Fair Catch (Love and Sports Series) (19 page)

             
Mason stepped forward. “Lexi, Jake didn’t do anything.” Lexi threw her hand up to silence him.

             
“Mason, I appreciate you coming here to check on me but frankly, I don’t want to hear your story. Please leave.”

             
Mason nodded and grabbed Brooke’s hand who gave Lexi a sympathetic look and waved good bye. Margo slipped out of the room as well, leaving her with Jake who looked like he saw a ghost.

             
“That includes you too.”

             
He closed her door and came to her bed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

             
“Jake, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here with trying to go out with me but it’s not going to work. Tonight at the football game, those girls talking, I let that go because it was all talk but when girls take it to the next level and throw themselves at you. I can’t take that. I’m not strong enough and frankly I just don’t want to deal with it.”

             
Jake shook his head as he looked at his hands. “Lexi, you have to believe me that I didn’t do anything.”

             
“Even if you did Jake, it’s not like it matters, we aren’t exclusive or anything. We only went out once. That doesn’t mean anything.”

             
“That’s where you’re wrong, it means everything to me. I haven’t thought about another girl since I’ve laid eyes on you. Lex, you’re all I want.” He took her hand but she pulled it away.

             
“I believe you, that you didn’t do anything but that’s beside the point. What I’m talking about is girls throwing themselves at you.”

             
“I can’t do anything about that, except to fight them off. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

             
“Exactly, there is nothing you can do.”

             
“So what are you saying?”

             
Lexi let out a breath. “I’m saying this isn’t going to work. You’re a great guy and all but I don’t know if you’re worth the heartache.”

             
Jake looked shocked and hurt from her words. Damn, her words came out harsher then she wanted them but she had to get her feelings off her chest. There was no way in hell she would be able to deal with all the Jake fantasizing whores, she wasn’t strong enough.

H
e got up and started walking toward her door. He turned around before he opened it and looked at her like she just ran over his puppy. She had never seen him look so dejected and it was killing her inside. She wanted to run up to him and pull him into her arms but she wasn’t going to do that.

             
“You know Lexi, if it was the other way around. You could bet your ass, you would be worth the heartache to me.”

             
With that he left, leaving Lexi feeling like a left over pile of crap on the football house’s floor. She spent the night crying herself to sleep. Wondering what possessed her to say such awful things to the guy who had stolen her heart.

Chapter 9

             
It had been a week, a week since she last saw Jake. She didn’t know why she was counting since she was the one who had ended whatever they had, which was not much. Still she felt herself lazing about her apartment when she wasn’t at practice or in class. She skipped out on her morning workouts in the weight room, due to fear of running into Jake and instead she did her own workouts in her apartment which was proving not to cut it. Lifting cans of beans and doing stairs on two steps was not a sufficient way of keeping her up to her own workout standards.

             
At least she had an exercise ball in her apartment which made her workouts a little bit better, that was until Margo walked in and said it looked like Lexi swallowed her gum and farted out a huge bubble. Ever since then, Lexi couldn’t look at an exercise ball the same.

             
She was just putting away her cans of beans when there was a knock at the door. Lexi fixed her messy bun and answered it. Mason was standing in her doorway holding two smoothie cups from Jamba Juice. He gave her a tentative smile and handed her the smoothie.

             
“Can I come in for a second?” Lexi couldn’t turn him down since he brought her a smoothie so she let him in.

             
Mason looked around at Lexi’s sad attempt at a gym and asked, “Is this where you’ve been working out in the morning?”

             
Lexi felt embarrassed because it was obvious that she was avoiding the weight room in fear of seeing Jake. She lied, “Uh, yea, you know just needed a change of scenery.”

             
Mason didn’t buy it. “Uh, huh.” He sat down in her couch and pushed aside a workout band. “What are you doing Lexi?”

             
She sat down in a chair across from him and took a sip of her smoothie. It was strawberry banana, her favorite. “What do you mean?”

             
“Why are you torturing you and Jake?”

             
“I would not say I’m torturing myself, I’m fine thank you.” Lexi said with an indignant tone.

             
Mason looked around her apartment and gave her a “yea right” look. “Lexi, he misses you. He has been moping around, not working out like he had been. He’s been terrible at practice and is not even close to prepared for the game tomorrow.”

             
“How does that have to deal with me?”

             
Mason blew out air and ran his hand over his face. “God, you really are stubborn.” His voice turned sterner. “Look, Jake is trying hard to change. I know he has a fucked up past that might cause issues for whoever he dates but he’s trying, he likes you, he wants you. Why can’t you give the guy a chance? He is throwing himself out there and you are too stubborn to realize it. He is making a change, a change to be with you, why can’t you sacrifice a little and try to be with him as well? You guys are meant for each other. You need to get that through your thick skull.”

             
Lexi couldn’t even believe the things Mason had said. She was speechless. She didn’t even know where to start. She was just about to blow up at him when Mason interrupted her.

