Slam Dunk: A Second Chance Sports Romance Read online

  “Look who finally decided to join us,” said my coach as I took the field. “The boys here tell me that you had a long night with your wife.”

  The team started to laugh and I couldn’t help but blush with anger. It was one thing for them to give me a hard time, but this was getting old. Once we stepped onto the court, all that crap was supposed to be left in the locker room.

  “So, when’s the big day?” he asked me.

  The team laughed and I ground my teeth together. “Listen, she’s just a girl, okay? We aren’t dating. We aren’t married. It’s just sex.”

  “Right,” he muttered. “And how many other girls have there been ? Antwan tells me your apartment has been pretty quiet. We aren’t going to lose you to a woman, are we?”

  “Of course not,” I hissed at him as I glared at Antwan. I took one of the balls from the net and launched it at him, not bothering to conceal my rage. “Are we going to play ball or not?”

  * * *

  The rest of practice was the same as the start. I couldn’t seem to get anything done because of the constant harassment. In the end, I was ready to leave practice and grateful not to have to deal with any of them for the rest of the day. For the first time in weeks, I went back to my apartment after showering instead of going over to Brittany’s. I felt guilty when I sent her a text telling her I wasn’t coming over and then again when I didn’t respond to her when she asked if everything was okay.

  I was torn between the sport and the girl. No one had ever gotten to me the way she did, but my teammates were as much my family as my father was. They all agreed that I needed to let Brittany go, at least for now. I waited for several hours before responding to her.

  No, everything isn’t okay

  What’s going on? I thought we were going to go shopping today and grill out? Now you’re not coming over and I don’t hear from you for hours? She replied.

  I took a deep breath. This had to be the worst possible way to end things. I knew that if I saw her, I wouldn’t be able to tell her, though. Right now, my life was too busy with basketball to worry about one woman. I should be dating supermodels and actresses, not an intern. I just had to make it as quick and painless as possible.

  Plan’s changed. Maybe if I were super cold, she would get pissed and break things off with me. Then I wouldn’t be the bad guy, right?

  That’s . . . vague. Is everything okay?

  Yeah, just want some time with my boys. I haven’t seen them a lot since we started, you know, doing whatever it is we are doing.

  Wow. “Whatever it is?” I thought that we were dating. I mean, we did a whole date where you asked me out. You introduced me as your girlfriend to your dad. When I didn’t reply, she sent a second message. What’s going on?

  Nothing. I think this is just moving too fast. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

  I sent the message, but as an afterthought, I added more. I had to make sure she got the message. I’m young. I don’t want to be tied down to one woman, okay?

  I couldn’t stop myself from staring at my phone, half expecting it to leap up from my hand and slap me for being such an asshole. For fifteen minutes, I stared at it until finally, it lit up again and I quickly opened the message.

  Okay.

  “What?” I stammered, looking at the message. “That’s it?”

  Before I could reconsider breaking things off with her, my bedroom door opened. There was no privacy living in an apartment building filled with other players. It was Jimmy. He jumped down on the bed and grabbed my phone without asking. I quickly took it back and shoved it into my pocket.

  “What do you want?” I muttered.

  “The boys and I are going out. I told them you were an old married man and wouldn’t come, but they still thought we should invite you.”

  “Actually,” I said dryly, “I think I’ll come. Give me a few minutes to get ready.”

  His eyes grew wide. “Whoa! Don’t you think you should ask the wife first?”

  “I don’t have a wife,” I said quickly as I got up and stripped off my shirt to grab a fresh one. “I don’t have a girlfriend either.”

  “What!” he said in a booming voice. “Oh! The guys are going to love this! Our man Patton is back on the town. Man, the women around here were cut in half once they knew you were taken.”

  “Listen, can we please just drop this? I’m single, I’m ready to get back out there, and I don’t want to talk about Brittany again, okay?’

  He raised his hands up in surrender. “Whatever you say, man. I gotta tell you, though . . . if she’s back on the market—”

  “Don’t even think about it,” I growled at him. “Don’t go near her. Plus, she doesn’t party, so you won’t ever have the chance.”

  He laughed. “Ready?”

  “Sure,” I muttered.

  It was a lie. All I wanted to do was run back to Brittany and beg her forgiveness. Going to a club, taking home some random girl who wanted to be a star, and doing it all over again tomorrow were the last things on my mind. She was the person I wanted to be with. Jimmy was staring at me.

  “Sure you’re single?” he asked with a grin.

  I nodded. “Let’s go.”

  “You know, Antwan was telling me about this hot chick who turned him down. Said she was saving herself for you,” he started to say. “Guess now she’s gonna get that chance, huh?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I muttered as I followed him.

  It was only one night. What could that hurt, after all? Maybe tomorrow, I would call Brittany and smooth things over. She was still super cool. We could hang out as friends or something if she would have me. Then we could still be in each other’s life and I wouldn’t get grief from the team or my father. When the team saw me joining them, a cheer of approval went up and shots were handed out. After that, I kept them coming. If nothing else, I could drink away my sorrows.

