The Jock's Secret Crush

SETH

I've been living a pretty fucked up life for as long as I can remember.

After mom and dad divorced, all I have done is bounce between two homes, one where I was told I wasn't needed, and the other where I wanted to be but couldn't because hey, the judge don't feel the same.

And that was the start of when everything went from bad to worse.

I could write sagas about the shit I have done, but that book would be like five hundred pages long and a story so sappy, it would make the strongest person cry. And I wasn't here to open old chapters, or rewrite them, or talk about it. I wanted to forget, I needed a clean slate and coming over to stay with my mother was the best option.

I had moved forward in my life. I'd come really close to destroying it, but the stubborn bone inside my body wouldn't let me.

Here I was in a small town of Bountyville with no one having a clue as to what kind of a person I'd been. I planned to keep it that way.

Over here, I was the new captain of the Hockey team, a straight-A student, a guy the girls would happily get their hearts broken for, and someone who was for the lack of a better word, respected, which was a fucking ironic because respect is something that I never got where I lived before.

I was at a party that I hardly cared about, but I was here because I wanted to 'Fit in.'

Our school had won a game, my first one since I joined two months ago, and being the power forward, I'd managed to score the most points.

This was a celebration for the win.

And celebration I mean, lots of food, and girls.

I looked around the room and every one of my teammates had a girl with them that they would be fucking tonight.

Staysha Wade was sitting in my lap, kissing a trail from my cheek to my jawline. Staysha was nice, she knew I didn't do any type of relationship, and she was more than okay with the arrangement of us fucking each other blind and going our way. No texts, no calls, none of that complicated shit. I needed someone to blow off steam and she was more than willing.

But something that night wasn't making me concentrate on her kisses, or turning me on.

"Let's go find a room?" She whispered into my ear, and then her tongue licked the corner of my mouth.

Staysha was jabbering non-stop but my eyes were following one particular girl in the darkness by the pool. She was talking to one of the other girls. Her mousse brown hair were in curls, her oval face glowing beneath the moonlight. Her eyes were filled with tears, a pink hue covering her cheeks. I wondered how I hadn't noticed this girl before.

At first, it was curiosity, and I didn't think this girl would become my obsession and the star of my nightly fantasies in the near unforeseen future.

She was wiping her tears and then dragging a tall guy away from the party, the guy looked totally stoned by the way. She continued to point fingers and screaming at him. While this went on, my teammates were discussing girls and bets. I wish I was sober to shut them up and tell them it was wrong, but I was too drunk to focus on the seriousness of the situation.

And I also have no idea what my future awaited me.

"Man, I'd tap that. Have you seen that booty?"

"Yeah, man." Another teammate said I think it was Shane. "She's well endowed in those areas." I vaguely recalled him making the boob gesture with his hands.

"Sweet-Potato Emily might be hiding a pornstar's body." Roland chuckled evilly.

I should be fucking ashamed of what these boys were talking about, but I sat there and listened.

"Tell you what boys," Roland said, "If any of you could fuck her by the end of this season, I'll give you mofos a thousand dollars."

"Count me out," Shane muttered, taking a swig of his fourth or fifth beer. "We all know that's not gonna happen. She's definitely not the type who would spread her legs easily."

"That's the challenge, you idiot."

I raised my hand. "Make it two thousand and I'll fuck her."

I hadn't even seen or asked which girl these bunch of idiots were talking about.

I was already sure I wouldn't recall this party, or this conversation, or this stupid bet the next day.

"My man, Monroe!" Roland cheered, slapping me on my back. "You have my word. You fuck Emily Vasquez and the money is yours."

EMILY

Life is tough.

I don't know about anyone else but it's always been tough for me. Be it school, or making friends, I've always struggled with it.

I've noticed how natural it comes to some other people like my brother, Cale. He's an example of how to become an extrovert and a nerd. He would party hard, study the day before the exam, and...

Viola!

A fucking 'A+'

I study all year and I get a C.

Well, that probably goes to show how dumb I am. Kidding. I'd swallow the largest ice-berg in Antarctica before admitting that in front of my brother.

