In the End Zone: A Sports Romance (10 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The week before the game seemed
to move both lighting fast and agonizingly slow for Morgan. Brent seemed to
gain his confidence back with Morgan by his side, and he trained almost every
waking moment all week. He would wake, eat his protein-only breakfast, then
spend hours in the gym before going to practice with the rest of the players.
And after dinner, he would work in his home gym until he collapsed for the
night.

Morgan, meanwhile, was trying to
just keep her head down. It seemed that everyone in the world knew about the
bet. Her coworkers either stared at her with wide eyes or gave her a wide,
silent berth. Sydney and Gary, who she was mildly close to, made teasing little
remarks in order to break the tension, then all seemed to go back to normal.

But when Morgan found herself
alone in an elevator with her boss, Mr. Dryer, she suddenly felt overwhelmed
with fear. Her whole body seemed to knot up with nervous tension when he
climbed on next to her and her mouth suddenly became very dry.

"
Ahh
,
Morgan," Dryer said with a nod when he saw her.

Morgan nodded back, unable to
speak.

The pair stood in silence as
they waited for the doors to close, and Morgan wondered why she reacted that
way. The only person in the world that she was afraid to tell, her dad, took it
with ease. "You're a grown woman," he has said to her, "You have
to make your own choices in life. And if you chose to stand by Larson, then I
stand with you."

But now, she was filled with an
anxiety that went all the way to her core. Why was she so afraid of what Dryer
would say? His last words to her echoed through her mind... Just guard your
heart, my dear. They were the words of a worried and loving father, not a
hardened boss.

The silver doors slid closed,
trapping Morgan in with her boss. They were alone as they rode up to the
seventh floor, where Dryer would get off and Morgan could feel her fingers and
her toes twitching uncontrollably.

After a few seconds, Dryer
stared forward as he said, "I know that you are waiting for me to say
something."

Morgan had no response. She held
her breath, waiting for the inevitable.

Dryer sighed. "It's a hard
place to be in, Ms. McMinn, and I know that I am just your boss and nothing
more." He looked over at her, their eyes meeting for the first time.
"But you remind
me
 
of
my daughter. She had the same fierce
look of determination that you carried on your first day here. It's made me
fond of you, and sometimes I consider you one of my own."

Morgan blinked hard. Yes, she
had her own father, but since the very beginning, she felt a father-like
connection with
ol
' Dryer. She could not believe that
he felt the same.

The old man sighed, and suddenly
he looked as old as his years. Morgan saw, for the first time, the lines that
crisscrossed his tanned face. He looked starker, frailer, and she felt a rush
of protectiveness wash over her.

"I trust you to guard your
heart," Dryer said as they passed the sixth floor, "But if you ever
need anything, please do not hesitate to ask." Dryer's hand reached out
and grabbed Morgan's shoulder. "Know your worth. Know that you are good
enough. And please, know that you are more than arm candy."

The elevator dinged and the
doors slid open slowly, revealing the seventh floor. Dryer stepped off, but he
turned to give Morgan one last look. "You've got this, kid." The
older man stood there smiling, waiting for the doors to close and the elevator
to take Morgan to the eight floor.

***

Morgan took to spending her
lunch breaks watching the team practice downstairs. She wrote it off as
"filming b-roll", but she knew that Brent played better when she was
around. His confidence seemed to soar when he saw her. He could make every
catch. He could run twice as fast. And he could dodge everything that tried to
stop him in his tracks.

With only two days to go before
the big game, the coaches were working the players harder than ever. Sure, they
knew of the bet between Larson and Levitt, and sure they knew about the record
in questions, but for them, it was more about beating the rival. The years
before Brent Larson and Sam Smythe joined the team were dark ones and the Blue
Kraits won more games than they lost. But with the Smythe/Larson duo on the
field, the Caimans had won every game they played against the Blue Kraits. And
the coaches were determined that this year would not be the exception.

Morgan sat herself on the silver
bleachers and she watched the team with her video camera beside her and her
sandwich for lunch in her lap. She nibbled every now and then, but she mostly
kept her eyes on the number 93. She watched him play, and now more than ever,
she was confident that he would not lose that bet.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew
that she was waiting for something, someone else to appear on the bleachers
with her. And that day, two days before the big game, Dryer joined her for
lunch.

Her boss seemed to materialize
beside her on the steel bleachers, carrying his own bagged lunch. He sat
without saying a word and took out his own sandwich. Morgan watched has he took
a bite and chewed. Dryer swallowed, then said, "Larson's really got the
speed this weekend. I think he can pull it off."

Morgan smiled to herself. The nerves
that she had felt before when she was around her boss were gone now.
"Yeah, and Smythe has been incredibly accurate all week long."

"True." Dryer pointed
at the defensive line. "Those monster-sized boys have really got their
work cut out for them."

