Touchdowns and Temptations: A Football billionaire Romance

14

Nashville, Tennessee, a few days later

I smile when I see Cara”s surprised look. Her eyes widen with every mile we get closer to my parents” house. There are no mansions, pools, or gated neighborhoods here. There are cute row houses with yards and the occasional small store and gas station to complete the picture of a town just outside of Nashville.

It is certainly a culture shock for Cara - from the big cities of the East and West Coasts to a small town in Tennessee.

Although she is quick to point out that her parents come from normal backgrounds and that her dad made a lot of money playing football and her mom made a lot of money modeling, she has never lived that life. It was always normal for Cara to have millions of dollars at her disposal. She got everything she wanted and never lacked for anything. But she also often told me that material things could not replace the attention of her parents, especially her father. My parents, on the other hand, were present at every school party, every game, and every important event in our lives.

“Do you like it?” I ask, looking over at her.

Cara smiles.

“Yes, very much,” she says, giggling. “I”m so excited to meet your family.”

We met yesterday at her office and talked about a campaign I”m supposed to shoot next week. It”s a perfume commercial. I told her on Sunday that I was going to Tennessee. So, yesterday, I spontaneously asked her if she wanted to come with me. Cara was surprised at first and didn”t know what to say. But then she agreed. I realize that I may be reading a little too much into this trip. I like Cara, I like her a lot, and I”m happy that we”re going to my parents” house together.

“Here we are!” I say, parking the rental car in the driveway of our house. My parents” cars are parked in the garage, and I look over at Cara with a smile. I told my mom I was bringing someone from Boston. She immediately wanted to know if it was a woman, and I said yes. What else was I supposed to do? She knows all of my friends and knows that they have other plans at the moment. As you might expect, she was beside herself.

I deflected all further questions about how I felt about Cara and whether she was my girlfriend, insisting that we were friends. My mom didn”t believe a word of it.

“It looks beautiful,” Cara says, smiling at me. The house must be tiny to her. The Corses” villa is huge. If not gigantic.

“That”s it,” I reply, turning off the engine. “Let”s get out of the car.”

Cara unbuckles her seatbelt and I do the same. We get out of the car, and I look at her with a smile. Before I can say anything else, the front door opens and my mom walks out.

“Noah!” she calls, walking down the three steps of the porch and toward me. “How nice to have you home.”

“Hi, Mom,” I say, giving her a hug. Smiling, I plant a kiss on her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Everything”s fine,” she replies, looking past me to Cara. My eyes follow hers and I grin. Cara looks at us shyly.

“Mom,” I clear my throat. “This is Cara. Cara, this is my mother, Charlotte.”

“Hello, Mrs. McCarter,” Cara says with a smile and walks over to her. “Thank you so much for inviting me.”

“You don”t have to thank me,” my mother replies immediately. “And please call me Charlotte.”

Mom gives me a grinning look.

“Come in, come in. Logan and Alex are watching TV with your dad.”

She looks at me again, then at Cara and turns to go into the house. Cara still looks a little nervous because of my mom”s behavior as I walk up to her.

“Are you okay?” I ask, pulling her close. I keep catching myself seeking her closeness and wanting to have her with me. It feels too good to miss. Especially since we had sex - which was absolutely amazing. I”m not averse to doing it again, but I can”t tell how Cara feels about it.

She looks up at me, and I wrap my arms around her. I put my hands behind her back and grin at her.

“I think so,” she says. “And you?”

“Me too.”

“I hope your mom isn”t thinking the wrong thing?”

“Believe me,” I sigh. “She believes what she wants to believe since I said I was bringing someone. No matter what we say. Don”t worry about it.”

“Someone or me?”

“You,” I say, searching her eyes. I want to lean down and kiss Cara, but I can”t. My parents and brothers are probably standing behind the curtains in the house like the cavalry, just waiting for us to kiss. Cara doesn”t want a relationship, she”s not ready.

“Maybe we should go inside,” she says. “What do you think?”

“We should,” I say, pulling away from her. I take two steps back and grin at her.

“Come on, come on. I”ll get our luggage later.”

