An Opposite Attraction

This is a submission for the "2025 2025 Literotica Geek Pride Story Event." In my typical fashion, it's a long, slow deep dive into the lives of two people whom society says aren't usually compatible with each other. It takes a while to get to the sex, so if you are looking for quick jerk material, this isn't it. Please comment and vote, and let me know what you think of it!

I looked up as I heard the door to the study room opening. I didn't know what I expected to see, but the sight that greeted me certainly wasn't it. She couldn't have been much more than five feet tall. Her stringy black hair was in a bit of disarray, as if it hadn't experienced a brush since the first thing that morning. Her bangs were long - long enough that they hung past her eyebrows, ending up just inside the oversized black frame glasses she was wearing.

She wore a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved top that had wide horizontal stripes in different shades of brown. Her eyes were a very dark shade of blue, and her lips were pursed, as if to show me that she meant business.

She looked first at a table on the opposite wall from me, where two of my teammates were sitting, working together on a homework assignment. Her gaze shifted to me, and she began walking towards me with a very purposeful stride. Once she got to my table, she stopped.

I was over a foot taller than this little bit of a person and probably outweighed her by over 150 pounds. Yet for some reason, I had never felt as intimidated by anybody in my life as I was feeling in her presence.

"Are you Beau Watkins?"

I meekly nodded my head.

"Good. I'm Angela Hastings - you may call me Angie. The Office of Academic Assistance has assigned me to be your geometry tutor for this semester. This is the first time I've been asked to tutor a football player, but I want you to know that I will have as high of expectations of you as I would anybody else I might get called to serve. In other words, I'm not going to let you slack off, just because you are a football jock. Got it?"

While I didn't necessarily appreciate the reference that football players had less of an academic standard than anybody else, my trepidation told me to let it slide, so I simply nodded again.

Angie took off the oversized backpack she'd been carrying and hefted it on top of the round table where we sat. "Let's get started, shall we? Did you bring your geometry textbook?"

I spoke my first words in her presence. "Uh... no, I didn't think we'd start today. I thought maybe we'd just get to know each other."

That apparently wasn't the answer Angie wanted to hear. "Listen, Beau. Let's get a couple of things straight. Rule number one - always come prepared with everything you need each time we have a tutor session. It's kind of hard learning geometry when you don't bring your geometry book with you.

"Rule number two - we are not here to be friends or buddies or teammates or anything else other than I am your tutor and you are my student. You're here so that you don't fall under an academic suspension for failing a class, which might jeopardize your potential pro football career. I'm here because I need extra money to help with my college expenses. So don't think we are here for any other reason. Understand?"

"I understand."

"Good, then we should get along fine. Fortunately the office had a copy of your textbook, so we can start right away. Let's look at the beginning and see what you know and don't know."

She pulled the textbook out of her backpack and opened it to the beginning. Little did I know at the time what impact she would have on my life. I'd never met anyone quite like her, so I didn't quite know how to process her. But it wouldn't have mattered. Like she had said, I needed her if I was going to keep on playing and get my shot at the NFL. So I saddled up and hung on for the ride that was about to follow.

******

It's safe to say that all I have is due to my ability to play football. I was blessed to be born to parents who were both college-level athletes. My mom Trish was a volleyball outside hitter at an NCAA Division II state college. She was just under six feet tall, but I've seen old videos of her playing and she could jump as high or higher than nearly all of her opponents.

My dad Stan was a pretty good small college linebacker, making the all-NAIA Division I first team as a senior. As I was growing up, I got my height from my mom and my strength from my dad. It was pretty clear that I had a chance to be a good football player. During my freshman year in high school, my coaches agreed that I was going to grow into the position of tight end. They began teaching me all the skills a good tight end needs - you have to be a good blocker, an excellent pass catcher, and have the ability to absorb big hits in the middle when you catch a pass.

I believe my parents saw my potential all along, so they did everything they could to prepare me for athletic success. That mostly meant that they were very strict with me - not to the point where I couldn't go out and do things with friends. But I had specific times when I had to be home, and I learned once that being late wasn't a good thing. I looked up to my parents and didn't want to disappoint them, and they were always willing to let me know when I'd done a good job at something.

They were not afraid to show me tough love, however. I was always bigger than the other kids in my classes, and once in sixth grade, I used my size and strength to intimidate a kid into giving me something of his that I wanted. I wasn't normally a bully, but it seemed like a good thing to do at the time.

When my parents found out about it, they spent the rest of the evening bullying me like I had done to the kid. They hounded me, denying me things I could normally have. They made me fix my own supper, despite the fact that the meal mom cooked that night was one of my favorites. They kept calling me names and telling me how pathetic I was to pick on someone who was smaller than me. I ended up running to my bedroom and throwing myself on the bed, sobbing until I went to sleep.

I know what they did may sound like horrible parenting to some, but it was exactly what I needed. That morning, I apologized to my parents and told them that the first thing I was going to do at school was to apologize to the kid I had bullied. I had learned an important lesson the hard way, but it was a lesson I still followed through high school and into college.

By my junior year in high school, I was starting to get noticed by college football programs across the country. Our team made it all the way to the state championship game for our class, the first time in over twenty-five years a team from my high school had made it that far. We didn't win, but that only fueled our determination to make sure we had another chance the following year. Seven of our offensive starters and eight of our defensive starters were returning, so we felt like we had more than a good chance at bringing home the championship trophy.

When my senior year arrived, my senior classmates on the team elected me as the team captain. In that role, I was the inspirational team leader. I was as tough on the team as my parents had been on me. I was constantly reminding them that every other football player on every other team we would face had only one goal, and that was being better than we were. We could not accept a weak effort from anybody if we were going to get our state championship. I was not afraid to approach other players when I thought they weren't doing their best, and I always backed up my admonishment of them in those situations by leading by example, making sure that I was giving 100% on anything we did in practice.

One of the responsibilities of the senior players was to lead a school-wide initiative of some type. It had been a practice in our school for several years, first introduced by head coach Stevens, who implemented it when he began at our school some ten years before. At our first senior player meeting, I remembered the bullying lesson my parents had taught me six years ago, and suggested that we work to eliminate all types of bullying in our high school. More than likely, none of my teammates had ever been bullied so they may not have thought it was a problem, but I pointed out to them that even things as seemingly innocent as students who ate by themselves in the lunchroom were more than likely tied to bullying that student had faced at some point in his school career.

We asked our high school counselor for help in creating a program, and she was thrilled to find out this was what we wanted to do. Our goals were simple - to make sure that no kid ever felt threatened in any way while they were in school, and to make sure that no kid was ever alone unless they wanted to be. Football players usually wore their jersey tops on days when we had games, and I remember coming into the lunchroom half-way through the season and seeing about fifteen football-jersey-wearing students spread out across the twelve lunch tables we had, instead of them all sitting at the same table.

The team was experiencing the success we had hoped for at the start of the season, and we began to attract attention of the nearby media. One of the television stations from the city closest to us sent a sports reporter to find out more about our season. But when she learned of the anti-bullying program we'd created, her focus turned to that aspect of our team, and we garnered quite a bit of publicity for our efforts. As the team captain, she interviewed me and let me tell my story of how I discovered how awful bullying was when I'd been caught before. I still have a copy of that interview downloaded on my computer. It reminds me that all people deserve to be treated equally, no matter what their standing is in life.

Our hard work on the field paid off - when the season was over, we were the undefeated state champions in our classification! For me, it was the culmination of four years of daily practices on the field and countless hours in the weight room off the field. By the time I graduated high school, I was 6'3" tall and weighed 230 pounds. Several major college programs were heavily recruiting me, and I chose to attend a state university that was just a few hours from my hometown. That way my family wouldn't be too far away if they chose to come and watch my games, which they did. My parents were my greatest supporters, and knowing they still wanted to follow me meant I would keep trying my best to make them proud. It wasn't in one of the top five power leagues, but I would still get some national exposure if I played well.

Once I signed my letter of intent, the coaching staff sent me a weight training program to prepare me for my first season as a college football player. Even though I was already a big person, they wanted me to put on at least 20 more pounds of solid muscle. I'd been used to being one of the biggest players compared to most of the players on the opposing teams we faced, but I wasn't yet big enough to play Division I college football. With my dad supervising me, I reported to my first practice at my current weight of 250, and over the summer I'd grown another inch. I was an impressive physical specimen, ready to show the world how good I was.

My freshman season was spent learning the art and speed of football at that level. I got a lot of time on the special teams unit since I had at least a little speed to go with my size. I had opportunities to play some snaps on offense that year, but those were mostly in mop-up situations where we had the game fully in hand. We didn't throw the ball when we were way ahead, so I got to work on my blocking skills against some of the biggest players I'd ever seen.

I also learned a very important lesson that first year. I wasn't a big party animal when it came time to having fun. My parents drilled the dangers of alcohol and drugs into my brain from the beginning of my middle school years. I knew I was a fairly good-looking guy, and I didn't have any trouble attracting the opposite sex if I wanted to have some fun. I'd had a serious girlfriend or two in high school and I certainly wasn't a virgin, but being a big partier wasn't ever one of my desires.

But I did get too far into that lifestyle the start of my freshman year. It was the first time I'd been away from my parents, and as many freshmen find out, college had lots of opportunities for good times outside of class. It took me one party to realize that wasn't the best choice for me, so I was careful to moderate myself when it came time to alcohol and the attention of the sexy women that were always around the team. I still had fun, but it was on my terms.

My sophomore season was my "coming out" party as far as playing time goes. I was named the starting tight end, and I ended up with 30 catches for nearly 550 yards and three touchdowns. I was feeling more confident with each game, and I started hearing noises about my potential to be a tight end in the National Football League. Those noises motivated me to work even harder, both on the field and in the weight room. I wasn't likely to get any taller, but there was always room for more muscle, which I would need if I ever wanted a chance to play professionally.

Academically, I was doing okay, passing my classes with some A's and more B's. But as I started my junior year, I knew I had a math class that I needed to take, and the team's academic advisor decided that needed to be geometry, since I'd not taken it in high school. The reason I didn't take it was that I was not good in math, and I'd barely managed to survive high school algebra. When I found out it was on my schedule, I immediately asked the advisor to have a tutor assigned to me. She and I both knew that this was a very important class for me if I was going to stay academically eligible to play football. The NFL wasn't going to recruit tight ends that weren't on the playing field because they couldn't handle the classes they were taking.

That's how I ended up with Angie Hastings as my tutor, who was assigned to work with me twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 1:30. As we went through that first session, it was clear that she wasn't my tutor because she was concerned for my success as much as she needed to earn some extra money for her college expenses. After she had set me straight, she didn't say one word to me that wasn't about geometry. I suppose I should have expected that, but I wasn't used to the intensity she was bringing to my tutoring session. It was going to take some work to get used to her style, but I certainly didn't see her changing her style for me anytime soon.

By the end of our first session together, it was clear that my ability was far below what she had expected of me. She would ask me questions, and when I didn't know the answer, I'd hear her exhale loudly, or see her roll her eyes. She had already talked down about football players in general when we first met, and apparently I was fitting perfectly into her lower standards.

Eventually, she couldn't keep quiet anymore.

Looking up at me for the first time since we had started, she exclaimed, "How did you ever graduate high school with the math skills you have - or should I say, 'don't have?'"

That question hurt, but it wasn't totally unexpected. "At my high school, we were required to have at least two math courses in order to graduate. I had basic math my freshman year, and algebra my sophomore year - which I struggled with. This is my first math class in five years. I guess my skills have deteriorated."

She huffed and replied, "Yeah, I guess they have."

I was getting worried at this point in the conversation. "Am I so far behind that I'm not going to be able to pass geometry? This is very important to me!"

She shrugged her shoulders. "That's up to you. I can get you caught up and make sure you don't miss assignments, but you're going to have to work like crazy and do everything I say. Can you handle that?"

"I pledge to you right now to be the best student you've ever tutored - well, I guess if you've already been a tutor. I don't know anything about you."

She looked at me with a very unimpassioned face and replied, "For your information, this is my second year to be a tutor. I had three students each semester last year as a freshman, so I guarantee I'll be good enough for you."

"No! I wasn't implying that I don't think you're good enough. I just want you to know that this is VERY important to me, so I'm willing to do whatever I can to pass this class. If that means we have to meet more than twice a week, I'm willing to do it!"

I paused long enough to hope she would look at me as I spoke, which she did eventually. "Angie, can you at least give me a chance to show you how motivated I am to impress you? You're the most important person in my life this semester, and I intend to honor that by making you proud of the work I do."

She kept looking at me as she replied, "You're going to have to prove that to me, because in my history, I don't have a very high regard for football players. They know they are big enough that they can intimidate anybody and get by with everything because in society it's much more important that our high schools have better sports teams than have students with high academic ability. Just being in your football training facility is intimidating me. I don't really belong in a place like this."

She had just presented me with a chance to show her how serious I was about this. "We don't have to meet here. We can meet anywhere on campus! Did you know that I know where the library is? I had three research papers to write last semester and I spent quite a bit of time there. I also know there are study areas inside the Student Union. And I imagine your dorm has several study areas available if you wanted me to come to you."

She thought about my proposition for a few seconds. "Truthfully, I would like that better. We are supposed to meet again here at 1:30 in two days. Shall we try the library instead?"

"How about the first one there waits at the main circulation desk for the other one to show up?"

She nodded her head. "Deal. Don't forget to bring your geometry book next time, plus I'm going to have another book for you to help you catch up where you've fallen behind."

We both stood up from the table at the same time. As she packed her ridiculously large backpack, I said, "I want you to know that I have no desire to intimidate you. I'm really a very nice person once you get to know me."

For the first time since I'd first met her, she cracked a wry smile. "And I am as well. But you still have to do what I say if you want to meet my standards!"

"Deal! I'll walk you to the door."

"You don't have to do that - I know where it is!"

It was my turn to smile. "True. But I want to protect you from all the knuckle-dragging jocks that hang out here!"

As we walked out of the study room, she turned to me and smirked. "I probably deserved that, didn't I?"

I shook my head. "No, you probably didn't deserve it, because obviously your experience with football players has not been great. I'm going to show you that some of us are different. AND I'm going to show you that I like to have fun in the midst of this serious work, so you'll probably get little cracks like that a lot from me.

As I held the door open for her to walk outside, she surprised me when she responded, "I hope so, Beau. See you in the library in a couple of days."

She turned to head off somewhere else, and I went back into the football facility, since it was time for practice to begin. As I walked into the locker room, I was immediately corralled by the two other players who had been in the study room with me.

"Hey, Beau - who was the little geek I saw you with?"

My temperature began to rise as I replied, "She's not a geek, David. She's a person, just like you are. She happens to be the person who is going to help me get through my toughest class this semester."

Trevon, the other player, laughed. "If she can do that with your miniature brain, she deserves to be queen!"

David joined Trevon in rolling laughter as I replied, "Sure, lay it on, assholes. But when the semester GPA numbers come out, let's see who has the miniature brain, because it ain't going to be me!"

It was usually in good fun that we teased each other like that, but hearing David refer to Angie as a "geek" set something off in me. Maybe it was time to start working on creating some of the same anti-bullying standards we did my senior year in high school.

And then I thought of something else. It was no wonder Angie didn't have any respect for football players, if this was the attitude she always encountered around them. In her eyes, I was guilty by association with all other football players. I decided then and there to work as hard at dispelling her notion about us as I worked on passing my geometry class.

******

I walked into the library at 1:25 on Thursday, expecting to be there before Angie arrived, but I was wrong. She was waiting by the circulation desk as I looked in that direction. I smiled and waved at her, and she surprisingly smiled back.

"Hello, Beau. You're early! That's a good sign!"

I laughed. "Apparently not early enough - I wanted to surprise you by being here first!"

"To be honest, I've been here for about an hour already. I have a couple of tough classes this year, so I wanted to get a jump on them once I had the course syllabi so I could get started on the reading lists. How did your class go yesterday?"

Angie had been given my schedule by the football team academic advisor prior to our first session, so she knew I had geometry on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00 a. m.

"It wasn't easy. I've tried working on the assignment, but there are a few things that I'm not sure about."

As I took my geometry textbook out of my backpack, Angie couldn't help but whistle.

"Look at you - second day and you've already shown up with your textbook! I'm impressed!"

I stared back at her and replied, "I know, and watch this - I know how to open it also."

I found the page and also the paper I was using to try to complete the assignment. Angie began looking at the work I had done already, and right away found out what my problem was. A quick five-minute teaching lesson got me straightened out. Angie had the ability to explain it to me in terms I could understand - not like my professor, whose dry, deadpan delivery could put anybody to sleep.

Armed with new confidence, I tackled the rest of the assignment. At the same time, Angie took out one of her books to read while she was waiting on me to need her help again. I was instantly impressed at how she was maximizing even a little bit of available time to study as much as she could.

Once I was finished with the assignment, Angie picked it up and started reviewing it. I was a little nervous, hoping I was getting them right. But when I saw her make some kind of mark on the paper over a couple of the answers, I knew I still had some work to do.

She handed the paper back to me and said, "Not bad, Beau. You seem to understand the concept very well. But the mistakes you made have to do with calculation, and not the concept. Your math was wrong on a couple of your answers. Even if you understand every mathematical concept top to bottom, you'll still be wrong if your calculation skills let you down. See if you can fix the two that you got wrong."

She returned her attention to her book as I dug into the incorrect problems. I was apparently a creature of habit because it took me a few tries to figure out where my errors were. Once I got that out of the way, solving the problems was much easier.

I tapped her on the arm with my pencil. She looked over at my work and gave me a 'thumbs-up,' which brought me tremendous joy for some reason! It was the first sign of hope I had that I might do okay in this course with Angie's help.

She was ready for me to move on from my celebration, however. "Do you have the syllabus so we can see what your Friday assignment will look like?"

As we were looking ahead, we were interrupted by two very cute looking girls who had come over by the table where we worked. We stopped to look up at them, and they giggled as if they were afraid to say something.

Finally the one with long blonde hair meekly asked, "Are you Beau Watkins?"

I nodded. "I am. What are your names?"

