The Falcon Prince

Chapter 4

There were already a few spectators sitting in the bleachers when Ria made her way to the sidelines. She noticed several women in the stands were talking on their cell phones: hands waving in the air, eyes twinkling, laughter erupting. She knew the symptoms well. They must have something new to gossip about. That was fine with her as long as she was off the top of their lists.

Then again, they could still be talking about her. Nah, the Miller Bend grapevine moved faster than the speed of sound—meaning they only heard what they wanted to hear. That was life in a small town. On the other hand, people were quick to help when someone needed a hand. She figured you had to take the good with the bad.

She tugged on the hem of her short skirt, feeling ridiculous wearing the blue-and-white cheerleading uniform. One of the women in the Women’s League had delivered it to her earlier in the week. As soon as she’d taken the skimpy, midriff-showing top out of the box, her heart sank.

It wasn’t that she was a prude. She had a dozen or more thongs and a couple of bikinis in her dresser drawer. For some strange reason wearing the cheerleading outfit made her think about strippers, poles, and men shoving money into the waistband of her skirt.

Her eyes strayed to the field. Some of her tension eased. She looked a hell of a lot better than the no-shirts team. Neil wasn’t bad. She could certainly tell he owned a set of weights and used them.

And for an older guy, Heath looked in pretty good shape. Some of the others should’ve left their shirts on, though. The next time Ben Dansworth made a smart-assed remark about her seeing an alien, she was going to mention his beer gut. That should shut him up.

Her gaze skidded to a stop when it landed on Kristor. No shirt. Bulging muscles as he stretched and turned. God, he was tanned and delicious.

Oh, baby, stretch a little more to the right.

He did.

Her mouth watered.

Get a grip! He could quite possibly be a serial killer. Just because he’d gotten Fluffy out of a tree, and had helped a little old lady up a small hill, didn’t mean he wasn’t a murderer. That could be a cover.

But it was difficult for her to believe that when she was staring at hard…sweaty…sinewy muscles. Her breath caught in her throat. “Now more to the left,” she murmured. “That’s it. Right there. Yum.”

So maybe he wasn’t a serial killer. Just crazy. Was it horribly wrong to lust after a guy if he was just a little off kilter?

Kristor suddenly stopped stretching as though he sensed someone watching him. Pffttt, as if everyone wasn’t. The guy had some seriously sexy moves.

Kristor scanned the area until his gaze stopped on her. He stared, apparently not caring that he was being rude. Yeah, right, why should someone who thought he was an alien care if he was being rude or not?

Turn away from him, she told herself. But it wasn’t so easy when he looked at her as if she was an earthly body he wanted to explore and conquer. That wasn’t going to happen.

His brain had probably been fried by too many Star Wars movies, and she was not about to play close encounters of the sexy kind with him. She didn’t want him pulling her against his strong chest, and she most certainly didn’t want to run her hands over all those muscles or…God, she couldn’t stop staring at him! He was like a freakin’ drug and she an addict looking for her next fix.

Heath pulled Kristor’s attention away, and she could finally take a deep breath. What had just passed between them? A blast of electricity?

No, she’d only reacted to a gorgeous body. The guy was built, she wouldn’t deny that.

Built? More like sculpted from fine marble, Shintara broke into her thoughts.

“Shut up!”

“Shut up is right,” Mary Ann said as she stopped beside Ria. Her hungry gaze latched on to Kristor like a starving cougar.

This was not the plan. Ria was supposed to make people question Kristor, not drool all over him. Not that any woman wouldn’t foam at the mouth. She sort of believed him about the warrior stuff. He had the broad shoulders of a man who would take command during a battle. But she refused to get the hots for a lunatic.

“I heard your mother rented your old room out to him.” She delicately dabbed the corners of her mouth. “Lucky you.”

Didn’t anyone get anything around here? She dragged her eyes away from Kristor. “The man is a stranger, Mary Ann. We know nothing about him. He could be an escapee from a mental institution for all we know.”

She was such a slut. When they were in high school, Mary Ann would go into heat every time a jock passed by. Nothing had changed.

Mary Ann turned, giving Ria the once-over. “I heard you saw an alien. They have great doctors in Dallas. One of them might be able to help you.”