I stand on the weighing machine and look down at it. I was pretty sure I'd lost a few pounds when I tried dieting last time. I reached for my leftover extra cheesy slice of margarita pizza and took a bite of it. I looked into the mirror and that's when my confidence deflated. My family always told me not to worry, and that I looked great, that being chubby was the new trend blah...blah...and that was bullshit. Literally.

I pulled on a baggy pink sweater over my high-waist blue jeans and ran a brush through my hair. I took some time to apply a bit of blush on my cheeks, then I wore some mascara and a plum red matt lipstick. By the time I was done, my hair was in curls. I liked getting dolled up, I always made sure I would make up in my appearance what I couldn't with my weight. I think it's all about the confidence, and makeup gave me that confidence. It's not that I did a full glam so early in the morning, but since the last couple of weeks, I'd been applying some blush.

It's because of Seth Monroe.

A small voice in my head whispered.

Shut up! I told that voice.

I couldn't deny it though. Whenever Seth came into my mind, I'd have these insane butterflies inside my stomach.

Not that he noticed me or anything. We were barely friends.

Okay fine! We hadn't even said 'Hi' and that's mostly because whenever I tried to talk to Seth or tried to smile or something, he'd quickly look away as if he couldn't stand to look at me.

I went downstairs into the kitchen and found no one there.

Then I remembered, the cook was admitted to the hospital for the past few days. Ruth, the house-help suddenly fainted and had to be rushed in an ambulance. She'd been more like a mother to me, more so since mine had passed away when I was little. So, I was dead worried, what if this was something serious?

I tried not to think about what would happen to me if something were to happen to Ruth.

I grabbed a granola bar from the pantry, a banana, and a flavored yogurt. I'd be having this for lunch today and that was incase if I didn't get hungrier, then I'd have to buy lunch too.

I grabbed for the keys of my BMW and walked out of the house.

* * *

There was a drawn picture of a baby elephant on the locker.

I snatched it, scrunched it up into a ball and threw it in the nearest bin. This was routine and I'd learned to start ignoring it. There were bullies everywhere, and High School was the worst. There was this other girl named Anne who'd always find her books in the dumpster. I tried to convince myself that I was in a better position than she was.

I had to get through one year of high school and then HELLO UNIVERSITY.

I bet kids at university were better and mature. I'd move to somewhere in Europe if I had to. My family had mansions in different parts of Europe that we'd used as vacation homes since I was little. Those houses were collecting dust. I could just move into one of them and live alone happily, without having to worry about this boring little town or the crass people living in it.

The class droned on and on and my eyes started to get droopy, and I was almost going to sleep when Seth sauntered into the class. He was wearing a red baseball cap which was covering a huge mass of his dark curls. A white t-shirt was literally flexing his toned body and thick thighs encased in dark jeans.

He was saying something to the teacher, and then his dark eyes met mine, and then he quickly looked away.

"Find a seat Mr. Monroe, and open your book to page two twelve."

Tina Farlan was seated on the far side of the window behind me and she had an empty seat. He could sit there. I had an empty seat too, but of course, Seth Monroe wouldn't want to sit with me. I might as well be invisible to him.

His eyes searched for a space and he looked at Tina and then started walking towards our aisle in his easy swagger.

You'd think the guy was a show stopper in New York Fashion Week.

He walked all the way towards me and I thought he would pass my seat but to my utter bafflement, he tossed his backpack in the empty seat next to mine.

My heart jumped into my throat.

Seth Monroe is sitting with me!

Oh my god!

What do I do? Is my hair okay? Is there something green stuck between my teeth? Do I smell nice enough? Why am I not wearing my favorite red top that made me look smoking hot?

Seth's gigantic body slipped into the seat next to mine, and I was still trying to process this new development in my story.

My crush is sitting next to me.

What do I say to him? Do I smile? Do I talk about the weather? Maybe ask how he was doing? Would he find out that I was having a HUGE crush on him? And I'm talking a crush the size of a Megladon.

