The End Zone: SPORTS ROMANCE (Contemporary Sport Bad Boy Alpha Male American Football Romance) (New Adult Second Chance Women’s Fiction Romance Short Stories) (79 page)

*****

The sound of heavy footsteps running towards us snapped both Erik and me into high alert. He palmed his gun and gently pushed me behind him.

“Sunrise! Sunrise! We’re all clear, the feds are on the scene now,” said Stephan. Erik lowered his weapon at the sound of Stephan’s voice. Stephan emerged followed by John and two FBI agents, with official jackets and insignias. My knees almost gave out with relief. It was all over, but did they have Christopher? Did he get away? The agents started talking at me and to Erik. Erik answered most of the questions as we walked back. He was the coherent one and I was effectively in a daze.

“You should get her checked out by the paramedic. We’ll get a statement from her later.” That much I heard from one of the FBI agents as we neared the house. They disappeared inside along with Stephan. John and Erik stayed with me to get me around to the front of the house. I didn’t even want to see what the inside looked like. There were so many ambulances in my drive, carrying guys out, that I could only imagine the bloodbath on my floors and walls.

“We never shoot to kill. All those guys will get to spend their time in jail alive,” said John. He’d meant that as a reassurance, but I was still horrified that a gunfight had taken place here. Erik led me to an empty ambulance. A paramedic began taking my vitals and directing me to follow his finger with my eyes while he shone a light at me. After he checked me out and I was good to go, I saw Christopher being led out of my house in handcuffs. He was looking down and never once looked up as they led him to an armored van and loaded him inside. He was the only one of his gang who didn’t have a wound on him.

“How many guys?” I asked softly. Erik looked at me questioningly and I repeated myself. “How many guys did Christopher have come here?”

Erik glanced at the scene of brightly flashing white, blue, and red lights. A huge number of personnel walking in and out of the house, milling around the drive and talking about the crime scene.

“It was seven of them against the five of us all in all. Some of them were trained, but not all. That’s what gave us the advantage. We were able to pick off the few unskilled and then weed out the more cunning ones to take them down. We’re all okay, but Nick, he got grazed on the arm. It’s nothing major.” My eyes widened and I glanced around to try and see which ambulance Nick was in.

“He’s fine, really Tanya. His wife is here with him now. Don’t worry you’ll see him later.” I deflated a little bit at Erik’s reassurances. We sat at the back of the ambulance for a while and just tried to decompress from everything.

“So they were able to get all the evidence they needed to put Christopher away?” I asked Erik after a long silence.

“Yeah, the guy is smart, but he’s cocky and not too careful. He left subtle clues that Nick and Stephan were able to pick up on and exploit. Christopher built a network. He’d import guns from Asia and northern Europe, then he’d export them to a lot of underdeveloped countries. To warzones, and known terrorist groups. His deals were always airtight. But he wasn’t too smart in hiding all of his money or importing the weapons, which were often coupled with imported drugs. The FBI will tell him only half of what they have on him and force him to give up some of his sources; a fake plea deal. Then hit him with the other half of their evidence and keep him in jail for good.” I gave a sigh of relief; it really was all over then.

“I hope he rots. Men like that don’t deserve to be free in the world. They’re a virus,” I said. Erik nodded, there was a small smile to his lips as he laced his fingers with mine.

“They are, and we helped catch one.” Erik brought my knuckles to his lips and kissed each one softly. “Your place is going to be pretty much unlivable for a couple of weeks, so I hope you don’t mind staying with me?”

I smiled and Erik grinned boyishly, though I could tell he was actually a bit unsure as to what my answer would be.

“I’d love that. I hope you live far, far away from here.” Erik chuckled and promised me he did.

“Our farm is pretty far off from here. Both of you are welcome to stay to recover from all of this,” said a deep voice from around the corner of the ambulance. The owner of the voice stepped into view and my eyes widened – he was a near spitting image of Erik. This was obviously his father, though Erik’s dad had greying hair around the edges and laugh lines around his eyes and mouth.