The blonde giggled even more. "I'm Ciara, and this is my friend Mariah."

Brunette-haired Mariah daintily waved.

"Nice to meet you, Ciara and Mariah. Are you football fans?"

Mariah spoke for the first time. "Yes, we're BIG fans. We'll be at the stadium on Saturday to cheer you on!"

I could almost hear Angie's eyes rolling in the back of her head.

"That's nice, girls. We'll be trying our hardest to bring home a win for our fans. I need to get back to this study session. It was nice to meet you!"

Ciara smiled and replied, "We'll see you around, Beau!"

Both Angie and I turned our heads to watch them walk away. I heard Angie mutter, "Oh god..." as one of them fanned her face like she had become overheated talking to me. When I turned back to Angie, she was simply staring at me.

"Does that happen a lot?"

I nodded. "More than I want it to. It makes me uncomfortable. I'd never be caught alone with girls like that. They could create too many problems for me."

She chortled and replied, "How? Do you understand that both of them would have likely gone back to your dorm room with you and let you do anything with them?"

I shook my head. "I don't know about that. But I suspect it wouldn't take much for a girl like that who felt scorned to create trouble for me. I'm glad you were here as a witness. That makes it easier for me."

"Are you kidding me? Those two didn't act like they had enough brains between them to devise a plan like that!"

"How do you know that? Are you implying that because they wanted to meet me, they couldn't possibly be smart? You seem to have some issues with generalizing people you know nothing about."

I could tell I hit a sore spot when she turned to me with flaring nostrils as she replied, "That's because my entire life has been a generalization! Because I'm small and smart, I've been put into a category by everybody, whether I want to be or not! Whether I like it or not, I'm a geek, and while the rest of the world seems to look down on us, I'm proud to be considered to be one! I'd much rather be a geek than an airhead bikini babe chasing after football players like you."

I let her calm down for a few seconds before I responded. "Angie, I'm sorry that football players and bikini girls - as you call them - have hit a nerve with you. I don't know your history, but I do know that nobody should ever feel marginalized for who they are or what they are like. I know that, because I feel like you have already jammed me into a category in your life so deep that I'll never get out, and that's not fair to me - just like it's not fair to you in the experiences you've had to deal with."

I put my hands on the table and leaned back in my chair. I didn't know about her life, but I could tell there had been things that made her very unhappy. I wished she had been in high school with me, where at least she wouldn't have had to worry about different groups of people harassing her or putting her down.

She reached one of her hands and placed it on mine. "I'm sorry, Beau. You've been nothing but kind to me, and you're right - I have lumped you into the overall group. I know it's wrong. But what I've seen from you... well, you're different, and I respect that. It's going to be hard not to think about all football players the same way. Will you accept my apology?"

"There's no need to apologize, Angie. It sounds like I'm the one that needs to apologize to you on behalf of all the asshole football players who have ever caused you any problems. You don't deserve that - you've done nothing to deserve that, except just being who you are. I would imagine most of those players haven't made it to college, and they certainly haven't achieved what you've accomplished."

That brought out a smile. "You know, you're right. I'm here and they are not. I've survived to this point, and the world is in front of me. It had better watch out, because I'm not going to be stopped easily!"

She turned to me, and I got to see a different side of Angie - one that seemed more confident in herself. I still didn't know the specifics of why she felt the way she did about football players. But I hoped going forward, she would see in me that some of us are okay.

It was probably the wrong time for three more girls to approach our table. The conversation went pretty much the same way it had with Ciara and Mariah. I was polite, they were giggly, and I think this time Angie was more amused than anything else. Once they went away, I turned to her with shrugged shoulders and said, "What's a guy going to do? I already have an idea on how to put a stop to this before next time."

"That's going to be interesting to see how you accomplish that. I can hardly wait to see your plan in action!"

Our time was up. Angie had helped prepare me for class the next day. As we put our books and other things away, she spoke up.

"I forgot to mention this. I checked our schedules, and if you don't mind working through lunch, it looks like we both have Fridays at noon available. That way, I'll be able to meet with you after each class you have every week. Would you mind being seen with me in the Student Union? I might scare away the bikini babes!"

I hoisted my pack up on my shoulders and replied, "I think I can handle that. Are we starting this tomorrow?"

"No, I already had something scheduled for tomorrow, so we'll have to start next week. But I'll see you on Tuesday. You should be fine in class tomorrow, and then we'll go over Monday's assignment when we meet again."

Before we left, I asked, "Do you think I could have your phone number? It might be nice to be able to let you know how my classes go between now and Tuesday. I promise I won't use it for any other purpose!"

She thought for a few seconds, and then said, "I don't see why that shouldn't work. That way if one of us needs to cancel, we can let the other one know."

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and entered her number. I sent a text to her to make sure I got it correct, and when her phone buzzed, it confirmed it. As we walked out of the library door together, she asked, "Isn't your first game of the year Saturday night?"

I was surprised she knew that. "Yes, it is - I'm ready to get out there and work for a good season."

"Well then, good luck. I hope you come away with a win. It will make the bikini babes happy!"

She giggled as she turned the corner and walked away from me. It was another good session for several reasons, and it also served to give me a little more insight into her life. I knew there were layers still to discover, but there was no rush. I was going to be with her all semester, and we'd have time for more discussion before long.

******

Angie and I got into a very good rhythm in our study sessions. I was doing well enough in my geometry class that she wasn't having to watch over my work as much as she did when we first started. I knew that it would get tougher before too long, especially as more new concepts were introduced. But I was confident that I could pass the class, whereas before Angie started tutoring with me, I felt like I had no hope at all.

I think Angie liked our sessions because she also got some study time in while I was doing my work. There was one time in particular that she got me started on the first problem of my assignment, and then didn't have to say another word to me the rest of the session until I had her check my work.

She also got a glimpse into the life of a Division I football player, and I think she was surprised to see just how hard I worked. Our first Friday in the Student Union cafeteria together was definitely an eye opener for her. As we went through the line together, she was amazed at the amount of food I was putting on my plate. By the time I was done, I had two crispy chicken sandwiches, a double helping of French fries, a big bowl of green beans and a couple of bananas. A tall soda and a large piece of cake completed my meal for that day. Once we sat down to eat, she couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"How can you eat that much food? I'd be sick for a couple of days if I tried to eat all that in one meal!"

"Because at practice this afternoon, I'm likely going to burn this many calories. It takes a lot of work to be competitive at this level. If I want to maintain my muscle base, I have to give my body energy to work with. Our team nutritionist watches our diets closely, making sure we eat enough to maintain peak performance during the season."

To put on a little show for her, I pushed my sleeves up over my shoulders and flexed my arms, causing my biceps to bulge. "Can't keep the guns looking this good without feeding them!"

That brought an eyeroll, and I was proud that I earned the reaction I expected. After a couple more bites of our lunch, she looked up at me and asked, "So what else about your football life can you tell me that I might not know?"

"Well... about the only time you'll see me on campus is going to and from classes and into the Union for lunch. The rest of the time is spent in the football facility. I lift weights every morning except Sundays and game days starting at 6:00 a. m. I'll lift until 7:30 if I have an 8:00 class, and I'll lift longer if class starts later.

"We have to be on the practice field by 3:30 in the afternoon, so I usually get to the locker room a little before 3:00. We practice until 6:00 or so, then shower and gather for team meetings after we eat. Most nights I don't get home before 8:30, and I try to be in bed by 9:30 so I can get enough sleep to start again the next day.

"If you stop to think about it, I easily spend over eight hours per day with football, especially during the season. That's a full-time job, in addition to trying to be a full-time student. I was lucky to get good genetics from my parents. But I work hard every day to try to maintain the level of play I need to be successful."

We ate in silence for a few seconds. Eventually Angie looked up at me and said, "You're right. I had no idea how much time you spent on football. You seem to be truly dedicated to being at the top of your game."

"I have to be. If my opponent on the other side of the ball this week plays better than me, it cannot be because I didn't put in every ounce of effort I can to be better than him. If I walk off that field knowing I didn't prepare as much as I could, I'll consider myself to be a failure. Since both my parents were college athletes, they instilled that motivation in me at an early age, because they both knew the commitment it took to perform at that level.

"But they weren't just preparing me to be an athlete either. I was learning other life lessons as well."

I proceeded to tell her the story about how I learned what it felt like to be bullied and what we'd done at my high school to try to create an atmosphere of acceptance for everybody. I even took my laptop out of my backpack and showed her the news piece that had been done.

As I closed my laptop, I heard her say softly, "Wow. My high school could have used a program like that. Hell... my home could have used a program like that."

It was the first little bit of opening into her life, but I could tell it wasn't a happy memory. I reached over to put my hand on top of hers and said, "Angie, I'm a good listener if you want to talk about it."

As she looked at me through her oversized glasses, I could see a tear forming in the corner of her eye. I thought maybe she was going to talk to me, but instead she wiped the tear away and said, "You wouldn't understand."

"Will you give me a chance to understand? I might surprise you."

She looked at me again, before letting her guard down a bit. "I have an older brother, Thomas, who is four years older than I am. Like you, he was a good high school football player, and my parents thought he was the perfect son. It was like they were living out their own athletic dreams through him. He was popular in school, and always had plenty of girls that wanted to date him. Anything he wanted, my parents got it for him.

"I, on the other hand, was never going to be an athlete. I've always done well academically, but in my parents' eyes, I wasn't the success my brother was, just because he got all the athletic genes in our family and I got none. I'd never be as successful as he was since I was so short and mousey and geeky. I mean my parents didn't come right out and say that to me in so many words. But when his football team won and he played a great game, there was praise handed out to him from both parents. If I won a school spelling bee or scored high on achievement tests, it was no big deal to them.

"But Thomas didn't seem to care about whether he was a bully or not, and his football friends were the same way. It got to where when he'd come home from practice, I'd go straight to my bedroom to spend the rest of the evening, because at least if he wasn't in there with me, he wasn't bullying me. It was worse when he'd bring friends over. Being around others who were like him seemed to intensify his treatment of me. I grew to hate him as much as I possibly could.

"When I'd complain about him to my parents, they'd say that I was making too much of it, or that I needed to toughen up. They were never there for me, never backed me up, never scolded him for the way he treated me. Fortunately, I had other geek friends who were in similar situations, and we became a very tight group as we shared our struggles with each other.

"It got much better around the house when he moved away for college. It certainly meant less bullying. Unfortunately, he didn't put in the effort in his academics that you are doing, and he flamed out. By the end of the first semester of his sophomore year, he was off the team and he dropped out of school. He's now working at a tire warehouse, mounting and balancing tires in our hometown. He was meaner than ever when he first got back since he believed it was everybody else's fault that he couldn't cut it. He dropped his fitness routine and got into hard partying with his other friends that also couldn't handle college. Mom and Dad had to threaten to kick him out of the house if he didn't get his act together, so it got better. But he's still the golden child and I'm still the runt of the litter.

"You're the first football player that has ever shown me an ounce of respect. I might have taken advantage of my position of authority over you when we met that first time."

I had to laugh at that. "I had never been so petrified in my life at our first meeting! You came in and promptly let me know that you were in charge and that if I was going to succeed, it was going to be your way that made it work. I thought you were going to rip my head off for not having my geometry book with me!"

That made her laugh as well. "I'm sorry about that. That's certainly not who I am, believe me. But it was the first time I'd ever been in a position that a football player needed me like you did, so I had to play the tough tutor to make sure you knew how serious this was."

I patted my hand on top of hers. "Don't be sorry. It was just what I needed! I could not have gotten a better tutor. My class is going much better than I had anticipated. It's because of you that I'm doing as well as I am."

That brought a big smile out. "Thank you, Beau. I really appreciate that. You're not as dumb as you think you are. I think at some point you probably didn't have a concept or two explained the way it should have been, so naturally you're afraid of it all. We're going to get you to where you need to be, and you might find in the process that you enjoy math, especially if you understand it."

"Ha! If you can make that happen, you'll be known as a miracle worker!"

I looked at my watch and realized our time together was up, and that we'd spent no time at all working on geometry. "Angie, don't you have a class to go to?"

She looked her watch and then exclaimed, "Damn! Where did the time go? I need to get going."

She started to grab her tray to take to the disposal area, but I stopped her. "I can get that for you. I have to take mine anyway. Our Friday practice before a game day is usually a light walk-through. Do you think we could get together for a little tutoring sometime this evening after 6:00? I want to make sure I'll be ready for class on Monday."

As she hoisted her backpack on, she said, "Text me when you are done, and we'll figure out where to meet. Thanks for listening to me, Beau. It helped to unload some of that anger I carry around!"

She raced for the door to get to class. I sat there for a few minutes longer. It felt good to be able to listen to Angie share some of the things that have caused her to look down on football players. In the short two weeks we'd been working together, it appeared that she was learning to trust that my opinion of her was sincere. In turn, I was learning that she had valid reasons not to trust any football player, so that fact that she was warming up to me a little bit was not going unnoticed.

******

Practice and the Friday evening meal had concluded by 7:00 p. m. We had three hours of free time before we had to report back to the football residence hall for a 10:00 p. m. check-in. This was to ensure that every player had a chance to get a good sleep in before the game the next day.

I quickly texted Angie, and she responded that she wasn't busy. I told her I'd walk to her dorm to get her and we'd decide what to do from there.

It was about a ten-minute walk from the football dorm to hers. She was waiting outside the front door when I got there. Since it was a warm evening, she had chosen to wear a simple t-shirt and some shorts. Her bangs still hung down into her glasses, but she'd pulled the rest of her hair back into a short ponytail. It was the first time I'd seen her in something other than jeans. She looked very cute!

I was wearing our practice secondary uniform after the walk through. Basically, it was our warm weather gear when we didn't practice with pads. It consisted of rather long athletic shorts and a uniform top with our number on both sides. I knew it would identify me as a football player, but I didn't think that would be a problem off campus.

There was a hamburger stand that served ice cream a couple of blocks north of the main campus buildings. We decided that would be a good spot to sit down and enjoy a cold treat while we worked on my lesson. The place was crowded when we got there, but we were able to find a table for two, where I dumped my backpack while we went to order.

Once we got back to the table, we worked in between bites of our ice cream. The table was cramped for having my book and assignment sheet out, so when I got to a problem that I was struggling to understand, it was awkward having to pick up our ice cream so I could turn the book around to show it to her. Finally she got up and walked around behind me so she could see better.

Angie was standing behind my right side as I worked. When I got to a spot that was difficult, she leaned over my shoulder to point to the mistake I was making. As she did, I could feel her body pressing against mine, including the swell of her right breast into my shoulder. My mind instantly clicked out of geometry mode and into 'I like the way that feels' mode. For some reason, Angie could feel the difference in my attention, and when she realized what she was doing, she stood up straight. I have a feeling if I could have seen her face at that moment, it was probably blushing a bright shade of red.

For the rest of the time, she managed to stay back without touching me. But after she had pointed out my mistake and I had finally corrected it, I was able to complete the assignment without any trouble. When the last problem had been solved, she returned to her seat across from me.

Once my homework was done, I couldn't help but think back to the physical contact we shared. It had been several months since I'd experienced any contact with a girl other than just non-sexual gestures like handshakes. I learned my lesson my freshman year that I wasn't in school for unlimited opportunities for sex. I was there to play football first, and get an education second.

But that didn't mean I didn't enjoy her leaning into me. It got me thinking about how foolish it might be to date the girl that was helping someone stay eligible for football. I decided I'd try to feel her out about it - at least to find out if she might have enjoyed leaning into me.

"Angie, can you help me with a hypothetical situation I've been thinking about?"

She looked up at me through her glasses and said, "Hypothetical? Really?"

I grinned at her. "Hear me out and see what you think. So there's this one person who is getting help from another person, and it's going very well. The one that needed the help is very pleased with the progress that is being made. That person was scared at first, because the one that was going to do the helping seemed very tough and scary. But that part seemed to go away early."

By this time she had leaned back against the back of her chair and was smirking at me. But she let me continue without stopping me.

"So the one getting the help has realized that he or she is finding out that he or she kind of likes the one who is helping. It certainly wasn't in the plans of the one being helped to discover those feelings. But the one being helped has also discovered that the one helping also seems to have relaxed and become more at ease in the short two weeks they have been working together, and that's encouraging the one being helped to see if there's the potential for more time together in ways other than the tutoring sessions."

Angie couldn't help but smile at me, probably because I was showing her a silly grinning face, something she probably hadn't seen from me before. "Really, Beau? Hypothetical? Why did you use that silliness to talk about this?"

"I don't know - maybe I was a bit scared of what you'd think, or maybe because it might have made me look more charming than I am usually and I wanted to catch you off-guard a little bit."

She was just beginning to answer back when I saw the expression on her face drop, followed by an exaggerated eyeroll. I turned to find out what she had seen, and I wasn't surprised when my "new" friends the bikini girls were coming across the ice cream shop towards us.

I turned back to Angie, who seemed to have moved into an attitude of disgust at the impending visit of Ciara and Mariah. I reached my hand out to her and said, "Trust me - put your hand on the table, quickly!"

She did so, and I took it and held it in mine. I was smiling at her when the girls arrived.

"Hey, Beau," Ciara exclaimed. "We saw you over here and thought maybe we could hang out with you this evening, since we haven't had the chance to do that. Got room for two more?"

I didn't dare look at Angie at the moment, for fear I'd witness daggers of flame shooting out of her eyes at the girls. "Ciara and Mariah, correct? Well, actually, this is a special night for me and Angie. It's our two-week anniversary of being a couple, so we really wanted to spend it with just the two of us. Plus I have an early football curfew tonight, and with my crazy practice schedule, we just don't get enough together, so we're not looking for any company tonight."

That wasn't what the girls wanted to hear. Mariah said, "I guess I can see how that could be. If you ever change your mind, I guess you can track us down on campus."

"I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight girls."

I turned back to Angie as the bikini girls walked away. But I didn't let go of her hand. I wanted to see how long she'd let me keep holding it.

