matter whether you call it soccer or football, the men who are at the top of their league have the best bodies in the world. The sport is relentlessly demanding year-round, and their bodies have to rise to the occasion time and time again. It’s admirable to see how they work, how they coax their bodies into giving all they can. Their body fat is often less than ten percent, their muscles taut and lean and stronger than you can imagine.
These men are built like warriors ready for a never-ending battle.
Their endurance is staggering.
And a warrior like Alejo, he’s pretty much in his prime. I can already tell that from now until he hits thirty will be the best years of his career, a time when the physical strength and endurance of youth couples with the mental capacity to stay driven, determined, and emotionally mature.
He would fuck you like a god.
The thought shoots into my head without warning, like someone else put it there, and now my body reacts like the traitor it is, my thighs clenching together to quell the throbbing heat.
And as if he could fucking smell me, Alejo turns ever so slightly and looks at me over his shoulder with a cocky smile.
“Did you get a good look or are you waiting for me to screw?”
My eyes widen. “Screw?” I repeat.
Did he hear my thoughts?
“Screw up,” he clarifies, and then before I can react, he’s lobbing the tiny basketball at my head.
My hand shoots out automatically, and I catch the ball before it slams into my face, my fingers pressing into the rubber.
Alejo laughs. “Good reflexes. Perhaps you’re a natural?”
He moves aside and makes a grand gesture to the game. “Want to play?”
I shake my head. “With you? I don’t think so.” I throw the ball back.
He catches it and then throws it in the air so it lands on his shoulder and slides down his arm to his hand, like a magic trick. “You’re afraid I’ll win? Or you don’t like games?”
“I like games when I know I have a chance.”
His eyes glitter with intensity as he gazes at me. “And you don’t stand a chance with me.”
I know what he’s getting at. It’s impossible not to mistake those words and that look for anything else.
And yet…
Something in me wants to stay. I want to play with him. I want to prove myself.
“Fine,” I tell him, raising my chin. “Let’s play.”
He grins at me, the kind of smile that makes his eyes crinkle and unleashes those butterflies in my stomach again. “Okay,” he says, and throws the ball back at me. I catch it as he says, “You’re up first. Ten shots each.”
I walk over to him, conjuring up some confidence. I played softball and tennis as a girl, and despite my size, I was actually pretty good at basketball. I used to play horse against my three brothers and won more often than not.
“From here?” I ask him, stepping up to what I think is an appropriate place to shoot from.
“Pfft,” he says from behind me. “Anyone can make the shots from there. Back up.”
I move back a foot.
“No, no,” he says. “Come to me.”
“That’s not fair,” I tell him. “You’re so much taller than me.”
He laughs. “That only counts in real basketball, not this one. You’re actually closer to the height of the net than I am.”
That’s not exactly true. I sigh and move back another foot. The ball is tiny, but so is the hoop and I’m pretty sure you’re meant to be playing it right up against the machine.
“This okay?”
He responds by mumbling something in Spanish.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Fine. If you must.”
The thing is, if I do score from here, it’s just going to look like it was only because I was closer than he was.
I end up shuffling right back until I’m standing just in front of him.
“Better, si?” he asks me, and with him looming behind me like this, I can feel his body heat. It doesn’t help that his already deep voice has taken on a huskier tone.
I swallow hard, totally aware that his presence is affecting me in ways it shouldn’t.
Don’t dwell on it, I tell myself. You just need to get laid, that’s all.
It’s true. It just can’t be with him.
“Better,” I manage to say. I take in a deep breath, hoping he can’t hear how hard my heart is pounding. I raise my arms and the ball, trying to focus on the net.