“Pop, what are you doin’ here?” Erik’s southern accent became more pronounced when he spoke to his father.

“I saw it all on the news, then Paul called me and I came down here; this
is
concerning our security firm. Plus, the feds said it was helpful that they could get a statement from me soon.”

I smiled at how they interacted. The doting father who still had it, trying to show up his son.

Erik shook his head at his dad and then looked at me curiously, “Do you want to stay on the farm? My mom makes a mean pot pie, and I know you’ll love her hot chocolate. It gets cooler on the farm at night than it does here.” Erik sold me at pot pie and hot chocolate.

“Yes, that sounds wonderful,” I said gratefully. Both Erik and his dad gave me nearly identical warm smiles.

*****

“You know, my family really loves you,” Erik said as he walked into the guest room with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. Erik’s mom, Ann, had given me orders to stay in bed today and let Erik look after me. She was so sweet and motherly that being around her often made me think of my own mom and how much I missed her.

“Really? Already? I mean, we’ve only been on the farm for a week. They are a pretty great family though,” I said while taking the cup from him. The hot chocolate smelled delicious.

Erik climbed onto the bed next to me and took the remote to find something good to watch. He said, “Yeah, what’s not to love? You’re genuine and sweet and kind and smart and gorgeous and sexy and funny and sexy…” I laughed and Erik smiled lopsidedly at me.

“I doubt they think I’m sexy…or gorgeous,” I said with a chuckle. Erik shrugged.

“You are though, it’s one of those things like; when you see a person you automatically categorize a few obvious attributes about them in your head. Two of your obvious traits are sexy and gorgeous. Everyone thinks it, but doesn’t necessarily say it out loud,” Erik explained. I laughed while rolling my eyes.

“That sounded very scientific Erik,” I said. He grinned and nodded sagely.

“Yup, it is a science. Freud would definitely agree with me.”

I laughed again and nudged Erik’s arm. Ever since we came to where he grew up, he’d been acting so silly and carefree.

“So have you decided when you’re going back home yet? Do I have to join the age old fight for the farm?” said Erik. He grinned at me and I giggled, not really catching what he meant under his quip.

“Yeah, I’ve earned more than a couple weeks’ vacation and my job is giving me as much time as I need. So two weeks is good I think. I guess I won’t have to have you guys as my security anymore either…” I said slowly as the realization dawned on me yet again that Christopher was locked up. He wasn’t coming after me anymore and I was free to live my life without fear of him.

“No…I guess not…but I still want to protect you. I don’t want you going home at night by yourself or anything. Some members of Christopher’s gang might be still out there, and they might seek revenge.”

My eyebrows crinkled at that possibility.

“But the FBI said Christopher gave up names like a treasure trove. All his guys are off of the streets,” Erik added. I bit my lip in consternation. Erik shook his head and then nodded, his expression intense as if he was struggling with something.

“I just
want to stay with you,” he said. My eyes widened at his earnest tone. He wanted to stay with me because he loved me maybe? I loved him and there was no denying that. I needed to know for sure though.

“Why?” I asked.

Erik smiled, that little look of nervousness entering his eyes again.

“Because I…I love you Tanya.”

My heart swelled and jumped for joy at his stuttered admission.

“I love you too,” I said shyly. Erik’s smile grew into a breathtaking one. Joy lit up his features and I was almost awed at how beautiful he was, how he could love
me
and want to be with me.

“I swear, I’ll stick with you through anything and everything baby.” Erik pressed a sound kiss to my lips and then another that quickly turned passionate.

“I’m glad you said that…because I kind of have something to tell you.” I put the mug of hot chocolate down and faced him completely. My mind wandered back to the first couple of days on his family farm. Erik and I had been tangled up in each other as we helped each other move on from what happened. It was his mom that pointed it out one morning. She asked me if I wanted tea with breakfast while she was clearly making a pot of coffee for her visiting family. They had come in to see Erik and meet me as we were obviously a budding couple.

