Chapter 16

During the season my chats with Beth became less frequent. I would speak to her at least once a week, but gradually our time visiting decreased. Instead of spending an hour on the phone going over every detail our week, we'd spend 15 minutes hitting the highlights. By early November, I was glad we hadn't tried to continue dating — mostly because I was seriously involved with someone else by that point — The Ice Queen.

By the time I took over the starter's job the first week of October, Kelly and I were well on our way.

It started innocently enough — maybe not. I should have known something was up when Kelly wanted to keep the "pre-emptive" massages going. I should have really known something was up when she asked me to accompany her to her sorority's homecoming festivities.

But I didn't.

I didn't get the hint until the Saturday night after the South Carolina game.

Luckily it was hint I couldn't miss.

The tailgaters usually stayed well past the game to celebrate, so it was sometimes pretty late before I could shake the hands and sign the autographs for those who waited outside for the players.

We'd started a tradition at homecoming, the week before, of going into the stands after the game to celebrate with the fans. It was an impromptu idea meant to celebrate the end of our 11-game losing streak and to thank the fans for sticking with us.

It went over so well, we did it this week, too, and I was amazed at the number of kids who'd stick around to high-five players.

After the homecoming win, I spotted Aaron in the stands and, without thinking, I took off my jersey and handed it up to him. I caught hell for it from the university — and I had to reimburse them $120, but it was worth it to see the look on his face. I saw another kid this week and did the same thing and I noticed a bunch of other players doing it, too. I tried to warn them that the university would charge them for it, but at the time no one really cared. At the start of the season, Commonwealth Stadium resembled a tomb. By the time Auburn left town, people were scalping tickets to games. Our fan interaction became another calling card of a successful season at Kentucky.

Kelly wasn't beautiful in the way Suzette and Beth were. She had an athletic quality about her. She wasn't muscular or big, but you could tell she was solid. She had brown hair and a nice smile. But she had a wonderful personality once you broke through the ice. She laughed easily and I felt comfortable around her.

I'd asked a couple of times if she wanted to grab something to eat after practice because we usually were the last two to leave. But she always said no.

She waited until Monday before the formal to ask me — the day before I was elevated to starter. When I asked if she needed a ride home or wanted to stop for a burger, she finally said yes.

"I really wanted to earlier," she said. "But I wanted to talk to my roommate to see what she thought. I don't want to jeopardize my standing or your standing with the team."

I told her I didn't see any problems. I didn't think she was breaching any ethics by eating a sandwich with me any more than she was breaching ethics with unnecessary massages just so she could touch my butt.

It was meant as a joke, but Kelly turned a pleasant shade of red.

During our meal, she asked me if I would be willing to accompany her to her formal. I told her I couldn't guarantee if I'd be worth anything since we had a game that day, but I'd be more than happy to take her.

We had had a nice time at her sorority formal. I was fairly stiff and sore on Saturday night, but she kept me entertained.

Her sorority had just started a couple of years before, so it was still small and we had a nice time talking and even dancing.

Early in the fourth quarter the following Saturday, I took a pretty brutal hit in my lower back. It didn't hurt much and I didn't experience any of the numbness in my legs. But Kelly was beside me on the bench before my cheeks could hit the aluminum.

I assured her I was fine, but I wasn't surprised when Tom finished up the game. We were well ahead and Coach Brown had been giving him a lot of playing time when the game was decided but before it was a blowout.

I thought it was classy way to handle the situation and I never complained when Tom took the field.

Kelly was waiting beside my car when I finished up with the fans after the South Carolina game. She told me she didn't want to keep the fans waiting, so she hadn't pushed, but she wanted to check my back to make sure it was OK. So she was going to stop at my house. I told her that was fine by me. It was only 5:30 p.m., but I was going to fix supper and turn in early.

After the next game, I asked her to follow me home — but she'd caught a ride to the stadium so I packed her in my little car and off we went.

"You know," I joked. "If you have to give me a massage and I fall asleep, you're out of luck for transportation home. Once I'm asleep, forget it."

She replied she thought she could risk it.

The Fergusons were already home and on their way out again by the time I came through the door. I introduced them to Kelly and we chatted with them for a while. Ellie told her if I fell asleep, she was more than welcome to stay at the house.

When they left I told her to follow me to the window and I would show her where I lived but I thought there would be more room in the house if she needed to work on my back.

I think it confused her a little.

"Don't you live here?" she asked.

I told her I live on the property but not in the house.

I realized that sounded like the Fergusons had pitched a tent in the back yard, so I walked her out to the patio.

"That's a pretty nice pool," she said. "It's bigger than ours."

Since the closest thing to pool we ever had at my house was a garden hose and a slip and slide, I just nodded.

I pointed to the apartment off beside the pool.

"That's where I live," I said. "I didn't want you to think they just tossed me in the yard at night."

She chuckled.

"You're cute," she said. "I want to take a look at it."

I figured she meant tomorrow or sometime, but when I told her "Sure" she started over.

I was glad I'd picked up the Penthouse magazines off the floor earlier in the day. She was noticeable impressed.

"Mack renovated this himself," I told her. "His daughter was supposed to live her but she bugged out for the great Northeast."

