Page 7 of Kicked in the Heart

“What do you think of a woman playing football in the men’s league?” the reporter asked.

Butch grinned. “Women don’t belong playing football with men. Let her start a female league if she wants. Football is supposed to be rough and it’s no place for a girl.”

“Stupid bigoted asshole,” she yelled at the television and she punched the power button. Her good mood had been ruined by the asshole. She could handle his stares and grumbling but to put his views out there on the news was something else. Coach was going to be so pissed.

Slamming the rest of her beer, she stomped to the kitchen to get another when she heard the door open.

“Hey girl, how was your day?” Kylie asked as she tossed her keys and purse on the table by the door. “My manager finally told me I did a good job.” She toed off her shoes and then plopped down on the couch. “How was practice?”

Rocky rolled her eyes.

“That good, huh?”

“Practice was good. It was the segment the news did on me being the Legends kicker.”

“What? I thought you were happy with the interview they did for it?” Kylie asked as she turned to look at Rocky.

“That part was awesome. It was the interview they did with the asshole that has me pissed off. He told everyone that I didn’t belong on the Legends just because I was girl!”

“Most people aren’t going to listen to what he said, you know that.” Kylie got up and gave Rocky a hug. “You know most people aren’t bigoted liked he is.”

Rocky stepped back and stomped to the kitchen for another beer. “I know, it just pisses me off.”

“I know what will help. Let’s watch some trash television and eat popcorn. That will make you feel better.” Kylie walked toward the hallway that led to their bedrooms. “I’ll go get changed and then I’m make a huge batch of popcorn. You find some trashy reality shows for us to watch.”

Rocky took a seat on the couch and hit the power button. Kylie was right, she couldn’t let his attitude ruin her night.

Chapter Four

Friday afternoon, Rocky shuffled her way out of the cheerleaders’ locker room where she’d showered and changed after practice. Coach had not held back and practice had been brutal. She’d expected that but not the continued hazing. This was pro level sports. It hadn’t been too bad yet but it was annoying. Coming back into the cheerleaders’ locker room to find all her clothes soaked with her shampoo and conditioner had only been the first.

Today, as she’d been showering, someone had pounded on the locker room door shouting that Coach called a meeting and she needed to be in the team meeting room immediately. She’d found her clean clothes were gone. Not knowing if the meeting was real or not, she pulled on her practice uniform and hurried to the meeting room, Of course, when she got there, she found the door locked and she heard someone laughing in the stairwell. She was almost certain it was the asshole. She returned to the locker room and found her clothes had been returned. Much more and she’d start reporting it to Coach. She’d also gotten two more notes on her car, one while it was parked at herapartment. That freaked her out a bit. Another one and she’d be filing a report. All the notes were now in her dresser, including the first one she’d retrieved from her backseat.

The parking lot was almost empty when she walked out of the stadium to find Kylie leaning against her car.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked up, unlocking the car doors with her fob.

“You think I’d let your first week go by without doing something to celebrate?”

“I’m really too…”

“Nope, no excuses. We’re going out to celebrate. Just dinner at Antonio’s and maybe a drink after at Cosmo.”

The grin on Kiley’s face made her smile. Her friend was just trying to celebrate with her. “Oh, all right. I’ll need to stop at home and change first,” she said as she motioned to the baggy sweats she was wearing as she thought she’d be spending the evening at home in front of the television.

Twenty minutes later, Rocky opened her bathroom door to find Kylie sitting on her bed. “About time. Get a move on or we’ll miss our reservation.”

“You managed a reservation at Antonio’s on a Friday night? You did go all out.”

“Marcus owed me a favor so he found us a table but we can’t be late.” She stood and pushed Rocky toward the door. “So, move it!”

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Rocky grumbled. She’d have been just as happy eating take out in front of the television. She was tired and her bed looked so inviting.

With a jingle of her keys, Kylie opened the door and ushered Rocky out into the hall. “I promise to not keep you out too late tonight.”

“You better not, I’ve got to be up early. Our plane leaves at nine am so I’ve got to be there at seven.”

“Let’s go so I can get you home before you turn into a pumpkin.”