Romance: Seducing The Quarterback (9 page)

He laughed, “Well so are you.”

“I know.”

Mike looked back at her, expectantly but she did not say
anything else. They walked to her door and just as they were about to say their
goodbyes, Megan reached a decision.

“Well, it was nice seeing you tonight,” he said at the
doorway, waiting for his cue to leave.

“Hey, maybe it isn’t such a good idea for you to be driving
tonight,” she said suddenly and lightly gripped from by his sleeve to stop him
from leaving.

“What other option do I have?” he countered, with a small
smirk on his lips as he thought of where this conversation was steering
towards.

“Mhm, I don’t know,” Megan teased, tiptoeing around the
idea, “maybe we can work something out?”

At this point, Mike walked over so he was a little closer to
her. He nudged her softly on the head, “What you have in mind?” he said in a
whisper.

“Do you want to stay over?” Megan finally said and it did
not take much to get Mike to agree as he closed in the distance between their
faces and covered her lips with her own. They stumbled back into her foyer, now
making out passionately and latching onto each other.

“I thought you would never ask,” Mike said breathlessly as
he stopped kissing her for a moment to swipe away the hair from her face.

“I’ve been trying to all evening -,” Megan tried to speak
but she was cut short by Mike as he devoured her lips once again. They wound up
backing up on her sofa as he explored his hands in her hair and pressed up
tightly against her.

Breathless, Megan tore herself away from him and sat up.
Mike followed suit and looked at her with a confused expression on his face.
Had he done something wrong? Usually, women never really stopped him once they
got this far. He opened his mouth to ask what had happened but she got up
before he had the chance.

“My bedroom is that way,” she said coyly and then walked
over to her room.

Mike could barely contain his excitement as he grinned and
rushed over to her, firmly closing the door behind.

They were all over each other - hands in each other’s hair
and mouths on each other’s bodies. Articles of clothing came flying off and
soon, the only barrier between the two of them was thread bare. Mike stopped
for a moment and slowed down his pace, taking his time in kissing her. He was
being inexplicably slow and Megan felt like she was about to lose her mind. How
could he be so calm in a time when all she wanted to go was devour him?

“Mike,” she called out to him, “Please!”

Mike grinned back at her. It seemed that he knew exactly
what he was doing. He trailed down small kisses down her torso, causing her to
mewl with happiness. Finally, he trailed his way upwards and hovered directly
over her face.

“Are you sure?” he found himself asking. Even though he was
slightly inebriated, he still knew the importance of asking for consent.

Megan felt like she could not answer fast enough. She nodded
profusely, “Yes! I want this.”

That was all the confirmation he needed as he dipped down
and removed the last article of clothing separating them and dived right into
her. He was devastatingly slow at first as he gave her the time to adjust to
him but then, it suddenly started to feel good.

Megan did not know how long they were at it for but soon, he
collapsed on top her and she breathed in the hollow of his neck. They were both
swamped from the activity.

“That was amazing,” was the last thing he said to her before
drifting off to sleep. Megan, too, felt her eyelids grow heavy and sleep
overcome her.

The morning after a one-night stand almost always seemed to
follow a reserved pattern for Megan and when she woke up the next morning, she
expected the same thing.

The person in question would always wake up before their
partner and pick up their clothes and slip away. Sometimes, they would leave a
note on the desk but most times, the only memory they left behind was the
events of the night before. Megan woke up the next morning to an empty bedside
and she prepared herself for what was to come.

She assumed that he probably already left.

But when she hopped out of her shower and walked into her kitchen
to start off her day, she was surprised to smell the aroma of bacon wafting in
the air.

For a second, she went on her defensive mode and scoped the
kitchen for any signs of an unwanted intruder but all she saw was Mike.

“Surprised to see me?” he grinned at her from the other side
of the counter.

Megan shrugged, trying to hide the obvious surprise on her
face and in her tone, “Just a little caught off guard,” she tried to play it
off casually.

But in her mind, she was already contemplating his actions.
Why had he decided to stay? She had not expected him to stick around –
especially being the person that the tabloids made him out to be. A bad boy and
a player. So what was he doing standing in her kitchen, preparing breakfast for
her?

Mike chuckled, “I don’t know what to tell you either,” he
replied, “but I guess I was just too hungry and too hungover to drive back in
the morning.”

Megan nodded. She could work with this explanation – it was
platonic and the only reason he had stayed was cause of convenience. But even
though that this was the answer Megan was hoping for, she realized that it left
her feeling a little disappointed.

What was happening to her? It was as though one part of her
wanted to hear one thing and another part wanted to hear something completely
opposite. She bit down her lip and sat opposite to him as he laid out the
breakfast on the table.

“And I guess,” Mike continued, “I would be lying if I didn’t
say that it was also because I wanted to see you once again in the morning.”

Megan felt her heart flutter- this is what she had been
wanting to hear. “I am glad you stayed,” she replied, now sure of what she
wanted.

Mike grinned, “Anyway – I noticed you had way too many boxes
of cereal lying around. Thought you could use a proper breakfast.”

