Chapter 38

Julie Murcer had one problem that bothered her mightily, she had gone back on her word to Coach Winslow about getting involved with teammates, and in particular Brian Faraday. It hadn't affected the team at all and the only male member of the team who knew was Brian Faraday. Now she suddenly had an interest in Gerry Granahan and by the off season it would probably become apparent to other members of the team, assuming it lasted. She didn't want to be known as a trouble maker and was unsure how it would all be parsed. She felt her position on the team was very stable and they would, in all likelihood, carry two place-kickers. Would her relationship with Gerry, if it continued through until next season, be the reason that Ben Breen made the team ahead of her? Ben was a classic style kicker who had been very slow to the ball, but had honed his skill and could easily take over the back up job. He could power the 15 extra yards that Julie couldn't. As long as June made the team next year, she would be the female road roommate for Oksana and there may be no reason to carry Julie, unless only as a red shirt.

Although she didn't really have the time to go to the sneak preview movie at Chandler Hall, she did want to go just to be with Gerry, if only to see another side of him. She knew him to be a hard, diligent, student and player. He also held a high opinion of his skills as a lover liked to share them with any campus cutie willing to open her legs for him. She might be able to satisfy her own needs in that department with him, but, she had found another side of him that made her want to get to know him better. However, she was not going to share him if he intended to keep to his old habits.

She had just taken out clean sheets to put on her bed before she showered for her date with Gerry when the phone rang.

"Hi Julie, it's Gerry. I've been thinking and maybe I shouldn't go to that movie tonight. I'm a little buried with study work and have a lot of reading to catch up on. We probably won't get back from the movie until after 9:30 and I just can't pull an all-nighter to study for an 8 o'clock class with a pre-exam quiz. I'm sorry." He said with regret.

"I really don't have the time for it either, I was just going to be with you, really. We'll be able to make more time maybe during the week. I'll be thinking of you, though." She said with a little promise in her voice.

"It's not like we won't see each other a lot all week anyway, at practice, even though I know you want to keep that cool. Can I call you later, for a study break?" He asked.

"I'd like that a lot. Bye" She said hanging up.

She sat wistfully on her bed, the soiled sheets from the night before rolled up in a ball in her lap. She brought them to her nose to smell the sweat and sex she shared with him the night before. She drifted off in thought.

"What causes the cross of the thin line between love and hate?" She mused. "Two weeks ago I would have spit in his face if he ever came onto me. I heard all the stories, I know what he wanted and what he looked for. He was a pig! As a guy I played football with, I respected his talent and his work ethic, but otherwise he was human debris. That night at The Union I reacted just as I thought I would when he came onto me. If not for crowd around, the drink in my hand would have went in his face! When he came after me I was surprised he cared enough about my feelings and how I felt about him. I don't know what came over me when I kissed him. I wanted to puke when he asked me to blow him or even fuck him, but I couldn't leave him like that after he had made sure I was taken care of. It wasn't like I was an innocent being forced to do what I did. Underneath all that horse shit is a real decent man, if I can get him to keep it in his pants around other women, and that may be a challenge. I understand the attraction, he is so fucking beautiful!" She surmised in her head as she smelled their sweat and sex.

She put the sheets in her hamper and went to get the clean ones from the laundry basket in the closet. After making the bed she took out her books and theme tablets and sat at her desk and began the work she knew she needed to get in.

If Julie had one thing she did better than kick a football, it was study. She could read and absorb, all the while taking notes that served as mind markers that brought everything back to mind, if she doubted her thoughts. She had a goal and planned to keep it and her grades only served as proof of her determination. Playing football was icing on the cake, but even the previous year when it wasn't in the picture, she was a happy, high GPA student. This year with male athletes around her pheromones ripened her sex drive and she quickly found it easy to keep what happened at school, at school. She had a boyfriend at home but really doubted how serious they would be after she finished school.

After 2 hours or more she broke the furrow in her brow from reading too long and stretched her cramped fingers that were wrapped around the pencil she was scratching onto a legal pad. She pushed her chair back and stretched hard before standing up and stretching once again.

"Hmm, almost 10:30 and no call from Gerry. I'll bet he finished studying and went down to The Union to check out the action. Why did I ever think I could trust that butt sniffing dog?" She said to herself, just as the phone rang.

"Hey Julie, how did the study go? I got 3 chapters in and I started a paper for Biology. I'm going to reread the chapters though, THAT'S what the quiz is on. I can't believe how stiff I am." He said, obviously just finishing a stretch himself.