Ann casually mentioned that Erik and I seemed ‘awfully romantic’ and she looked at me knowingly. Erik and I were caught up in each other. We never took things easy when we made love and we weren’t careful either. My eyes had widened and Ann nodded sagely as if she knew exactly what I had realized. She took me to go and get a few home pregnancy tests and they all came back positive. Ever since then I had been waiting for the right moment to tell Erik and now he was sitting next to me, looking at me expectantly.

“I’m…The first night we…had sex. We didn’t use a condom…” I paused, to kind of let Erik’s mind churn the information. After a moment his eyes widened.

“You weren’t on birth control…you
aren’t
on birth control…are you?” I shook my head no and Erik gripped my hands tightly. His eyes were glazed with shock briefly, but then the widest grin spread across his face. “Are we having a baby? We’re going to be a family?”

Amazed that he was taking this so well, I simply nodded. “Yes, we’re having a baby!”

He was excited, to say the least. His features brightened and he pulled me into a tight hug.

“I love you so much, I promise we’ll have the best life,” Erik vowed. Tears came to my eyes as my own happiness enveloped me. I knew that as long as I had Erik everything would be okay.

THE END

Bonus Story 20 of 20

Miles

“Yo Miles, that girl is straight up feelin’ you,” Jackson nudged my arm and then thrust his chin in the direction of the woman he was talking about. I glanced to my left and saw a woman dressed tastefully in a little black dress and high heeled red pumps. She had legs for days and what looked like the perfect pair of breasts nestled into that dress. She really was looking
right
at me, her eyes looked all dark and mysterious because of the low lighting in the club, but I wasn’t drunk enough not to be able to tell how beautiful she actually was. Her wavy hair was pinned over one shoulder and framed her diamond shaped face beautifully, she had slightly feline features that were delicate and perfectly feminine.

“Am I seein’ right?” I asked Jackson and he cracked up. “Bro she is sexy as
hell
,” I said and he clapped me on the shoulder, still laughing.

“Go over and talk to her, if you don’t I sure as hell will,” he said and then pushed me slightly in her direction. I walked around the bar and stepped up to her side.

“Hi, I’m Miles,” I introduced myself politely and she gave me a sweet smile which I didn’t expect at all. Usually girls who looked like her were over confident and their smiles all seemed entitled to me. But not this girl.

“I know who you are. Only the best basketball player of all time right?” she said in a teasing tone, her voice was melodic and like silk to my ears.

“Not
all
time, but one of the best I will admit,” I flashed her a grin and got a giggle in return. “So what’s your name?” I asked charmingly and she gave me that sweet smile once more.

“I’m Christina, it’s really cool to meet you,” she offered me her hand to shake, but instead I brought her knuckles to my lips and greeted her the old fashioned way. Stuff like that always worked with women, they loved a gentleman. Christina looked at me with humor in her clear blue eyes and then laughed.

“What?” I asked with a smile and wondered if the hand kiss thing didn’t work for her.

“It’s nothing it’s just that…that was so unbelievably corny,” she said and then laughed again. Her laughter was so carefree that I ended up laughing too. I guess the old hand kiss trick was corny.

“So if kissing your hand doesn’t impress you, what can I do to so that you’ll let me buy you a drink?” I asked and she quirked an eyebrow at me.

“Well you can just
ask
,” she said and smirked at me.

“Well Christina, can I buy you a drink?” She nodded and then I motioned for the bartender. “What’s your poison?” I asked her and she shrugged.

“How about your surprise me?” she said and then I ordered an Old Fashioned for her. When the bartender served it to her she took a sip and then smiled at me as if she was impressed. Thank God. “Old Fashioneds are my favorite type of drink,” she said and I grinned triumphantly.

“Well you know what that means right?” She quirked an eyebrow at me and I gestured in between us. “We’re meant to be, guessing your favorite drink isn’t just a coincidence,” I said and she laughed.

“Meant to be? I don’t know, I think I need to be a little more than tipsy to go along with that,” she said with a laugh in her voice.

“Well…I mean…that can be arranged.”

“Oh really? Is that your plan?”