I don't want to sound desperate, you know. Or seem like I'm hitting on him, which I totally want to do.

Guys like Seth, they think they own this world, and he was super-duper ultra-gorgeous, he might have been Michelangelo's David.

I watched from the corner of my eye as he took off his baseball cap, and ran a hand through his perfect hair. Did he think he was starring in a shampoo commercial? I didn't see no rolling cameras. Bet he thought he was fit for Hollywood. We might as well be peasants.

I looked at him once and my heart almost leaped out of my chest.

He was staring at me!

I reflexively touched my hair. You know like the Twilight movie where Bella does it. Edward was creepy tho, I mean I crushed on him hard but Seth's got nothing on Edward.

He was just staring in that unabashed way, and then he quickly looked down into his book. I might have noticed he also rubbed his palm over his jeans.

A dragon tattoo played peek-a-boo from the half-sleeves of his t-shirt.

"How are you allowed you get tattoos? Didn't your parents say anything?" I blurted out.

He gave me a sideways glance, his sea-green eyes cutting through mine before looking at the front. "They don't because they don't care." His voice could melt butter. Wait, scratch that, it could melt iron. It was smooth, deep, and reached my soul.

"Oh." I said, "Must be nice."

"Must be nice that they don't care about me?" He quipped.

"Um...No...I'm sorry...that's not what I meant. I mean it must be nice to do whatever you like."

He chuckled, "Chill, Emily-Mae. I was kidding. I know what you mean."

There was silence again between us.

He knew my name.

He didn't bring his Spanish textbook so he asked me if he could share.

So now he was leaning close to me while I tried hard not to inhale his intoxicating perfume or touch him. If I could find the courage to be like Polly who was so confident, she could talk anyone into dating her.

I saw him wiping his palm on his t-shirt again.

"There's an antiperspirant lotion for the hands. You could use that; it helps a lot for sweaty palms. I know a really good brand."

His face turned red and he didn't look my way.

Uh-Oh.

I mentally hit myself.

Why did I have to say stupid things to Seth Monroe of all people?

And then to my utter horror, he climbed to his feet, stuffed his books into his bag-pack, and stormed out of the room without a single glance my way.

I screwed up.

SETH

I shouldn't have done that. I know.

I shouldn't have left without a word, but you could say that Emily-Mae made me nervous.

I remember the first time I'd seen her a few weeks ago. I'd gotten shit-faced that night but I hadn't forgotten her face. I had no memories of that party but she had stuck with me, and I'd continued to look for her. Sometimes spotting her in the hallways and before I could think of striking a conversation with her, she'd disappear. We didn't even take any classes together so I didn't know her name that time.

And then one afternoon during lunch, I saw her sitting in the campus garden alone at lunch under a large tree, eating out of a brown bag, typing something in her Macbook, and I was sitting inside the building, looking at her through the glass walls. I was surrounded by the members of my ice-hockey team who were goofing and talking about some shit that I was barely interested to sit through.

My attention was captivated by her.

She looked hot in the over-sized sweater, her nose was pink from the cold breeze, and there was a glow to her face that I couldn't possibly describe.

She was beautiful.

I remember being subtle when I asked one of my teammates. "Who's that girl?"

One of the guys, Landon looked out front and said, 'That's Olivia. She's super hot, but man she's taken. Not sure if he called dibs but she was hooking up with him all summer."

I looked at where the idiot was looking at. He was talking about the brunette behind the girl I actually had my eyes on.

"Not her. I'm talking about the girl sitting near the tree."

He looked at me like I'd gone crazy, "Emily-Mae Vasquez."

I looked at the boys.

"She taken?"

I could punch a chair if he said yes. The girl was fucking gorgeous with a capital 'G' so I wouldn't be surprised if he said she had a boyfriend.

"Uh...No dude. As far as I know, I've never seen Sweet-Potato-Emily date anybody ."

"Why do you call her that?"

"You blind? You don't think she's a little...I don't know...say on the heavier side?" Easton sniggered.

The others looked scandalized. At that moment, I knew the boys I would be backing up and the boys I would likely ram my fists into, or run my truck over. I'd picked my side.