Angie clearly wasn't amused with the interruption of our conversation, but I wasn't ready to hear what was coming. "Do you know how intimidating that is for me? I've never been around someone who has hot girls literally throwing themselves at their feet like they seem to be doing with you. I can't compete with that. I'm not even sure they knew I was here."

"Oh, I guarantee they knew you were here, because I think they might have pushed harder if they hadn't seen us holding hands. That's why I said what I did about it being our two-week anniversary. Both times they've walked up to us, they've seen me with you and now they know why."

In a dejected voice, Angie replied, "I don't know... maybe they won't bother us anymore, but someone else will come along. There's always going to be someone who knows you just because you are a football player who also happens to be big and strong and very good looking...."

She stopped abruptly, not intending to say that last line. Before I could reply, she started to get up from her chair. "Look, Beau. You're a nice guy, and you've done very well so far with our sessions. I can tell you are more confident about your geometry class, and that makes me happy.

"But I'm not sure it would be a good idea to pursue a friendship beyond the tutoring. Even though I feel like those girls won't be hitting on you anymore, there will always be other girls no matter where you go - especially if your football stock keeps rising. You're going to be a target for attention, and I don't know if I could handle that."

She started to push past me, but I stopped her. "Angie, wait a minute. Can we talk about this? I'm not going to let you walk back to your dorm by yourself. I don't want to put any pressure on you, but you need to know that I happen to like you and want to be around you. Can we talk while I take you back to your dorm?"

She reluctantly nodded. I held the door for her as we stepped back out into the evening. We didn't say anything to each other for the first couple of minutes. I knew it was my responsibility to stay something, but it was such new territory for me that I didn't quite know what to say.

Finally I said, "I want to tell you a little bit about my social life since I've been here at school... well, actually starting before. My last two years in high school, I had one steady girlfriend. It was the typical football player/cheerleader relationship that people always assume happens. We liked each other, and we were each other's first on prom night. But when it was time to prepare for college, we weren't going to the same school and we really didn't want a long-distance relationship. When we said goodbye to each other the last time, I think we were surprised to discover that it wasn't difficult for either one of us. We had never really been more than good friends.

"When I got to campus here, I found out that I was popular with girls. It was the first time I'd been single and available and having that many good-looking girls wanting to meet me gave me an ego boost - probably too much of a boost. For the first two or three months, I was having fun with more than a couple of girls. Nobody was looking to fall in love. I think we were all experiencing our first times away from home and one of the ways to enjoy that was to go lose yourself in some sexual fun.

"But that usually meant late night parties, and I noticed that it was affecting my ability to perform on the football field. I also discovered that I was maybe more old-fashioned than I knew, because I decided I didn't want to be a party animal like so many others did. So I stopped - stopped partying and stopped being a man slut. It turned out to be a relief. My focus on classes and football improved, and from that point on, I wanted nothing to do with the party crowd.

"I did have a steady girlfriend a year ago in the fall, but again, that relationship interfered with my commitment to football. She understood, and we parted amicably. I've not even had as much as a single date since. In fact, taking you out for ice cream is my first date in nearly a year."

She turned to look at me and asked, "So if you stopped dating the girl last year because of football, what's different about this year? Are you going to decide we shouldn't continue as the football season goes on?"

It was a fair question, but I already knew my response. "The difference is that I need you all semester to help me with my class, so I'm not about to cut you off. The other difference is that I've really enjoyed these first two weeks and I already have more feelings for you than I did for the girl last year. You're smart, you're tough, you're funny AND you have enough patience to put up with a lug like me."

By this time we were just a few feet from the front door of her dorm. She stopped and turned to me, saying, "If I were to agree to this, will you promise that our tutoring sessions remain just that? It's important to me that you continue doing well with your geometry, and I don't want to endanger your progress."

"It's important to me that I continue to do well also! I promise that the tutoring sessions will not change. We have an away game next Saturday which means we fly out on Friday, so we can't get together then. But I should have some time on Sunday evening - think about it, please?"

She cracked a smile at me. "You know, it should be flattering that you are saying these nice things about me. But this is so completely new to me that it's going to take some time. I will definitely think about it and you'll be the first to know my decision."

I reached out to take her right hand in mine. "That's all I can ask. If you'll give me a chance, I'll do everything I can to make sure I'm the best friend you've ever had!"

"You're doing well so far, Beau. Thanks for the nice evening. Good luck with your game tomorrow!"

She squeezed my hand before she dropped it and went inside. I looked at my watch and saw that I still had plenty of time to get to the football dorm. As I made my way, all my thoughts were on Angie. There was something that I found irresistible about her. I tried to reason with myself, saying that I only felt this way because I needed her help in order to stay eligible for football and all the possibilities that life had in store. She was doing her job well, since I hadn't had any struggles to this point.

But part of it might have been the fact that she had such a low opinion of football players. I didn't blame her, if she grew up in a house where recognition came from your on-field performance and not your academic performance. It was hard for me to imagine a home where your parents didn't support you because you weren't a star athlete. Even though I was blessed with a high athletic ability, my parents might have been more supportive of the other aspects of school, including our anti-bullying campaign.

So maybe some of my attraction for her was my wanting her to have someone in her corner, cheering her on, and this crazy thought that it was a football player who was supporting her made it seem even more crazy. Maybe I liked that crazy!

Right before I made it to the dorm, another thought hit me - one that hadn't entered my mind before. Angie was very attractive, although she did a good job of hiding it with her long bangs and oversized glasses, not to mention the layers of loose clothing she wore. I was surprised I hadn't considered that before. Maybe my activities with the previous girls in my life had taught me that the hot-chick look wasn't for me, and while I was pursuing them, maybe I was trying to live up to a standard that was present just because of my involvement in football.

I needed Angie to continue being my tutor. I knew that was the most important reason to want to be with her. But I wanted Angie to be my friend. And I wanted to show her that despite her disdain for football players, there were some that were different. I wanted her to see that in me.

******

As usual, my parents had traveled from my home town to watch my game the next day. They had done that for every single home game and many of the away games. This included games where I only played on special teams, never hearing my name called on the PA system unless I made a tackle on a kick-off or punt return.

So now that I was the regular starting tight end, I was glad that they were getting to see me play in important situations as a starter. Their seats were on the same side of the field as our sidelines, close to the tunnel where our players entered and exited the field. I never searched for them before the game, choosing instead to focus only on the game ahead and the drills and stretches we did prior to the start.

But after the game, they'd come down as close as they could get to the field and I would get a chance to visit with them for a few minutes. Then we would spend the evening together, going out to eat and catching up on my activities of the previous week before they headed back. They were road warriors, but as their only child, I knew I could count on them for their support no matter how long my football career continued.

Our game that day was against a Division II team, so it was expected that we wouldn't have any problems with them. These smaller schools would schedule road games against some of the top teams in the country. Their players would get to play in front of some very large crowds, and their school would receive a cut of the ticket gate, which was a nice financial boost to their football budget.

It also meant that the competition wasn't as good from the smaller schools as we'd find playing schools in our own league. That proved to be true for that game. We won 56-7. By halftime, we were up 35-0, and our second and third team players would be the ones playing in the second half. As a freshman, I looked forward to those game so I'd have a chance to show our coaches what we could do in live game situations.

It turned out that that game was one of the best of my career, and I only played in the first half. I had seven catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns. I also had a key block on a linebacker that released one of our running backs for a 22-yard touchdown run. On my final touchdown, I leapt up over the defender in front of me and caught an acrobatic pass in the end zone. It was a good play, and I figured it might help me be seen by pro football scouts if I was lucky enough to have replays of the catch be shown on sports TV.

As the team left the field following the game, I spotted my parents in their usual spot, waiting for me. I reached my hand up for them to grab as they congratulated me. Being a former linebacker, my dad was proudest of the block that allowed the running back to score. I never felt that I had to compete against my dad's history, but it was nice to be congratulated for something that he knew a lot about.

As I was talking to them, I looked up past my mom and was surprised to see Angie in the stands. I wanted to shout at her and have her come to talk to me and meet my parents, but then I decided that so far, she was only my tutor, and one didn't usually introduce their tutor to their parents.

Angie turned to look my way and our eyes locked for a couple of seconds before she moved on towards the exit. Seeing her gave me hope that maybe she had a little place for me in her life. I couldn't think of any other reason why she would have gone to a football game, although I could see where if some friends invited her, she might go. I tried not to read too much into seeing her, but part of me was excited that she had come.

That evening at dinner, I told my parents about Angie - how much she was helping me with my geometry class, and how much I enjoyed being with her. Naturally they were supportive, but they admitted to being a little surprised that I seemed to like her more than just a tutor. They laughed when I told her how aggressive she was towards me at our first meeting, saying I needed her to be that tough on me so I would know she was serious.

As we ate, my phone started buzzing in my pocket like crazy. At first I didn't want to answer because I didn't want to be rude to my parents. But when it kept going, I figured I'd better see what it was all about. As I pulled my phone out, my dad's phone started buzzing as well. I looked on mine and saw several text messages from teammates, so I opened one and was shocked at what I saw.

Apparently there had been a photographer right near the corner of the end zone where I had caught my last touchdown pass. He managed to get a shot of me with my arms raised high above my head, the ball in my hands just beyond the outstretched reach of my defender. My body was twisting as I jumped, which made the catch much more impressive.

My friend's comment was, "Hey dude, you are blowing up on social media!"

Just at that time, Dad showed me the same picture that someone had sent to his phone. I had hoped that maybe a video of the catch was going to show up on sports channels, but this picture might have more impact on my future in football. Dad was aware of that implication also.

"Beau, if this spreads like I think it will, you're going to have a lot of new sets of eyes on you. I hope you're ready for what's to come."

I didn't realize at the time how prophetic that statement could turn out to be. I read through the comments of friends. Most of them were very encouraging. I was also getting texts from phone numbers I didn't have saved. I wasn't too thrilled that people were getting my number from somewhere, especially if I didn't know them.

We finished our dinner, and Mom and Dad started back home. I headed to my room, but ran into some teammates before I could get there, including Trevon and David. I was getting more congratulations and pats on my back, to the point where it was starting to feel awkward listening to what they were saying. Then Trevon took it to a new level.

"Man, Beau - you're going to have unlimited pussy hanging around you now! Those chicks see a strong, handsome looking football player and they're going to be wanting some of that! You'd better keep your social calendar open so you can enjoy what's coming your way!"

David added in some similar stupid comment, but by that time, I had stopped listening. I could not get to my room fast enough to shut off the noise that they were making. I immediately reached for my phone to send a message to Angie.

"Hey - is it possible that we could get together to talk for a few minutes tomorrow?"

While I waited for her response, I got out my books and started working on homework assignments. I had intended to do them the next day, but I needed the welcome distraction they could bring me so I didn't have to think about this new situation.

Angie responded about fifteen minutes later. "Sorry, my day is already filled. I probably won't be able to see you until our next session on Tuesday."

I put my phone down and tried to go back to my homework, but my heart wasn't into it. I went to a sports website and watched a replay of the catch. I had to admit it looked harder than it really was, given the fact that I was about six inches taller than the defender and my QB got the ball to me in the absolute perfect place.

I had never experienced anything like this in my life. Was I ready to experience it now?

******

The next day was a quiet Sunday on campus. I got up early and got my homework finished so I didn't have to worry about it later. We had a team meeting that afternoon. We were preparing for our first away game the next weekend, and our first game against a league opponent. I had a feeling practices were going to be tough as we got ready for our first real challenge of the season.

I thought about messaging Angie a few times. But she had made it clear that she wasn't available and I didn't want to look desperate. I knew I probably shouldn't stay hidden in my room, because I'd spend all my time thinking of her. So I went back to the football building and found that a few of my teammates were hanging out there. We threw a football around for a while as we discussed the previous days' game.

When we got tired of that, we started walking out. David came up beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Bro, did you get any good pussy last night?"

"No. I went back to my room once my parents headed home. I did a little homework and went to bed early."

He shook his head. "You should have been out celebrating! You're golden right now! You could have a line of girls standing outside your room, waiting for their time for some fun if you wanted to."

"I tried that back when I was a freshman, and that's not what I want. Don't you have anything else to live for other than free easy sex?"

He grinned. "I might be the wrong person to ask."

I had to laugh at that answer - he was exactly right. "I'm kind of getting interested in one girl right now, though I'm not sure she's as interested in me as I am in her."

"So in other words, she's a lesbian?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so, but to be honest, we've never really talked about her preferences. It's my tutor. She's been great for my studies, but I think she's great in other ways also."

David was quick to reply. "That little geeky girl we saw you with? Are you telling me you're interested in her for more than just trying to help you pass a class?"

"I don't know exactly what it is about her. I think she's very cute, and I know she's smart. I also know she doesn't like football players at all, from what she has told me. So I know it makes no sense to develop feelings for her, but I can't help it!"

We stopped walking, and David turned to face me head on. "Listen, Beau. I'm going to give you some advice you need to think about. After this weekend, everybody in the American football world knows who you are, and I think you have a chance to play in the NFL someday. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but most players in the NFL have trophy wives with them when they are out in public. Those guys can get whoever they want, and they love to show off the one they get.

"Your little geeky friend certainly ain't a trophy wife! How is it going to look when you're out with the other players on your team at a family event somewhere? People are going to look at you and think that for some reason, all you could manage was a short little shrimp with geeky glasses who doesn't know the first thing about being glamorous and sexy! A couple of years into the league and you're going to start wondering why you thought she was the perfect one for you!"

By this point, he was making me angry. "How about you don't worry about me? I'm sure you have enough to worry about on your own. I can handle what I like and don't like, and I don't really care if it doesn't measure up to your inflated standards. And since you don't really know anything about Angie other than she's not a supermodel, you really shouldn't be thinking of her as less than anybody else."

I started to walk off, but he quickly caught up with me. "Beau, of course you can make your own decisions. But I'm just trying to give you good advice. You keep chasing your little geek, but I know in three years, you're going to remember this conversation we had."

I pushed past him and headed to the dorm. I wasn't surprised at David's attitude since I'd known him to be a player on the dating scene. But I was most upset at him thinking he needed to help me with my life - and the fact that he didn't view Angie as being worthy of my potential status as an NFL player.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Angie a message - "Hope you've had a good day. Looking forward to seeing you again on Tuesday." I smiled a little to myself thinking about her. I may have had one of the best games of my life the day before, but I knew I would be lucky if Angie saw me as something more than a student she tutored.

******

The weight room was still buzzing on Monday morning about my picture appearing in so many places. I got congratulations from players whom I had not talked to on Sunday during the team meeting, and even the coaches were patting me on the back. The receivers coach pulled me aside as I was leaving to get ready for class. He said that after my performance in the previous game, teams now had a new receiver to cover, and it would open up a lot more offensive possibilities for the team.

All that made me feel good, but it wasn't doing enough to lift my spirits. I'd checked my phone to see if Angie had responded to my text, but nothing appeared. I was still steaming at David's remarks. He had been careful to avoid me as we lifted, but Trevon had started towards me and I'd waved him away. I wasn't ready to deal with his story that early in the morning.

I slogged my way through my classes. The geometry professor half-taught several new concepts, leaving me without a clue as to how I was going to learn them. Practice that afternoon was as busy as I had expected it to be. We put in several new plays on offense, including a couple that featured routes for me. After the day of rest, Monday's practices were always the most physical of the week, and my body was feeling it when we got done.

The only bright spot in an otherwise hectic Tuesday was my tutoring session with Angie. I arrived at the library before she did, and as I waited at the circulation desk, I was worried for some reason that she wouldn't show. But my fears were put aside when she showed up about five minutes later with a smile on her face. In that moment, I realized I had missed her more than I thought.

She apologized for not being able to see me since our Friday evening tutoring session at the ice cream parlor. We headed to a table about as far away from the front door as we could get. Our format had always been tutoring first, and since I was still struggling with the new geometry concepts my professor hadn't really taught me, she dug right into that. Before she was done, I had a much better understanding of what the new stuff was about. I was able to complete the assignment without any added stress.

Once I was done, we started talking about other things.

"I guess your life might be a little different after the picture of the catch came out," she said.

I was a little surprised that she had seen it. "It's definitely been different. My phone was very busy all-day Sunday, but it's slowed down some now."

"Has it been a good different, or a different that is causing more problems?"

It was an insightful question - I had not thought about it in those terms before. "I think it's good if I'm truly going to have a shot in professional football. But here on campus, it's been a distraction. I've been recognized more. So far it's not been a problem, but I could see how it might become that."

What followed was somewhat prophetic. Two students - a boy and a girl - approached our table, each holding something in their hands. The boy spoke to me first.

"Great catch on Saturday, Beau. Could I get your autograph?"

He had printed off a picture of the catch, and now it was sitting on the table in front of me.

"Uh, sure, I guess."

I quickly scrawled my name and my number 83 on the bottom of the picture. With a big grin, he picked it up and thanked me. His friend put her picture on the table and I signed it as well. As she started to leave, she said, "Thanks, Beau! I hope you have a great game this weekend!"

I turned to Angie, who was smirking at me. I sheepishly said, "Guess I'd better get that sign made for the table."

She replied, "Guess it's either that, or we need to find a new place for our sessions."

We talked for a few more minutes about nothing in particular. Right before it was time for us to leave, I remembered something that I had wanted to ask her.

"Didn't I see you at the game on Saturday? I have to admit being surprised, since I knew football probably wasn't your favorite activity."

She chuckled as she replied, "I knew you saw me. A couple of friends and I had some free time and we decided we'd go be a fan for once. I have to admit it wasn't bad. The atmosphere was crazy, which in some ways reminded me of how silly it seems that something like a game could get so many people to gather in one place and scream their heads off."

"I've never thought of it that way before, but you're right - it does seem silly. I was talking to my parents when we saw each other. I think they might have liked to meet you, but there was no way to stop you once you got on by."

She looked surprised. "You've told your parents about me?"

"Of course! They knew of my trepidation about taking geometry, so when I talk to them, I tell them how much you have helped me. They are thrilled with my progress so far. So naturally, I think they would have liked to thank you for helping me."

She seemed somewhat relieved with my response, although that might have changed when I added, "I also told them that I think you're awesome even when we aren't working on geometry."

