Page 70 of Playing to Win
Chapter 23
Today was the day. Callie took a deep breath. All four years of her collegiate career boiled down to the next thirty minutes. It was time to show a panel of professors in the Gaylord School of Journalism that all the money she and her dad had plunked down for her education was worth it and she had learned how to be a good broadcaster. Callie was glad she had borrowed the button up, sheer sleeveless yellow top from Cassie. It hid the hives she knew were crawling up her neck. It also happened to accentuate the color of her hair and bring out the flecks of gold in her hazel eyes. At least that’s what the man standing in front of her said.
“Take a deep breath, Curly. You know you’ll do fine. You’re interviewing the NBA MVP. You could screw up something awful and they’ll be so impressed that you managed to get me to agree to the interview that they’ll give you an A anyway.” Kyle stood in front of Callie and gave her a grin, his hands massaging her upper arms in relaxing circles.
“You obviously don’t know Professor Sikes,” she said, closing her eyes and willing her erratic heartbeat to slow. “He hates me.”
“How anyone could hate you is beyond me,” Kyle replied. “You’re too adorable to hate.”
“So says you. But I know he’s a huge Thunder fan, so there is hope for me. You know that’s the reason I asked you to do this interview, anyway. It gave me the edge I needed,” Callie winked at him before closing her eyes and sighing as he moved his hands up her arms and began rubbing gentle circles on her neck. “That feels so good. I’m going to melt in a puddle at your feet if you keep doing that.”
“At least I’m keeping your mind off the professor that hates you. I even think your hives are going away,” he replied, pulling her shirt away from her neck and looking down at her chest. “Yep. All gone. But I think you should probably undo a couple of buttons and let me get a closer look, just to make sure.”
Callie slapped his hand away and grinned. “You wish, buddy.”
“Oh, I do wish,” he responded, a look of fire lighting up his eyes. “And I believe I made you a promise of kissing every freckle on your body, starting with the one on that beautiful collar bone of yours that’s hidden underneath this shirt,” he continued, unbuttoning the first three buttons of her shirt, exposing the freckle Callie knew he loved and kissing his way down her collar bone until he reached it. “You are so breathtaking, Curly,” he said, his voice a whisper against her skin.
Callie moaned, her skin on fire where he touched her. She had never felt like this when any other man had kissed her. He invaded every pore in her body, made it difficult to breathe. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his lips up to hers, crushing them as if she needed oxygen and he was the sole source on the planet. His arms went around her waist and pulled her to his chest, crushing her to him.
“Callie, we’re ready…Oh, um, sorry—” Callie broke away from Kyle as her friend and cameraman, James, walked in the room.
Callie could feel her face turning a bright shade of crimson. “Thanks, James, for, um…for letting us know. We’ll be out…well, we’ll be out, um—”
“As soon as Curly’s tomato red face returns to normal,” Kyle interrupted and shot James a wink. “Give her a few minutes. Is that okay?”
James looked at her with wide eyes. “You’re Curly? Wow! I had no cl—” Her friend broke off midsentence and shook his head. “Who would’ve thought it. Sure, sure, Mr. Kelly. Whenever y’all are ready.” James walked out, leaving them alone once again.
Callie burst out laughing. “I can’t believe that just happened!”
Kyle grinned back at her. “Well, I can’t speak for you, but I’m not that sorry. I just wish we had some more time to count those freckles of yours.”
“Oh, is that what we were doing?”
“What did you think we were doing?”
“Nothing. Counting freckles sounds good to me.”
“An activity I would like to pick back up after you crush your senior project. What do you say?”
Callie gave him a smile and buttoned the top three buttons of her blouse he had undone. “I think that sounds great. But first, you have to help me impress these professors of mine. After all, you know I’m just using you for your fame.”
Kyle laughed. “If I get to kiss you like that whenever I want, Curly, then use away.”
Kyle could tellCallie was nervous. She hid it from everyone else, but he knew her well enough now to see the slight shake of her hand, heard the tiny tremor in her voice, knew the hives that were hiding behind the high-collared blouse. He was just glad he was going to be by her side to help her though it.
“Good afternoon, OU students, faculty, friends. Everyone out in Sooner Land. I’m so excited to be sharing my senior project with you live on Sooner Vision 2015, the Gaylord College of Journalism’s own broadcasting network,” Callie began, starting the show with a smile. She was sitting in a large cream-colored wingback chair turned at an angle to face Kyle, who was sitting in an identical chair. A coffee table was sitting in front of the chairs, a thick tome with the university’s seal engraved on the front jacket. Behind them on a crimson wall hung a portrait of OU’s current president, as well as the chair of the Gaylord School of Journalism.
It’s like I’m sitting in OU’s library, Kyle thought.
“This evening, I’d like to welcome our guest of honor, Kyle Kelly. Mr. Kelly was recently named the NBA’s MVP for 2015, and just last night won game one against the Knicks in the championship series. Welcome, Kyle, and thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to come and talk with us today.”
Callie held out her hand for Kyle to shake. “It’s not a problem, Ms. Thompson,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I feel it’s the least I can do, especially since we beat OU out of the final four my senior year at Duke.”
Kyle heard the panel of Callie’s professors who were watching the live feed laugh. Callie grinned at him. “Well, Kyle, the way I heard it is you dropped in a lucky three at the buzzer to beat us and you should have fouled out three minutes before that, anyway. But you’re an Oklahoman now, so we’re all on the same team.”
Callie smiled at him and pulled her hand from his. “So, how does it feel to win the MVP award and game one of the series in the same week?”
“It feels the same as any other week, I guess. I get up and put on my shorts one leg at a time like I always do. I mean, it is surreal that all this is happening, especially when I am only twenty-six. But my dad always told me that if I made it big I couldn’t let the fame get to my head or I’d be finished before I even began. ‘Stay humble and remember your roots’ is what he always told me. That’s what I always try to remember.”
