Chapter 1 #2
My cheeks went hot, “Thank you. You are a great cheerleader. I have never seen one flip like you do.”
She smiled at me, and I finally got to see that her eyes were light gray. I had never seen eyes that color before.
She took my breath away this up close.
She had a tiny sprinkle of freckles across her nose. I wanted to count them all.
Her smile faltered a little, and I stepped forward, “I just wanted to meet you. I have watched you for a long time.”
She fidgeted with her uniform, “I have too.”
My eyebrows flew up my head, “You have?”
She bit her lip again, nodding at him, “My brother doesn’t like you. He told me I have to stay away from you.”
“Do you want to stay away from me?”
She shook her head, “I don’t know you though. My brother says you would only use me.”
“I’m not that way. I know your brother isn’t my biggest fan, but I’m not who he says I am. I don’t like that he hates me. I only ever played against him. I have never even spoken two words to him.”
Kresslee nodded, “I know. I think he has it in his head that with every loss, he has that mark on him somewhere. Plus, our dad expects perfection from him. He pretty much has dictated Creed’s life to him, and if we lose, it’s not a good thing.”
I lifted a brow, “Really?”
Kresslee went pink, “I shouldn’t have told you that.”
I got closer to her, “It’s okay. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
She looked away from me, and I stepped even closer toward her, making her look up at me. “Why you?”
My brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
Kresslee’s eyes went wide, “I keep saying what I would never say. I want to know why you out of everyone I could be attracted to, why is it you?”
“You are attracted to me?”
Kresslee bit her lip, then slowly nodded. I grinned wider than I ever have before.
“I think you are the most b,” but before I could say more, Creed walked into the school, his eyes locking on where I stood close to Kresslee, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Kresslee! Get over here!”
I growled at him, “Don’t yell at her. She doesn’t need you to treat her like that.”
Creed glared at me even harder, “She is my sister. I can talk to her anyway I want.”
I shook my head, “Not around me you won’t.”
Creed sneered at me, anger pulsing off him in waves, “And what are you going to do about it?”
I knew Creed wanted to fight me. I knew he would try to get me kicked out of the game, and I would just defend my girl.
I took a step toward him, my fists clenched at my sides, when Kresslee stepped between us, “Come on, Creed. You don’t want to be kicked out of the game. We both know how that will end. He was just talking to me. That’s it.”
“He wants you.”
Kresslee shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. Come on.”
She pulled Creed by the arm, and I watched them turn away from me, my girl not looking back once.
My heart shattered in my chest, thinking she chose her brother over me. I understood it, but I hated it, nonetheless.
That was until she turned to look at me over her shoulder, her eyes shining, pleading with me as if asking me to understand she was keeping me safe.
I nodded, letting her know I got it.
I let them walk back to their team, and I put my head down, playing for her. To know that no matter what, I was strong and could hold my own against her brother.
I felt her eyes on me the entire time, and it took everything I had not to look over at her. Not with Creed watching every move.
When we won, by a lot this time, I refused to look at Kresslee so as not to put her on Creed’s radar.
They left, and I knew that no matter what, she was mine. Knowing she was attracted to me, she sealed it for me.
That was years ago. I stole as many minutes with her as possible.
It hadn’t been easy, nor had anything gone far. Especially since Creed was once again on my rival team in the big leagues. Kresslee was also a cheerleader for them.
I knew everything about her, as before one game, she once again went into the school, and I snuck in after her. She had been waiting for me. “Give me your number.”
Her demand was soft-spoken, but I didn’t care. She had her phone out and ready, and I gave her the number as quickly as I could. I lifted a brow when I saw she put my number under a girl's name.
She looked up at me, “Creed could look through my phone. I don’t want him to know. But I decided I wanted to talk to you.”
I smiled, “Are you expecting me to be upset at this?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know. I still don’t know much about you. I don’t know why I have this pull to you. I’m supposed to hate you.”
I stepped closer to her, “Do you?”
She shook her head slowly, “I only hate that my brother hates you when I feel as if you are my future. Why do I want you to be my future Ridge?”
I cupped her face in my hands, “Because you are my future too. I knew it when I saw you for the first time when we were thirteen and it hasn’t changed for me. You are the girl I knew was my life.”
