Free For the Win by Sara Rider

line in a public battle of the sexes. On top of that, you take his car? You aren’t just trying to hurt him. You’re trying to castrate him!”
    â€œOh man, this is just too good,” Lynn said, slapping her thigh. “I guess she really is the Ballbuster after all!”

7
    â€œWelcome, Seattle sports fans! It’s been more than forty years since Billie Jean King faced Bobby Riggs on a Houston tennis court. Now the eyes of sports fans everywhere are drawn to a new rivalry: Lukas versus Havelak. The first round of Seattle’s very own Battle of the Sexes starts today, and Channel 7 Sports has exclusive coverage of this exciting event!”
    IT WAS NEVER A bad time to take off your shirt when you were Gabe “Hometown Hero” Havelak. Sure, the light dusting of hair on his chest was out of style with today’s crowd of shiny, waxed pectorals, but none of the advertising executives he worked with seemed to have a problem with it. At that moment, he was a sweaty mess after winning the twenty-kilometer endurance race, and there was a small but adoring crowd cheering for him in the choice seats at Chester Stadium. He owed it to them to give them what they wanted.
    Plus, he knew it’d annoy Lainey.
    Despite the hint of chill in the air, Gabe whipped off his T-shirt and flexed his abs, inciting his fans to holler, just as Lainey was preparing to take her first penalty shot in the kickoff competition. Lainey stutter-stepped when someone in the first row catcalled at Gabe to take it all off, but she recovered gracefully. The ball sailed past Joe Sheridan and buried itself in the bottom left corner of the net. She turned around with a satisfied look on her face and walked to the competing players waiting just outside the eighteen-yard box. Like a high school dance, the men were huddling on one patch of perfectly manicured grass, the women on another.
    â€œYou’re up, Havelak.” Lainey tossed a ball to him as the announcer boomed his name across the stadium. “Try not to screw up. It’s been a while since you’ve taken a penalty shot.”
    â€œDon’t worry, pretty lady,” he answered, stretching his arms above his head in a way that he knew emphasized his obliques just to bug her even more. Sure, he was playing dirty, but the stakes were high. He was willing to do anything to avoid the curse of Cricket Field. “I got this.”
    He walked to the penalty spot, waving to the fans and hoping they didn’t notice he was practically wobbling. The fierce ache in his knee was worth it, though. Winning the endurance race was a huge ego boost—even he was surprised that he still had it in him to beat the younger guys. Lainey nearly kicked his butt, though. The only thing that kept him a step ahead for those thirty laps was the knowledge that she’d have to stare at his ass the entire time.
    He placed the ball on the white chalk circle and fastidiously rotated it, taking in the wind and weather. He visualized slotting the ball into the bottom right corner as he backed up exactly ten paces, never making eye contact with the Falcons’ goalie, lest he give anything away. As a defenseman, it’d been many years since he’d taken a penalty shot, but his aim was sure. He took a deep breath and prepared to kick.
    â€œHey, Havelak! You forgot your shirt!”
    Gabe looked over his shoulder to see Lainey Lukas pulling off her jersey and tossing it at his feet.
    â€œYou can borrow mine,” she added while her teammates laughed.
    Gabe’s jaw nearly dropped. She was modestly covered by a black sports bra, but the woman had a freakin’ eight-pack. Her body was long, lean, and graceful, like a perfect work of art. Concentrate, man. He tore his eyes from her and refocused on the ball. He ran toward it and at the last minute flicked his eyes toward the net. Instead of seeing Dunkers in her fluorescent yellow keeper’s jersey, the image of a