Page 4 of Further To Fall

“You too, gorgeous,” Ford said with a devastating smile. I was able to give a weak one back as I grasped Taylor’s hand and turned towards the door.

The cool night air felt like heaven on my overheated skin as I marched towards the car. Taylor tugged on my arm. “What the hell is going on?”

“I just needed to get out of there. That guy was such a jerk.” Hewasa jerk, but something in my gut told me I might be overreacting just a little.

“I just thought he was a little dull. Hot, but dull.”

I let out an exasperated huff. “Hotness does not compensate for rudeness.” While I firmly believed that, I had never felt such a strong instant attraction to someone. And to have that same person dismiss me at every turn…it wounded my pride.

Taylor linked arms with me and started us moving again. “No, it does not. But it doesn’t hurt to have something pretty to look at right before you knee him in the balls.”

2

Austin

Focus. Increased training. No distractions. I hit on each point as my feet pounded the pavement. Those were the things I could count on, the tools that would keep me in control. This is how I could prevent another loss, how I could achieve what I had dreamed of for most of my life.

I would do whatever it took to keep my mind free of the stuff that shouldn’t be there. Right now, that meant running five miles before meeting up with the guys for our weekly flag football game. Five miles to cleanse my brain of the mental images that had awoken me from a dead sleep at 4:30 a.m. with a pounding heart and a pulsing dick. Five miles to forget about that strawberry blonde with the innocent smile and laugh that hit me right in the solar plexus.

When I caught sight of Carter in the bar last night, I’d had a stirring in my gut that I’d only felt once before. That last encounter had left me bitter and broken. I needed another stirring like I needed a hole in the head. I’d just have to avoid Carter, it couldn’t be that hard. She was one girl, and this was a city of thousands. Famous last words.

Ripping my shirt over my head, I wiped the sweat that was pouring down my brow. I came up short, my steps stuttering as I reached the park’s bleachers. Sitting on the second metal rung, long hair pulled through the back of a Georgia Bulldogs’ cap, was Carter. The way Liam had described this girl, I had pictured her as a klutzy tomboy, almost masculine-looking.

There was nothing boyish about Carter, she was all long lines and smooth curves. Today, those dips and valleys were on full display as she wore ragged cutoff jean shorts that had my mind wondering if I could pull one of those loose threads and have them disappear altogether. Fuck. I did not need this.

Striding purposely forward, I barked, “What are you doing here?”

Carter jumped a little in her seat, but then she rolled her shoulders back and stiffened her spine. “I’m watching a football game. What are you hoping to do, make small children on the playground cry?”

My teeth ground together, and my hand fisted my t-shirt. “This is a guys-only league.”

Carter made a show of glancing around. “Is it a guys-only park? I must have missed the sign.”

A snicker came from beside her, and my eyes shot to the same girl Carter had been with last night. I hadn’t even noticed her sitting there. Before I could respond, an arm slung over my shoulders, and a familiar voice started, “Ladies, how nice of you to come cheer us on.”

Carter’s cool eyes suddenly turned warm, and she smiled—fucking beamed—up at Ford. I needed to hit something. Why couldn’t this be full-contact football instead of this pussy flag shit? “I’m going to go find Liam,” I muttered, extricating myself from under Ford’s arm.

He sent me a wicked grin. “Sure thing. Just leave these ladies in my capable hands.” Carter and her friend giggled. I scowled and took off towards the parking lot.

The game helped. Physical exertion helped. Imagining slamming Ford into the dirt helped, even though he was on my team. Seconds before the end of the second half, an opposing player snagged Liam’s flag just after he’d let a beautiful pass sail down the field. Before I could turn to the ref to dispute his lack of call, I heard yelling from the bleachers. Carter was on her feet, hands flailing about, full-out screaming at the ref and his lack of vision.

Liam sauntered up next to me. “She’s something, huh?” I grunted in response. He continued on, “She gets real fiery about injustice. Anything she thinks is unfair, she’ll raise hell. One time, when she was in third grade, there was this bully of a sixth-grader, who picked on every kid younger or smaller than him.” A grin was spreading across Liam’s face as he got lost in the memory. “Shit, A, she sent him home in tears using words alone. He never picked on another kid again.”

I said nothing as we stood there and watched as Carter argued her point with the ref, arms still waving in the air. She almost toppled over at one point, but her friend caught her elbow, steadying her. Finally, the ref threw up his hands and blew his whistle, calling an illegal flag removal and giving us ten yards. I fought back a smile. Shit, the poor guy probably knew we’d never get out of here if he didn’t give the woman her way.

We took the field and finished out the last minute with a win. The backslapping and chest bumping commenced. Making our way off the field, I saw Carter bouncing up and down on her Converse-covered feet. She launched herself at Liam, throwing her arms around his neck. “Amazing job! You killed ‘em!”

He grinned down at her, and I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. “Thanks for your assist.”

“That ref was blind!” she said, scowling in the black-and-white-clad man’s direction.

Liam tapped the brim of her hat. “I can always count on you to have my back.”

Turning back to face him, her face shone with that devastating smile. “Always.” I grabbed my water bottle with more force than necessary, and the plastic crinkled as I slugged down the cool liquid. The noise must have caught Carter’s attention because her eyes darted in my direction, and then they began to travel over my bare chest. My eyes narrowed, and I crushed the empty bottle, breaking her stare-off with my nipples.

“Do you and Taylor want to come back to Malibu with us? Austin and Ford are going to come over to hang on the beach and have a few beers,” Liam said, tossing a few things into his gym bag.

Carter’s eyes bounced between Liam and me and back again. “Uh, I actually need to go get a few things for work. Maybe another day?”

---