She pushed up on her tiptoes, kissing me quickly, shocking me to no end. I took over the kiss, deepening it just for a second to get a taste of her.
She let out a tiny moan, and I pulled back from her, “You need to go first. I will be out on the field in a second.”
She ran her fingers over my face, “I will be watching.”
I smiled at her, “I know.”
She bit her lip, “Make me proud.”
I grinned, “I will babe.”
“Babe?”
I nodded, “You are mine. Whether your brother is on board or not. I am yours too.”
She bit her lip, then smiled at me. “Good.”
Then she walked away, her ponytail swishing as she did.
I had to adjust my cock that had gone hard the second her lips touched mine.
I walked back onto the field, put on my helmet, and checked my phone, seeing that I had a message from my girlfriend.
Kresslee- That was the best first kiss of my life.
Ridge- Mine too. I will dream about that.
Kresslee- Win for me.
Ridge- Shouldn’t you want your team to win?
Kresslee- Nope, my brother becomes unbelievably cocky when we win. He also becomes angry when we lose. It’s a lose-lose. But I would rather cheer for you, because I know you aren’t like my brother. And I love that. So, just know that every time I’m cheering, it’s not for my team. It’s only for you.
Ridge- I will win for you then. My very own cheerleader.
Kresslee- You bet your cute butt you have your own cheerleader.
I looked up from my phone to finish getting ready for the game to find her looking at me slyly over her pom-poms.
She winked at me, then looked away, waving her pom-poms in the air to the crowd.
I grinned behind my helmet and put my mouth guard in.
Time to win for my girl.
We spoke via text and on the phone whenever we could. Kresslee would call whenever Creed was in the shower or sleeping, and I listened to it all.
We also snuck away every chance we could before the games. I would kiss her as soon as she was at the door, taking her mouth in a deep kiss that showed how much I missed her.
She would kiss me back, her arms wrapping around my shoulder pads and letting me lift her off her feet to reach my mouth more easily.
It was hell on my body. Beyond not being able to see her every day or kiss her, it's also hell.
But I knew this had to happen.
Then the worst thing that could happen did. We were in the middle of our kissing session when Creed opened the door, his eyes going so wide that his eyebrows were almost lost in his hairline.
He saw Kresslee in my arms, her lips on mine since she hadn’t seen him, and he let out a roar, running at me, giving me only half a second to put Kresslee on her feet and pushing her away from me before Creed tackled me.
I braced myself the best I could, but he hit me so hard I skidded back a few feet. However, since it was my job to take hits like his, I bounced back quickly.
I tackled him to the ground this time, and Kresslee cried, “Creed! Stop it!”
Creed bucked his hips, rolling us over and punching me in the face, his anger palpable as he did.
My head snapped back, and blood burst out of my nose, and I punched Creed back, splitting his lip open.
Creed snarled at me, but Kresslee caught his arm, and he looked up at her, shoving her away from him, and she stumbled into the wall, hitting her head on it.
She fell back, and we watched her hit the ground, a cut opening on her forehead, blood flowing out of it so quickly it scared me, and her eyes rolling back in her head.
Creed shoved off me, rushing to his sister, and I got on my knees, crawling to her.
He shoved me away from her, “Get the fuck away from her!”
I shook my head, “She needs help.”
Creed gathered Kresslee in his arms, “She will get it. But not from you. Go near her again, and you won’t like what I will do.”
I glared at him, “You fucking hurt your sister today because of your damn pride Creed. Let it go. It’s just a fucking game!”
Creed shook his head, “It’s really not.” His voice sounded tired, shaking as he said the words quietly and then shoved his way outside.
I stopped short, knowing I wouldn’t be able to play with the blood all over my jersey and my face, but uncaring because Kresslee was hurt.
I shoved out the doors after Creed, who still carried Kresslee in his arms.
A large man walked over to where Creed stood with his sister in his arms, taller than Creed, wider too.
He was in an expensive as hell suit, his eyes narrowed to slits when he saw Creed covered in blood, Kresslee too.
“What the fuck happened Creed?”
“Kress hit her head. She got blood on me.”
His dad lifted a brow, “She split your lip too?”
Creed shook his head, “I got mad that she got hurt. I bit my lip too hard.”