"She's Cale Vasquez's little sister. He was the previous captain of our team, he's now in college." Kenny said.

"I think she's pretty hot," I admitted.

Roland chuckled, and not in a nice way. "If you like girls who eat more slices of pizza than you do, then go for it, man."

Fuck you, asshole! I knew the type of girls Roland liked, and I'd tell you the idiot had a type. They were all the kind who wouldn't give a shit if he wasn't in the Hockey team. The best word to describe his type of girls was "Shallow."

"Aren't you body-shaming her?" I looked at the others, "And you guys are just going to shut up?"

No one said a word so I picked up my lunch and started to leave when Roland opened his mouth again.

"Hey, don't forget your promise." He chuckled.

I arched my brow in question because I was a total idiot and had forgotten about the stupid bet.

"The cash."

I ignored him and went to sit with someone else. The cheerleaders had been wanting me to join their table for a long time and the girls were cool. I'd gotten friendly with one girl on their team, inparticular, Skylar. She was a good friend, and also, she was the only one who didn't look at me like I was a meal.

That's how my crush on Emily-Mae Vasquez started.

Or I should say obsession? Because she sure as hell had become one big obsession in my life.

I hadn't noticed that she was chubby, I guess it was her smile that drove me nuts. I'd seen her smile at some kids in the hallways, and it sure gave me the butterfly flutters in my stomach. And that had never happened, like ever.

Slowly, I started to find reasons to talk to her.

I wanted to say 'Hi' or just smile but I couldn't find the courage. Normally I had no problem talking to girls or hooking up with them, (the latter was easy) but this...

It was a completely new world.

I was going to find a way to somehow make this right.

The next day, I'd transferred a class to Spanish because I knew it was one of the classes she took.

It's like my mom had telepathic powers because, at the end of that day, I was standing at Emily's doorstep.

* * *

EMILY

I had to double-check the security camera screen to make sure I was seeing correctly.

Had my crush on Seth gone so far that I'd started to imagine every guy as him?

God, please no!

I pressed the intercom.

"Who did you say you were?" I asked again.

I swear I heard a sigh on the other end of the door.

"It's me, Seth." The voice drifted from the intercom. "Seth Monroe from your school. You probably don't know me. I'm the captain of the ice-hockey team, power forward."

As if he needed to give me a detailed introduction.

I quickly ran my fingers through my hair, checked my appearance in the huge mirror in the foyer, and then opened the door.

"Hi," I said.

What was Seth doing at my house?

Don't Freak out!

He looked stunning as I'd seen him in Spanish class.

"I'm sorry about earlier." His green eyes were dazzling as he apologized. "I didn't mean to run off like that."

He looked for my address and came to my house just to apologize for the afternoon? That was so sweet.

I checked his near vicinity. Was this some kind of a prank set up by his jock friends?

"You came all the way here to apologize to me?" I asked him bluntly.

He shrugged, "not really."

"Then why?" I asked, "Is this some kind of a prank?"

He frowned, "Prank?"

"Yeah."

Because everyone knows that I have a crush on you and they just want to have a little laugh on behalf of Sweet-Potato Emily.

He shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about Emily-Mae." He looked genuinely clueless, he seemed far too honest for it to be acting. He slowly climbed the steps to my door.

It took me a while to realize what a giant he was. My head reached his shoulders with wedge HEELS on and it didn't help the fact that he was so big and intimidating with the tattoos and the stud piercing in his ear, not to mention the silver barbel in his tongue and his eyebrow. It made him look tough.

"Ruth Gavin." He said.

"She's my housekeeper. What's she got to do with you?"

"She's in the hospital, right? I came to tell you that I'll be working part-time here temporarily until she gets better."

I frowned. "But we don't need a replacement. Dad never told me anything."

"I spoke to Mr. Vasquez." He informed me all businesslike, "he said I can work for you guys. I'll get paid for the hours, free food, and a place to crash, plus I could use the money. Besides that, I have given word to my mother that I would take over this job for her."

