Tackled (Alpha Ballers #1) (20 page)

He started to smile. “I’ll do that. You sure you’re OK?” Drake had taken off his pads, which made sense because they were heavy and probably wouldn’t do any good if he tried to attack my door. They sat on the floor outside, a shell of armor made for a modern gladiator.

He wasn’t sweating as much as before, but I could still smell the exertion on him. It was…very nice. If had been in a less angry and less hurt and more amorous mood I would have pulled him into my room for a quick post-practice massage session, but I kept those unwanted but not entirely unpleasant thoughts to myself, this time.

Instead, I closed the door till just my head was able to poke out. “Can I help you? I’m in the middle of something here.” Of course I wasn’t in the middle of anything except for wallowing in my own pain, but Drake didn’t need to know that right now.

He furrowed his brow, looking somehow even more sexy than ever doing it. Damn, this boy was good. How could I resist this much longer? The door was all that was shielding me from him, and I was throbbing to touch him. It wasn’t fair, what he could do to me just with a confused look like that.
 

Looks like that made me want to pull him into my arms and rock him to sleep. If you could imagine a 5’5” girl cradling a 6’3” football player without doubling over in laughter. Ugh again.

“In the middle of something? You’ve been leaned against the door since you got in, and there’s nothing around here for you to read or write with. Sooooo,” he said, cocking his head to one side and grinning at me, “what is it you’re in the middle of? Can I help?”

Ugh. I had thrown my bag on the other side of the room when I got in, and that meant I didn’t have my notebook with me. I was up the creek on this one. Time for the big guns. “None of your business,” I said, fluttering my eyes. “Please leave me alone.”

Drake stepped back like I had hit him, then he recovered quick. He wrapped his arms around his massive chest, and then smiled again. “I think I know what’s going on. I think I know what’s got you all wound up.”

All wound up? I wouldn’t mind you winding me up- wait, stop, Lily, you aren’t supposed to be having these kinds of thoughts! We’re MAD AT HIM, remember? Come on! A little help here, please! “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not wound up about anything.”

He leaned against the frame of the door, clearly enjoying this, which made me both hate and love him way more at the same time. I hated how easily he could do that. It just wasn’t fair. “Nah, I figured it all out. I may look like a dumb football player…”

Nothing could be further from the truth, but I knew Drake liked to play up stereotypes then tear them down. “-But you saw me just now with Annie Ross and now you’re mad at me.”

“Oh, were you talking to Annie Ross just now? I had no idea.” Yeah, I really sounded believable. Oscar-worthy, in fact.
 

Drake didn’t take the bait, in fact he decided to cut through all my nonsense, which I found refreshing this time. “I asked her about that rumor she started. She tried to lie about it, but it was pretty easy to trap her in it.”

I narrowed my eyes. He was talking to her about the rumor? They weren’t going to hook up? “Is that all you talked about?”

“Of course, what do you take me for? Why would I want to talk to her about anything else after what she pulled on you? That’s bush-league, and I won’t stand for it. And I told her that.”

He went to bat for me with a national sports reporter. I could feel the tears coming back. Wow, I had misjudged him completely. I figured he would have just let that rumor wash over him.

“I know you’ve been mad at me these last couple days because I asked about the Bill Thompson thing. I apologize for that, I went off half-cocked because I was just so shocked about the rumor itself. As soon as I thought about it for more than 5 seconds I knew you’d never do anything like that.” He looked down. “But sometimes, as you know, I have a bad habit of not thinking things through before I say anything.”

“You really do, you know that?”

He smiled again, and I knew by then I was smiling, even if I hadn’t consciously decided to do so. I really couldn’t understand why Drake had this effect on me. It was more than any other man I had ever met.

“Oh, Drake, it was horrible,” I found myself saying as I threw the door open and charged into his arms. Luckily for both of us he had taken off his pads and was ready for me, cause I jumped into him, and Drake caught me, pulling me like one of his touchdowns.

“I know, I know,” he said, his arms wrapping around me and pulling him closer to him. I suddenly realized we were in the middle of the corridor; if anyone came around any of four corners they would see us all tangled up like this. Drake must have had the same idea because he gently walked forward and took me into my room, closing the door behind him.

