Finally able to drag her gaze up to a pair of twinkling gray eyes, Hodge smiled. ?Basketball fan huh??
?Not particularly. More of a Cat Hodges fan.?
The sober part of her brain looked on in horror at the developing situation. Though hardly a prude, she?d also never been the type to outwardly flirt with women, especially in straight bars. Her libido, however, aided by the alcohol, was firmly in control of the rest of her. ?A fan, huh??
?Oh yes. A very?big?fan.? Hodge?s eyes nearly popped out of her head when the redhead put a hand on her knee and slowly drew it upward. ?Who would love the opportunity to pay you back for the hours of enjoyment you?ve given me.?
In a last ditch effort to bring her suddenly rebellious body back under control, Hodge pushed back and stood up, not even noticing as her chair toppled over backwards the moment it was free of her weight. ?Air!? she squeaked. ?I need air.?
With a tiger?s smile, the redhead stood and took Hodge?s hand. ?What a wonderful idea. Let?s take a walk.?
Hodge looked desperately over her shoulder, but her friends were too busy searching for tonsil scars on their latest dates-du-jour to pay her any mind at all.
Then the redhead slid a sly thumb across Hodge?s sensitive palm, and she pretty much stopped thinking for good.
Hodge wasn?t sure how they ended up back at her dorm room, but by then she?d given up asking those sorts of questions. Her body craved what the redhead was offering and gleefully pounded the little voice of Catholic guilt in her head into silent submission.
Managing to get her key into the lock on the third try, she pushed the door open and made a gallant gesture with her hand to allow her date to enter first. Then she dropped her ?Do Not Disturb, upon penalty of death? sign on the knob and closed the door.
Turning, she stripped off her jacket and let it drop into a heap on the floor. ?So Red, whaddya think??
?I think I should help you get the rest of those clothes off so I can see that delicious body up close and personally.?
?Sounds good to me.? Hodge had a stupid grin on her face as she walked to the bed.
The ringing phone went through Hodge?s head like a dentist?s drill. She would have covered her ears had her hands not been trapped beneath?.something. The ring came again, and she dragged her eyes open, then shut them immediately as the light streaming through the window set what was left of her brain on fire.
?Oh god, just kill me now,? she mumbled, finally yanking her hands free, and managing to reach the phone just as it stopped its infernal jangling.
Her eyes slitted open, carefully this time. She froze as it became readily apparent that the ?something? which had trapped her hands was a very warm, very naked female body pressed tightly against her.
?Ohhh shit,? she breathed, lifting the sheet to find that she was as naked as her guest. ?Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.?
She looked around her room, trying not to turn her head too much, and found various articles of clothing strewn about. Very briefly she wondered if that was her bra hanging off the mini basketball hoop over the bathroom door.
The phone rang again. ?What!? she growled into the mouthpiece, and immediately regretted it. Her head spun from the sound of her own voice.
The mocking tones of the dorm?s RA, Cookie Reese, filtered through the handset, adding nausea to the list of complaints Hodge?s body was voicing. ?Hate to disturb you and your ?date?, Kitty.?
?Don?t call me that.?
A snicker. ?There some guy named Mac here to see you.?
Hodge looked down at her bedmate, who was finally coming awake. ?Your boyfriend no doubt, here to kick my ass.?
Another snicker. ?Wrong, sweetie. This guy says he?s from some basketball team or something.?
She sat up ramrod straight, her face paling to the color of curdled milk. ?What?!?!??
Cookie heaved a dramatic sigh. ?For goodness? sake, Kitty, were you so hot to get laid last night that you didn?t listen to the message I left you? I told you he would be here this morning.?
Slowly turning her head, Hodge looked down at the phone whose red message indicator was flashing urgently. ?Ohhhh shit.?
?Better get some clothes on, love. I?m sending him down right now.?
Click.
Hodge stared at the phone as if it had suddenly grown fangs, then slammed it down. ?Shit! Shit! Get up! Get up now!?
Jumping out of bed, Hodge grabbed the tangled sheets and pulled. The redhead tumbled to the floor with a startled squawk. Hodge ran around the room gathering up her guest?s clothing, then pulled the indignant young woman up by her arm and shoved the bundle into her chest.
?Closet! Now!!?
?What?!??
?Get in the closet and don?t make a sound till I tell you it?s ok.?
Turning away without waiting for an answer, Hodge grabbed her own clothes and started shoving her limbs into them, almost tripping herself as she tried to stuff two legs into the same hole. ?Shit!?
Finally she managed to dress herself in wrinkled clothes that stank of smoke and stale beer. Grabbing her brush, she pulled it through the tangled mess of her hair, then gave up and pulled it behind her head in a ponytail. She stiffened as she glanced quickly into the mirror and spied the redhead, still naked, and still staring at her, bewildered.
A knock on the door sounded a split second later.
?Just a minute!? she managed to get out in a voice that sounded more like a frog?s dying croak than anything else.
Turning on her heel, she grabbed her date?s clothing bundle and shook out the dress she?d been wearing the night before. ?Put your arms up.?
?What??
?Arms up! Now!?
Still bewildered, the young woman did as she was told, and Hodge yanked the material down over her arms and head. ?There. No go sit down at my desk and pretend you?re studying or something.?
?Cat?.?
?Please, please do as I say. Please!?
The knock sounded again.
Praying she?d somehow wake up from this nightmare she was trapped in, Hodge walked over to the door, twisted the lock, and pulled it open.
A huge man filled the open space, staring down at her with a polite smile on his face. ?Catherine Hodges??
?Um?yes. Yes, that?s me. Can I help you??