"Beau!"

"Relax, Angie. They like hearing that I'm happy, and being with you makes me happy. There's nothing else to read into it - yet."

She shook her head as she got up to leave. "I feel like I'm being stalked a little bit."

"I don't want you to feel that way. But it might be a little bit true. I enjoy being with you - for many reasons."

We got to the front door of the library, and as I pushed it open for her, she looked up at me and smiled. "I can't believe I'm telling you this, but I enjoy being with you also. See you on Thursday, Beau."

I watched her as she headed off to her next class. I had proven that I could take care of the tutoring business without letting any other thoughts interfere. And I'd seen a crack in Angie's opinion of football players in general. As I headed to practice, I felt better than I had in a very long time!

******

The rest of the week went according to schedule. Practices were still tough, although the physical contact gradually reduced as we got closer to game day. Since we were playing out of town this Saturday, it meant we would be flying out on Friday afternoon so that we could get a full night's sleep in the hotel that night. It meant canceling our Friday lunch tutoring session, but Angie assured me that she'd have time to work with me on Sunday. It would be an evening session, since the team would not get back home until well into the middle of the night after the game, and I'd need to sleep late to get back on a regular schedule.

Our game on Saturday evening was the toughest of the young season, as expected. But by the middle of the third quarter, we had the game in hand. I didn't end up with the same level of stats as I had the previous game, but one of my six completions was for a touchdown. I also had another attention-grabbing play. It was a short crossing route in the middle of the defense, and as I caught it and turned to run up the field, I was met by two opposing linebackers. I put my head down and powered through both, and they ended up sprawling on their backsides as I gained another twelve yards on the play. After the game, the head coach came up to me to congratulate me on that particular play, saying, "I hope you like getting hit in the middle like that because plays like that one make our team better."

I woke up on Sunday afternoon about three. There was a food buffet at the football facility since our schedules didn't line up yet with dining hall hours. After eating, I went into the weight room to do some light exercises to get the blood pumping through my sore body. The starters played into the fourth quarter the day before, and that meant more hits and blocks and more pain the next day.

After a shower and a change of clothing, I texted Angie to see if we were still on for our session, and she responded with a thumbs up emoji. I headed to her dorm to pick her up. Despite the physical toughness of the game, I was feeling good. But my spirits were also high. It had been Thursday afternoon since I'd seen Angie. That was starting to seem like too long of a time between visits.

Angie walked out the door when she saw me approaching. Two girls were going in just as she reached me, and I heard them say, "Hi, Angie," in unison, followed by a giggle. I glanced down at Angie, and she was rolling her eyes.

"What's that all about?"

She replied, "I'm taking a lot of heat from my friends from being seen with you so much. They have started to refer to you as 'my football boy.' I've quit trying to explain that it's just for tutoring, since they didn't seem to be listening to me."

That made me laugh. "If it's any consolation, I kind of like being your 'football boy.' What do you think about what they are saying?"

"A part of me hates that I've quit being 'Angie' to them, and now I'm the girl with the 'football boy.' That goes against all of the bias I've developed against football players in general since I was younger.

"But a small part in me feels good to be connected in their eyes to one of the most popular football players on campus. I could have never imagined a scenario where that would happen."

I saw a chance to fluster her a bit. "If you want me to, I can sign some autographed pictures for them. I'll write, 'Angie's football boy, Beau Watkins #83.'"

"I don't think that's necessary. We'll deal with the way it is right now before we make any other plans."

We had decided on the burger stand again. I told Angie I'd treat her to burgers and fries, and she agreed. As we ate, we talked about my geometry class. I had a good class session on the past Friday before we left for the game. The professor had explained a new concept and thanks to Angie's help previously, I'd understood what he was saying.

We had finished our burgers and were enjoying an ice cream sundae before we headed back to the college. We had been going through our schedules for the week. Since we played back at home on Saturday, it looked like our normal schedules would work for us.

"Beau, are there any mornings that you might be available at 9:00 to help me with something?"

"I don't have class until 11:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll have to get out of weights a little early, but that shouldn't be a problem. What kind of help are you talking about?"

She paused for a couple of seconds, and then replied, "A few of my friends and I are doing some volunteer reading work at one of the city's elementary schools. I thought maybe I might be able to cash in on your new-found fame and have you come read a story to the kids, if I can get it worked out."

"I think I'd love that! So like I'd be reading to one class or something?"

"Well... maybe a few more students than just one class? The school is planning a special 'reading week' next month. I thought maybe a college football player reading a story about football might be a great way to show the kids that reading is important for everyone - football players included."

I really liked the sound of that. It reminded me of the work my team had done my senior year in high school. Showing the kids the importance of knowing how to read was important, and if I could influence any kid to work harder to learn to read, it would be time well spent.

"I'm in! If we can work out the schedule, I'd love to read to a few kids."

"Well..." she hesitated, and then said, "I was thinking about having you read in front of the entire school."

"So a couple hundred maybe?"

"More like five hundred. I know you would do great, Beau. You've been playing football for a long time in front of crowds much bigger than that. And you've more than likely been reading for as long as you've been playing football. Please?"

I hesitated, and then said, "You'll be there to give me support?"

She smiled. "Of course! I have to protect my football boy!"

That caused me to grin. "Then I'll do it! How long have you been interested in helping kids read?"

"I'd been reading with kids in our elementary school back home since I was a freshman in high school. Because of all the attention sports got there, I wanted to make sure that kids knew that learning to read was much more important than learning to play sports. So anytime a teacher would let me, I'd go read with kids.

"I wanted to continue once I got here, and found a few friends that were willing to help me. I know the teachers in the school appreciate any help they can get. We try to go at least twice a week, and the staff has included us in the planning of this reading week. They are going to be thrilled that you are willing to come and read."

She reached across the table and took my hand in hers. "Thanks, Beau. This is really important to me."

I squeezed her hand in return and said, "Then it's important to me also."

As we walked back to her dorm, I casually reached my right hand down to hold her left. We walked along like that without talking until we reached her dorm. She stopped and turned to me before she went inside.

"My friends didn't think there would be any way I could get you to come and read to the kids. Many of them have the same opinion of football players as I do. But I told them you were different, and this proves I was right. Thanks, Beau - I really appreciate you agreeing to do this."

She gave me a tiny hug. As she stepped back, I replied, "I would have done it anyway, because I like kids also. But I'll never be able to thank you properly for what you are doing for me. So now maybe we are even!"

She grinned. "Honestly, I've stopped keeping track of things like that. I'll see you on Tuesday, Beau."

I watched her go through the doors and out of my sight. It was another great day. Things were going so well in my life - the team was playing great and I was contributing in a big way; my academics were keeping me busy but I was turning in good work; and this little bit of a girl that had come into my life was bringing me unexpected joy. I couldn't help but smile all the way back to my room, thinking about what the coming week might bring that would create even more happiness.

******

We moved into the fall portion of the school year. The football team kept on winning, and my stats were showing that I was still a valuable part of the team. My classwork was going well. Angie was keeping me up on the new concepts that were being introduced in my geometry class. I was feeling more and more confident that I would make it through without any issues.

Our relationship was strengthening away from the tutoring sessions. We began to look for times to be together apart from our studies, though it wasn't always easy to find spots when we were both available at the same time. We'd go to an occasional movie together, or a concert put on by the school's excellent fine arts department. Mostly it was just walks through the campus where we'd hold hands and talk about our past and our future plans. It seemed these walks were always interrupted by other students recognizing me. But Angie was taking those interruptions in stride, as if the part of her that was proud to be with her 'football boy' was growing with time.

The day came for me to read to the students at the school where she volunteered. It was on a Thursday, and I was more nervous than I should have been, since I'd never done anything like that before. Thinking back to my experiences my senior year in high school helped, because there were times during our anti-bullying campaign where I made some presentations for other students. I was also drawing on what I'd been learning through my work in my sports media and marketing major at school. I was planning on writing about this experience to fulfill an assignment in one of my classes.

The reading was to take place in the school auditorium. I was led on stage to the cheers of just over five hundred students in kindergarten through fifth grade. I was wearing my uniform jersey, and I was introduced as the star tight end for the college. I figured many of these kids were participating in the youth football program in the city, so some of them might have already known about me.

The book was an easy reader for very young kids, but it was chosen because it was short and could be read in one session. As I read, the pages from the book were being shown on a big screen behind me so the kids could see the pictures. Often I'd stop on a page and would ask the kids a question about it. One illustration in particular was of the main character in the book who loved football despite his very small stature. The picture was of the kid brushing his teeth while wearing his football helmet. I got a laugh when I asked all the kids who had ever done that to raise their hand, and then I slowly raised my hand. I told them that while I was never very small, I had more than once brushed my teeth through the faceguard on my helmet.

When I finished the book, the students applauded. To show them how important reading was to older football players like me, I had brought the thick three-ring binder that was our team's playbook. The students 'oohed and awwwed' as I told them I had to memorize every play in the book or else I wouldn't get to play. The message was clear - even football players had to read if they wanted to keep playing.

The event was a success. I was thanked by the school principal and several teachers as they led their kids out of the auditorium. Angie and her friends were staying to visit some of the classes, but I had to get back for my next class on campus. Angie promised she'd see me for our regular tutoring session.

Reading for those students had given me an even bigger boost in my self-esteem. I realized that just as I had helped with the anti-bullying campaign in high school, there would always be kids that needed help with something, no matter where I went and what I did in my life. I began thinking about the possibilities of how I could help if I were fortunate enough to play football beyond college. It would be a great way to share my good luck and hard work with others as I tried to make a difference in the life of someone who needed a little help.

Angie was waiting for me when I got to the library for our tutor session. The smile on her face was huge, and when I reached her, she greeted me with a tremendous hug. We walked hand in hand back to the usual table where we did our session. I dug out the sign I'd been using for the past couple of weeks that said, "Tutoring session in progress - DO NOT DISTURB." It had worked well in keeping fans and others away from us.

Angie wasn't ready to start talking about geometry right away, however. "Beau, that was awesome! You did such a good job of interacting with the kids as you read the book. How did you know to do that? Did someone mention that to you?"

"It seemed like it would make the story more personal for the kids if I somehow included them in it. The brushing my teeth through my helmet was true! I figured it would help tie the story in to real-life experiences so they could see that even as a football player, reading was important."

She reached for my hand as she replied, "It worked. As my friends and I went into classrooms after that, so many of the kids thanked us for having you come to read to them. If you were ever so inclined to come again, I know they'd love to see you in their classrooms, or maybe even throwing a football around during recess sometime."

I liked both of those ideas. "What if I asked some of my teammates if they could join me some morning? If I could bring three or four or maybe even more, we could see a lot of the students in a fairly short amount of time."

"Beau, that would be awesome! These kids need to see just what you showed them - even football players can make a difference in their lives. I wish I would have had someone like that to show me football players in a positive light when I was younger. It would have countered what I was learning from my parents and my brother."

I squeezed her hand. "I can't promise anything. But I'll ask. The least they can do is tell me no."

Time passed quickly as we went through the tutoring session. I continued feeling confident about my class, and Angie was still getting time to read some of her class material while I worked on my latest assignment. When we finished, I put the sign back in my backpack. We walked out of the library together as I prepared to tell her goodbye for the rest of the day. But she had other plans.

"Do you mind if I walk with you to practice?"

"No, I don't mind. I've love to have you walk with me!"

Our hands joined together as was our practice. We didn't say anything to each other for a few minutes. The fall air had brought a drop in temperatures, which made the walk much more enjoyable.

Finally Angie spoke. "Why have you been so patient with me in our relationship? You have allowed me time to get to know you without being too pushy or demanding in any way at all, and I didn't expect that. I know it was you that first saw me as more than just your tutor, and you were willing to wait for me to see you as more than just my student."

I thought about it for a few seconds before I responded. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd never met anybody like you before. After that first meeting we had where you came in and huffed and puffed and read me the riot act about how our sessions were going to go, I was smitten! No one had ever really spoken to me like that before - well, no one except coaches or my parents who read me the same riot act after I got caught bullying my classmate.

"I didn't know at the time that it was because of your general disdain for all football players, and I didn't care. I only knew that as long as I followed your rules, I felt like I had a chance to pass geometry. It was after we started that I saw a different side of you, and I liked that side very much. Instead of dreading my tutoring sessions, I actually looked forward to them. It wasn't because I was learning, though that could have been reason enough alone. It was because I was enjoying being with you, especially after you realized you didn't have to be tough to motivate me.

"I didn't hold back for any reason, other than I liked the pace of our progression. I knew that it would take some time to get you to see me as not being your enemy, and I was willing to wait until that happened."

"Did you agree to come and read to the kids today as a way of speeding up our relationship?"

"No, Angie - not at all! I did it because you provided me with an opportunity to use my talents to help kids. I loved reading to them! It was so fulfilling, and now I'm excited about the possibility of having some of my teammates going with me."

There was a backless bench along the sidewalk about fifty yards from the entrance to the practice facility. I directed Angie to it so we could continue this discussion. I stepped over it to straddle it, and Angie did the same thing, although her short legs meant she had to sit down on it and swing one leg over. We both slipped our backpacks off, placing them on the ground beside us as we faced each other.

Angie looked at me through her oversized glasses and said, "I still don't get this, Beau. I don't understand how someone in your position..."

I stopped her immediately. "Don't say it! Don't say anything about position, because in my mind, you are in the higher position in this relationship than I am. I NEEDED you, Angie - I had to have you in order to pass my geometry class. That puts you in an exalted position in my book, and I don't ever see that changing."

I noticed extra moisture forming in her eyes. "Dammit, Beau - why do you always say the right things? Admit it - how many 'geeky' girls like me are in relationships with football stars like you? We don't normally go together, and I'm still struggling with the fact that you want to be with me!"

"Angie, you have unfortunately been put in what you think is your position by people who should never have compared you to your brother. I think that probably affected you more than you realize, and so you always put yourself where your parents put you and when other people did the same thing, you grudgingly accepted it instead of showing them they were wrong.

"But that first day with me, you were certainly not some pathetic little geeky girl. You were ferocious and persuasive and you had set high standards for me with no chance for me to respond. And that's exactly what I needed from you."

She lowered her head a bit. "You don't know how hard that was for me to behave like that. But I really thought I needed to get the upper hand immediately since my opinion of football players meant I didn't think you'd take my time seriously. I was wrong, of course."

I put a finger under her chin and lifted her head so I could look into her eyes. "Angie, that force you were for me hasn't gone away. It's still there, but you need to bring it out more. Take the assembly today. When you were working with friends, I bet you didn't have any problem suggesting me to come and read to the kids, did you?"

"No, I guess not."

"Just like you managed to be that way with me, even though it was hard. Look where that's gotten you? You now have a 'football boy' for other people to talk about!"

She started smiling again, and it warmed my heart. But it was quickly replaced with another frown.

"Beau, I need to confess something to you. I haven't had the experiences you've had with girlfriends. My only times have not been good at all, so I'm worried that I'm not going to be enough for you."

I was surprised she was opening herself up to talk about this. "When we get to that time, we'll work through it together. If you were still in high school when you had your experiences, I'm certainly not surprised that it wasn't good for you. Guys that age are usually there only to get what they want, not to give you what you want. But that's in the past, and I'm sure we'll be just fine."

I looked down at my watch and realized I only had five minutes to get into the locker room if I wanted to be on the field on time.

"Angie, I need to get in there. Thank you for walking me to practice. And thanks for setting me up to read to the students. This has been one of the best days of my life so far!"

"Wait - before you go, I want to do one more bold thing."

She put her hands on either side of my face and pulled me towards her. Our lips met and we kissed for the first time. When she stopped, we looked at each other for a couple of seconds, and then instinctively moved towards each other again. This time our kiss was much more passionate, and before we finished, our tongues were exploring each other.

I didn't want to stop, but I had to. I wished we could have spent more time practicing!

"Wow, Angie. That was the most passionate kiss I think I've ever experienced! If you do the other stuff that well, we're not going to have any problems at all!"

She was blushing from the kiss, and maybe from my appraisal of said kiss. "I'm glad you liked it. It was easily my best kiss as well!"

We stood up together, and I gave her a strong hug. "I'll text you later, and tell you once again how good that kiss was, and how much I enjoyed today."

"Have a good practice, Beau. See you tomorrow at lunch!"

I hustled into the locker room and started to change into my practice gear. I didn't get very far before I saw Trevon and David approaching. As good of a mood as I was in, I pledged not to let them bring me down. Unfortunately, it didn't work like I had hoped.

David was first. "Damn, Watkins - you still with that geeky girl? Oh, I get it - pretending to be nice to her as long as she's trying to make you smart. Don't want to piss her off or else she'll drop your ass and let you fend for yourself!"

"That's not it at all, David. Angie is an amazing person in more ways that her ability to help me with my class. Didn't I tell you to quit worrying about my life and think about your own more?"

Trevon took his turn. "Don't worry, we are thinking about our life. That's why we came to invite you to go out with us after practice tonight. We have some beautiful girls lined up to spend some time with, and I'm sure you're little geeky girl will never find out that you went out and had a good time."

"Thanks, but I'll pass.

They both shook your heads. David said, "You need to wise up, son. You're driving a tiny little Ford when you could be cruising with a beautiful Mercedes! Let's go, Watkins! Come with us and have some REAL fun!"

I turned to both of them so they could see how serious I was. "Stop this RIGHT NOW! You have no clue what I want in life, so quit trying to get me to live it to your standards."

They both backed away, and as I turned back to my locker, David said, "Okay, man - suit yourself. When we're cock deep in prime pussy tonight, we ain't going to be worrying about your sorry ass."

I finished changing and hurriedly headed to the practice field. I threw my aggression from my confrontation with my teammates into my drills. I knew I shouldn't pay attention to their nonsense. But it was their opinion of Angie that really bothered me. They knew nothing about her, and yet they had already put her into a category that was less than flattering, at least in their eyes.

If anything, it made my resolve to strengthen my relationship with Angie even more important - not that I needed my desire to be stronger. After the few minutes we had just spent together that culminated in sharing our first kiss, I was ready for this to go all the way. It had just been short of two months since I'd first met her. It was clear to me that she was the one I wanted to spend a very long time with.

