Torn Between Two Seductive Star Strikers

Weird Man

Jostling through the crowd of an audience of die-hard fans like her, Athena looked around the whole stadium in the hope of finding a place to sit. She was holding a bottle of water and a whole bag of chips to enjoy the game. But she didn’t expect to get this kind of crowd in the first game since the opening. Didn’t first games usually the lesser games being watched? Why are there a lot of them now?

She looked up at the television at the side where the names of the team that would play at the moment were written. She groaned. Of course, this certain team, Field Heroes, was what she heard had the most fans because, from what she heard, there were two smokey hot players on the team. Maybe that was why the whole stadium was loud because almost everyone was women and fans of the said players. How annoying!

She didn’t want that kind of team. She was not mostly attracted to handsome players, she was more attracted to men with great skills, athletic, and well, okay, maybe really handsome or hygienic men. So she didn’t really know who among these men were the ones they were saying were the handsome players. Nonetheless, since she was already there and she didn’t want to waste her money, a game is a game. She would watch who would win though. She had no team to root for, she was just there to watch and judge both teams.

However, even though she was just that, she still needed the best seat there was. But with how crowded the whole place was, she couldn’t find the perfect place for her to sit. She could even barely find a vacant seat wherever she looked left and right. She only bought the cheapest ticket, which meant it was only at the farthest seat in the stadium. She was near to getting frustrated and throwing her chips around. She should have come in earlier, she would have saved a chair at least for her. Why was there no staff to guide her, though?

She paid for this certain ticket using the last bit of her money. She was jobless, and she had been a graduate two years ago and had been working one year already. But recently, she just decided to resign, out of nowhere, as her employer commented, as if she had already saved money for herself when, in fact, she had barely saved a penny. Blame it on her impulsive and unhappy ass.

There was really nothing that made Athena happy these days. Even her job in an office made her irritated just upon waking up in the morning and thinking that she would be once again face-to-face with a laptop that would certainly strain her eyes and burst the nerves on her head that could kill her anytime soon if it was extended, so she just impulsively filed a resignation even when she was still new. Of course, she didn’t share that, or else, the amount of earful scolding would stress her out. Maybe she should find another job first before she shares it with her parents. She just hoped that she would find a job right away. She needed it now.

“Missy! Are you looking for a vacant seat? Come here with me, I have a vacant seat for you.”

Athena looked behind her when, in the noisy crowd, a heavy hand tapped her shoulder and suddenly showed his broad grin to her. For an old man with white hair, there was definitely a trace of how handsome he was in his young days. But… he grinned, and he just suddenly approached her out of nowhere from the many people there were on the stairs.

She immediately moved a step backward protectively. “Who are you? Leave me alone, you wrinkly old bloke.”

“W-wrinkly… old bloke?” the man repeated, shocked at what she called him, perhaps? Or shocked that he had chosen the wrong person to do whatever he had in mind, such as luring her to do something before he acted on his plan of… k********g her? Whatever, she’s no ordinary woman!

“Yes! I’m talking to you! You can’t entrap me with your evil plans. I know how people like you move. You talk to women, offer them something good that they badly need and then gain their trust and, later on, kidnap them. I have heard a lot of your ways, and now you’re busted!”

She aggressively pushed his hand off her shoulder and got into a fighting stance but still with her hands wrapped around her food. But the old man seemed amused by her actions and what she said. He was just standing there, staring at her almost judgingly. Shouldn’t it be her who was supposed to look at him with judging eyes?

Then the old man chuckled, much to Athena’s amusement. “Well, I’m glad that you are aware of those kinds of people, but not every old man who tapped on you out of nowhere is bad, some are just… kind enough to offer you a free VIP seat in this crowded stadium. But your call, accept it or take the farthest seat up there.”

“Welcome viewers and audience to our very exciting first game of our World Hockey Cup! Let me call the players of our first team, Airblades Fighters! Starting with Machiko Kiwi, Captain…”

The old man walked past her with a peaceful smile, like he wasn’t bothered about what she just called him and those baseless accusations that she threw at him. Then she looked above the stadium where her seat was supposed to be, but they were almost full, and the only available ones were far from where she was. There was no way she would walk from here to those seats. And the game was already starting! The teams were now being called.

So swallowing up her guilt and shame, she turned toward the old man who was slowly going down the stairs to the VIP seats. “Wait, sir!”

The old man stopped and looked over his shoulder. He really looked rich and elegant, his wristwatch seemed enough proof that he was indeed rich just as she expected him. Then he smiled, there were some golden teeth that she was sure were not just simple neglected teeth, they were certainly gold. That looked cool and intimidating. Was he a pirate?

“I bet you’ve changed your mind? You’re calling me sir.”

“Well, my suspicion is still there. I studied taekwondo and karate. I can easily take you down if I want to, so you better not do anything to me,” she warned while she walked toward him with cautious eyes. The old man seemed not offended but rather enjoying whatever was coming out of her mouth and compliant as he nodded and beckoned for her to come and follow him.

“Okay, girl. You can take me to the hospital if I don’t keep my hands to myself,” he said while smiling. He’s weird.

They went down to the front row of the stadium. They sat right behind the bench of one hockey team that was yet to come out—Field Heroes. Athena was in awe. All of her life, she had been watching from the farthest seat her pocket could only afford. She even had to bring her own binoculars just to see what was happening in real-time without a delay on the screen on top. So, this was the feeling of watching a hockey game without squinting her eyes so much that she got dizzy. Awesome!