I leaned back, comfortable that he wouldn’t let me go, and cradled his head in my hands, puling my face into his and kissing him like my life depended on it.

When I finally pulled back from the kiss, Drake smiled. “It’s been too long since we’ve done any of that.”

“I know, I’ve been in a bit of a mood.”

“Totally understandable. Is it all better now?”

My face clouded. “Some of it, yeah, but there’s still other stuff.”

Drake frowned. “Tell me about it.”

I pointed down to the floor. Drake got the hint and set me down, light as a feather. I smoothed out my outfit and turned and headed into my tiny little room, sitting on the bed. Drake came in and sat next to me, taking my hands in his.

“I just…” I trailed off.

“There, there,” he soothed, which was really weird coming from such a huge guy, but also totally congruent with the real Drake I had come to know over the last couple weeks. “Tell Drake all about it.”

“I just…don’t know if this is the right career for me.”

Drake sat back. “What? Why? You’ve been doing great! Are the numbers from the website not good?” He smiled. “Am I not doing enough crazy shit? Because I can turn on the crazy if you need me too!”

I laughed, pushing him away. “No, you dummy, it’s not you, you’re great. The numbers are great, the Globe is happy with my work. You could dial up the crazy maybe one notch if you wanted, though.”

Drake saluted. “Message received! Commencing craziness.”

“Don’t go all nuts on me now, save it for the field.”

“Right, right. OK, so what’s the problem, then?”

“This whole thing with Annie Ross just has me questioning whether this is what I really want to do. Do I really want to be in a field where people tear each other down like this, just to get a story?”

“But isn’t that every career? You’re always gonna have some bad apples to deal with.”

“True, but at least outside of media you don’t have people tripping over each other just to get the story first. And Annie didn’t even really have anything to gain by spreading that rumor about me! We aren’t even competing against each other for anything anymore.”

Now it was Drake’s turn to cradle my head in his hands.

“Listen to me, Lily. Listen to what I’m saying. You’re so close to making it. You’re so closed to getting exactly what you’ve always wanted, you just have to keep on going. You’re doing great right now, you just gotta make sure you stay the course.”

He let go of me. “It’s just like what you said to me last week. We’re both almost there, we just gotta believe in ourselves. You’ve got Annie Ross, I’ve got Mike Sampson. Both of them are out for themselves, but our job isn’t to let them win, our job is to protect ourselves and get what we want.”

He got really serious. “You helped me a lot with that last week when I was struggling, and look at me, I’ve made the first couple cuts. I’m still here when everyone thought I’d be out on the street by now. It’s all because of you, do you understand?”

That sounded so nice coming from him. It sounded like exactly what I wanted him to say, exactly what I needed him to say.

But still, I couldn’t help but feel like this might not be the right path for me. “I’m still not sure…”

“How can I convince you?”

CHAPTER 22 - DRAKE

“You’ll figure it out,” I said. “I know you will.”

Lily thought about that for a few moments. “We still haven’t done today’s interview, you know.” I had wanted to say so much more just now. I had wanted to tell her that she couldn’t give up, and not just because she was so close, but because I needed her around. I needed her to be there, not just for her sake.

But for mine too. But I couldn’t say that, not quite yet. For now it had to be a secret. I wasn’t ready to open myself up like that so soon.

I leaned back, glad she wanted to change the subject. “I know, why do you think I was pounding on your door like that? I can’t go a day without those interviews. I have…actually started to like them.”

“You have?”

“Yeah, it’s a good way to think about the day and how I’ve done, and how my journey is going. It’s also a neat look into public relations, which I’m gonna need a lot of when my career takes off.”

“Wow, big head much? You seem pretty full of yourself all over again.”

I made a huge show of pulling out one of my biceps and kissing it, noisily. “When you got it this good, Lily, it pays to plan ahead.”
 

“Asshole,” she smiled as she poked me.

“Guilty as charged.”

“At least you admit it.”