******

The game that following Saturday was our last evening game of the season. As the temperatures continued to drop, games were now scheduled for the afternoon, unless we happened to catch a time change based on a network's desire to air one of our games.

It was another big win for us, keeping our perfect record intact for the season. I didn't have any touchdown catches in the game, but I did manage to catch eight passes for just over a hundred yards. There was starting to be a buzz in the press of the potential for us to play in a major bowl game. We still had our toughest game ahead of us with a team in our league that had been ranked in the top twenty-five all season long. A win over them would propel us firmly onto the national stage.

My parents were waiting for me in the corner of the stadium after the game. As soon as I got to them, I saw Angie in the stands once again. I waved her down to where my parents were standing, and they got to meet my tutor angel in person for the first time. I asked Angie if she would accompany me and my parents to dinner, and she surprisingly agreed. At dinner, I sat back and watched my parents pepper her with questions and share stories about me when I was younger.

After my parents dropped us off on campus, Angie and I walked back towards her dorm. We held hands as always, walking slowly in the cool fall air.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet my parents, Angie. I know that had to be scary for you. But I can tell they really like you."

"That's good, because I liked them. I could see parts of you in both of them. You had a great childhood, raised by parents who cared about you and nurtured you. I would have loved to have parents like that."

I squeezed her hand a little tighter as we continued walking. I thought about her childhood, knowing from what she had already told me that she was almost like a second-class citizen in her own home. In spite of that status, she had survived, and I was witnessing the beginnings of her coming out of her shell, ready to shine on her own.

We arrived at the door to her dorm. She turned and wrapped her arms around me. As she hugged me, she softly said, "Thanks again for putting up with me. I still don't see how you've picked me out of all the other girls in this place. But I really enjoyed meeting your parents and getting to hear a little more about your life."

"I picked you because you are so very special to me in more ways than a tutor, and I want to spend a very long time with you to learn more about you and share good times together."

I bent over to give her a kiss, which she readily returned. We stood there at the door for a few minutes, hugging each other without speaking. I had no idea what her thoughts were, but mine were to spend as long as I could lifting her up until she got to the point that she could understand why I was becoming addicted to her.

She finally released our hug. "Do you have another team meeting tomorrow afternoon?"

I nodded. "I'll text you when it's done to see if you want to do something together."

She smiled. "I'll be waiting on it! Goodnight, Beau. Sleep well - you've earned it!"

I watched as she disappeared through the doors. As I walked back to the football dorm, an interesting thought occurred to me. All my life had been focused on playing football, so naturally it had taken up all my time and energy. For the first time, football was taking a back seat to my thoughts of Angie. That realization had snuck up on me, but it showed me that Angie was even more important to me that I had realized.

The next day was a typical Sunday during football season. I had slept past noon after a night game, then went straight to the football facility for our buffet lunch and team meetings. I lifted a few weights to rejuvenate my sore body. After that, the rest of the day was open.

As I walked back to my room, I texted Angie, telling her I was free but had to do some homework before I could go out. I invited her to come and study with me, since she'd never been in the football dorm as far as I knew. I got no response, so I got busy with my homework.

An hour went by, and I checked my phone again to make sure I'd actually sent her the message. There was still no response, and I was starting to get just a little worried, though I knew it was silly to think that way. I spent another hour on my homework and got it all finished. When there was still no response from Angie, my worry increased.

I decided to call her, thinking maybe she'd just overlooked my message. Her phone rang a couple of times and then went to voicemail. I left a message, telling her I was done with my homework and was looking forward to spending some time with her.

With nothing else to do, I turned on the Sunday night NFL game. As I watched the players on the field, I thought about my possibility of being there at some point. It was exciting to think that I had a chance to be a part of the best football players on the planet. The players were so big and fast that it seemed difficult to imagine I would have a chance to play. But I was following the right path, and with one more season to go in college, there was always a possibility.

And then I thought about wanting to be there with Angie as my partner, and that brought my worry about her silence back to me. I quickly lost interest in the game. All I could think about was if she was okay. I knew she didn't have to tell me all her plans. But I remembered the kiss the night before, and our plans to get together this evening. There had been no mention of anything else that would prevent us from getting together.

I finally gave up and went to bed. Hopefully she would answer me tomorrow, and it would be something silly that we'd laugh about. But as I drifted off to sleep, I didn't feel like laughing at all.

******

I awoke at my usual 5:30 a. m. the next morning to get ready to go to weights. I checked my phone to see if Angie had returned a message, but she had not. I knew we were scheduled for our regular tutoring session the next day in the library, but I didn't want to wait that long to find out if she was okay.

My mind was preoccupied as I lifted weights. My heart wasn't into it, so I told the strength coach that I was going to take it easy so that I didn't injure myself as I lifted. He looked at me suspiciously but didn't comment. He knew that wasn't my normal way. Usually I was pushing myself harder than he wanted, so he must have figured out something was up.

As I walked to and from class the rest of the day, I kept my eyes out for Angie, but I never saw her. It wasn't often that we could see each other at a distance like that, but when we did, we always made sure the other one saw us. Even those little moments of waving and smiling were always a huge positive uplift in my day. That uplift was definitely missing.

There still had been no contact by Tuesday. I made it through my morning classes and lunch, looking forward to our usual 1:30 tutoring session. I got to the library early, hoping that she'd already be there so I could see that she was okay. But she wasn't there yet. As I stood at the circulation desk, I was approached by a student that looked to be my age. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to a fan or sign an autograph, but he hadn't done anything annoying yet.

He had a big smile on his face as he spoke. "Beau, it's great to meet you! I'm a huge fan of you and the team. You're having a great season! My name is Tim. I'm going to be your tutor for the rest of the semester."

My heart dropped. Why had Angie quit? Now I was more than worried. I hoped Tim knew the answer.

"So what happened to Angie? Why is she not tutoring me anymore?"

"I don't know," Tim replied. "But when I found out that you needed someone, I jumped on it quickly. This is such an honor for me! Shall we begin?"

By that point, I was beyond needing a tutor for that day. I needed to know where Angie was, and I needed to know as soon as possible.

"It's nice to meet you, Tim. But I don't think I can do a session today. I need to do something else."

I turned and went out the library door. I headed straight to Angie's dorm, hoping to catch either her or one of her friends that could tell me where she was. All sorts of scenarios raced through my mind. Had she had to go home for some family emergency? Did she get sick or assaulted somehow? I hoped it was a legitimate reason that she really needed to take care of, even if it meant I couldn't see her anymore, but I was not able to think of what that could possibly be.

I sat outside her dorm for an hour before I had to go to practice. Much like lifting weights on Monday morning, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to practice. But I couldn't let my coach or the team down, so I did my best to put Angie into the back of my mind. After practice and dinner, I went back to her dorm, but I still wasn't able to find out anything.

I repeated the same schedule on Wednesday. Finally right before practice, I saw a couple of girls that I had remembered seeing with Angie before, when I found out that I was her 'football boy.' They saw me standing outside the dorm door and acted like they didn't want to talk to me.

"Hello, can you tell me where Angie is? I haven't had any contact with her since last weekend, and I'm terribly worried!"

Finally one of them faced me. "I don't think Angie wants to see you. After finding out your plans when the semester was over, I doubt she ever wants to see you again."

"What plans? Who did she talk to? The only plans I had with Angie don't stop at the semester!"

"She told us that a couple of your football 'goons' caught up with her and told her all about your plans to be extremely nice to her while she was tutoring you so you could do well in your class, but then once she wasn't needed, you would be dumping her so you can get back to dating hotter girls."

My mind was instantly flooded with shock and rage. "No, I never said anything like that! Angie is much more to me now than just a tutor! I'm not going to dump her just because our tutoring sessions are over! Please tell her that whoever told her that, they are wrong and had no business speaking for me!"

Her friend frowned at me. "I'll pass your message along, but I'm not sure she's going to believe it."

They walked passed me and into the dorm. I knew who had gotten to Angie, and I knew where they'd be in just a few minutes. I double-timed it to the practice facility and ripped open the locker room doors. There they were - David and Trevon - together as always.

I went straight for David, since he was the one that couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut before. He smiled as he saw me coming, but his smile turned to fear when he saw the rage in my eyes. I grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands and pulled him close.

"What did you say to her, you fucking asshole? What did you say?"

"I... I... I don't know what you're talking about!" he stuttered.

That was the wrong answer. With all my force, I pushed his body into the open locker space behind him. He hit the back wall hard, and to keep him there, I braced my forearm across his chest.

"Talk to me, asshole! She isn't talking to me, and it's all because of you!"

I looked over at Trevon, who was standing back a few feet. "You probably should be running, because you're next!"

By this time, other players had jumped in, trying to separate us. Coaches also started arriving, and when I heard our head coach shouting to break it up, I knew I'd better listen. I released David and stood up.

Coach looked at me and screamed, "You two, in my office now. Anybody else involved in whatever this is had also better come. The rest of you, get out on the field!"

I followed him into his office, not looking behind me to see who else was coming. Coach had a couple of his assistants come as well, including my receivers' coach. Once we were all in, he closed his door. I noticed that Trevon had followed David into the office.

Coach was not a happy man. "Okay, who wants to tell me why my star tight end suddenly went off on one of my other players?"

I started to speak, but David beat me to it. "This is my fault, coach. Beau has been getting interested in his tutor as a girlfriend, and I didn't think a geeky girl like that was good enough for him, when he could have his pick of any of the beautiful girls on campus. So... I found her and told her that he couldn't possibly be interested in her, and that he was only being nice to her because he needed her help to pass a class."

I knew that was what had happened, but hearing him admit it made it seem even more real.

Coach looked over at me, then back at David. "So why is Trevon also in here?"

Trevon figured he'd better confess as well. "I was the one that found out her name and where we could find her. I was also with David when he talked to her."

It was taking all of my self-control to not jump up and start beating on those two again. It helped that I could see that Coach was angry as well. I figured I'd have to answer to what I'd done in the locker room, but at the moment, the actions of the other two seemed more important to him.

Coach looked at David and Trevon and said, "Gentlemen, I'm extremely disappointed in you. For some reason, you forgot the concept of team when you sought to bring pain to one of your brothers on the team."

David interrupted him - which might not have been a good move. "Honestly, Coach - I thought we were helping Beau see what his possibilities were, and the fact that this girl was getting in the way of them."

I jumped in at this point. Looking straight into David's eyes with all the anger I could muster, I said, "I've told you TWICE to stay out of my life. Did you not understand that?"

MEN!" shouted Coach. "That's enough!" He looked at David and Trevon again and said, "For conduct detrimental to the team, both of you are suspended for this weekend's game. You will report to my office on Monday morning at 8:00 a. m. so we can discuss this further. I suggest you figure out a way to help fix this, since you are the ones that caused this. You are dismissed."

Without a word, Trevon and David left the office, heads hanging low. I was hopeful that my anger at them would dissipate enough that when I saw them again, I wouldn't feel like doing more physical harm to them.

Once they were gone, Coach turned his attention to me. "Watkins, I completely understand why you were so angry. Honestly, if I were in your position, I would have done the exact same thing. But you have to understand that I can't have team leaders acting like this in front of the others. You're more than likely going to be a captain of the team next year, but it won't happen if you decide to act like that again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Coach. I've never been this angry in my life, so I didn't handle it very well. It won't happen again."

"I believe you, Beau. I hope you can get things worked out. It's been my experience that any effort to find a girl usually isn't worth it, but maybe I'm not a good example."

He laughed at himself, and then continued.

"I do have to punish you. You'll sit out the first half of Saturday's game. Your actions are hurting the team as much as they are hurting you. You'd better be ready to have your best half of football in the second have, because we will probably need you."

"I won't let you down Saturday, Coach. I'll never let you down again, period."

"I trust you, Beau. Now get out on the field and take out some of that aggression for those two assholes on practice."

I did just that - it was perhaps my most physical practice of my life. But after we were done, I was comforted by the fact that the rest of my teammates surrounded me and let me know they supported me, and hoped I'd be able to get Angie back. It was affirmation I needed, from the most important people in my life that weren't my tutor.

******

I began texting Angie again as soon as practice was over. I let her know that David and Trevon had confessed what they'd done and that they had been suspended from the team. Twice I told her that what they said wasn't true at all, and that my plans for her went well beyond the end of our tutoring session.

She still failed to respond. I thought about going and standing at her dorm door some more, but it seemed likely that she wouldn't be going in and out that way if her friends had told her they had seen me there. I was playing a waiting game, and I wasn't going to give up easily. But it wasn't looking good. She must have been devastated by what those two assholes said to her.

I held onto one last ounce of hope that she'd show up at our tutoring session on Thursday afternoon. However, it was Tim again. I apologized for blowing him off two days ago, and he was able to help me with a couple of new concepts the professor had almost taught. I knew being upset that Angie had abandoned me would not be a good enough excuse if I didn't pass the class, so I put forth extra effort to work through the problems Tim helped me with.

I was sitting alone in my dorm room after practice and dinner when I was startled by a loud banging on my door. Before I could get to the door to see who it was, I heard someone yell out, "Beau, open up! It's David and Trevon. We've come to apologize, and we've brought you something to help make you feel better."

There was no way I was going to open the door for those idiots. "Go away! You've caused me enough pain, and I don't think there's anything you can do that would make me feel better after what you did."

Trevon answered, "I know, man, and we're really sorry! I promise we'll go away if you'll just open the door and see what we brought you."

I figured I didn't have any more to lose, so I approached the door and opened it slowly. It was Angie! They had brought my girlfriend back to me! Her face scrunched up and she ran and jumped up into my arms. I caught her and held on to her tightly! All the dark clouds started melting away as my precious Angie sobbed in my arms.

I glanced up to see one of them shutting the door. I could have held her in my arms for hours, I was so elated to see her! I ended up going to the bed, where I sat down and lowered Angie onto my lap. She didn't release me - she simply held tight while she buried her head into my shoulder.

We sat there like that for at least five minutes. There was nothing to be said in that moment. Instead, it was like enjoying the sun coming out after a very rainy few days. Angie was back and she was in my arms and all was right with the world!

She finally leaned back a bit. Her glasses were tilted on her face, so she reached for them and pulled them off. I took them from her and placed them on the bedside table where we wouldn't have to worry about them. Looking back at her, I realized it was the first time I got to see her eyes without her glasses on. They were a very dark blue - almost a smoky gray, and very deep. I loved finding out new things about her. But I loved more that she was back with me so I could keep on finding new things.

I leaned forward and we kissed - softly at first, but then more aggressive the longer our lips were together. Eventually our tongues found each other. Kissing her was the best thing ever, and she seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. I knew there would be more things to explore eventually, but at that moment, kissing her was my ultimate enjoyment.

We parted, and she leaned back a bit. I couldn't help but smile seeing her beautiful smoky gray eyes still welling with tears. "I missed you so much, Angie! I'm so sorry those two assholes did that to you. They have been dealt with by Coach. They won't bother you anymore."

I gave her another little kiss. "I'm the one who should be sorry," she replied. "I didn't want to believe them, but I still can't get past this notion that football players hate me. I should have known that what they were saying was a lie. But I reverted back to my previous insecurities. I'm working on it, Beau. I'm trying to move forward. Can you stay with me while I work on it?"

"Don't worry, beautiful girl. I'm not going anywhere. You're going to have to try harder if you want to get rid of me!"

She pulled me into another deep kiss. After, she said, "I'm never going to get rid of you! You are by far the best thing that ever happened in my life!"

As we hugged again, I whispered in her ear, "Then we are equal, because I feel the same way about you. I'm so glad I was dumb enough to need your help with geometry! Look how much you are helping me now."

We held each other for a few minutes longer. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was well after I normally went to bed.

Softly, I said, "Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?"

She pulled back and smiled sweetly. "Could I stay here with you tonight?"

I wasn't expecting that, but I was certainly happy to accommodate her. "Of course! I'll try to be quiet when I get up in the morning to go to weights. You can stay as long as you want. Just make sure when you use the suite bathroom that you lock both doors if you don't want more stupid football players barging in on you!"

That comment made her giggle. "Thanks for the warning. I'm sure I'll feel very comfortable in this dorm full of football players as long as I'm in your room."

I picked her up and sat her on the side of the bed next to me. I stood up to peel my sweatpants off, still wearing my shorts that I had on underneath them. The bed was just a full-size bed, but it was going to be plenty big enough for the two of us. I pulled back the covers and climbed in, laying on my left side. Angie took her place next to me, snuggling against me in the little spoon position.

It felt perfect to have her that close to me. It was another big stage in our growing relationship. I hoped there would be more to come, but for now, it was very good. I kissed the back of her head, and the last sound I heard before I drifted off to sleep was her rhythmic breathing, indicating her sleep. She was safe with me, and I hoped to spend the rest of my life making sure she never felt anything else.

******

I was feeling a little weary when I wandered into the weight room at 6:00 a. m. the next morning. Having Angie back with me was worth all of the tiredness I might have felt, however. Once my teammates saw me, they lifted my spirits again by offering more support. When I told them that Angie had come back to me, they cheered! Being part of a supportive team was great, and I was reaping the benefits several times over.

I lifted with the other tight ends on the team that morning, and I was discussing Angie's situation with them, including how her own family treated her as a second-class citizen to her older brother.

One of them, Billy Chambers, said, "I think we could probably help her get over her fear of football players, if you think she'd go for it."

"How do you propose doing that? This has been a part of nearly her entire life, and it took a lot of time for her to trust me - and even that trust faltered when David and Trevon lied to her."

He smiled. "Obviously she is a great person if she can keep your sorry ass eligible! I think maybe we could show her our appreciation for that monumental task. Do you think you could get her to the weight room with you some morning? If you could bring her by 6:30 sometime, I think we'd be ready for her. Plus, I owe you for punching out David, because it means I get to start on Saturday, and my parents are thrilled to be able to see me on national TV!"

Billy was one of my best friends on the team, so I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt Angie. But I was still a bit weary. "How do you propose to do that?"

