The Reluctant Wag Read Online Free PDF Page B

her? She’d seen lots of attractive men at uni, but none of them had ever had this effect on her. What was it with him?
    Despite Erica’s urging, she refused to go down to the foyer for a drink at the interval.
    ‘But I’m parched,’ Erica complained.
    ‘Fine, you go. I’ll stay here. I’m not spending a fortune on a glass of tepid lemonade.’
    ‘Hey, we might run into Cal McCoy. He could afford to buy us a drink.’
    ‘No, Erica. I don’t want him to think I’m stalking him.’
    ‘Why would you be stalking him?’
    ‘Why indeed?’
    Erica looked thoughtfully at her friend for a moment. Merise pretended to search for something in her handbag.
    ‘Merise, tell me the truth, do you fancy him?’
    Merise looked up in mock surprise. ‘McCoy? God no! What makes you think that?’
    ‘Nothing, except maybe the fact that you’ve had your binoculars trained on him for the past hour. But I’m probably reading too much into the situation, right?’
    And the two girls looked at one another and burst into a fit of giggles. But over the next couple of days Merise kept thinking back to the way she’d obsessively watched Cal. It was so unlike her to act like that. She’d have to stop thinking about him – he was getting in the way of her well-ordered life.
    Somehow, for the first time in her life, that Saturday afternoon Merise found herself in front of the TV, watching Weekend Footy . The game between Yarraside and the Point Cook Panthers was about to begin. She told herself that she was only watching to learn something about the club whose campaign she was fronting. But when Cal McCoy led the Wolves out on to the ground, a great cheer went up from the almost-packed stadium and Merise felt her stomach fizz.
    Ridiculous! But – he looked so very manly, so sure of himself, so, well . . . heroic.
    ‘And what a monster cheer from the Yarraside crowd for their new captain!’ said the TV presenter. Cal didn’t acknowledge it. Not even the ghost of a smile. He ran along, well in front of his teammates, bouncing the ball with every step, his face a mask of concentration and determination. When called to the centre square by the umpire for the coin toss he ignored the young girl in the Yarraside scarf who’d been chosen to throw the coin, and just stood staring ferociously at the Panthers captain. Gosh! He might have given the poor kid the time of day, Merise thought, as the teams took up their starting positions.
    She hadn’t expected to be enthralled by the game, and above all by McCoy’s part in it. She didn’t need to know anything about footy to see that he dominated play, excited the crowd and inspired his teammates with his driving energy and superb skill. It was his aggression that really surprised her. Just before half-time, when the game was still in the balance, a gorilla-sized Panthers player lined up beside Cal and began niggling him as they both followed the ball. He pushed him repeatedly in the back, elbowed him in the side and tried nudging him out of the way, sledging him the whole time. Cal took it for half a minute, then turned, grabbed the offender by the guernsey, lifted him off his feet and threw him across the ground. The umpire had to intervene to cool the situation. ‘McCoy just asserting his dominance,’ explained the commentator.
    Cal scored two goals and was cited by the TV experts as best-on-ground. To Merise he was certainly the most desirable man-on-ground. She couldn’t believe that three hours had passed and she’d barely moved. What was she thinking of? This man was eating into her life! She’d better get a grip before it was too late.
    But just thirty seconds after the siren sounded, when she lifted the remote to switch off, the screen was suddenly filled with Cal’s face. He was standing in the middle of Etihad Stadium and a sports presenter was holding a mic up to his face.
    ‘Congratulations, Cal. You boys played a pretty impressive game. Off to a good start for the