"I got 5 chapters in with a lot of notes and noting to review. I got Prof Garrett in the morning and he does oral quizzes. He jots down notes all the time you answer the paragraph he poses to you. I'd love to see his notes he takes, it's what he marks us on." She reported, sorry she had doubted him.

"Oh, is he the one who reads a short piece and then looks up and says "Comments?" and calls that an oral exam?" Gerry asked.

"Yup, that's Prof Garrett. I guess it's how he finds out if you really studied. You can't fake it with him." She explained before hesitating and continuing.

"I guess I really didn't think you were studying tonight. When you didn't call earlier I figured you were at The Union." She admitted.

"Julie, I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a liar. I've fed a lot of girls a lot of bullshit, but never any they didn't expect to hear. You're the first girl, or should I say "woman" who made me want to see you as something different than a sex partner. You're real, you're honest, and you don't take any shit. You're not a phony." He told her.

"I have the feeling you could recognize a phony easily, being one for so long." She said still doubting him.

"I don't expect you to trust me Julie, I know I have to earn that. I know that you could see me as a phony and I may have been, somewhat. Just remember that I got what I was looking for from any chick that passed it out. You should know that from what's happened between us." He replied hoping to make his point.

"I guess, ... I guess you should know something. When I was finishing eight grade, just as I turned 14, I played soccer and I was really good, the best player around Oklahoma and over the summer before I went to high school I was recruited to play on the varsity team at my high school. We broke a million scholastic sports rules, but I practiced with them a lot that summer and one day this really hunky guy asked me if I could kick a football as well. That was the beginning of my football career. That guy was just like you. He was the quarterback of the varsity football team and before I went to my first class in my freshman year, he was fucking me. I didn't know he was screwing all the girl's in cheerleading and any who had a pair of tits at school. You see, when I was a freshman, I looked just about like I do now and I thought he was all mine. When I ended up with the clap I found out what an asshole I was. He got it from one of the other bimbo's he screwed and gave it to all of us." She said, confessing in detail.

"I'm so sorry, Julie. I wish I was there to hug you." Gerry said quietly into the phone.

"I got rid of the clap in about 10 days and swore I'd never have sex again until I got married, but I didn't keep that promise too long and made my way through a few other senior boys until I got the clap again. This time instead of hiding it from my Mom, who is my best friend, I fessed up and was on the straight and narrow for a long time with her help. Having to go through that the first time, without her and deceiving her, hurt a lot, the hiding and lying. I became sexually active again with a guy I met when I was a senior. He's a sweet guy and we promised to keep true to each other when we went to different colleges. I was a good girl last year when I wasn't around guys that much, but I got the hornies wicked this year playing football around all you guys. Now, you know why I hated you and the type of guy you are. Unlike the high school football hero who screwed me over, you have a conscience, a personality, and a goal in life besides worshipping yourself. I've known I was attracted to you for a few weeks now and everything I know told me to stay away from you. This is why I treat you like I do, and why I'm afraid to trust you." She said in a low voice, ashamed of her past.

"I understand how and why you feel like you do about me and I can just tell you that I'll try real hard not to hurt you. I will not lie to you, that is a promise." Gerry said soberly.

"I didn't mean to be such a buzz-kill, but I just thought you deserved an explanation why I could be so mean to you, and then get intimate with you. I really am attracted to you, but just don't want to get kicked in the teeth." She said quietly.

The line stood silent as both Gerry and Julie drank in the situation.

"I should get back to my paper and study some more. What's your schedule Thursday afternoon?" Gerry asked.

"After practice I have one class at 1:15, then I'm free." She answered.

"Me too! Can we meet some place, maybe off campus, to talk and spend time together?"

"We can try that. I'd rather not meet together ON campus, at least right now." Julie said.

"Do you know where "3 W Dot Coffee" is? It's an internet café on Arch Street. The campus shuttle goes there." Gerry wondered.

"I've been there a couple times. How about 2:30 or so?"

Gerry agreed to the time and they said their goodbyes, tempered by the fact they would see each other at practice after classes on Monday.

As the clock ticked toward 11 pm Sunday evening Coach Winslow was just finishing some strategy work in his study when Meg came to the door, leaned on the jamb and watched him for a minute before speaking.

"Can you finish that in the morning? I've got my lesson plans done and we should go to bed." She asked with a smile on her face, a leftover from their lovemaking earlier.