He was quick to respond. "If she's going to be with you for however long that is, she's going to be around other football players. If we can help her now see that we really are a bunch of great guys, it will be much easier for both of you as you go forward together. I think I have the perfect way to welcome her, but I'll need to talk to one of the team captains to make sure it's okay with them."

He looked around the weight room, and saw that our senior quarterback, Austin Kelly, was a couple of racks to our left.

"Austin," Billy called out. "Can you come here for a couple of minutes? I want to run something by you."

Austin nodded and walked over to us. "What's up, guys?"

Billy explained the shortened version of Angie's situation, and then got to his plan. "I don't know if we could even do this or not, but what would you think about making her an honorary member of the team? We could get her a jersey with her name on it, and maybe put Beau's number on it for her. Is that possible? It's the least we could do after the way the assholes treated her."

It was nice to know that I wasn't the only player who thought David and Trevon were assholes!

Austin replied, "I think that's an excellent idea! When would you like to do this?"

They looked at me. "I will first have to get her talked into coming in here. She's going to be very nervous about it, but I think I can convince her. Do you think we could maybe do it on Monday morning?"

Billy smiled. "I can get the jersey ready by then. What size do you think she wears?"

I held my hand at my chest where the top of Angie's head came to me. "I'm sure she'll swim in an adult small, but she likes to wear layers, so that might be perfect."

Austin replied. "This is a great idea, guys! If she is the one responsible for keeping Beau eligible, she's just as important to this team as anybody else. I'll make sure it's okay with Coach, but I don't see that's going to be a problem."

They looked at me one more time. "Can you let me know what Coach thinks as soon as possible? If he agrees, I'll start working on her to get her to come and meet you. I can't believe you are doing this for her! Once she gets over her fear of all of you, I think she's going to be so excited!"

"I'll go ask Coach right now, and get back to you before we're done here this morning," said Austin. He turned and headed to Coach's office. True to his word, he came back to me before we left, telling me that not only did he approve, but he wanted to be the one to present Angie with her jersey.

I could hardly wait to get back to Angie to ask her to come to weights on Monday morning! She was sitting in the chair in my dorm room when I opened the door. Her face erupted in a big smile and she stood to walk over to me, wrapping me up in a big hug.

"Good morning, handsome! I don't know about you, but I slept great last night. I will admit, it was the first time I've ever slept in a building with as many males as I assume were here. But in your arms, nobody else existed, and it was very comforting."

"Wow - I'm glad you liked it, because I thought it was great also! I hope I didn't wake you this morning when I got up."

"Nope - slept through it. In fact, when I did wake up, I was a little confused at first about where I was. But then I remembered, and my confusion quickly turned into joy."

I waited a few seconds, and then popped the question on my mind. "Would you trust me and do me a huge favor on Monday morning, if I promised to be with you while you were doing it?"

She looked warily at me. "I'm not sure I like the way this sounds! What's the favor?"

"Well... the guys on the football team want to meet you, especially after the way the assholes treated you. Would you go with me to weights at 6:30 on Monday morning? You won't have to stay, and I'd be with you the entire time so nothing bad will happen to you."

She thought about it for a few seconds. I could see she was struggling with the decision. Finally she said, "You know what? If I had trusted you like I should have, I would have known that those guys were lying to me and we wouldn't have lost a few days of being together. So as a sign that I'm working on my trust with you, I will go. I want to prove to you and myself that I can handle this."

I hugged her again. "I promise you, it will be special. They want to show you how much they appreciate you keeping me eligible. And they want you to know that not all football players are like David and Trevon."

"They know about that?"

"Well... once I found out what they had done to you, I might have broken out into a fit of rage and pushed David hard back into his locker. They were all there watching. I'll tell you a secret about football teams - they gossip just like any group of girls does. Everybody on the team knows about you by now."

I could tell that she didn't know whether to smile or to be worried. "What other secrets does the team have?"

"Nope - you only get to know the one. And if you tell anybody else, I'll deny telling you! Now... what do you say I accompany you on a breakfast date? Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving, and the thought of a breakfast date with you sounds like the perfect way to start the day!"

******

Our game on Saturday was another away game. We had flown out right after lunch on Friday, so I wasn't able to have my tutoring session with Angie. She promised that she'd have all the time I needed on Sunday to make sure I was ready for Monday's geometry class.

This was the game where I was to serve my first half suspension. The team we were playing had been picked to finish third in the conference, just below us, so it would be a big achievement for them to come away with a victory. Their stadium was jam packed with rowdy fans. We managed to keep it close by halftime. It was the hardest thing ever for me to have to stand and watch from the sideline. The lesson was well learned - I knew I'd never put my team or myself in a situation like that again.

When I got into the huddle for the first time to start the third quarter, Austin Kelly looked directly at me.

"You're behind in your stats for this game, Beau. Are you ready to make them up? You should be well-rested by now."

"You can count on me, Captain. I'm ready!"

Coach immediately called on my number. I caught the first three passes thrown to me for a combined 45 yards. The other team decided they needed to double team me, which opened up our speedy wide receiver to be covered by only one defender. He was able to break free and run down the sideline, where Austin Kelly hit him with a long pass in stride for an easy touchdown. We were back in the game.

It stayed that close all the way to the last few seconds of the 4th quarter. We were down by three, just a couple of yards out from their end zone, but had failed to push the ball across the goal line on our first two running attempts. Coach called timeout and pulled the entire offense over to the sideline.

"Listen up - we've not practiced this play yet, but I know you'll be able to make it work." He then proceeded to draw out what we were going to do on third down, knowing that if it didn't work, we still had one time out left to call.

We broke the sideline huddle. On the way to the line of scrimmage, Austin warned me, "The center snaps the ball high. Be ready for it. As soon as you get set, I'll yell out 'GO' and the ball will be in your hands."

"Got it!"

We lined up in a spread formation with Kelly in shotgun, which confused the defense. As they scrambled to cover what looked to be a pass, I started in motion left from my place at the end of the offensive line. When I got to the center, I stopped and leaned in under him. Once Austin saw that I was set, he yelled "GO" and the center snapped the ball to me. I was able to run behind his and our massive right guard's block for an easy trip into the end zone. We had taken the lead with just a few seconds remaining.

After the extra point was good, we were up by four. There was just time for the kick-off and one offensive play, and our defense stopped it. We had won a great game against a great team in their stadium.

As we ran off the field to the locker room, our running back came up to me and clapped me on the back. "Great job, Watkins! But from now on, stick to catching passes, and leave the touchdown runs to me!"

He was laughing as he said it, so I knew he was just playing around with me. All I could think to say back was, "Okay, that's fine by me!"

As was usual for away games, I called my dad while we were on the buses to take us back to the airport. He also commented that if he knew I was going to be a running back, we would have worked on that skill set more when I was younger. He also asked how I felt about the first half suspension, and I told him that it would never happen again.

Right before we boarded the plane, Angie texted me, asking what time we would be back. Once I answered, she sent a 'thumbs-up' emoji, and then told me that she'd watched the game but was confused seeing me stopping where I did on the last play. I explained that it was designed that way, so she was happy that it worked out for us.

We landed back at home, and our buses got us back to the practice facility shortly after midnight. We usually had several diehard fans of the team meet us after each road trip, but it appeared we had more than usual following our big win.

As I stepped off to grab my gear, I looked over and saw Angie standing there! She'd asked what time I got home so she could meet me! She ran up to me and gave me a hug, and I bent down so we could kiss.

"This is a great surprise! I had no idea you would come to meet me!"

She grinned. "I missed you! It was hard seeing you on TV knowing that you were so far away. So I thought I'd be your welcoming committee. Is it okay that I'm here?"

"Of course - it's more than okay. It's great! I have to take my stuff into the facility. Will you walk with me?"

She nodded yes. I took my gear into the equipment room. Once it was put away, I was able to grab Angie's hand, and she snuggled into my side. As we stepped out the door and into the cool fall night, I squeezed her hand and asked, "Care to come back to my room again? Seemed good for you before."

She snuggled closer to me and replied, "I was hoping you'd ask."

There were other players in the hallways once we got to the football dorm. Some had girls with them like me, so we really didn't care if others saw us. Once we were in my room, the rest of the world disappeared. It was just the two of us until I had to get out again tomorrow afternoon.

When we got our coats off, I couldn't help myself, and I reached down to pick Angie up and held her against me. We kissed for several seconds. Once we finished, I smiled and asked, "Am I patronizing your size by picking you up like this?"

She giggled and replied, "Am I patronizing your size by allowing you to pick me up like this? If I ever get tired of it, I'll let you know. Besides, this way you don't have to bend down to kiss me, and I don't have to strain my neck lifting my head up to kiss you. But maybe for now, we'll only do this in private."

"Ha - I think that's probably a good idea."

We continued kissing and exchanging small talk about the game as I held her. I think I could have held her like that all night, but my body was already a little sore from the game, so I backed up to the bed and sat down. Once again, Angie settled onto my lap.

After a few more kisses, she asked, "Are you tired?"

"A little. Are you? Do we need to go to sleep?"

She smiled and shook her head no. "I thought maybe since we didn't have to get up and go anywhere in the morning, we might stay up and do a little... exploring. Interested?"

Before I could answer, she slowly took her glasses off and leaned over to set them on the night table. She looked at me again, and as I got lost in her smoky gray eyes once more, she kissed me. I pulled her tiny body closer to mine as we tongue wrestled with each other. My body began to respond to the promise of the fun we were going to have together.

Angie reached for the bottom of my shirt as she said, "Let's see how big and strong my football boy really is."

She got the tail about halfway up before I grabbed it to pull it all the way over my head. Her hands started running over my chest and upper arms. Lifting weights every day, combined with the rigorous activity that football was, had left me with nicely defined muscles and a low body fat percentage rate. I was in good shape, as she was finding out by inspecting me with her hands.

"I've never seen anything like this before in person. My brother thought he was in great shape, but he was nowhere close to you. Your hard work and attention to your diet is really paying off."

I was somewhat surprised to hear Angie talking like this, since I knew football players hadn't been very important to you. "So do you like it?"

She grinned as she kissed me. "I think I'll be able to get used to it. I do have to warn you though - I'm not nearly as muscularly defined as you are."

"Something tells me I'm going to love your definition very much! Do you mind if I see?"

She shook her head. Just as she had done, I reached for the bottom of her sweatshirt, pulling it up and over her head as she lifted her arms to make it easier to get off. I wasn't surprised to see she was wearing another layer, but I was surprised to see that it was a nightshirt of some kind. She had come prepared expecting to spend the night!

She nodded as I reached for the nightshirt. It was much lighter material, so pulling it over her head was easier than the sweatshirt. I got a good look at her upper body for the first time. I wasn't surprised to see that her skin was pale. But I was surprised to see that her breasts were a bit larger than what I'd expected. She'd done a good job of hiding them beneath the layers she usually wore.

She was wearing a fairly simple white bra that allowed her cleavage to be visible. When she hyperextended her arms to unhook it, I nodded my approval. She had it unhooked quickly, and I watched with great anticipation as she brought it forward, sliding it off of her arms and tossing it to the floor beside the bed.

Her breasts were perfect! They were the exactly the right size for her diminutive body. Her translucent pink nipples were surrounded by slightly darker areola. I reached for them with both hands, but realized I hadn't asked if it was okay.

Before I could say anything, she quickly said, "Please."

I immediately surrounded each firm breast with a large hand that made them seem smaller than they actually were. I could feel her nipples getting harder in the cool of the room and the warmth of our anticipation. As I squeezed each nipple lightly with my fingers, Angie moaned and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Not hurting you, am I?

She replied softly, "No, quite the opposite. This is already better than my previous experiences, though the bar was set quite low."

I lightly pinched her nipples again and said, "Let's see if we can't get the bar up where it belongs. May I taste them?"

Her whispered reply was a simple, "Please."

She sat upright on my lap, making it easier for my mouth to find its desired targets. I took her right nipple in my mouth first, still using my hand to play with her left. I gently sucked on it, eliciting another moan, followed by, "Ohhhhh, I had no idea this would feel so good!"

She put her arms around my back as I switched sides. She kissed the top of my head while I continued my attention on her breasts. I could have done this all night if she wanted me to. But I also knew she deserved the new experiences I felt I could give her. And I knew I wanted to share those experiences with her.

I sat back up and looked into her eyes. She kissed me and then said, "Promise me it will always be this good?"

I chuckled a bit. "We've not really started yet! If you think this is good, you're in for the best night of your life! Are you ready for more? We both still have clothes on."

Angie nodded her head. I stood up with her in my arms and then gently let her down to the ground. I started for the waistband of my sweats, but she beat me to it. She looked up at me and smiled as she untied them and started pulling them down. Once she felt them move over my hips, her focus changed to watching the progress she was making.

Suddenly she stopped. She reached her right hand to grasp the obvious bulge I had awaiting beneath my clothes. She cupped her hand over it and exhaled sharply. "Is this hard because of me?"

"Of course - you are a beautiful half-naked woman! Any straight man would be hard for you."

"I doubt that, but you're the only man I need to get this way. If feels huge!"

"In your small hands, it will look huge. But I don't think it's huge. Maybe we should see what it looks like when the clothes are off?"

It was her turn to chuckle. "I'm working on it! I always open my presents slowly. It increases the anticipation!"

She got my sweats down far enough to find a pair of shorts, and eventually she would see that I was also wearing underwear. With still two layers to go, she started moving more quickly at getting the sweats off. I helped her out by lifting my feet to step out of them.

With my bulge displaying more prominently after one layer of clothing had been removed, Angie seemed to drop her practice of 'slowly opening her present.' She yanked my shorts down quickly, finding she had one more layer to go. After I stepped out of the shorts, she was right back on the waistband of my underwear. With excitement evident in her face, she started bringing them down. The elastic caught on my hard cock, but it didn't deter her progress. She pulled harder, and when the elastic cleared, my cock jumped out at her, nearly hitting her in the face.

I heard her whisper an open mouth "Ohhhhh." She looked up at me and smiled, and then turned her attention to the hardness in front of her. She put one hand on my thigh and grasped my cock with the other and gently stroked it. Her gaze was frozen on watching what she was doing to me. It was slow and gentle, as if she was putting it through some warm-up paces.

I had no idea what she was thinking, but it wasn't long before she let me know. She lifted her head to look at me and said, "This is much bigger than my other times. And they were so fast that I never really got to see theirs. All they wanted to do was get it in me and get done. We've already spent more time together tonight like this than they did both of the other times before."

I ran my fingers through her unkempt hair. "I imagine they were immature, and I also imagine they were thinking they were the luckiest guys in the world to get a chance to be with you. I know that's what I'm thinking now. But I'm in no hurry, so we're going to take our time and see how much we can enjoy it together."

She let go of my cock and stood up. "I know you have more experience than I do. Will you teach me? I want to be a good girlfriend for you, so don't be afraid to tell me what you like."

I leaned down to kiss her. "I definitely will, but only if you're not afraid to tell me what you like. Even if you don't know yet, you'll find something that will feel good to you and you need to tell me what that is so we can make sure it happens all the time."

With her now standing, I used the opportunity to kneel in front of her, which put my mouth right at the level of her breasts. I took a nipple in my mouth again while I brought my hands up behind her to cup her ass. Once again, the baggy clothes she liked to wear had disguised what felt to be a very firm and perfectly round ass.

Angie put her hands behind my head and pulled me closer. Her moans were like music to my ears, as I continued to kneed her ass cheeks. When I switched nipples, she took one hand off my head to rub the one I'd just left wet.

I stopped sucking long enough to look up at her and ask, "Do you mind if I get these pants out of the way?"

She replied softly, "Please do."

I put my mouth back on her nipple while I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her pants on either side of her hips. They offered me little resistance, and soon they were on their way down her legs. However, I quickly found out that I'd hooked both her pants and her panties, and I was well on my way to making her completely nude.

"Uh... I don't know if you were ready for me to strip you all the way."

"Oh, I'm ready - I'm ready for anything!"

I continued sliding her pants and panties down until they pooled on the floor at her feet. She put both her hands behind my head again to help her balance as she stepped out of them. With my hands free once more, I put them back on her ass and squeezed her cheeks again, eliciting an even louder moan than before.

I leaned back on my haunches just a bit so I could take in the treat in front of me. I discovered that Angie sported what appeared to be a well-maintained bush that was the same color as the hair on her head. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I wasn't surprised to see she wasn't completely bare.

Her stomach was toned, and the muscles in her thighs stood out, looking almost like she lifted weights, which I knew wasn't true. Seeing her completely naked for the first time was a treat. Underneath the baggy clothes was a beautiful and sexy body. I was ready to enjoy it, just like she had enjoyed mine to this point.

I leaned forward a little and began planting kisses right below her navel. Her reaction was to breathe in rapidly, while her hands went to the back of my head again. My kisses moved down to her waist slowly, stopping just as I got to the top of her pubic hair. I then moved sideways, kissing to her right hip, and then back again to her left.

"What are you doing, Beau? You're acting like a crazy man!"

"If kissing your perfect body makes me crazy, then I'll happily be guilty as charged. But I want more - do you mind if I taste you more intimately?"

She seems surprised. "Oh... no one has ever done that to me before."

I kissed her stomach again and replied, "Then you're overdue, so I'd better get you caught up!"

I stood up quickly and easily picked her up, turning her to the bed where I laid her down gently. I turned her body so that her legs were facing the side of the bed. I quicky knelt down again. When I reached up to spread her legs, her beautiful pussy was exposed to me.

It was time for her to receive the attention she deserved. Her scent was wonderful, and she already had made a lot of moisture, to the point that I could see sparkles of reflected light mixed in with the pink of her labia. I leaned in and nuzzled my forehead in her soft pubic hair, which elicited a little giggle.

I took a finger on my right hand and explored her labia, experiencing her wetness and gauging her sensitivity. Her moan told me that she was sensitive indeed. I stroked my fingers up and down through her wet folds. Once it was completely wet, I slowly guided it inside, feeling Angie tense up as I gently inserted it deeper.