  3

  Brittany

  “What an asshole,” I muttered.

  “What’s going on?” Elisa asked as she plopped down onto the couch. Her breasts bounced up and down in the lowcut shirt she wore.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. I thought that I had something with this guy, but I guess not.”

  She chewed her gum loudly, grinding on my nerves, but there wasn’t much I could do. I’d been stuck with her for two weeks while Patrick was working a story in California. As the only other intern in the company, Elisa and I had to work together to create an online presence to bring in more female viewers for the station. So far, she’d spent her nights out with basketball players but little more. Without any contributions from her, it was going well.

  “Well, I hear there’s going to be a wild party tonight at the Hoop. Maybe you should come with me.”

  I shook my head. “No, thanks. I have a meeting in a few hours about the project anyway.”

  “Right,” she said, snapping another bubble. “How’s that whole thing going, anyway?”

  “Fine,” I muttered. “The presentation is in a few minutes, you know.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t really need me there for that, right?” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. It was probably a move that worked well on men.

  “Nope,” I muttered. “I think I can take care of it. Go have fun.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. Word on the street is that Patton is available again. I’m going to lock him in tight.” Elisa wiggled her body seductively. “That boy could set me up for life!”

  She jumped up and bounced away, not even realizing the wound she’d opened up. I wanted to run to the bathroom and cry my eyes out but there wasn’t time. I had a meeting with my bosses’ boss in just a few minutes, and I needed to keep my shit together. This could be a big launching point for my career. I couldn’t screw it up.

  Taking a deep breath, I went into his office, gently knocking on the door. He looked me over and smiled. I was instantly on edge. The only other time that I had met with him was during the in
terview. Right away, a chill went down my spine, but it wasn’t like with Corey. Even the thought of his name shot a burst of pain into my heart. No, my boss was a terrible man, a misogynist who thought women should be in the secretary pool and that was it.

  “It’s Brittany, right?” he asked me as he licked his lips.

  “Yes sir,” I said, trying my best to be cheerful and not to let him see the disgust in my face.

  “Great. You know,” he continued, “I really like you. Maybe we should discuss this over a glass of wine later.”

  “That’s okay,” I muttered. “I’d like to take care of it now. Approval on this project would be huge for me.”

  “You like big things, do you?” he asked with a snicker.

  I closed my eyes, gathering all the patience I had acquired from working in the industry for years. “So, what did you think of the presentation?”

  He rolled his eyes. “It was fine, I guess.”

  “Was there something you didn’t like about it?”

  “Personally? I think the whole thing is crap, but what do I know? The broads on the fourth floor think we need to bring in more lady viewers.” he crossed his arms like a pouting child and flopped down in his chair.

  “Um, okay.”

  “Of course,” he said as he leaned forward, “if we stuck a pretty little thing like you on the internet—”

  “Well,” I quickly interrupted, not liking the direction we were headed. I flipped open the binder to the third page. “The idea is to put me in front of the camera. You know, on the internet, with the players. Get to know who they are inside, not just as sports idols.”

  “Sounds like a chick movie to me,” he grumbled.

  I once again took a deep breath. “Is this something you want me to move forward with?”

  “What happened to the other one?” Michael asked. “Wasn’t there two of you working on this project?”

  “Elisa didn’t see the bigger picture so I took it over. I thought she would be better suited for internal affairs.”

  He chuckled, grabbing his groin and winking at me. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I could see her getting into affairs.”

  My mouth fell open. “I, um. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Of course you didn’t. Women don’t like to think about such things,” he said with a wink. “At least, not the respectable ones. Makes me wonder, are you respectable?”

  “Sir?” I sputtered.

  I really didn’t like the way the he was talking to me. Getting propositioned wasn’t new, but having someone be so blunt about it was. At least most men tried to veil their efforts some. I wasn’t helping the situation. I was getting angrier by the second. Men didn’t have to worry about this sort of thing. If I didn’t get out of the office soon, there might be bloodshed or me losing my job, at the very least.

  Michael shook his head. “I guess that’s a yes. That’s too bad. We really could have made this little project of yours work.”

  It was the final straw. I smiled at him, clenching my fist. “Sir, surely, you aren’t implying that I’m not getting this position because I won’t have relations with you, right?”

  His face dropped at once. He leaned back against the chair. When he shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, I let him have it.

  “Because that would be harassment, and in this day and age, that sort of thing could get you in a lot of trouble. I’m sure if those women on the fourth floor heard about this, they would jump to conclusions. Even for the littlest . . . misunderstanding.”

  Michael leaned forward. “Are you threatening me?”

  “Of course not!” I gasped. “What kind of respectable woman would do that?”

  He leaned back again, glaring at me for a second before a wide smile broke onto his face. “You know what? You can have your little online show. Once you see the kinds of men these sports players really are, you’ll come begging me for release.”

  “Thank you, sir,” I said as cheerfully as I could. “I’m sure that you’ll be happy with the numbers.”