I was showing her the amenities.

"Mack calls this a den so he could charge me for a one-bedroom apartment," I told her. "It doesn't seem to faze him that you could sleep half a Cub Scout troop in here."

I was looking around at the moldings and how nicely crafted everything was when Kelly put her hands on my face and pulled me down for a kiss.

It had been a while since I'd been kissed, but this didn't seem like a "Thanks for inviting me" kiss.

When Kelly grabbed my hard-on and started stroking me through my pants as she led me toward my bedroom, I was pretty sure her ethical dilemma had been solved.

Having not anticipated a night of coitus, I was woefully unprepared. I realized I might be the only college boy in America without condoms in his apartment.

Kelly was shedding her clothes when I gave her the bad news. The good news is I was right. She had a nice body beneath her bulky clothes.

My information didn't slow her down.

"I'm on the pill, if that's all that's worrying you," she said. "If it's anything else, I couldn't work as a trainer if I had anything that could be transmitted by blood or a sexually transmitted disease without full disclosure."

I asked if she was worried about me.

"R.J., I have access to your full medical history, including the blood work from August," she said.

It was all I needed to hear.

Kelly did stay at the Fergusons' that night, but it was a few hours into Sunday morning before she made her way back to the guest room.

We didn't bother with pretense after that.

The Fergusons thought the world of Kelly from the get-go. Ellie was happy Beth hadn't broken my heart. Mack was happy because I seemed happy. Beth, well, Beth wasn't real keen on the idea, but she wasn't nasty about things. She told me the intensity of her feelings had dwindled but the feelings were still there. I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about Beth at this point.

There was a comfortable feeling with Kelly I hadn't even had with Suzette or Beth. I didn't have to worry about Kelly's parents — at least not yet — nor did I have to battle any preconceived notions.

Although we spend a significant portion of our time in bed, we also enjoyed many of the same movies and could talk about current events, music, and movies. We even talked about past relationships. I told her how Beth and I decided not to pursue a long-distance relationship and about my cheating, drug-using, former girlfriend.

"I don't know which was worse," I said. "The cheating broke my heart. But to see her in the situation she was in just about killed me. Beth was the first girl I'd gone out with since we broke up more than a year ago."

She told me a little about some of her old boyfriends — she had no trauma in her past she said, but it was something she didn't like to talk about at length.

I was fine with that.

We'd only known each other a short time but it seemed like we'd been friends for years.

I learned something new about Kelly almost every day — and almost everything I learned, I liked. The things I didn't find particularly appealing were small things — she liked to eat ice cubes which sent chills up my spine each time she did it.

I'm sure there are parts of my personality she wasn't real fond of, too. In our defense, as soon as one of us noticed something was annoying to the other, we tried to be considerate.

Kelly was a junior — and she'd turn 21 in mid-December. Initially she thought I'd spend a year and a half at Wesleyan instead of just a half year. She was a little taken aback that I was only a first-semester sophomore, but she said it wasn't a big issue.

I wasn't sure how our relationship would affect her trainer duties, but it didn't seem to change much at all. She would still treat me the same at practice and at games, although sometimes the massages might be a little more thorough if no one else was in the training room.

I would spend time in class and with tutoring. I didn't really need tutoring, but it was required so I didn't fight it. The first night of study sessions I didn't mention Kelly to the other players. We hadn't talked about secrecy or discretion, but I wanted to be sure before I said anything.

It didn't matter. By the time my session was over, she was waiting in the lobby for me. She took my hand and off we went.

The next study session, she was a major source of conversation.

"Dude," Tom said, "Half the guys on the team have asked her out. She doesn't date players. What's your secret?"

I told him — and the others — I didn't have a secret. We just sort of hit it off — I didn't tell them how well we'd hit it off or how often.

"Kelly is untouchable," one of the offensive linemen told me. "She's nice to everyone. But she shot down every guy who has approached her."

I mentioned that she was the one who'd asked me out and I think we'd actually had a couple of dates before I recognized them as such.

"Maybe it's a matter of persistence," I joked. "You know, keep bugging her until she says yes just to get you to leave her alone. It's the only way I got laid in high school, so I've had a lot of practice begging."

We joked a little more until the tutor redirected our attention back to the books. But after the session, Kelly joined us for pizza at one of the local hangouts. She acted like one of the guys. I guess the fact that she'd seen most of the players naked more often than their mothers helped.

A couple weeks into dating, I realized I had never met any of her friends. I knew she had a roommate, but I'd not spoken to the girl — at least I thought it was a girl; I realized I didn't know — nor any other person outside of the team who knew Kelly.

I joked with her and told her she was either ashamed of me, or she had less friends than I did, and I was pretty much a jerk.

"I have friends," she said. "And I'm not ashamed of you — or them. I just don't think you would mesh well with them. I act differently around them. I'm not like I am with you and the team.

"It'll take some time, but you'll meet them."

Kelly's birthday was rapidly approaching. I knew her family had a lot of money — actually I just assumed they did, I didn't know for sure. I wanted to get her something for her birthday, but we'd been dating less than two months by then. I guess dating is a euphemism. We'd started screwing a week before our first date, so I wasn't sure how to count it.