Cara nods and joins me. Smiling, she leads me to the house and we enter. I am immediately surrounded by the familiar surroundings of my childhood. We often offered to buy our parents a bigger and better house, but they always refused. They thought that just because their sons were earning millions, they didn”t have to snap and give up their home.

“You can hang your jacket on the coat rack,” I say, taking off mine. Cara complies and follows me into the living room.

As my mom had announced, Dad, Alex and Logan are sitting in front of the TV. My brothers are on the couch and Dad is in the massage chair he got for his birthday a few months ago. Cara looks around curiously. Our jerseys are hanging on the wall above the big TV. There are photos all over the place. Mom can”t get enough of showing off her sons.

“Hello,” I say, smiling at her. “Let me introduce you.”

“Hello,” Cara says shyly and my mother smiles at her. She clearly likes her. I can tell by the way she looks at her. She has the wildest fantasies in her head about Cara and me. She would probably prefer Cara to be my girlfriend, but she isn”t.

“This is Cara,” I introduce her. “Cara, this is my dad, Peter, and my big brother, Logan. You already know, Alex.”

“Hello,” she says again, raising her hand. “I”m glad to be here.”

“We”re glad you”re here,” Logan says, standing up to shake Cara”s hand. “You definitely got the quieter twin.”

Logan winks at me and I roll my eyes. Alex protests, of course, and gives Cara a kiss on the cheek as he passes.

“Hello, Cara,” Dad says, smiling at her. “You”ll have to excuse these three childish boys. They”re still the same rascals from Tennessee.”

“No problem,” she says. “It”s really great to be here. What are you watching?”

She walks past me to the TV.

“A replay of Logan”s game from last week,” he answers. “Do you like football?”

I can”t help but laugh softly. Alex joins in and hands me a beer.

“A little, sir.” Cara looks at me and I wink at her. Alex and Logan sit back down on the couch.

“Come on,” I say, pointing to the second TV chair.

Cara looks at me skeptically. I sit down and pull her onto my lap. She seems uncomfortable, but my brothers and dad don”t notice us. Instead, they analyze the game.

“That wasn”t a touchdown!” shouts Alex in disgust. “No way!”

“Of course it was,” Logan counters. “The ball was over the line.”

“It wasn”t!”

Cara looks at me and I shrug.

“It”s always like this here,” I tell her. “Don”t be surprised. Would you like a drink?”

“Not right now,” she says, looking at the TV, which is now showing a charge by the opposing team. The defense of the Nashville Warriors is really bad. Logan buries his face in his hands.

“Let”s watch Noah and Alex”s game against Seattle,” he suggests to avoid his own embarrassment.

“No!” Alex and I shout. The game was a disaster, and I don”t need to see it again. Cara laughs and I give her an annoyed look.

“What?” she says with a grin. “Are you afraid they”re going to tear you apart?”

She nods at my dad and Logan.

“No,” I lie, even though I know they would.

“Good thing I record all your games,” our dad says, changing the channel. I groan and lean back. Cara grins at me and looks at the TV. The game was a disaster.

“You can see right away that Noah is out of position,” Logan analyzes, his mouth full again. “The Seattle defense knew right away.”

I roll my eyes. I know that myself.

He doesn”t have to tell me.

“Oh, come on,” Cara says. “They came back in the last quarter, but then they were too stubborn.” My dad rewinds to the scene she”s talking about. “That”s right!” Cara shouts. “You wanted to go up the middle and score the touchdown yourself. Toby is wide open in the end zone.”

I roll my eyes and my brothers and dad giggle quietly.

“You could have easily thrown over Seattle”s defense. Instead, you wanted to be the hero and let a rookie show you up.”

Dad and Logan yell, Alex laughs, and I roll my eyes.

“Thanks, Cara,” I say sarcastically. “We never would have thought of that.”

“Please,” she says, laughing and puts her hand on my neck. I jump for a moment because I wasn”t expecting it. Her fingers caress my skin. Once again, a touch between us goes far beyond friendship.

“You really know your stuff,” my dad praises her, smiling at Cara. “Football fan?”

“Kind of,” she says with a grin and looks at me. “It runs in the family.”

Her little white lie makes us all laugh and makes my dad look pretty stupid.