Megan groaned as she bit into her piece of bacon, “Mhmm,
this is actually incredible!” she exclaimed.

“Well, I’m a man of many talents,” he grinned back at her.
“Eat up, gorgeous.”

Megan felt herself blushing at his words but hid her face as
she dug into the remains of her breakfast. He was a tremendous cook and it was
the most unexpected thing about him.

“I feel like I could write up an entire article on just this
slice of bacon, if I am being honest with you,” she mused, much to his
amusement.

“I hope we get to connect more than just one the basis of
you writing more articles about me,” he replied, as he dug into his own plate
of food.

Megan grinned, “Hey, I thought we already did,” she teased
lightly, hinting back to the events of the night before.

“I think you need to refresh my memory a little about that,”
he replied back, his eyes suddenly turned dark.

Megan had suddenly lost her appetite to eat – but it had
been replaced by something much more primal. And she knew that she was not the
only one as she saw Mike stare at her from across the table. It did not take
him long before he, too, had abandoned his fork and spoon and cornered up Megan
to the side of the table.

“Go ahead,” she breathed out. Her breathing had accelerated
as he was now in very much close proximity to her. She felt him kiss her neck
and she knew that was the end of it. All her self-control and thoughts about
work dissolved away and all that seemed to matter was him and this moment.

It did not take long for them to get at it, tugging on each
other’s clothes. Suddenly, nothing else mattered and all that existed was this.

* * * *

Mike ended up leaving late into the evening that day. They
had spent most of their time fooling around but also just being with each
other. It was bizarre just now comfortable she felt around him.

Megan was not a romantic by nature. She considered herself
to be a realist and knew that the fairy tale love a person sees in the movies
seldom exists in real life. But she could not deny the butterflies that stemmed
in her stomach when she thought back of Mike and her interactions with him.

He was so unlike anything that she had imagined him to be.
He was charming and respectful in his dealings with her, even though, before
she had assumed that he would be arrogant and treat her just like another
fling. Could she even use the word fling? They had only hooked up twice in the
space of twenty-four hours but she could not get the experience out of her
mind. It had been one of the best times that Megan had ever had.

They had exchanged numbers after but apart from a brief
conversation the next day, they had not interacted ever since.

Megan was not one to check up on the guys she had been
seeing but this time, curiosity got the better of her and she found out through
his publicist that he was currently out of country for a football game.

“Any idea when he might be returning?” she asked the
publicist over the phone.

“Yeah, he’s scheduled to be back in the country on Friday.
He’s a busy man. Do you want to schedule an interview with him?” he asked her.

“No, no,” Megan said abruptly, “I was only – well, I had
some follow up questions for him and I needed to see him in person for that.
But thanks for letting me know,” she said and then hung up.

She felt weird – keeping tabs on him like that but she felt
a tinge of something. Was it fair of her to expect that he should have told her
that he was going to leave the country like that? She had never been informed
and not that it was her place to know, but she felt a little disappointed
either way.

She typed up a text message – she wanted to ask him how he
was doing and if he missed her but she erased her it as soon as she did. What
had come over Megan? She was never this obsessive and clingy person but what
was it about him that made her attracted to him to this extent?

She knew she had to clear her head. She put her phone away
and decided she had done enough for the night. For the remainder of the time
till he comes back, she would not check up on him. But within her heart, she
hoped that her phone would light up with a text displaying his name.

And with that thought, she decided she needed to stop acting
more like a teenage girl and go to sleep.

* * * *

Friday finally rolled by and even though Megan would never
admit this to herself, she woke up extra happy that day. She went about her
work with a smile on her face and she was extra chirpy in all of her
interactions with people.

And all of it had to do with the fact that Mike Ferguson was
returning back to town tonight. She was almost certain that he would contact
her – after all, how could he not after them having such a fantastic time
together?

“What’s gotten you all chirpy?” Annie asked her as they both
packed up their desks at the end of the day, “I noticed how you were still in a
good mood even after you got assigned to do that boring horse derby story. I
mean – who does that? Spill, I feel like there’s something you are not telling
me.”

Megan shrugged. She had tried to keep it on the down low but
evidently, her excitement had been hard to suppress. “I don’t know – can’t I
just be happy?”

“Who’s the guy?” Annie asked her, point blank.

An unfamiliar blush crept up on her cheeks, “Well,” she
stammered, “You know, he’s just someone. Not that important!”

“But of course he is!” Annie said, nudging her lightly with
her elbow, “I mean look at you! You are as gleeful as a child on Christmas
morning. You gotta tell me about this mystery man.”

But Megan held her fort, “There is no mystery man. Just a
guy I saw  - it’s really nothing.”

“Sure,” Annie replied in a tone that said she knew that she
was not being told the full story. But to Megan’s relief, she decided to drop
the subject.

“Hey you want to go out for drinks tonight?” Annie asked her
but Megan was already shaking her head.

“I really can’t,” she said, “Got a lot to do around the
house tonight and honestly, I would just like a night in to myself,” Megan knew
she was making excuses but she did not want to occupy her schedule just in case
Mike wanted to see her again.