“I was supposed to bring my wife but something came up so she couldn’t make it. One of the players is my grandson. You guess who.” He smiled at her as he shouted. She guessed he was afraid to get near her or even lean his head toward her because of the impression that she had given him. Well, better safe than sorry.

The second team was called— the Field Heroes. They were wearing a white uniform with their made-by-a-kid logo of a cape at the side of the words just to represent their name. She realized how tall they were and had a very athletic physicality face-to-face. They were just like an ant-small size and were thin and light from her seat above, now she felt small now.

“Evander Guiller, number twenty-one, Captain!”

Athena covered her ear and let her chips go when a lot of women screamed so loudly that it almost deafened her, especially those women seated just behind them. They were standing and even calling the name of the captain, cheering like a monkey howler, jumping like a group of rodents spotting their food. And had she mentioned she hated rodents? Well, there you go. They were probably the most irritating kind of rodent.

She looked at the field, squinting her eyes as a player jogged in the middle of the field. Evander Guiller, the captain, was a huge man, about five feet and eleven inches to six feet tall with a muscular body. He was hairy and tanned. His chest was puffing confidently in front, and his hairy legs were quickly moving from left and right. He was also handsome with a mature appearance. His eyes were deep and sharp, blue-gray and serious. His nose was perfectly shaped, meant to cut a finger, and his lips were glossy and thin. His hair was in a square cut style, giving him a polite and a bad boy-type look overall, something that fit him as he looked certainly attractive.

Deserving of the screams. Athena approved.

The old man beside her was just smiling. Those peaceful smiles never left his face, and he didn’t seem bothered by how loud these women were. Oh, poor old man. Probably his ears were already not working that much because of age.

“I grew used to them, Missy. It’s not because of my age, thank you.”

“Lennox Austin, number thirty-one!”

Before she could utter a reply, a round of another wave of ear-bleeding screams from women, and the whole stadium almost shook, at least in her perspective, as they went wild. She couldn’t help but frown so obviously. She couldn’t understand what was the point of these girls screaming and taking out all of their energy for men just by running there on the field when the game hadn’t started yet.

She looked at the television to see who they were screaming at the top of their lungs. She found a man, waving enthusiastically to the crowd, hyping them up as they shouted his surname ‘Austin! Sexy, sexy Austin!’ repeatedly. He was handsome, Athena could confirm, but there was something off about him. The way he enjoyed fame made her think he was nothing but a player who only sought popularity. He also looked…overweening. Something that she didn’t like.

This man, Lennox Austin, was certainly handsome and sexy, or in women’s terms, magnanimous and hunky, to die for, and those descriptions around it. He was pale and neat. His blonde hair was pushed to the back, and his bright green eyes shone through the crowds. He was thinner than most hockey players, but he was skinny but muscular and his shoulders were broad. He had a smile that blinded the girls.

Athena could only roll her eyes when he took time to wave rather than huddle up with his team.

“He’s always overconfident. I wonder what they have up their sleeves now,” the old man commented. Now that the game was starting, he was now serious.

And so was she.

She liked analyzing teams and players whenever she was watching. Aside from enjoying the game itself, she could immediately tell what was wrong with every team and every player. For her, it calmed her down and sharpened her brain. This was the kind of work she wanted to do if given a chance, but what could a girl do in this game of strong men? It didn’t fit her, and the degree she finished about whatever business major.

However, this game slightly disappointed her as it progressed. It went well at first. Both teams had chances of winning and were having a good match. She could tell that these two people who girls were screaming about—Guiller and Austin, were good players. Actually, they were the only ones working for their team. Five goals were because of them: three for Guiller and two for Austin.

But after that one time-out, the Airblades fighter had, and the score was tied, the strategy of the team completely changed and Athena could irately tell that Field Heroes was going to lose. It wouldn’t take a genius to know what was wrong with the heroes' team.

“Unless they were going to get it together, I mean, together, they would win. But if not, well, they wouldn’t make it. Simple.”

The old man looked at her with a simple smile. “You know about hockey, Missy?”

“Slightly. I watched enough of them to pick up a few things.”

He hummed and nodded. “Field Heroes have always been like that. Can’t say there’s any more improvement in them over the past few years. They are just… losers.”

Athena snorted, shaking her head as he watched one player run to the goal with the puck, but with how quickly the opponents were catching up, he would not make it unless he passed it to the other pole-like players. But the fear in his eyes told her he wouldn’t.

“I could tell. He had a lot of options to do. Well, once and for all, they might win if all of them are functioning. Those two are good, but they aren’t robots. They get tired, especially the captain who is already panting like a dog, I mean, you can see. What they need to have is cooperation. They are so low at that part, very low that it’s disappointing. Is there even a coaching staff? Can’t they see what’s lacking?”

The man once again nodded enthusiastically, then he looked at her weirdly. He was smiling, as usual, but for some reason, Athena could read in his face that he was up to something… peculiar.

“Would you want to apply as a coach?”

“...What?”

“You should come with me after the game. For now, let’s end this game.”

Though Athena had the hunch already, she still did her best to focus on the game and just set aside the fact that she was offered a job.