I held my hands up in surrender and shook my head.

“Definitely not. My plan was to come over here and say hi, how far I get is completely up to you Christina,” I said and flashed her one of my signature charming smiles.

“You’re a little…” she grasped for the words to say and I finished her sentence for her.

“Cocky? Yeah a little,” I said and she laughed.

“I was going to say a bit of a smooth talker, but I can see you being a bit cocky too,” she said and I shrugged.

“I’m smooth on the dance floor too, how about a dance?” I asked her and she laughed again, but put her drink down and slid her hand into mine.

“Sure, but you have to promise me you won’t be so corny from now on,” she laughed and I chuckled.

“I’ll try not to be, but I can’t guarantee it.”

I led her out onto the full dance floor. The DJ was playing a sultry, but upbeat dance song and both our bodies caught the rhythm easily. Christina moved really well with me, there was no awkwardness as we danced and I could tell that she enjoyed dancing just for the sake of moving to the music. One song bled into the next and before we knew it we had danced for three songs in a row.

“You’re a great dancer!” She seemed surprised as I led her back to the VIP area where some other guys from the team were at.

“You didn’t think I would be?” I asked her and she shrugged slightly and gave me an innocent smile.

“I mean…usually tall guys only like sway or something,” she said and I cracked up.

“What like trees in the wind?”

“It sounds bad, but yeah,” she laughed.

She made me laugh all over again as I visualized one of the other guys from the team swaying to music like a tree.

“Hey, any guy can dance—tall or short,” I defended my kind and she held her hand up in surrender.

“And clearly I’ve been proven wrong. You’re good on the dance floor.”

“Thank you. So how about another drink and I get to know you a little?” I gave her a hopeful look and she nodded, her expression all cute and a little shy. I didn’t know if it was that smile or what, but this woman had definitely worked some sort of enchanting magic on me.

*****

Christina

I could
not
believe I was actually sitting in the Chicago Red’s VIP section and flirting with Miles Anderson. He was even more gorgeous in person than he was on TV or in pictures. He looked exactly like his nickname entailed; superman. His wavy black hair had that superman curl, he had the traditionally handsome features. A square angular jaw and slightly cleft chin, straight nose, and slightly intense brows. He also had cheekbones that any male model would kill for and lips that looked so unbelievably soft I wondered if he wore lip balm.

“So what do you do?” Miles leaned forward on the couch we sat down at and gave me his full attention, it was like to him I was the only other person in the room.

“Well I just passed the Bar exam so now I’m a full blown lawyer,” I said and then took a sip of the second drink Miles bought for me.

“Ah, so that’s what brought you out tonight; you’re celebrating,” he grinned at me and then picked up his glass of bourbon and clinked it with mine. “Congratulations, how many years have you been studying?” he asked and I sighed dramatically.

“Too many years, but I’m done and now the
real
work begins.”

“Hard work and dedication pays off, believe me,” he said and then took a sip of his drink.

“That’s definitely true for an athlete like you,” I observed and he shrugged modestly.

“It can be true for anyone pursuing any kind of success. Anyways, it takes a lot of discipline to stick to the books like you did. I admire that,” he said sincerely and of course that made me blush.

“Thanks, but it’s not a hard thing to do if you really love it and it catches your interest.”

Miles gave me a thoughtful smile and then ran his fingers through his hair, distracting me from our conversation to watch the flex of his biceps. He was wearing a form fitting sweater and jeans that fit him snugly. I was sure for such a simple, yet tasteful outfit, it was all designer and cost a fortune to anyone who didn’t make what he did.

“You’re different,” he said thoughtfully and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“How so? Like weird different?” I chuckled and he shook his head.

“Like good, refreshing different. Usually if I meet a woman out at a club we’d still be dancing and not talking much and then she’d end up…well usually girls I meet are after one or both of two things from me,” he admitted and I followed him.

“Sex or fame?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yeah and fame usually equates to money,” he said and I patted his knee comfortingly.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in ‘fame’ and I’ve
never
done a one-night stand before.”