Annie stared back at her suspiciously, “Right – the mystery
guy. How could I forget?”

Megan rolled her eyes but before she could formulate a
sufficiently witty response to shut Annie up, one of the interns came bursting
into the room with a stack of pictures in her hand.

“Guys, guys, guys,” she said to them in her excited state,
“Boss needs one of you to write up this story, ASAP! Mike Ferguson has just
landed in town and has been seen leaving his plane with Sandra Shaw!”

“What do you mean?” Megan said at once and snatched the
pictures from the intern’s hands. And there it was.

Sandra Shaw was a popular actress and a solid ten on the
hotness scale. Megan looked at the pictures in front of her and saw that Mike
had her arms draped around the model as she laughed at something he had said.
She felt a stab of hurt.

“So?” the intern nudged her, bringing her back to reality.

“Huh?” Megan replied. She had completely missed what the
intern had said to her just now.

“I said, so which one of you is willing to do it?” she asked
and expectantly looked between the two of them.

But Megan was already done with this topic – she wanted no
more to think about Mike, much less write up an article speculating about his
love life.

“Annie can have this one,” she said, “I need to go home,”
and abruptly left the room.

* * * *

Megan felt like she was going around in circles as she
incessantly clicked refresh on any new update on the story. She had returned
back home and was now mounted in bed in a sad state of blankets and ice cream. 
It was true – all the gossip tabloids had posted about it. Apparently, on his
tour to Canada, Mike had met the actress and they had instantly hit it off.
Some sites were even close to suggesting that it was like love at first sight.

Megan had read through all of the articles and they only
thing they managed to do was make her feel bad about the entire scenario.

She felt stupid  - for here she was, waiting on him and
wanting him to text her while he had forgotten about her already. He had
already moved on to the next arm candy and she was an insignificant part of his
life. The thought made her sad and it made her feel foolish.

Why was it, even though she had grown up now to what she
thought was a sensible woman, a boy still had the ability to render her feeling
like a foolish teenager?

“Snap out of it,” she told herself as she suddenly sat up in
her bed, “I need to get out of this funk!” she frustratedly exclaimed out loud,
even though there was no one in the room apart from her.

She threw the blanket she had been snuggling in on the floor
in front of her and decided that it was effectively time to end her pity party
once and for all. Picking up her cellphone that she had thrown on the floor,
she decided to call up Annie.

Three little monotonous rings later, Annie picked up.

“Annie,” Megan breathed out to her friend, “Is your offer
for getting drinks tonight still on?”

Annie giggled from the other side of the line, “You bet it
is. Get your ass here right now.” And then she gave her an address.

* * * *

Megan had learned two important survival skills in college.
She knew that whenever she was feeling down in the dumps, she had two very
effective remedies to cure her from her ails. One was to dress up nicely – do
something with her hair and apply her makeup well so that she started to look
like a much hotter version of her real life self. And the second remedy was to
head out and party, whilst still looking like the hotter version of herself.

That was what she had planned on doing tonight. She glanced
at herself one last time in her compact mirror before heading into the venue
where the party was being held. The music was booming loud but the attendance
of people was not that much since the party was being held at a private
domicile.

She spotted Annie right now.

Annie wolf whistled as Megan walked over to her, “Look at
you! You look stunning,” she gushed, “I honestly thought you were not going to
come out tonight. What happened to your mysterious lover boy?”

Megan did not want to think about Mike right now – getting
him off her mind was precisely the reason she had decided to come out tonight.
“There is no lover boy,” she said dismissively, “Where are the cute boys at?”

Annie grinned, “That’s my girl.”

Megan was well aware of the looks she had been drawing from
the men around her. She scanned their faces but none of them really quite
caught her eye until she noticed this cute boy looking at her from the side of
the room.

“Hey there,” she went over to him, “What’s your name?” She
was feeling exceptionally bold tonight in her interactions and did not let her
anxiety get the best of her.

“Regan,” he replied back. Megan noticed he was a little shy
but right now, she did not care about that or anything. She just wanted a
companion and he seemed cute enough.

“So, Regan,” she said, moving in closer to him, “Want to get
out of here?”

Regan looked like he had just won the lottery as he eyed her
up and down and then nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

 Megan smirked and took him by the hand. They walked over to
one corner of the room and then, they were making out. But even as they did so,
Megan felt weird. His kisses were too sloppy and his grip on her was too rough.
Halfway through, she started to realize that this was not a good idea but all
her thoughts went flying out the window as he suddenly put his lips against her
neck – the sensation felt amazing.

“Whoa, that feels so good,” she said out loud, “Don’t stop,
Mike.”

Suddenly, he stopped and the both of them realized what she
had just said.

She had just called him using Mike’s name.

A blush immediately covered her cheeks as she slapped a hand
against her lips, “I’m so sorry,” she said apologetically, “I think – I think I
need to go.”

And with that said, she made a beeline towards the door.
That was a disaster – when had this person become so important to her that she
was saying his name when she should be out there enjoying herself with other
people?

With dread and horror, Megan realized that it was going to
take a lot more than a night out to get Mike Ferguson out of her mind.