"Sure, I was just going to go get you." Coach said as he stood and walked to her, kissing her and putting his arm around her waist to walk her in.

They looked in on Declan who fell asleep in front of the TV before 8:30, his bedtime.

"He was pooped after stories and dinner. He's excited for his first field trip tomorrow, going to a bakery." Meg said smiling as they watched him sleep for a moment.

"Come on, we should join him in Dreamland." Jared said as he pulled her away.

After taking turns in the bathroom, brushing teeth and washing up, they met in bed and Meaghan rolled to him, spooning.

"You were a bad boy before, spanking my ass and pounding me so hard." She whispered as she noticed that her bottom still tingled and her pussy still had an afterglow.

"Seems to me I was just following orders." He said as a grin came over his face when he felt her hand reach over him and grab his cock and balls.

"I have to tell you what I want, don't I? Besides, we get so busy during the week we lose time for this." She said emphasizing her last word with a squeeze to what she was groping.

"I'll have plenty of time in a few weeks, and then you won't get ANY sleep." He laughed rolling to his back.

"Ooooo, he's getting hard already. Would you mind if I made love to him with my mouth? I'd sleep better with warm cum in my tummy." She said as she slid down in the bed, not needing an answer.

Jared lifted up to let her slide his boxers down. His balls filled her hand as he felt her hair fall just below his stomach and her mouth cover the head of his cock. She slowly sucked and fucked her mouth over him, truly making love to him. She would stop and stroke him, looking at her prize in the dull light before filling her mouth again. She sensed when the time for his delight was near and picked up her pace in earnest. His quickened breath, pleasured grunt, and loving hand to the back of her head accompanied his flood of seed into her mouth. She let it wash around the head of his cock while she wiped her tongue over it to excite any last drops he might produce before she swallowed his love juice. She kept her nursing until he became too sensitive and quivered too mightily under her. She rested her head near his hip and watched him deflate as she caressed his sack and hummed her satisfaction at making him happy. When she was almost falling asleep herself and sure he was no longer awake, she sat up and moved to her pillow drifting away quickly knowing she had loved, and was loved deeply.

Jared awoke Monday morning hoping to find Meg beside him but she was already up and showered and getting Declan ready for the bus. Under the covers his boxers were still below his knees, as he recalled the night before.

"Honey, are you up so Declan can give you a kiss goodbye?" Came Meaghan's shout from the kitchen.

"I'm up. I'm coming!" He yelled back.

Before he could get out of bed Declan rushed in.

"Goodbye Coach, my bus is coming. See you tonight!" He said as he quickly kissed Jared and ran out the door.

He heard the door open and slam shut and the growl of the bus approaching, then leaving.

Meaghan came in and kissed him good morning as he gripped her hand as she went to break away.

"Why don't I give you something to remember me by the rest of the day before you leave?" He said with a grin.

"Jared! I'm dressed and ready to leave!" She said breaking away.

"You grab the edge of the dresser and I'll neatly fold your dress up and make you smile all day." He said as he pulled her close again.

" ... and have you running down my leg all morning? I'm late already, I have to set up a video for class today Jared. God, I'm going to be horny all day just thinking about it. Besides, I think I'm getting my period, and that's a good thing. If you get home at a decent hour tonight, maybe we can play in the back yard. (swishing her ass) That should keep you excited all day ... ummmmm, turnabout is fair play!" She said as she pulled free from him and headed out the door.

Jared shook his head and hoped he could get home at a decent time, but he also knew he had late practice and would be tied up until around 9 o'clock going over video's and play boards with the team and assistants.

Fresh off a win and looking forward to their last game, every student-athlete was also aware of exams coming up. While football seemed to be their lives, they all knew the big picture was school, but taking focus off of either meant that one side of the balance sheet suffered. It was easy to understand where students, even those you might least expect to have affairs, found quiet corners of the campus to relieve the mental and physical stress of a young twenty-something. For most it was what Jong called the "zipless fuck", ie: anonymous sex with a perfect stranger met over a bar or table, or now, perhaps even the internet. For others it was an acquaintance looking for the same release and pleasure, but with a certain assurance of knowing the source. Some, however, found the tendrils of love entwining their thoughts and feelings for their partner. While that is good when it works out, it can be bad when the oil and water seemed to mix when shaken, but then left to stand dormant after the shaking is over, is two distinct layers not meant to be combined.