I looked up over her groin and saw that she had her eyes closed, and her fingers were lightly stroking her hard nipples. She wasn't frowning, so I figured she was happy for me to continue. I pulled my finger out and got another one wet, followed by inserting both at the same time. Angie lifted her hips slightly, and I heard her whisper out, "Oh god, that feels so good!"

I took my fingers out and massaged her labia again. Every time I'd get close to her clitoral area, she'd tense up, like she was experiencing a mild jolt of electricity racing through her body. I moved my hands to her narrow hips and squeezed them together lightly. At the same time, my tongue made first contact with her wet pussy lips. Angie shrieked lightly with my contact, saying, "What are you doing to me?"

I didn't take time to answer. Instead, my tongue began exploring her vagina, as I stuck it in and out as far as I could. I started licking upwards towards her clit, stopping short before reaching it. I couldn't tell if she was enjoying it or getting frustrated by it, but she became a little more active the longer I licked her.

I started lightly brushing my tongue over her clit. Her hands instinctively moved to my head, lightly grasping my hair as I continued. I directed my entire focus on her clit, while removing my right hand from her hip so I could insert two fingers back inside her. Her response was immediate.

"Oh my god yes, so good, please don't stop!"

Angie was using her legs to try to push her groin harder to my mouth and tongue. I increased the speed at which my fingers penetrated her pussy, curling them upwards to try to reach her most sensitive place inside. My tongue trilled across her clit as she pulled hard on my hair.

Suddenly she tensed, and then released with a loud moan as an orgasm ripped through her body. She squeezed her legs against my head - her strength was surprisingly strong as her knees pushed on my ears. I pulled my tongue back and withdrew my fingers, putting my hands on the outside of her thighs, gently rubbing them.

Angie was breathing heavily, as if she had been running in a race. As her orgasm waned, her body started to relax, and her breathing rate began to slow. She released my head from between her knees. I peeked up over her pubic hair with a smile on my face.

As she opened her eyes and saw me, she said, "Fuck, Beau! I've never felt anything like that before! You can do that whenever you want - I'll happily allow you that privilege!"

That made me laugh. "Even in public, with others watching?"

"I think I know you well enough that you're not going to do that. But when we're alone and together, help yourself!"

I have her clit a little kiss and said, "Do you want to go again? I'm not going anywhere soon."

"Well... maybe some other time I'll let you do that to me more than once. But I think there might be something more that we both want to try. Are you going to make me ask?"

I stood up and turned Angie to lay in the proper direction on the bed, and then crawled up over the top of her. "I don't think you need to ask. I think what I want to do is probably the same thing you want to do."

She smiled and picked her head up to give me a short kiss. "I like that we are thinking the same. I guess that means we should be together!"

"I guess it does!"

Suddenly I realized I had forgotten something. "Damn it!" I started to get off the bed when Angie grabbed me.

"Where are you going?"

"I forgot to get a condom. They're over in my dresser."

Angie grabbed me harder. "You don't need that, if you trust me that I haven't been with anybody since high school, and I'm pretty sure it was the first time for both of them. After my first experience, I decided to never take a chance, even though there hasn't been anybody else. I was eighteen and I put myself on birth control."

It was my turn to assure her. "After my slutty freshman year, when I decided I didn't want to be like that anymore, I went to the campus clinic to make sure I was clean. The last thing I needed was to be fighting an STD for just a few minutes of fun once in a while."

Angie held her arms up to me. "Good. Now get back here. There's something you need to do."

I climbed back on the bed, moving carefully over the top of her. Even though she had just had an orgasm, I decided to warm her up some more by bending down to take one of her beautiful nipples in my mouth. She whispered out, "Oh yeah, do that some more!" I wasn't in a hurry to move on, though my cock was still rock hard like it expected more action.

After a couple of minutes on both nipples, I looked down at my beautiful girlfriend and said, "Are you ready? Tell me if something feels wrong or is hurting you. I want our first time to be so good that we have to work to make each time after just as special."

"I feel completely safe with you, Beau. I know you're not going to hurt me. I need you inside me right now, please!"

I was a little nervous about our size difference, and the fact that I was hoping I didn't crush her since I probably outweighed her nearly 150 pounds. As I lowered myself down, I used my right arm to support as much of my body weight as possible, while I reached under with my left hand to hopefully guide my cock into her pussy. Angie knew enough to lift her hips for me some, which made it easier to find the target I was looking for.

She twitched when she felt my cock find her still wet pussy. I used some of her extra juices to lubricate the head as best as I could. I applied a little more forward pressure and found the opening to her vagina. I pushed in just a bit, wanting to go slow since she had said she wasn't very experienced, and those experiences were awful.

She was showing me that she was feeling good, as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. I slowly pressed in a little farther, and a slight "Oh" whisper came out of her mouth. I inched my way in a little more, until the head of my cock was completely inside. She was so hot and so wet and so perfect to this point.

Wanting to make sure she was still doing good, I quietly asked, "Are you doing okay?"

She nodded. "It's stretching me, but it's a good stretch. Please give me more."

I continued pressing in slowly, giving her time to adjust with each new push. After I was about halfway in, I pulled out and then slowly pushed back inside again. I felt her adjust her hips a little, so once again, I asked if she was okay, and she smiled back at me and nodded.

She was very tight, and yet plenty wet enough so it wasn't difficult to advance further inside. I pressed another inch or so inside, then pulled back out and pushed in again. I continued this pattern until my groin finally laid against her. I was all the way inside my sexy girlfriend!

She opened her eyes in time for me to lean down and give her a long kiss. Her legs were too short to wrap all the way around my back, but she put her ankles up anyway and rested them near my ass.

"We're making love, beautiful girl. Shall we have some fun?"

"God, yes please! Let's have some very good fun!"

I began a slow rhythm in and out, not rushing at all. Angie seemed to be taking my size well. I was still making sure that I wasn't crushing her, and since I could feel her trying to thrust her body up into mine as I pushed in each time, I figured she had plenty of room between us.

I began to pick up the pace, thrusting in and out of my beautiful tutor. She responded to the faster pace with more moans and body movements. I started to feel a familiar pressure building up in my lower groin. I'd been hard since I first picked her up once we got our coats off. I was ready to explode.

"You're too sexy, my beautiful girlfriend. I'm not going to last very long. Where would you like it?"

She moaned and replied, "Since you're already inside so deep, that seems to be the best place!"

I fired my core muscles and hammered hard and fast inside her. Her moans and body movements increased in intensity, which in turn elevated my intensity as well. The pressure kept building up deep inside my groin until it finally exploded, shooting electrical charges of pleasure through my body as I filled her tight pussy with blasts of white-hot cum. I continued thrusting as long as I could until it became too intense for me to continue. It took all my remaining energy to lower myself gently enough so that I didn't crush Angie beneath me.

I veered off to her side, leaving half my body on top of hers while the other half rested on the bed. My cock had sprung out of her pussy, and it laid across her right hip, still dribbling the last of the efforts of my balls to drain themselves. Angie threw her left arm over me, turning her body towards me as much as she could.

We held each other like that for several minutes. Between breaths, we'd kiss each other while she idly ran her fingers through my hair. It was a perfect moment of quiet intimacy after the passion of the sex we just shared with each other.

It was Angie that broke the silence. "Best night of my life EVER! If I had known that sex could be that good, I might have worked harder at trying to find someone to have it with! But honestly, I doubt there are too many guys like you that would give a geek like me a chance."

"What are you talking about? I believe I was the one that had to convince you to give me a chance! Baby, I've been hooked on you since that first day you laid down the law to me! Oh, by the way - in case you were wondering.... best night of my life EVER also!"

She playfully knocked me on the side of my head with her hand. "Come on, you're joking now. I'm glad you're with me and I hope we do that a LOT more. But I don't compare with the other girls you've been with."

I scooted my body off of her so I could lay fully on my side next to her. I pulled her over so that she was on her side directly facing me.

"Listen to me for a minute. It's true that I've had sex before with beautiful girls, but it was just sex, and after a while, that didn't appeal to me at all. I needed to feel more than just a little fun here and there. So I stopped, until I found the right girl that I wanted to share with.

"That girl is you! It's not some bouncy giggly cheerleader, or some toned and buff athlete. It's Angie Hastings, and while you're not a bouncy cheerleader or a toned and buff athlete, you are sexy and beautiful and smart and tough and all those things wrapped up together make a perfect package for me.

"I thought I was in love with my girlfriend in high school, but I didn't know what real true love was then. I didn't know because I'm finding out now what it is, and it's what I feel with you. I hope this doesn't scare you, Angie. But I'm falling in love with you - I think I already have! I found you, and I have no intention of letting you go."

I noticed a tear forming in one of her eyes. She appeared to be collecting her thoughts, and for a moment, I was afraid that I'd gone too far with what I said.

She softly replied, "Are you sure? Because I've been thinking I was unlovable for years. I had a few friends, but they were all geeky like me. We kind of hung out together because nobody really wanted to do anything with us. You're the first guy who has showed me that maybe I'm not completely ugly or unlovable, and that I'm not going to have to spend the rest of my life alone because nobody wanted to be with me."

I cut her off with a kiss - one that turned into a long, open-mouth kiss, the kind that can take your breath away. I added some hand attention to her perky little breasts, massaging and rubbing them.

When we stopped, I looked straight into her eyes. "I'm going to be really careful at how I say this, because I want you to understand a few things. First things first - I don't know who told you that you are ugly, because nothing could be further from the truth. I realize you're not built like a supermodel, but none of us are, and if you were, I wouldn't have ever come close to you.

"I also want you to know that the longer I'm with you, the more I want to be with you. All of that was based on the fact that you are smart and funny AND you have a beautiful face that hides behind those big glasses all the time.

"I wanted you to know that, because when you came to my room with me tonight, I was hoping that maybe we would take our relationship further. That wasn't based on your looks or your body type - which I hadn't really seen before because you hide it under layers of loose clothing. I'm not complaining about that at all! I fell in love with you, loose clothing and all.

"But when you got undressed for me, I discovered that you have a very sexy body! You are toned and you have some amazing curves. Your ass is so nice and round and tight, and honestly, not all guys love girls with giant breasts. To me, your breasts are spectacular, and I hope to spend a very long time getting to know them better.

"What I'm saying is this - if you wanted to, we could certainly dress you differently and give you some contacts so people would see your eyes and not your glasses. We could glam you up so that you turned heads for your beauty before anything else.

"But that's not how I first discovered you, and I'm afraid if we did all of those things, there's a possibility that I'd lose my little geeky tutor whom I've fallen in love with. I don't want to lose you to a new image or lifestyle or anything else."

She somehow found the energy to push me over on my back, and then climbed up on top of me, her light body barely pressing into mine. She kissed me, slowly and passionately. When she stopped, she smiled as her gray eyes stared into mine.

"Nobody has ever called me sexy before. A girl could get used to that. Let me make one thing clear to you now, football boy. There's nothing that could ever change my mind about wanting to be with you. I made that mistake once, and I'm not making it again."

"Exactly what I wanted to hear. So... did you enjoy your first real proper sex?"

"I did - I'm ready for more!"

I replied, "How about if we have some more fun and teach you some new things?"

She giggled. "Are you going to be my sex tutor now - the pupil teaching the teacher?"

"Absolutely! We've only just begun with all the fun we are going to have together!"

She rolled to my side enough so that she could grab my already recovering cock and stroked it until it was hard again. I had her climb on top of me, guiding her to my erect cock and lowering herself down. She rode me this way for a while, sitting upright, allowing me to enjoy the bounce of her sexy breasts.

Seeing her tiny body on top of mine gave me an idea for something I'd never done before. I stopped her and had us both stand up. While facing each other, I picked her up and lifted her to my chest. She locked her legs around my back, and as I lowered her down just a bit, she reached under to grab my cock and line it up to her pussy. Once she sunk down on it, I placed my hands under her ass, and while I lifted her with my arms, she put her arms around my neck and used them to help lift herself up and down.

What I did not anticipate was the effect this would have on her. When I bent backwards at the waist just a bit, we discovered that her clit was stroking against my groin area just above my cock. I realized it about thirty seconds into us fucking in this position. She became very vocal, encouraging me and urging me to move faster. When her orgasm exploded, she grabbed me and pulled her body hard into mine, squeezing me with a strong grip of which I did not think she was capable. I could feel her body trembling against mine as her orgasm raced through her small frame.

We finished with her experiencing her first doggy style fucking. For the second time, I drained my balls deep inside her silky hot channel. I felt in such powerful control of her in this position, since pulling her body back against mine with my big hands on her small hips took no effort at all.

We each went into the bathroom to clean up, and then crawled into bed. Before we went to sleep, Angie turned to me and said softly, "I don't know if you needed me to tell you this, but I'm falling in love with you also, and just like you, I may already be there. I knew it before what we did with each other tonight, but now I'm certain. I'm the luckiest girl in the world!"

We kissed, and then she rolled over to spoon back against me. I had no idea what time it was when we finally went to sleep, but I didn't care. My body should have felt sore after playing that day, but all I could feel was an incredible contentment with what we'd just done together. I couldn't wait to spend more time with her, since it was looking like I wanted to be her football boy for the rest of my life.

******

Angie went back to her dorm on Sunday afternoon when I went to lift weights and attend team meetings, which was my usual Sunday schedule during football season. Our biggest game of the year was the following week. It was another road game, and essentially it was for the conference championship. We were the two teams that had been expected to compete for the title, and they were ranked several spots higher than us in the national polls. It would be an intense week of practice and watching film, doing all that we could to get ready for them.

On Monday morning, I met Angie at her dorm at 6:15 a. m. She seemed a little nervous as she approached me, but once we hugged and held hands, she calmed down a bit. I knew what the team had in store for her, and if I could just get her into the weight room, I believed she would feel much better about being around football players.

We stopped outside the weight room door a few minutes before 6:30. Angie took a deep breath and exhaled. I turned her to face me. "I'm not going to leave you. I'll be right here next to you the whole time."

She nodded and turned to the door. I opened it for her, but instead of making her go first, I led her in. The players had been watching for us, and once they saw Angie, they started clapping and whooping and hollering. The look on Angie's face went from fear to shock to having no idea what they were doing in just a matter of seconds.

When the applause died down, Coach approached us with a sack in his hand. "Angie, we asked you to come here today because we wanted to apologize for how you were treated by former members of this team. I don't know what their problem was, but what they did was not in line with our standards. We're sorry, and promise you that it won't happen again."

I heard Angie offer a very soft, "Thank you."

Coach continued. "We're also here to thank you. This lunkhead you've been saddled with has had a very good year for this team, and he's a big part of our success so far. We know that wouldn't be possible without your hard work in helping keep him eligible. For that, we say 'thank you!'"

The team joined in clapping and hollering again. Angie blushed - she had no idea what she was going to encounter when she came to the weight room with me, but I was sure this was the furthest thing in her mind.

When the noise died down again, Coach said, "Because of your hard work, we have decided to bestow you with the title of "honorary member" of this team. That special honor comes with this one-of-a-kind gift that will signify your position as an official team member."

He reached into the bag he was holding and pulled out a replica home jersey of our football team. The front looked identical to our team jerseys, and when he turned it around, it had my number 83 on it, with her last name of "Hastings" above.

Angie put her hands over her mouth in shock! Coach came forward to give her the jersey. She took her glasses off and handed them to me, and the entire team watched as she put the jersey on, which drew another round of applause and shouting. Coach came over to shake her hand and then mine. It was a great gesture, one that I hoped would help Angie be more comfortable with football players from this point on.

Coach turned back to the rest of the team and told them it was time to get back to their weight lifting. I walked Angie back to the door of the weight room. We stopped before she stepped outside. She was beaming as she twirled around once in her new jersey.

"Did you know they were going to do this?"

I grinned and replied, "I did, but I promise you, it was all their idea. They were pissed when they found out what David and Trevon did to you, and they wanted to make sure you knew that they weren't like that. They are also glad that you are keeping me eligible. They felt like they needed to make things up with you, so making you an honorary member of the team was what they decided would be the best way to show that to you."

She replied, "It's so ironic, isn't it? I've hated football all my life and now I have my own jersey with my name and favorite number on it! It's crazy how this has all happened!"

"I might add that you look amazing in it. Nobody on the team wears it as well as you do!"

"Thank you for bringing me here, Beau. I was nervous, but I knew you'd make it okay, and you did better than that."

We kissed and I sent her on her way. It was a great start to what would likely be a very intense week.

Once I was in the weight room, lots of the guys came up to me, telling me how good they felt about what they had done. One of them asked me about her tutoring, so we discussed my schedule and how that came about. A couple asked about the possibility of getting her to help them right away, since they had either projects due or upcoming tests to worry about.

During a break between reps, I texted Angie, asking her about the possibility of helping a couple of the team members, and she agreed. Eventually, she and a couple of her friends would come to the football dorm on Monday and Thursday nights, helping as many as fifteen of the players with their academic work.

Practices the week before the big game were as intense as I expected. When we got on the plane Friday to fly to the game, we were confident that we had a good game plan set to come away with an upset. The game the next day was the hardest fought game I'd ever played in, but we came up just a little short. Our chances to play in the playoff system were more than likely gone.

It was a very quiet plane ride on the way home. Once again, we would be arriving at the school at about midnight. Since it was our first loss of the year, we didn't know if our usual welcoming committee would great us at the practice facility or not. Not only did they show up, but there was about double the number of fans that usually came! They wanted us to know that we were still their team, despite the tough loss we suffered earlier.

In the middle of the crowd was my beautiful girlfriend, proudly wearing her new honorary team jersey. I was still dejected from losing such a hard-fought game, but seeing her smiling face helped some of that feeling go away.

She came up to hug me as soon as I got off the bus. She could tell that I was still down about the loss, so she was careful in how she reacted to seeing me. We didn't say anything to each other as I got my equipment off the bus and into the practice facility. As we walked back to my dorm, I asked her if she would stay with me tonight, and she nodded "yes," showing me the backpack on her back that I hadn't noticed before.

Once we arrived in my room, I relaxed a little bit. I sat in my chair at my desk and invited Angie to come sit on my lap. She did, sitting with her legs turned to the side, leaning back against my chest. It was the therapy I needed at the moment as I replayed the game in my head, looking for places where I could have done better.