?My name is Mac MacKenzie. I?m with the Birmingham Badgers.? His voice trailed off as he looked into the disheveled room. ?Have I come at a bad time? Your Resident Assistant told me you?d be available this morning.?
?Oh. No?no?.you?re fine. We were just?studying.? She looked over her shoulder at the redhead, who hadn?t moved an inch. ?Right?.??
?Phyllis.?
?Phyllis, right.?
There was a sick smile on her face as she turned back to the door. ?We have finals next week.?
Mac looked at her doubtfully. ?I can come another time, if?.?
?No! No, please, it?s fine. Phyllis was just leaving. Weren?t you, Phyllis.?
Finally, the redhead moved from her spot. ?Yes, that?s right. Just leaving. We?re all through?studying?for today.? Walking forward, she made sure to brush by the sweating Hodge. ?Give me a call later if you want to study some more, ok??
?Yeah. Sure. Fine. Just?go now, ok??
?My pleasure.?
Mac stepped out of the way, and Phyllis left, but not before bestowing a lewd wink on Hodge.
?Please,? Hodge said sickly, ?come in.?
Hodge pulled the door wider and moved aside as Mac ducked into the room. Once he had fully entered, she swung the door closed, only to find its forward progress halted halfway. Angered at the thought that her pushy bedmate had returned to embarrass her further, she swung around the door, ready to raise hell.
And stopped dead in her tracks.
Pallas Dylan Lambert stood in the doorway like a vision from a fevered dream. Wearing black slacks, a crisply starched white shirt, and her everpresent black leather trench coat, her glittering eyes were the only points of color to be seen.
Those eyes flicked past the frozen young woman to where Mac was standing, trying to cover his grin with the back of his hand. Dylan returned her gaze to Hodge. An elegant eyebrow rose.
?May I come in??
If Hodge hadn?t been holding onto the door, she would have collapsed into an undignified, boneless heap on the floor. This is just a dream. It has to be. Because nowhere in any of Father McCarthy?s homilies did I ever hear him say that someone can be sent to heaven and hell at the same time.
Even though she knew it wasn?t true, just the possibility that all this might be the aftereffect of a night of boozing gave her the strength to straighten up and release the door. She even managed a smile.
?Yes, please come in.? Her voice sounded human. This was good.
Ducking her head slightly, Dylan entered the room, quickly scanning the small space as she did so. Other than the disheveled bed, which could be excused, the room was neat and well ordered, which told her a great deal about the woman living there.
Clearing his throat, Mac stepped to the side, presenting Dylan with an eyeful of?herself. Her image covered every inch of available space on the large wall. The pictures captured every stage of her playing career, from her high school days through to the Olympics. There was even her rookie card, autographed and released in such limited quantities that she?d heard it had become a rather valuable collector’s piece.
She looked back over her shoulder to see a deer caught in the headlights staring back at her. Dylan couldn?t help but smile.
?I?m impressed.?
Hodge found it hard to talk through the dryness in her throat. ?I?you?.? She sighed. ?You?re my favorite player,? she finally admitted in a small voice, wondering if it was physically possible to die from embarrassment.
Dylan decided to give the young woman a break. It was quite obvious that somehow the communications had crossed somewhere along the line and she hadn?t been expecting them. Dylan also had a hunch that whatever had happened in this room before they?d entered, it wasn?t something that occurred on a regular basis.
Decision made, Dylan crossed to the desk, pulled out the chair, and slid gracefully down into the seat so as to make herself less imposing to the much smaller Catherine. ?I watched you play on Thursday. You?re very good.?
Dylan thought, privately, that Catherine?s blush was rather charming, but elected to keep that particular bit of information to herself.
?Thank you,? Hodge replied, forcing herself to relax. ?It was a lot of fun.?
Dylan smiled. ?Fun. I seem to remember that feeling.?
Hodge cocked her head. ?Basketball isn?t fun for you anymore??
?It can be,? Dylan replied smoothly. ?It?s also a good deal of work. Particularly when you?re striving for a championship.?
?Yes, I guess it would be.?
The room fell silent for a moment. Mac decided to spur the conversation along. ?We were wondering if you were planning on attending pre-draft came in Minneapolis this year.?
Hodge looked startled. ?Well, yes, I was planning on going. Why? Is something wrong??
Mac held up his hands. ?No, nothing?s wrong. It?s just?as Dylan?s already mentioned, you were pretty impressive in that game against the Vols. Pre-draft camp will give us, and everyone else, a chance to evaluate your skills under many different sets of circumstances.?
Hodge nodded. Mac wasn?t telling her anything she didn?t know already.
?Not everyone participates, though,? Dylan continued. ?Some don?t want to risk a chance of injury. Others believe that their selection is a foregone conclusion.?
?Sort of like an actor who thinks he?s too good to audition for a part?? Hodge asked.
?Something like that, yes,? Dylan replied, grinning.
?Well, pardon me for saying so, but that just doesn?t make much sense.? Forgetting for a moment exactly who she was talking to, Hodge became much more animated as her thoughts received free rein. ?I mean, maybe it would if we were all professional superstars or something, but we?re not. We?re just a bunch of college kids looking for a job, just like everyone else. I mean, if I didn?t have basketball and had to get by on my teaching degree, I really don?t think I?d just walk into some elementary school somewhere and say ?Hire me. I?m good.??
Mac and Dylan looked at one another and broke out in identical grins. The young woman?s enthusiasm and openness were definitely points in her favor.
Realizing she?d just gone on a tear, Catherine pulled up short, and her blush appeared again. ?I?m sorry. I didn?t mean to?um?.?
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