“I didn’t see an alien.”

“That’s not what my sister told me. She heard from Tilly that you were all hysterical when you called the sheriff’s office saying you’d seen a naked alien with hawk wings in the woods behind your house.” Her gaze returned to Kristor as he did the warm-up exercises with the other men. “I wouldn’t mind seeing him naked.” Mary Ann raised her pom-poms and shook them.

Seeing Kristor that day in the woods was a vision Ria wouldn’t soon forget. She shook her head, then looked at Mary Ann. “You wouldn’t mind seeing any man naked.”

The other woman sighed. “True.”

Ria arched an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t let your husband hear you say that.”

“Oh, honey, Bobby Ray doesn’t care where I get my appetite as long as I come home to eat.”

She was probably right. Bobby Ray adored Mary Ann. She had him twisted around her little finger.

“Besides, I keep my man happy. Where do you think I came up with the design for these uniforms?” She gave a sly wink.

Eww.

“You comin’ to the Women’s League meeting Tuesday night?” Mary Ann asked. “We need to vote how we’re going to raise money for the new x-ray machine at the hospital.”

“Why not give blow jobs?” Ria smiled sweetly.

Mary Ann stooped to re-tie her tennis shoe. Her expression was thoughtful when she straightened. “That’s an idea. You think Bobby Ray would mind?”

“I doubt it. He hasn’t seemed to mind too much in the past.”

“Ohh, good one.” She chuckled. “You know, I’ve always liked you, even though we all know you’re crazy.” Her arm suddenly went up and she waved. “There’s Becky, and Laura.”

Bitch. Ria turned and smiled at the other two ladies. The last two arrived as the guys took the field.

“Wow, look at the crowd,” Laura said.

What had started out as a few loyal, bored relatives in the bleachers had grown to overwhelming proportions. Ria had a feeling Kristor was the reason for the rise in popularity of the game today.

The next hour was filled with cheers and jeers. For an alien, Kristor had picked up the game pretty fast. Let him explain that.

Hmm, it might not be as easy as she’d hoped to convince people he was one crayon short of having a full box. The way everyone clapped him on the back, he apparently was making friends.

Her plan had backfired. No one wanted to hear that he might be a serial killer or even crazy. They were more interested in watching his moves on the field. Not fair. Kristor looked like he belonged more than she did.

“I do like the way they huddle,” Mary Ann said.

Kristor’s butt faced them. So what if he had a hot butt? It didn’t make him any less mental.

Mary Ann’s eyes widened. “Surely they aren’t going to try for a field goal. It’s insane. That has to be at least sixty-five yards. The record is what? Sixty-three?” She chunked her pom-poms on the ground in front of her and slapped her hands on her hips.

Mary Ann always amazed Ria. As slutty as she acted, the woman still knew her football. Which was probably because she had slept with every football player in high school.

“He is,” Mary Ann said with disgust.

Now maybe Ria could convince people that Kristor was crazy. If they were pissed at him because he’d lost the game for the team, it wouldn’t be that long of a stretch for them to believe the guy should be locked away. Texans took their football seriously.

Heath knelt, ready to catch the ball. Kristor walked back, knelt down, looked at the ball, and then the goalpost. Ria smiled. Victory was in the air, and it would soon be hers.

The ball was snapped. Heath caught it, and quickly placed it. Kristor was already running forward. When he was in back of the ball, he brought his right foot back and kicked. She watched the ball. It went higher and higher.

That wasn’t possible. Was it?

She glanced at Kristor. He’d knelt on one knee, his arms stretched toward the ball as if he were willing it to cross between the goalposts. Her eyes narrowed. There was something really strange going on. She looked at the football again just as it sailed between the two posts.

The crowd erupted with screams of amazement flowing down the bleachers and onto the field.

Kristor stood, chest puffed out, and gave a battle cry. The other men surrounded him, clapping him on the back, and attempting to copy his victory cry but sounding more like a bunch of mice escaped from the lab.

Kristor met her gaze again and grinned.

Now she was pissed.

She would have to think of something else before her parents’ party tonight. Something that would blackball Kristor. He was the crazy one, yet the town acted as if she was the mental case. Life was so not fair!