“Yeah, so the interview. I really do like those.”

“I’m still surprised to hear that, considering you say less and less each time we do one.”

I threw up my hands in mock consternation. “Patriots programming, what can I do? It’s in the water around here. You say nothing to the media of any substance ever.”

“Oh, I’ve gotten pretty good at decoding it in the last couple weeks. You’ve seen the daily columns.”

“Wait, you’re acknowledging that I can read?” I fanned myself. “My word! Today is a good day.”

“Jerk.” She hit me again, but this time I caught her swing. “OK, let’s do something a little different for today’s interview.”

“Go for it.”

She turned to face me, sitting cross-legged in front of me. “I want to hear the full story, the real inside dope.”

“I don’t know what you mean. You ask me the questions, and I answer them.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved that away. “This one will be off the record, and trust me, I’ll write it as an extension of my own observations.”

I was a little hesitant. “OK, that sounds good, but bear in mind I’m not going to talk about things I’m not allowed to talk about. Just so we’re clear.”

“Alright. Do you think you’re going to make the team?”

I blinked, stunned that she would go for the jugular like that so quickly. “You mean, for real?”

“Of course for real. No posturing, no Patriot Way. Just give me the real stuff.”

I sat back and tried to wrap my head around that question, and form an answer. “I’m doing better this week than last week. But I still have a ways to go.”

She nodded. “That’s what my take has been too. I think you’re still on the bubble, but since you survived the last couple cuts, things are looking OK. But you’re not out of the woods yet.”

I shook my head. “You’re right. Still got a ways to go.”

Lily leaned in. “Now to the more important question. Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Do you still want to play football professionally?”

I laughed. “Uh, yeah, I do, why else would I be doing this if I didn’t?”

“Don’t answer too quickly, Drake, this is important. Why do you still want this? Is it for the money? You’re a smart guy, you can make a ton of money using that brilliant mind of yours.”

I thought about it for a few seconds. “No, not just for the money. I want to do it so I can prove to everyone who ever doubted that I could.”

She frowned, clearly not satisfied with that answer. “Is that the only reason?” she asked, softly.

“That’s a pretty good reason, I think. Why? Do I need a better one?”

She turned away, making it look like our interview was done just as quickly as it had begun. “That’s all I got for you this time.”

Now I frowned. “Wait a second, there’s something more, isn’t there?”

She turned back to face me. “I just wish you’d believe in yourself a little more, you know. Don’t do things because you want to prove everyone else wrong. Do it because you believe in yourself, because you want to see just how far you can go.”

“That sounds kinda like what I just said…”

“It’s not. There’s a big difference. Last week you weren’t sure you were going to stick with football. Now you’re doing better, I just want to make sure that you’re not doing it for the wrong reasons.”

That was something to think about, something I hadn’t considered yet. Lily was right, of course, it wasn’t a good idea to build a career on a mountain of spite. That was not a healthy foundation for anything worth doing.

“Think about it a little more.”

“I’ll do that.” I got up from the bed, looked around, and figured it was time for me to leave. I started toward the door, but Lily caught my hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked, fluttering eyes again back and forth like she had done in the doorway.

“Uh, back to my room?”

“Why so soon?”

“Well, I do have a game tomorrow.” Tomorrow was the 3
^rd
preseason game, and I needed to get at least a little rest.

“I promise I’ll have you home in time to sleep.”

How could I say no to that?

CHAPTER 23 - LILY

I didn’t want Drake to leave, and he didn’t leave until much later. That night we hard fiery, passionate sex, the kind that made you re-learn everything that sex was.

Drake pushed me down onto the bed and the next minute or so was a flurry of clothing disappearing from our bodies and reappearing on the floor next to us in a pile.
 

From then on we didn’t lose contact with each other for the next hour. I traced the lines of Drake’s tattoos on all over his body while he played with my tits and made me moan from all the attention he paid to my nipples.

I could have stayed like that all night, but I could tell the hunger in Drake’s eyes wouldn’t dissipate just from some heavy petting, and if I was being honest, I needed his cock inside me just as much as he seemed to need to fuck me.