Their father shook his head, “You are such a disappointment. You can’t play tonight. I arranged some college scouts to watch you. Now what will you do?”
His voice got louder as he said each word, and I could see Creed grit his teeth, “I don’t know. I’m sorry. Kress has to go to the emergency room.”
Kresslee started to stir in Creed’s arms, and their father shook his head, “Fuck that. She is fine.”
Kresslee lifted her head, and I could see her shake her head, then put it back against Creed’s shoulder, her eyes closing once more.
Creed shook his head, “I’m taking her.”
Their father glared at him, then his fist punched out so quickly, it was as if a snake struck, hitting Creed in the face.
Creed’s head snapped to the side, and I saw him close his eyes quickly before he looked back at his dad.
“Punish me later. I need to take care of Kress.”
He shoved past their dad, who was starting to rage at them, and I watched Creed put Kresslee in an old truck and drive away, his dad screaming after him.
I blinked at the scene. No wonder Creed got upset after each game. I saw their father punch his own son in the face over his walking away, choosing his sister over his future.
I knew that I needed to be careful with Creed and Kresslee. Creed wasn’t a bad guy. He was only watching over his sister, and I was the guy who got him punished. Of that I had no doubt.
I swallowed hard, my nose slowly stopping its steady stream of blood.
I watched Kresslee and Creed’s dad walk away, getting in the nicest car in the lot, and drove in the opposite direction from Creed. I knew that wasn’t normal.
My dad walked up to me, concern on his face, “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
My dad shook his head, getting his handkerchief out of his pocket, handing it to me, and I wiped my nose.
He grabbed my arm, leading me a little way away, “I know something is wrong.”
I looked up at my dad, “Why are some people not meant to be parents?”
My dad’s face softened. “Tell me the story.”
I told my dad about everything, including what I had witnessed with Creed and his dad.
My dad shook his head, “I don’t know what to tell you about parents. Except you know about bad ones yourself. And you know that some men shouldn’t have stayed to be a parent. They aren’t cut out for it. All you can do is pray they will make it out of there in one piece.”
“What about Kresslee? I know she is my girl.”
My dad smiled at me, “Then be patient. No matter what life throws at you, be patient. It doesn’t seem as if her life is her own. Don’t give up on her.”
My dad was right. After that day, Kresslee sent me a text saying that we weren’t allowed to talk to each other anymore.
If I hadn’t spoken to my dad, it would have broken me. It did a little as it was. Having my girl for a tiny amount of time and then losing her was the hardest thing I dealt with.
I threw myself into school and football.
I ended up graduating as valedictorian and received two scholarships to attend the college of my choice.
My dad was freaking thrilled, and I got my degree in accounting while I played.
When I got drafted right out of college to the team I longed to play for, I was thrilled.
The only thing missing in my life was my girl. She never looked at me at the games anymore, nor did I give her reason to get in trouble.
She still held my heart in her hands, but I knew I had to wait until we were older and in more control of our lives.
That was now. Kresslee was mine, and I wasn’t going to let her go now.
I wouldn’t let Creed be in control of her now. Nor did I want to; I just wanted her to choose me. It was time now. I bought my house with her in mind, ensuring it was big enough to accommodate several children down the line, and saved every penny I earned, as I didn’t have much to spend on.
One thing I did was volunteer at a domestic violence shelter, ensuring that I paid all the bills, so they had no reason to shut their doors.
When I wasn’t busy at work, I would play with the kids, read to them, play football with them, or catch balls with Rhodes or Ryker. They often came with me because they knew the story and loved the kids as much as I did.
I was grateful my friends kept me sane. They stopped me from driving to where Kresslee lived. Creed had been drafted to a different team, and she was their head cheerleader.
Creed still hated me. But I knew it was for a reason that had nothing to do with me, really.
I gave him the hate. I wouldn’t hate him back. Not now. Not ever. I knew one day he would accept me. And that was going to be sooner rather than later.
Kresslee was mine, and I wasn’t going to let her push me away any longer.
She was my obsession, my life, my love, and I barely spoke to her. She was the song in my head. The one who dictated my life behind the scenes. Every move I made was in her direction, and she didn’t know it.
One day she would. I just had to keep being patient, though my patience was wearing thin.