             
“Do you know what he said to me while you and Brooke were in the bathroom?” Mason didn’t give her a chance to answer. “He told me you were the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on and not only were you beautiful but you made him feel whole again since his parents died. He said you made him feel alive again. Don’t tell me you’re just going to walk away from him because you’re not strong enough to stand up to a couple of bitches. I’ve seen what you can lift in the weight room. You can take out any of those noodle armed whores. You are just too chicken to face that fact that you actually like Jake and he might be the one for you.”

             
Mason got up and walked toward her door. “Call him Lexi. He really needs to hear your voice, especially if we want to win tomorrow.” Mason slammed the door shut before she could even say anything. She buried her head in a couch pillow and screamed.

             
Mason was right, she was being a chicken. She was too much of a coward to throw her heart in the wrestling ring of love in fear of her heart being wrung out to dry. But what was worse, not giving in and keeping herself semi safe from any kind of heart break or throwing everything she had into a relationship with Jake? Well right now she felt like crap and when she was with Jake, yea it was stressful but it was also amazing. She missed the way she felt in his arms or the way he smiled at her or the way he would lean against a wall and wait for her like he had nowhere better to be.

             
She was an idiot and it took Mason to help her figure it out. Lexi looked at her watch, tore her clothes off and headed to her bathroom for a quick shower. Thirty minutes later she was in her car headed down to the events center parking lot. She had thrown on a pair of jean shorts, white t-shirt and her brown flip flops. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and she was able to throw on a little bit of make-up before she headed out. She pulled up next to Jake’s Jeep and looked at the clock. He would be done with his morning workout and out to his Jeep in a couple of minutes. She got out of her car and decided to sit on the hood of his Jeep.

             
Just like clockwork, Jake exited out of the side door of the events center and walked toward the parking lot. He was looking at his phone so he didn’t see her until he was a couple of feet away. When he looked up, he stopped in his tracks.

                                                        ***

              Jake felt like crap, he had felt like crap for a week and there was one word for it; Lexi. He promised himself he wouldn’t call her or bother her. He wanted to give her space and time to think about what they had, what they briefly shared together. Yes, she was right, they only went out one time but there was much more to them than just the one date. They had a connection he had never experienced with anyone else before and once he lost that connection he found it quite hard to function.

             
He finally was able to drag his carcass out of bed for a morning workout since he missed the rest of his workouts all week. Mason didn’t even show up this morning, probably because Jake had stood him up every other day of the week. Jake didn’t mind working out on his own though, he was able to abuse his body without Mason telling him to take it easy.

             
Practices had been awful. He had been playing like hell all week so he decided to punish himself, even if he had a game the next day. He needed to get his head back in the game but it was hard since his head was somewhere else. He had a meeting with his coach yesterday about his piss poor behavior and Jake had to lie, saying he thought he was coming down with something. He didn’t think his coach bought it but he let Jake go, slightly unscathed. Jake left the meeting with his coach telling him to pull his shit together because Saturday night was a big game.              

             
Jake exhaled and headed towards his Jeep, he was checking the football rankings on his phone when he looked up and saw the most beautiful sight in the world. He stopped a couple of feet away, not believing what he was seeing. He blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t making things up in his mind.

             
“Hey big guy.”

             
Her voice confirmed that she was in fact sitting on his Jeep. He adjusted the strap of his messenger bag that was hugging his chest and walked closer to her so she was only a couple of feet away.

             
“What are you doing here?” He asked, still shocked that she was near him.

             
She turned so she was facing him and put out her hand for him to take. He reached out and she clasped her hand around his, pulling him into her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kept him close while she stroked his hair with the hand that was not holding his.

             
“I’m sorry.” She said. “I’m sorry I scared you the night of the party, I’m sorry for the things I said that I didn’t mean and I’m sorry for letting you walk out the door when I should have gone after you.”

             
Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing, was this the stubborn Sexy Lexi he was talking to? She bent her head down and kissed him on the forehead. It was such a tender gesture that melted his heart.

             
“Do you forgive me?”

             
Jake looked into her pleading eyes, her crystal blue eyes. How could he not forgive her? She was all he ever wanted. “Of course. I’m sorry I put you in that position at the party.” He kissed the palm of her hand that was caressing his cheek. “I don’t want to upset you and I promise, I will do whatever it takes to show you how much I truly care for you and want to be with you.”

             
She shook her head. “You don’t have to prove anything to me Jake, I believe you. But there has to be some ground rules if we are going to make this happen.”

             
He kissed her hand again. “Lay it on me babe, I’m all ears.”

             
She smiled. “Well first off, keep calling me babe, I love it.”

             
“Easy enough.”

             
“Secondly, if I’m going to be with you, I’m only going to be with you. It has to be exclusive.”

             
“Done.” His quick response brought out her gorgeous smile.

             
“Thirdly, I want to hear of every girl that throws herself at you because I’m going to have to personally kick their ass and let them know that you belong to me now. Maybe then girls will start getting the hint?”