girl. After my mom died when I was 5 years old, dad stepped up and into the role of being both parents to me until the day he died 4 years ago. I couldn’t have asked for a kinder, gentler, more loving parent. I could only hope to do as good a job parenting my little munchkin as he had done for me. I absentmindedly rubbed my belly. Daddy had been a huge hockey fan. I could only imagine how thrilled he’d be if he knew I was now covering sports for a nationally syndicated station. If I still had a job after tonight, that is.
"Heeey!" a voice called. I looked up and saw one of the players on the Knights opposing team, Rory Shelton, walking towards me. "Hey hey pretty lady, what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?" Fuck. Rory was not someone I wanted to see, and definitely not someone I wanted to be alone with if the rumors surrounding him were in any way true. I quickly glanced around the stadium. Yep, we were pretty much alone. I'd been so preoccupied with daydreams and getting my stomach under control I hadn't realized how quickly the stadium had emptied out.
Rory's breath reeked of booze. His team had probably been celebrating their victory in the locker room. Against the rules, certainly, but apparently the rules were bent once in a while. He reached out one hand and brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face. I involuntarily flinched.
Rory had a bit of reputation as an asshole when it came to women. He'd been in jail a few times and there'd been certain allegations of harassment thrown at him by several women. Nothing concrete, and the allegations seemed to evaporate after a short while, but I’d been in this business long enough to strongly suspect that that only meant the women had been paid to keep quiet.
"I'm fine," I said, rising from the bench.
"Yes, you certainly are fine,” he said as his eyes raked up and down my body stopping at my breasts. I swear the asshole was drooling.
"Just waiting for my ride. Should be here any minute. Good game tonight." I took a step away from him but he reached out one hand and grabbed my wrist. My heart jumped into my throat.
"No, no, baby, you're not leaving so soon. Why don't you come with me? Let me show you a good time."
"I am leaving, and you’re going to get your hands off me. Now.” My voice was loud, and I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.
I tried to pry his fingers loose from my wrist but he had a firm grasp.
"Let me go," I shouted trying to pull loose from his iron grip. But my anger wasn’t working the way I intended, in fact, it seemed to have the opposite effect. The angrier I became, the more encouraged he seemed.
"Not until you give me a kiss," he said, tugging me hard so that I nearly fell into him. His other hand wrapped around my waist.
"I'm not kissing you, you piece of shit. I don't even like you touching me. Let me fucking go!" I managed to pry one of his fingers free but it didn't make any difference, the other hand only gripped me that much tighter. "You're hurting me," I told him, a little louder. "Let go!"
In the near distance, a car door slammed. "Hey!" A man's voice screamed across the lot. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
I looked over and saw Aiden Cooper running towards us. Rory let go of me so quickly that I fell back and landed on my butt. When I looked up again, Aiden was in Rory’s face.
"What the fuck is the matter with you, man?" Aiden screamed, pushing Rory's chest. "I heard her saying no from a hundred yards away."
Rory shrugged, a smirk on his face. "Sometimes a woman don't know what she wants till it's already in her, know what I mean?" He pushed Aiden back and before I knew it the two of them were scuffling on the pavement.
I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I go look for someone to break it up? When I saw that Aiden had the upper hand, I figured maybe I’d just let it play out. It didn't exactly bother me to see Rory get a taste of his own medicine. Aiden slammed his fist against