  He didn’t even look up as I stood, and that was fine with me. I knew that he was mad that I got the best of him, but I didn’t care. My threat had been a hollow one. I wouldn’t risk my internship by going above his head, but he didn’t need to know that. Elisa would be upset that she was cut out of the project as well, but again, I needed this internship and couldn’t afford to lose it from my resume.

  My stomach lurched as I headed for my shared office with Patrick. Something I ate wasn’t agreeing with me. Everything tasted like cardboard to me, but that was nothing new. Any time I was upset, things always seemed off with my body. I quickly shut the door behind me and leaned against it, taking a deep breath.

  “This is not how my day was supposed to go,” I muttered to myself.

  A sudden noise behind me made me jump. Patrick came out of the private bathroom he had and looked up. “There you are. Were you saying something?”

  I quickly recovered. “Hey! You’re back early. Everything go okay?”

  He shrugged. “More or less. I hate leaving right before basketball season starts, though. I always feel like I’m missing out.”

  “On locker room gossip? Because that’s all there has been.”

  “Who’s been covering?”

  “Carl, mostly. I do the paperwork and printouts, but he’s been the one on the ground.”

  “Really?” he said as he sat down.

  I nodded and took the seat across from him. I was happy he was back. He might be rough around the edges, but at least he wasn’t a misogynistic pig like Michael. Patrick was stern, driven, and caring, though he tried to hide it. I never felt like I was being watched when I was around him. If anyone would be giving me a good recommendation for future jobs, it would be Patrick.

  “Why is that surprising?”

  He shrugged. “I just assumed that you would take over the interviews while I was gone. You are my intern, you know.”

  I smiled. “Well, as your intern, I hate to let you know, but I just got my own gig. They want me to start a vlog to bring in more female viewers.”

  “What in God’s name is a vlog?” he grumbled.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a video blog. To bring more women into the sports world. Most of them don’t care about stats and numbers, but if they could make an emotional connection with the players, they would be more likely to watch them play.”

  “Well,” he muttered, “I guess that’s one way to do it. So I’m losing my best intern.”

  Grinning at him, I nodded. “You’re losing your only intern, yes. But don’t worry, I’ll still be here for anything you might need a hand with. Right now, this is just a part-time project.”

  “I guess I can always borrow that other girl,” he huffed. “Not sure she can even spell her name, but it’s something, I suppose.”

  I laughed. “Elisa? Yeah, good luck with that. But the vlog doesn’t start for another few weeks. What’s on our agenda today?”

  “I wanted to catch one last practice with the Newbury team before their game next week. Maybe you should tag along and see what they think about your new pet project.”

  “Um . . .” I muttered.

  He sighed. “I know that sound. Something happened with you and Patton, didn’t it?”

  I swallowed hard and forced myself to smile. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just want to get started on the vlog.”

  Patrick rolled his eyes. “One second, you want to be helpful and the next, you’re too busy. Let me give you a word of advice, kid,” he said as he grabbed his bag and headed to the door. “Stay away from the athletes. They are only after one thing. You are too nice of a girl to get chewed up and spat out by that lot. I’ll let you stay behind this time, but you can’t hide forever. Find yourself someone nice outside of the industry. Players are users.”

  There was nothing left to say. I wanted to chase after him and assure him that I was just fine, but it would be a lie. With him gone, I h
ad the office to myself. I leaned back again and let out a deep breath, but it was doing little to ease my queasy stomach.

  “I just need a break,” I told myself as I quickly wrote a note for Patrick and grabbed my bag. “There is nothing an afternoon curled up on the couch can’t fix.”

  Without giving another thought to Corey, Michael, or Patrick’s words, I slammed the door behind me and headed for the steps. Today was a wash, and a painful one at that. I was done with men, all of them. Tomorrow, I would get back on the horse and start on my vlog, talking to any player I needed to so I could get my foot in the door. Corey and the rest of his team could go to hell. I was a strong, independent woman. My stomach lurched and I grabbed ahold of the railing.

  “Oh, God,” I muttered, fighting back the nausea. “Not again.”

  Strong or not, I was going to be sick.

  4

  Corey

  “She was tight,” Antwan said with a laugh. “Man, I bet that woman would’ve rocked your world for an autograph!”

  I ground my teeth together and slammed my locker door. “Not my style. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  I tried to leave but Antwan jumped in front of the door. “You know, I think I liked you better with that reporter girlfriend. At least with her, you were getting some. Now you’re just a stick in the mud.”

  “Get out of my way,” I muttered before trying to step past him again.

  He jumped to the left, again blocking my exit. “Not so fast, star.” His words were venomous.

  “Don’t you want to hear about last night? You left so suddenly! We had girls tag teaming and slipping around all night. Your name goes a long way. When you gonna get over that bitch and get back to the party? This is college, bro!”

  The others were watching what was happening now. With our first game less than a week away and known scouts coming to watch, tensions were high. It didn’t help that the starting roster had just been posted. As always, Antwan was second-string and I was starting. We’d been on the same team for two years now, but he still had a personal vendetta against me. Every year, it was the same thing, but this year was worse.