Whiplash: A Sports Romance by Tabatha Kiss

getting my damn smile out of my system before pulling it away.
    “Come on.” Junior stands up from the table and grabs my hand, pulling me along with him towards the arcade games.
    He takes me across the room into the skeeball corner and reaches into his pocket for some quarters. “You can go first.”
    The change clinks loudly in the machine and it comes to life, rolling nearly a dozen balls down towards the front all in a line.
    I grab the first one and pause, feeling a sting of self-consciousness as Junior’s eyes stay locked on me. My palms heat up and I feel the sweat gathering on the heavy ball before I roll it hard down the aisle. It veers to the left and nets me a mere ten points.
    After a few rolls, I get the hang of it and the feeling of Junior’s eyes on me doesn’t bother me as much. Goosebumps prickle on my neck, lulling me into an even warmer security blanket but I can’t lose focus now. I have to remember who he is and the driving motivation for why he even brought me out here.
    He wants to fuck me.
    After a few rounds, we have a line of tickets more than four times his height.
    “And what exactly does this win me?” I ask him.
    Junior gathers them up. “Let’s go see.”
    We walk across the room to the prize counter where Frank stands with his permanent smile.
    “Quite the haul tonight, Junior.”
    He feeds the tickets into a machine and I watch as the numbers tick up at a fast pace. I feel Junior’s eyes on me but I try not to pretend like I don’t.
    “Looks like…” Frank turns to the prize wall and points towards a line of teddy bears. “One of those.”
    “She’ll take it,” Junior says, looking smug.
    Frank pulls the bear off the wall and hands it to me. “For the lucky girl.”
    I chuckle and squeeze it in my hands. The fur is light brown and incredibly soft, far higher in quality than I would have expected at a place like this. It might just make a decent pillow or cuddle companion. “Thank you,” I tell him.
    Frank nods and excuses himself to go help another customer nearby.
    “Do you like it?” Junior asks me.
    I shrug and hug it against my chest. “It’s not bad… but I bet every girl you bring here leaves with a teddy bear.”
    “Them? Hell no.” He points into the glass counter at the cheap prizes. “They get pencil erasers and friendship bracelets.”
    “Oof!” I chuckle. “ Harsh. Something tells me second dates aren’t that common for the great Junior Morgan.”
    “How’d you guess?” he jokes. “Actually, first dates aren’t that common either.”
    “Why not?”
    He shrugs. “Most girls aren’t worth the trouble.”
    I recognize the obvious line but I play into it anyway. “What makes you think I’m worth it?”
    His eyes go softer as he leans closer, licking his lips and gazing down at me. “I just know.”
    I hold back the scoff.
    Junior squeezes the ear on the teddy bear with playful fingers. “Wanna get out of here?”
    A shiver rolls down my spine and I hesitate as it reaches my core.
    Yes . Emphatically, yes, I do want to get out of here but I don’t want to tell him that. I don’t want to tell him that rolling a damn ball down a lane towards plastic holes was the most fun I’ve had in forever or that just looking into his eyes makes me want to bend over for him.
    He’s a player and he’s not just playing football. Everything he’s done tonight has been designed for one thing and one thing only.
    I can’t exactly let him get away with it, can I?
    “Sure,” I say, smiling softly.

 
    Chapter 7
    Junior
     
     
    I drive Eliza back to campus and honestly, I have trouble keeping my eyes on the road.
    She’s so… stunning. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s the way her blue eyes sparkle beneath the street lamps as they pass over us or how her brown hair shines gold if you look at it just right or it could even be the adorable way she’s clutching that teddy bear — almost like it’s the first one she’s ever