junior sets the bar onto the rack and sits up, staring at me through narrow eyelids. “What’s up, John?”

“I have a forbidden lady friend and she’s not going for my usual moves. I need to know how you pulled it off.”

“Ohh…” he grins. “This is about
the trifecta
, isn’t it?”

“Of course.”

“Let me guess — the teacher?”

“Yeah.”

He rolls his eyes. “Professors aren’t allowed to mess around with students, man. She could lose her job.”

“
You
weren’t allowed to mess around with Eliza Pierce and you still did it.”

“Right… and we lost our chance at the championship because of it.”

“I don’t need a lecture,” I say. “I just need to know how you caught her attention and made her ignore the possible consequences in favor of hot, sweaty sex in the back of your van.”

He shrugs. “I’m Junior Morgan.”

I frown. “You suck at giving advice, dude. Thanks a lot.”

“Okay…” he chuckles. “What I’m about to tell you is sacred knowledge passed down through generations of satisfied men and must never be spoken of outside of this room. Agreed?”

I sit down on the next bench across from his. “I’m listening…”

“Have you tried…” he glances over his shoulders for prying ears, “showing an interest in her as a person and
not
just as a hole to stick your dick into?”

I blink. “Seriously?
That’s
your sacred knowledge?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “What’s she into?”

“Doggy style, I hope.”

“No…” he laughs. “What are her
hobbies
? What does she do outside of school? What’s
important
to her? That kind of thing.”

“Oh…” I think for a second. “I have no idea.”

“Find out,” he says. “Then, take an interest in that thing yourself or, at the very least, acknowledge it in a way that shows that you support it.”

“And that’s how you got Eliza’s attention?”

“Yeah. Eliza’s a theatre major, so I went to her audition. I helped her memorize her lines. I
supported
her.”

“It was
that
easy?”

“Oh,
no
.” He shakes his head. “I never said that it was
easy
… but it was worth it.”

I try to come up with ways of getting to know Rose but I may have already screwed my chances. Something tells me this is going to be significantly harder than watching a damn audition.

Junior leans forward. “Look, John… you want some
real
advice?”

“Sure,” I shrug.

“Don’t fake this. Don’t lead her on, making her think you’re someone other than who you really are just to get in her pants and never talk to her again. If you just want sex, we both know you can get it somewhere else anytime you want.”

“Damn right.”

“If she doesn’t want the same thing, just move on to the next girl who will. I told Eliza from the beginning that I just wanted sex and she did, too. It was a nice, honest, casual fling.”

“But now you guys are getting married,” I point out. “You have a baby.”

“Well… like I said…” He looks over my shoulder and smiles. “It was worth it.”

I turn around to see Eliza standing out in the hallway through the glass door with their infant daughter balanced on her hip. The kid is a tiny replica of Eliza in every way; brown hair, light skin. Face like a damn supermodel. She waves at Junior and she grins as she takes the baby’s hand and waves it for her.

“And that’s my ride home,” Junior says, standing up. “Did this help?”

I rise off the bench. “Yeah,” I nod. “I think so.”

“Good.”

We walk to the door and step out into the hall. Junior instantly grabs his daughter and lifts her up into the air while planting kisses on her tiny cheeks.

“Hey, Courtney,” he coos. “Did you miss me?” She giggles loudly and Eliza smiles at them before looking at me.

“Hey, Eliza,” I say.

“Hey, John.”

Junior leans down to kiss Eliza’s cheek and for a brief moment, I feel a stab of envy deep inside. “I’ll go grab my stuff from the locker room,” he says, handing the baby back to her. “I’ll be right back.”

“We’ll wait here,” she says.

He takes off, leaving the three of us alone in silence. I look from her to the baby and back again, my mind running crazy until I realize I’ve been staring at them for way too long.

Eliza furrows her brow, glaring up at my inquisitive face for several seconds until she finally speaks. “What’s up, John?”

“Eliza, can I ask you something?”

“… Okay.”

“Last year, you and Junior hooked up but you weren’t supposed to.”

“Yes, we did.”

“Why?” I ask. “What did he do that caught your attention?”

She pauses, thinking back while she sways her hips to rock the baby in her arms. “Well… he flashed me.”

I blink. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, he flashed his pecker at me in the locker room,” she nods. “That definitely caught my attention.”

I scoff. “Junior told me a bunch of crap about showing interest in your hobbies and shit. You’re telling me all I gotta do is whip out my Little John?”

She smiles. “He said that?”

“Yes.”

“Aww.”

I exhale with frustration.

“He’s not wrong, John,” she chuckles. “Junior’s
confidence
may have snagged my interest but it was his
obsession
that sealed the deal.”

“Obsession?”

“He went out of his way to prove to me that I was the only woman in the entire world for him,” she explains. “He never gave up. He never backed down. He believed in us long before I ever did.”

I nod, letting the words sink in.
“Obsession…”
I mutter.

Her face softens. “Has it actually happened?” she asks. “Is there a girl out there that’s finally
tamed
the great John Kirby?”

“Oh, hell no. I just wanna bang my new chemistry TA.”

She tilts her head and sighs. “I’m not sure why I expected anything else. Well, in that case, you know…” she bounces the baby once, “wear a condom.”

“Duh, I’m fertile as fuck,” I joke. “I’m wearing one right now.”

“Okay, that’s weird.”

Junior appears by her side with his gym bag dangling off one shoulder. “What’s weird?”

“I’ll give you two guesses,” she mutters with amusement.

He shrugs. “Yeah, that’s John. Ready to go?”

“Yep.” She looks back at me, her eyes flicking downward. “
Little
John?”

“It’s ironic,” I nod.

“I’m sure it is,” she smiles. “Good luck, John.”

“Thanks, Eliza.”

Junior nods at me as they turn away and I watch as the three of them take off together down the hall. He leans down and kisses Eliza, stirring a little bit of that envy deep inside of me again. I might be just an old softy at heart, but Junior Morgan and Eliza Pierce are quite possibly the most adorable couple I’ve ever seen in my life. Maybe I’ll have something like they have someday.

But that day is not today.

Today, I have a hot teacher to seduce.

Chapter 6

Rose

“Pop quiz!”

The class groans but I flash a smile. I’ve always wanted to say that.

I grab the stack of freshly-printed quizzes off the front desk. “Oh, come on, guys. It’s not so bad. It’s only ten questions, all multiple choice. If you’ve been slightly awake for last two weeks, you’ll do fine.”