"Well, they can’t catch
Brent, but I doubt that with Levitt’s size that he could outrun him, or the
defense."

Morgan met Dryer's eyes and they
shared a small smile. Both of them went back to their lunches, chewing
silently. The noises and shouts of practice would have drowned out their words
anyway. But there were no words that Morgan could find to express to Dryer how
happy she was that he came to eat lunch with her that very day.

At the end of lunch, Morgan
stood to get back to work. Dryer stopped her and said, "Hey, he's going to
win."

***

Morgan McMinn woke up alone in
Brent Larson's apartment. She looked around and it took her a moment to
remember that she stayed with him at his request the night before the game.

It was the day.

Morgan's heart fluttered nervously
and her body seemed to seize up a little. She forced herself through it, and
she reached over to Brent's side of the bed. She found it empty and cold.

She climbed from Brent's bed and
pulled on the cream-colored sheer robe that Brent had gifted her earlier in the
week. She wandered to the home gym, but the lights were off and the machines
were cold and dry.

"I'm in here," Brent's
voice called out from the kitchen.

Morgan found him cooking an omelet
with bacon and sausage. Next to him was an empty glass with the remnants of a
protein shake left in it. He looked more at ease than she had seen him all
week, and it made her smile. She sank into one of the bar stools that
overlooked the kitchen and Brent poured her a fresh cup of coffee.

"Did you sleep well?"
Brent asked as he slid the coffee in front of her.

Morgan smiled and took the mug
with both hands. "Yep," she said brightly, although it was a lie. She
had tossed and turned all night with nightmares of Erik Levitt chasing her down
on the football field.

Brent gave her a half grin, and
Morgan wondered if he could sense the lie in her voice. He turned back to the
breakfast that he was cooking and Morgan blew the steam off of her joe.
"I'm going to head down soon," Brent said, "I want to get there
early and do some extra stretches and stuff."

"Sydney gave me the day
off," Morgan said. She paused to sip her black coffee, then continued,
"I'm going to be in the stands, I think. I do not want to be with the
other media guys. None of the know quite what to say to me after that video got
out."

Brent turned and looked at her
with sympathy. "Oh, baby," he said, his eyes looking sad.

But Morgan waved him off.
"They will all forget about it in a few weeks and things will go back to
normal."

"As long as I win,"
Brent mumbled under his breath.

"You WILL win," Morgan
said with emphasis, "Positive thinking, babe."

Brent gave her a halfhearted
grin that quickly disappeared from his face. He tossed his food on his plate
and began eating quickly. The pair spent the morning mostly in silence,
showering and dressing together before leaving for the stadium.

Today was the day.

Brent Larson versus Erik Levitt.
And Morgan was terrified to know who would win.

Chapter Eighteen

There was a strange air of
savagery in the stadium when Morgan arrived. It unnerved her and made her
uneasy, and she was incredibly thankful for the baseball cap and sunglasses
that she had donned before arriving. She hoped that no one would recognize her
from the video that had already gotten over 5 million hits, and so far, so
good.

Morgan had come to the game
alone. She did not dare give her dad a ticket to the game where his daughter's
body was up for grabs. So, she took the one lone ticket that she asked for and
made her way to her seats right behind the Caimans.

She sat and pulled her hoodie up
and over her cap-clad head and wrapped her arms tightly around her chest.
Everyone around her was acting blood thirsty, ready for the Caimans to beat the
snot out of their rivals. It seemed that the bet had riled everyone up more so
than ever. It was Larson vs. Levitt everywhere she turned.

Morgan tried her best to ignore
everyone around her talking about the bet. She kept to herself, looking forward
to the field and counting down the minutes until the start of the game.

"Ma'am?"

A voice above Morgan made her
head turn. She saw a security guard standing there, looking down at her with
squinted eyes.

"Yes?" she said, not
taking off her sunglasses or hat.

"Are you Morgan
McMinn?"

At the sound of her voice, it seemed
that everyone within a 5-yard radius had turned to look at her. She sank a
little lower in her chair and nodded ever-so slightly. She knew that a blush
was rising up on her face, hot and fast, and nothing that she could do would
push away the mortified feeling that washed over her.

"Coach Boss as requested
your presence in the locker room. Will you come with me?" The security
guard nodded a little way down the steps to a locked gate.

Morgan nodded and stood. She
looked around at everyone that she passed, and people seemed to be regarding
her as some kind of a celebrity. They smiled and waved, some took pictures with
their phones, and she heard a few voices shout her name. "Go Morgan!"
"
Whoo
, we love you, Morgan!"

The security guard flashed a
card at the locked gate and Morgan heard it click open, she followed him down
to the field, then down a hallway toward the locker room. Coach Boss was
waiting with his arms folded over his chest. He looked impatient and put out
and he nodded when he saw Morgan.

"Thank you," he said
to the security guard, dismissing him.