"Your mom?" My head was swimming with all this information. "Your mom is Ruth Gavin? Our housekeeper?"

He laughed, "Yup."

I folded my arms across my chest.

The side of his mouth twitched upward, and I wondered what he thought was so amusive. I had just gotten home so I wasn't wearing my embarrassing Hello Kitty pajamas. It was still early for that.

"If your mom is Ruth, then why is your last name Monroe? Why not Gavin?"

"Really Vasquez?" He sighed, "Mom and Dad divorced when I was a kid, I was living with my dad. She changed her last name to her maiden name when they separated."

"Oh. I see..."

She did mention she was divorced and had a son. I'd also seen a picture of her son when he was six and living with her.

I tried hard not to hyperventilate with the realization that I'd seen Seth's picture as a cute six-year-old smol bean and did not recognize him. Who would have thought that little boy would turn out to be the love of my life?

"Can I come inside now?"

I stepped aside, "yeah. Of course."

I led him inside and all the while I kept thinking...

Oh my god, what is this new development in my life!

He tossed his back-pack on the plush carpet floor and sat down on the leather couch, his eyes scanning the place curiously.

"Can I offer you something? Water, soda, coffee?"

He grinned, "that'll be my line when you have guests over." A beat later he said, "You look surprised to see me here."

"Yeah...uh...I thought you..."

"You assumed we were similar? That I lived in a mansion, had a country club membership and treated people like shit, and drove a German car?"

"Kind of." I admitted, "not that I care if you drive a German car or not, but most guys in our school especially your teammates...the jocks are..."

"Rich assholes?" He asked.

I laughed because I couldn't help it, "are you going to keep completing sentences for me?"

He laughed too.

Then there was a pause, an awkward silence between us, he was the first to break it because my dumbass was busy staring at him. "Who else lives here with you?"

"I'm alone for now."

He wiggled his eyebrows.

I giggled, "what the hell did you do that for?"

"Nothing. It's just I'm getting all the wrong ideas since we'll be staying here alone and all."

"Well, you didn't even let me finish."

My cheeks were hurting from all the smiling, and was Seth Monroe, newest captain of the Ice-Hockey team, breaker of million hearts flirting with me?

"As you know, dad's always out for business but my brother comes over every once in a while to check on me. He has his own apartment downtown."

"I see, so we have to do something about that brother of yours."

I'm sure he flirted with every other girl in school, but somehow it still made me feel giddy. No one thought I was worthy of flirting before. They only saw me good enough to "dm" me for nudes because of the size of my breasts and ass.

"So what will you have me do, Emily-Mae?" He asked, "whatever you want, or need, I'll be at your disposal."

Why did it sound like an innuendo?

"Well, there's another lady who joined yesterday and she'll be here to do the cleaning every other day. I hired her myself. So, I guess you can cook, if you know how to, that is. Your mom used to do that for me. My cooking isn't that great so I could use the help."

"Sure. I'll do breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just give me a list of foods you prefer, any allergies, or anything you hate. I can also make snacks."

I was elated. I was convinced he was god-sent. Seth was not only going to stay in my house, (the studio from across the lawn but it will count), but I would get to eat the food he cooked with his long elegant hands.

"Sounds great!" I said a little too enthusiastically, "So when is Ruth coming back?"

"I just got here and now you want to get rid of me so soon?"

"No...I don't mean it that way...I was just curious."

Seth laughed, "relax. I was kidding. Mom will be in a hospital for a few days and then I told her to go live with her parents. She's going to be there for a few months.She needs a break."

I had firecrackers bursting inside my body. My happiness knew no bounds.

"Hey look, I have my stuff in my car. If you could show me where the studio is I can start putting things out and get comfortable. I'll just freshen-up and start preparing dinner."

"Okay."

I started leading him to the studio apartment outside of the house. It used to be Cale's photography studio which consisted of a kitchen and a bed with an attached bath. It was cozy. Since he moved out, it was turned into Ruth's living space.

"Oh, and by the way, Emily Mae, if you talk about this to anyone at school, you're toast."