Miles looked at me in surprised disbelief.

“Get out, a girl like you? How do you keep the guys off you?” he asked and I laughed.

“It’s not hard, usually guys that come up to me aren’t all that persistent and know how to read body language and such. If they’re after a one night stand I say I’m not interested and that’s that.”

Miles looked at me as if I were a jewel from heaven.

“I just can’t believe this! Where have you been all my life girl? You got your head on your shoulders and that’s…well that’s sexy,” he grinned at me and I actually blushed a little.

“Thanks, but I’m finding it a little hard to believe you haven’t met other women that have their heads on their shoulders,” I gave him a look and he chuckled.

“It’s a product of where I hang out in my recreational time. I guess I attract the wrong kind of woman.”

I snorted and he quirked his eyebrows at me.

“What?”

“Well that’s just…bullshit, pardon me for saying, you
approach
the wrong kind of woman because deep down that’s the only kind you figure you
know
you can get. You came up to me because I’m dressed like this and have my hair and makeup done and
appear
like all the other women you’re used to. If you saw me on the street I’d be wearing SpongeBob glasses and comfortable jeans…yes the jeans may make my butt look good, but that’s beside the point. If you went out of your comfort zone a little you’d find a lot better women than you supposedly ‘attract.’” I schooled him a bit and he simply sat and stared at me in disbelief.

“I think I love you,” he said and then we both cracked up. “Seriously how did you just read me like that?” he asked and I shrugged.

“I have a lot of brothers who all go through the same crap. I’ll admit it is hard being a successful and attractive guy just trying to find a good woman. But part of that is knowing where to
find
a good woman…or simply wait around and let her fall into your lap,” I said and Miles grinned at me.

“Or realize that she’s staring at you from across the bar and go up to her,” he said and I gave him a shy smile. “How about another dance?” he asked me then stood up and offered me his hand. I put my drink aside and took it, then we hit the dance floor and spent the rest of the night talking, drinking, and dancing. By the time the club announced last call I was well and truly drunk.

“Hey where are you going after this?” he asked me as we made our way outside a bit clumsily.

“Uh, home I’m pretty sure,” I said and he gave me a slow sexy smile before he leaned down and kissed me on the jaw.

“How about you let me give you a ride?” he asked and I cracked up.

“There you go being corny again…how about we just go to your place and…play video games.” Miles looked at me as if I was the light of his life at that point.

“
Yes
, yes let’s do that!” he enthused, making me laugh all over again, yep he was probably just as drunk as I was.

*****

Miles

I woke up with a start, my phone was going off loudly and right next to my ear. I groaned and then silenced the thing before I looked down and saw Christina stirring from her sleep. She was wearing one of my jerseys and I had to admit that it looked hella good on her. We were lying on the floor in the upstairs family room where we
had
been playing video games, but then it turned into something much more.

Christina stretched and then pushed the blanket I had grabbed from my bedroom down a bit before she looked up at me in shock. “Oh…my god.”

I didn’t know how to read her mood, but it was becoming clear that she wasn’t exactly happy waking up next to me.

“What the hell
happened
last night?” she asked me in a gasp and I sat up. Her eyes went to my chest as I wasn’t wearing a shirt and they widened.

“Well uh…we met at the club…how much do you remember?”

“I remember I met Miles Anderson, but oh my god I never thought I would end up…like
this
—with you!”

“Well you did have a lot to drink last night, but this isn’t just a one-night stand, I promise. Maybe it’ll all come back to you once you’ve had something to eat,” I said to try and calm her down, but at that point she was getting up and looking for her clothes.

“No I can’t, I have to go. This
so
isn’t like me…I’m sorry, but I can’t stay,” she said in a rush and then changed from my jersey into what she was wearing the night before right in front of me.

“Not even for some coffee?” I asked her and she shook her head as she slipped on her shoes and found her clutch purse near the couch.

“I can’t, I have to go…this was
crazy
, but super cool to meet you…um—yeah,” with that she hurried towards the stairs and then left without a second glance.