Game On(26)

“Get ’em!” he shouted at the rest of the team and it took me a few seconds to realize that I was included in that statement. I whirled around, just barely missing the cup of water that was tossed in my direction. I yelped as it hit me in the back, a refreshing splash of water soaking me through. The player that had thrown it gave me a not-so-sheepish shrug.

Sprinting towards the refreshment table, I managed to grab two cups of water before full-on madness broke out.

Suddenly water was splashing everywhere, everyone grabbing for cups of water and flinging them every which way. I ducked and twisted, trying to avoid any huge splashes, but still getting hit on my side and legs. It felt amazing in the heat, and I was having fun, laughing and running, dodging ballplayers and streams of water. Through the melee, I saw both Mandy and Chris, still locked in each other’s arms.

Distracted, I didn’t look where I was going and ran smack dab into someone. But the moment my hands went up, grabbing at firm muscle and strong biceps, I knew that it was Nathan. I looked up through my wet hair to find him staring down at me, both of us soaked, our clothes plastered to our bodies.

“What do we have here?” he smirked.

He had a hose in his hand and water was gushing all over my shoes.

“Gimme that,” I demanded, reaching for it, but he pulled away. I looked down at his body and wished that I hadn’t. Wet, white pants made for quite the visual. My mouth went dry.

But I couldn’t grab for him, so I reached again for the hose instead. He held it back, just out of my grasp.

“Give it to me!” I demanded.

I grabbed once again for the hose, this time managing to get a grip on it. But Nathan wouldn’t let go. This was a tug of war, and I was determined to win.

Nathan looked me in the eye, his own eyes glinting. “Hey Sophie, can’t get enough of my hose?”

“You wish,” I shot back, tightening my hold.

I gritted my teeth and gave the hose a sudden yank. He held firm. I guess I had to bring out the big guns. I thrust out my chest, taking full advantage of my wet T-shirt. Nathan faltered, his gaze fixed on my boobies. A-ha! The hose loosened in his grasp—now was my chance.

I ripped it away from Nathan and pressed my thumb over the end of the hose, directing the full force of the spray right into his chest.

“Triumph is mine,” I hollered.

“Not so fast.” He lunged for the hose, bending it so the water stopped. Oh, hell no. He wasn’t going to have the last water word.

I pulled the hose back toward me, but evidently too hard, stumbling backward and in the process losing control of it and spraying myself fully in the face. It burned up my nose, and I got the horrible feeling I was going to cry.

“Now you know how it feels,” he taunted.

“Fuck you, Nathan Ryder.”

Nathan quickly grabbed the hose away, but I let him have it. I was already wet and embarrassed and totally pissed. “Sophie, I—” he said apologetically, but I threw up my hand and stalked away.

Mandy ran over to me. “Are you OK?” she asked, somehow procuring a towel, which I used to dry my face. When I was finished, I noticed that most of the players had disappeared into the locker room. Including Nathan.

Oh no, I thought. He wasn’t going to get away so easily.

I needed to get my interview with him. But I also knew that every time I tried to ask him something personal, he dodged the question and ended up turning it around to where I was either admitting something about myself or leaning in to kiss him.

The thing that killed me was that I knew that half of my co-workers already thought that I had slept my way into my position, despite the fact that my editor-in-chief was a happily married father of three who had made absolutely no advances toward me and was generally a pretty decent guy. Unlike most of the senior staffers I worked with, who made no effort to hide the predatory looks they gave me. Surely most of them figured I had gotten this assignment—interviewing a young, handsome athlete—because I was also young. And no doubt, they assumed I was going to use my feminine wiles (aka my boobs) to get what I wanted from him. And the last thing I wanted was to prove them right.

I was tired of this. I wanted my interview. And if Nathan thought I was going to be deterred by him going into the locker room, well, he was just wrong.

“Sophie!” I heard Mandy call behind me as I pounded down the stairs into the dugout. “Sophie, where are you going?!”

The locker room smelled exactly as I had expected it to smell, musty and hot. Like socks and deodorant. The sound of water and men’s laughter echoed around me as I tucked a wet lock of hair behind my ear, squared my shoulders and prepared to confront the person who thought he could run from me. Too bad it was going to be in a wet T-shirt.

As I came into the main room, the reaction to my presence was immediate.

“Hey!” voices cried around me, as hands grabbed for towels and my senses were overwhelmed with an overwhelming amount of naked butts and jock straps. “You can’t be in here!” guys were shouting.

“I just need to talk to Nathan,” I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead of me. I hadn’t really thought that there would be this many naked men around me. If I had prepared myself more, I might have found it funny; as it was right now, I was feeling terribly awkward and embarrassed.

“Sophie?” a familiar voice came from around me. I put my hands over my eyes.