Coach Boss stared down at Morgan
and she felt herself tremble from nerves. As she pulled away her sunglasses and
took her hat from her head, she wondered where the sweet, kind man was that she
had originally interviewed at the start of her internship. Now, he looked
hardened and scary, especially to tiny little Morgan.

"Ms. McMinn, you are not
going to sit in the stands today."

Morgan's heart fluttered. Was he
kicking her out? Was she not even able to watch the game where there was so
much at stake?

"We are moving you to the
press section on the field."

"What? Why? I'm not on duty
today," Morgan said, dumbfounded that not only was he letting her stay,
but he wanted her so close to the team.

Coach Boss sighed. "If you
must know, we have had a credible threat leaked from the Blue Kraits. It seems
that Levitt was bragging that he would 'bag his prize' one way or another.
Larson and I agree that this is the best way to keep you safe. You will have
Max, our security guard, and he has agreed to stay with you the entire
time"

Morgan nodded, but on the inside
she was panicking. Levitt still wanted her? So much that he was willing to do
something to her in the stands? She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.
Not only would have the security guard with her, but she would be surrounded by
her friends from work and dozens of giant, hulking football players. She would
be safe, right?

***

Once the game had started and
the players were on the field, Morgan and her security detail, Max, slipped in
to the press area seemingly unnoticed.

"Try and enjoy
yourself," Max had said to her, "I'll be on top of things and you
will be fine."

Morgan regarded her security
detail and she found that she was fond of him. Max was tall and muscular like
the football players that he worked for. His skin was a deep, rich chocolate
color and his head was shaved bald and shiny. He wore a black security uniform
and slipped glasses over his dark brown eyes. Morgan found herself feeling calm
and safe when Max stood in her shadow.

The game began with the Caimans
on the defense, and soon Morgan found herself shouting and cheering along with
the rest of the fans. She tried her best not to look over at Brent, who was
seated on the sidelines, trying to rest and relax. Instead, Morgan's eyes
searched out Levitt among the crowd of players.

It was easy to find Erik Levitt
among the crowd. His tall, bulky body made him stand a hair above the rest, and
his growl could be heard over the roar of the crowd. Morgan watched as his
number 12 jersey lined up with the rest, and it seemed that he was determined
to break Larson's record and win Morgan's body.

Morgan tried to remind herself
that he needed one more touchdown to tie the record. Levitt ran for passes, but
the Caimans' defense was strong, and the quarterback for Levitt’s team was
sacked quite often.

With every sack, Morgan watched
as Levitt’s ugly face grew redder and angrier. He was shouting and screaming at
his team mates, throwing around horrible obscenities that would make a grown
man blush.

"Come on, fuckers!" Levitt
screamed above the den, his voice like nails on a chalkboard to Morgan.

But it was no use. The defense
intercepted the ball and the Caimans broke out into a cheer! Levitt had lost
his first chance to best Larson.

Larson grabbed his helmet and
ran on to the field with the rest of the offensive line. Morgan screamed and
cheered for her man, and she watched his perfect ass in those tight pants run
away from her. No matter what the stakes, she had to admit that Larson was the most
beautiful, sexy man that she had ever laid eyes on.

Soon, the Caimans were off,
desperate to get the football to Larson. He already had one up on Levitt, so
any other touchdowns would make it harder for Levitt to catch up. However, the
defensive line for the Blue Kraits was not going to give up easily, and from
what Morgan saw, they were ready to play dirty.

When the ball was snapped back
into Sam
Smythe's
hands, the defense went into
action. Morgan cried out as she saw guys grabbing helmets to drag players down
and one of the biggest hulking players ran straight for Smythe. The player
practically broke Sam's back in two as he took down the quarterback, only to
have the ball sail perfectly across the field into Larson's waiting arms.

"I don’t believe it!"
The announcer said in Morgan's ear, "Smythe took a hard hit and he is
down!"

"But wait! Larson's got the
ball!" the other announcer jumped in.

Morgan stood on her tip toes and
watched as Brent's number 93 gold and orange jersey took off down the field
like lightening. He ran as though his life depended on it.

But out of nowhere, a blue jersey
appeared. Someone from the other team was hunting him down, gunning for blood.

Hands reached out and grabbed at
Brent's jersey. He was jerked back and off of his feet, and when Larson hit the
ground, the hulking Blue Kraits player landed on top of him with a horrific
thud.

And Brent Larson did not stir.

A horrific, chilling scream
seemed to form at the base of Morgan's spine. It crept up her body, building
momentum as it traveled over her. It echoed in her torso and rattled her heart
and brain. When it finally escaped her mouth, the scream seemed to go on
forever, until every morsel of breath had gone from her.

Morgan watched in horror as
Brent laid still on the beautiful field of green.

Oh god
, she
thought as she sank to her knees,
He's
dead.