She looked up at me and stroked her fingers through my hair. "You doing okay?"

I sighed and replied, "Yeah, I think so. We played well, but they were just a better team today. We're already looking forward to having them play here next year. But I feel bad for our seniors who won't get a chance to play in that game."

She gave me a little kiss on my cheek and then said, "It's too bad someone had to lose that game. It was a great game to watch. As much as I would have liked to have been there in person, it's still fun to watch with some of my friends and point you out to them."

She made me smile, something I really needed at that moment. "You've become quite the football fan in the last few weeks! It's a fun game to watch if you aren't carrying a grudge around on your shoulders."

"Hey!" she replied as she lightly punched me on the chest. "I just needed someone terrific to show me the different side of the football world than what I had known all my life. Since I found that person, I've been able to see the good side of football."

"I'm glad, because I hope that football is part of our life together for a long time."

Angie sat up and turned her head so we could kiss - another long, slow romantic kiss. She had helped me through the despair of losing the game. If I had been by myself, I would have stewed about it all night.

I looked into her beautiful gray eyes and said, "I'm really tired. Think you could cuddle naked with me all night? That's what I really need."

She kissed me again, "That's what I'm here for - gotta take care of my football boy."

We quickly undressed and climbed into bed. As she scooted her sexy body back into mine, I was suddenly engulfed with a sense of complete peace. I realized that win or lose, the night of a game was best spent with her. I hoped that for every game I played for the rest of my life, we could make that happen.

******

With Angie's continued help, I started feeling very comfortable in my geometry class. The professor was very predictable, sticking with the assignment list he'd distributed on the course syllabus. Angie had me working a week ahead, teaching me the new concepts so when it was time to take the test for that section, I was making A's each time.

We bounced back from our loss to win our next two games, both of them at home. Angie started getting more and more comfortable with my parents, and they in turn were falling for her just like I had. Since it was looking like we'd be playing in a holiday football bowl somewhere, I had asked if Angie could spend Christmas break with them so they could bring her to whatever game we ended up playing in, and they agreed.

The team was getting excited about the possibility of playing a late-season bowl game, and even though our energy output was high during practices, our coaches started telling us not to look past the next game on our schedule. We should have listened, because we got our asses kicked in their stadium. After the game, the coaches didn't yell at us. But they did express disappointment that we were already thinking about a bowl game and forgot to get ready for the opponent in front of us.

We had to bounce back. The last two games were at home. The team captains told us that we already had more losses than we wanted, but so far we'd won every home game, and they demanded that we finish the season undefeated at home. Quarterback Austin Kelly led by example. His drills during practices were crisp and precise. There was no kidding around with each other like there had been during practices in the past. We were all business as we worked to defend our home field.

My relationship with Angie continued to blossom. Because of our busy schedules, we really didn't get to see each other more than when she had first started tutoring me. But as often as we could, we'd get an hour or two together in one of our dorm rooms for some sexual fun. If we just had a few minutes, I'd always let Angie decide how we would have sex, and she always chose what we ended up calling the "carry" position. She never failed to get off that way, and usually when she'd go over the top, I'd follow closely behind.

Our new practice intensity worked, and we won our last two home games by an average of thirty points. During the last game, I set a new season record for passing yards by a tight end for our school, finishing that game with 137 yards and two touchdowns. For the last game, we were allowed to invite our families on the field following the game. Mom and Dad brought Angie with them, and when I saw her, I bent over to give her a kiss. It seemed normal to do, but it created an interesting evening for Angie later on.

Mom and Dad had taken Angie and I out to eat after the game, as they normally did. While we were eating, Angie's phone buzzed in her pocket. She chose not to answer, and we thought nothing of it at the time. Once we were finally back in my room, she looked at her phone and saw that it was her dad that called her on video chat.

"How long has it been since you've spoken to him?" I asked.

"Not since the first week of school. They wanted to make sure I got to campus okay with all my stuff since they didn't have a car for me to drive on my own. It's been silent from them ever since."

"Are you going to call him back?"

She sighed. "I suppose I should - who knows, it might be something bad that has happened to get him to take the time to reach out to me."

I watched as she tried to connect to her dad. He answered after a couple of rings.

"Angie! I saw you on TV today, but I was shocked with what you were doing!"

"Hello to you as well, Dad. I seriously doubt you saw me on TV."

He replied, "No, it's true! What were you doing kissing Beau Watkins?"

Her eyes widened. "How did you see that?"

"They were interviewing the quarterback on the field, and in the background, I know it was you, and Beau Watkins bent down to kiss you. How did you manage to have Beau Watkins kiss you? Not that it's a bad thing - he's one of the best tight ends in the country!"

By this time, I was grinning at Angie like an idiot. I could tell that she was flustered, so I nodded my head and rolled my hand, encouraging her to tell him about me.

She looked up at me briefly and then back to her phone. "Well, Dad... he's my boyfriend. I was assigned to be his geometry tutor and for whatever reason, he decided he liked me enough to want to be with me more, and now we are a couple."

"Seriously, Angie. What's going on? Why would he be interested in you?"

His last comment sent me over the edge and I grabbed the phone from her. He was very shocked when he saw me appear on his screen.

"Because she's amazing and smart and funny and sexy and beautiful and for some reason you never saw any of that in her because she wasn't a football player like her brother. I happened to see it right away and knew quickly that I wanted to know her better. Fortunately, she gave me a chance and now I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life and it's all because of her! If you would have stopped comparing her to her brother and judged her on her own merits, you would have seen all those things a long time ago.

"What's more, your non-football daughter is now an honorary member of our football team. She's helping several of the players with their classwork and she is accepted and appreciated by everyone on the team, including the coaches. They even presented her with her very own jersey with her name and my number on it to show her how much they appreciated her. So the irony of the entire situation is that she's now more involved in football than her brother is!"

I'd said probably more than enough, so I handed the phone back to Angie. I wasn't sure what she thought of my diatribe until I looked at her and saw a huge, beaming smile. Her dad was silent on the phone, so she looked at him and said, "I need to go, Dad. I need to hug and kiss my football boy for what he just said. Thanks for the call, I think."

She went to hang up, but he cried out, "No, wait, Angie! Please - give me just a few more minutes!"

She looked up at me and I nodded. "A few more minutes. They'd better be good."

He paused before he spoke again, and when he did, I could hear breaks in his voice. "First of all, I'm sorry, Angie. Beau is right about all the things he said about you - well, I'm not going to speak about the 'sexy' part. But your mom and I have always known those other things about you. But you always seemed so far away from us, and you'd shut yourself in your room and we never got a chance to talk to you like we did with Thomas."

"I shut myself in my room because Thomas and his friends were awful to me and you never did anything to stop it! Just once I would have loved to see you stand up to him, but he was the golden child who never did anything wrong, so it must have been my fault that they treated me like that."

There was another long pause in the conversation. Finally Roger Hastings spoke again - "The reason I called you is that the 'golden child' as you call him is in jail, and I'm afraid he's going to be there for a long time."

Angie looked up to me and saw the same shock on my face as I saw on hers. "What is he in jail for?"

"You know how much he has struggled since he got kicked off the team. His work at the tire warehouse didn't last long, and he's been bouncing around working in menial jobs for the last couple of years. He and his friends got heavily into partying, and something snapped in him last weekend that got him in trouble. He and a couple of his friends got drunk and stole a car, and then crashed it into the side of a business in town. When he called us from jail, asking if we could make bail for him, we had to turn him down. Even if we had wanted to, it was too high for us to afford. But I don't think we would have done it anyway, because your mom and I finally realized he needs to quit relying on us to help him out of his problems. After hearing what you and Beau have said, I realize we should have done this a long time ago."

It was Angie's turn to ponder what she'd just heard from her dad. Finally, she mustered up the courage to answer him. "I'm truly sorry about that, Dad. It doesn't make me feel any better to know that this has happened. Will you keep me posted on the progress of the case?"

"I will, Angie - I promise. I don't know if I can ever turn around your feelings for your mom and I, but I'd sure like to try. We do love you, and obviously things are going well for you. Do you think you might be able to come home during Christmas break? Maybe we could start being better parents then."

She didn't need to wait to answer his question this time. "I can't do that this year, Dad. Beau is confident that his team is going to get a nice holiday week bowl game, and I'm going to go to it with his parents. But I'll try to figure out a time when I can come home. I'll probably bring Beau with me. Maybe he can come during spring break so you can meet him."

"I'd like that very much! Thanks for calling me back, Angie. I love you and I'm so proud of you! Is Beau still listening?"

She turned the phone around so I could see him again.

"You're right, Beau. You're going to get a very nice bowl. I'll be watching! Thanks for taking care of my daughter, and seeing in her what apparently her mother and I couldn't see."

I had to correct him. "Your daughter is taking care of me! She's an amazing tutor and an even better girlfriend! I'm doing as well as I am because of what she's done for me."

"That's good to hear! It was nice to meet you - I can hardly wait until we can meet in person. Can you turn the phone back around please?"

Angie did as he asked. "Goodbye, Angie. I love you, and I'm so very proud of you!"

That brought a smile on Angie's face. "I love you too, Dad. Keep me posted about Thomas."

She disconnected the call. She put her phone down on the table, and came over to me, crawling up in my lap to face me. Before she said anything, she gave me a long kiss.

"Thank you, Beau. You said to my dad what I'd been trying to say all my life, but he listened to you. For whatever you think I've done for you this semester, you just paid me back double by what you said to him."

We kissed again. "I know you've told me about the way they neglected you for your brother, but when he said what he did about not knowing what I saw in you, I kind of snapped. He needed to know exactly what I saw in you. Do you think I should have told him about how good of a sex partner you are? I certainly could have!"

She laughed and said, "No, probably not. But maybe I should show you right now that I am a good partner!"

She did just that, multiple times before we went to sleep that night.

******

Bowl Selection Sunday came, and the entire team was gathered in the large meeting room at the practice facility. Given Angie's status as an honorary team member, she was allowed into the room with us as we found out where and when we would be playing.

I hadn't realized just how many holiday bowl games there were. The announcers on ESPN kept reading off names of bowls I hadn't heard of before. Some of the locations would have been great for us. Others were in towns and stadiums that were smaller than where we regularly played, so they wouldn't have been too special.

We finally heard our team name called out. We had been selected to play in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX. We would be going up against a school from one of the power conferences that finished fourth in their league. It was going to be an opportunity to show the country that a team from a smaller conference could compete with one of the bigger schools. That turned out to be our rallying cry as we began preparations for the game.

I called my parents immediately after the announcement, and they began working on getting tickets and hotel reservations for them and Angie. She was with me as I called them, and while talking, an idea sprang into my mind.

"Do you think you could also get tickets for Angie's parents to come to the game? We'd have to see if they could afford to make the trip. But since they weren't going to get a chance to see her during Christmas break, I thought it would be a nice surprise for them."

My mom spoke right up. "I'm sure we could do that. And we'll pay for it, so they don't have to worry about money."

"How can you do that, Mom? I'm sure it's not going to be cheap!"

"For your information, you're paying for it, in a way. Since you were born, your father and I have been putting a lot of money into a college fund for you. Since you got a full scholarship, we didn't need to use it for your schooling. So we can use it to help us with special events like this."

I had no idea they had done that, but it made me happy that it was still available to use. "That's great! Let me know when you get it set up, and I'll have Angie call her parents to make sure they'd like to come. I don't know what the team's travel schedule is yet, but I imagine we'll be kept pretty isolated from the rest of the world until after the game. I do know that you'll be put on a pass list to come onto the field after the game and we can see each other there."

Angie could barely wait until after the call before she spoke up. "Why do you want my parents there? I had no idea you were thinking about that."

"It just popped into my mind. I know they like football, which I know was a problem for you growing up. But I thought it might be a nice surprise, and would give them a chance to show they really wanted to improve their relationship with you. I think your dad liked me before he knew I was your boyfriend. He obviously knew who I was when he saw me kiss you on TV."

With Angie's help, I aced my final in geometry. On the day I took the test, I handed my answer sheet to the professor. He surprised me when he said, "You did well in this class, Beau. Good luck in your bowl game."

I didn't know he knew that much about me! But I could hardly wait to get to Angie to tell him what he said. It was her tutoring that made it so I could do well in his class.

Christmas break came. My parents came to pick up Angie to take her to their house for the break. It was tough not having her on campus, since the football team had to stay for practices and bowl game preparations. We talked on the phone each day. They had put her in my old bedroom, which was helping her survive our separation. My parents had been showing her around the town, so she got to see my old high school and the field where I played all my home football games. She was also using the time to begin her research on where she wanted to go study after she completed her bachelor's degree.

Our bowl game schedule had us flying to San Antonio on the afternoon of Christmas Day. The team dietary staff prepared a big traditional holiday meal for us. Having no other students on campus really allowed us to bond more closely together, so it felt like I was having Christmas with eighty brothers. It was helping the sadness I was feeling of my first Christmas without my parents with me, and being separated from my first Christmas with Angie as my girlfriend.

We got to San Antonio, and the first place the buses took us after we landed was the Alamodome. Being from a smaller conference, the only chance we'd ever have to play in a domed stadium would be for a bowl game like this one. It was hard for us to not be awestruck when we stepped foot on the field. I think the coaches requested us to stop here first to get the 'wow' factor out of our minds before our first practice.

The day of the game finally arrived. It was to start at 7:30 p. m. There would likely be 50,000 people in attendance, and a national audience watching on one of the major TV networks. The coaches had used the small school angle playing against the bigger conference to motivate us during practices, and we felt confident as we stepped on the field that we would be impressing the sports world with our efforts.

It turned out that we could have not been more correct. By halftime, we were up 28-0. Our defense was playing their best game of the season by far, and our offense was doing a great job of using a mix of rushing and passing to move all over the field. We increased the lead to 42-7 by the end of the third quarter. The coaches emptied the benches in the fourth, and every player on the team got a chance for some field time on national TV. We had shown the country that we belonged in this game with a very convincing 42-14 win.

I had five catches for sixty-seven yards and a touchdown. I was fine with those numbers, because honestly, our team was moving the ball no matter who touched it, and that meant more players got to contribute. Austin Kelly was named as the game's MVP. It was a great finish to a great career, and I was very happy for him.

After the trophy presentation, the field was flooded with family and friends. I spotted Angie running towards me, wearing her jersey. She jumped up in my arms and hugged me tightly, showing me how happy she was for our win, while at the same time showing how much she had missed me.

Once I let her back down, our parents had arrived. Mom and Dad hugged me first, and then Angie introduced me to her parents, Roger and Karen Hastings. I shook both of their hands. Roger said, "This is a tremendous honor to meet you, Beau. I've been following your team's progress all year long, not knowing that my daughter was dating one of the stars! I want to thank you for your words a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for caring for my daughter enough to speak up for her and set me straight."

He gave me a hug, and I might have heard a little sob come from his mouth. When he stepped back, I said, "Don't worry, sir. I hope to be speaking up for Angie for a very long time."

That set the stage in motion to enact a plan I'd been secretly working on since I found out where our bowl game was going to be. I noticed that some of my teammates had gathered in the area around us. They were in on my plan. Acting on a prearranged signal, our receivers' coach came over to congratulate me on the game and the season. He deftly slipped something in my hand during the handshake, and I wrapped my fingers around it to keep it hidden.

Everything was in place. After shaking my coach's hand, I turned back to Angie. I sat my helmet down, and then calmly knelt down on one knee beside it. At first Angie had no idea why I was doing that, but when some of my teammates started cheering, she figured it out.

As she covered her open mouth with her hands, I said, "Angie, before you came into my life, I didn't even know I needed you. But now that you are part of me, I can't imagine ever being without you again."

I paused as I opened the tiny jewelry box that had been placed in my hand. As I showed her the ring, I said, "Angela Hastings, will you marry me?"

The group around us grew silent, waiting for her answer. Taking her hands away from her mouth, she said, "Yes - OH MY GOD YES!" I took the ring out of the box and placed it on the hand she offered me. Once it was on her finger, I stood and picked her up into my arms for a proper hug and kiss, as my teammates and others gathered around went nuts!

As we hugged, I heard Angie say in my ear, "Oh my god I can't believe this! You have been so good for me, Beau! I can't wait to see what the world has in store for us for the rest of our lives!"

"Whatever it is, we'll take it on together! You're stuck with me now, baby!"

"I can't think of a better place to be stuck!"

We kissed again, and then I put her down so our friends and family could congratulate us. It was a perfect end to a magical season, and a perfect beginning for the rest of our lives together.

******

It's New Year's Day. I'm back at my parents' house, getting a well-deserved few days off from football and school work. I'm sitting in the family room, watching the college football playoffs with my dad as teams play in the New Year's Day bowl games. Angie is sitting in my lap sideways, leaning over against my chest and shoulder. Every few minutes, she holds her left hand up to look at the ring that now sits on her finger.

"Whatcha looking at for the hundredth time?"

She smiles and replies, "Just the most perfect ring ever, given to me by the most perfect football boy ever!"

She brings her left hand to my chest, where she rubs it in slow lazy circles. "For so long, I didn't think I was loveable. I'd locked myself into thinking that because I wasn't athletically gifted or supermodel beauty, I'd never be attractive to anybody. I figured I'd be a geek all my life and hopefully find another geek that could put up with me. But you saw through all that and saved me from myself and the opinions of others. I will spend the rest of my life thanking you for that."

I turn my head to give her a little kiss. "Honestly, I hope you're still going to be a geek, because you're the geek with whom I fell in love. Maybe I should get oversized glasses and a pocket pen protector and start wearing my shirts buttoned all the way to the top!"

"No, that's okay. I don't mind showing off my big strong football boy to the rest of the world!"

She lays her head back against my chest, and soon I can hear the rhythmic breathing telling me that she's dozed off. In this moment, all is perfect. I don't know what life has in store for us, but the possibilities are endless. None of that matters in this moment. What does is that no matter where life takes me, Angie will be with me, and that means I can handle anything with her by my side.

And to think it all happened because I sucked at geometry!