“Why are you laughing?” he asks, reaching for his beer. “It”s great that she”s interested in football.”

“No, no,” Cara says, waving him off. “My dad played football too.”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. The way Cara says it is really too cute. Our dad is still on the fence and raises his eyebrows questioningly.

“Oh yeah?” he asks. “Where?”

“Boston and Atlanta,” I answer and he nods.

“That sounds very good. Great teams. When was that? The Boston Foxes were very successful in the 1990s. They won a couple of Super Bowls.”

“They did,” Cara says. “My dad won the Super Bowl four times with the Foxes.”

Dad”s eyes get as big as plates, and he almost falls out of his chair.

“Four times?” he gasps. “Who”s your dad, that”s an extraordinary achievement.”

Alex laughs again and Logan grins broadly. Dad looks at them questioningly and demands an answer from his sons.

“Michael Corse,” Cara says quietly and there is silence.

Dad gasps for air and then laughs out loud.

“Good one, girl,” he says. “Who is your father really?”

“Michael Corse,” Cara says emphatically. It”s the first time I”ve seen her upset because people don”t believe her. “He”s my dad.”

“Michael Corse?” he asks again. “Quarterback legend, most voted MVP and...”

“Five-time Super Bowl winner Michael Corse is my father, yes,” she says, “You don’t believe me?”

“That”s...wow.” Dad”s eyes fall on me. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“It”s not my job,” I answer with a shrug. “Michael is Cara”s father.”

“Amazing,” Dad says appreciatively. “He really is the greatest of all time.”

“To me, he”s my dad,” Cara says, snuggling up against me. “It”s weird that everyone thinks of him as a football superstar. He”s just my dad.”

“We believe you,” my mom says, sitting on the edge of the chair next to my dad. “When Logan was the first of the three to go to the NFL, it was strange for us, too, that everyone saw our son as a star. When Noah and Alex followed, it got even stranger, but they”ll always be our sons, up to no good.”

“Not me!” shouts Alex, raising his arms and walking toward the kitchen. “I”m the boring sandwich boy.”

“You”re the worst!” Mom shouts, laughing and throwing a towel after him. “Get Cara something to drink.”

“Yes, Mom!” he shouts ruefully and I have to laugh and pull Cara even closer to me. She smiles at me and I know she”s comfortable and had no problem with my dad”s questions.

***

Cara and I enter the basement of my parents” house and I lead her to one of the guest rooms. These used to be our rooms when we were kids. Today my parents use the empty rooms mainly for their hobbies and guests. Alex went out again and I bet he has a date. Logan went back to his apartment. It”s only a half hour drive to Nashville.

“This is where you sleep,” I say, pointing to the big bed, the dresser and the small nightstand.

“Okay,” she replies, “your family is really nice and funny. I”m looking forward to tomorrow.”

“Me too,” I say. “I hope you’ll like my friends too.”

I walk over to Cara and stop right in front of her. She looks up at me, and I look back at her. I gently reach out with my right hand and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiles and bites her lips, which looks extremely hot.

“Are you going to the bull riding?” she asks.

At dinner Logan and Alex told us about the annual bull riding at the Fall Fair. Cara thought it was awesome and now wants me to go.

“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “No way.”

“Why not?” she wants to know. “I”d cheer for you too.”

“Oh, I”m sure you would,” I answer, pulling her close. “The risk of me hurting myself with such nonsense is too great.”

“Oh, right,” she says and sighs, “too bad.”

“You would have liked to see that, wouldn”t you?” I hiss and lean over to her. “Would I have gotten a reward?”

“Maybe,” she whispers, responding to my little game. “What do you have in mind?”

My stomach tickles and a thousand things I want to do to her go through my head. This teasing and flirting between us is great and shows me that I”m not fighting a losing battle.

These are the moments when we are just us. I”m the boy from Tennessee who has a huge crush on the girl in front of him, and she”s the cute college student from Boston. Not the mega-rich daughter of a football legend.

“Hm...” I pretend to think, but I don”t have to. “Maybe a kiss.”

“A kiss?” Cara asks, raising her eyebrows. “That”s pretty high stakes, don”t you think?”

“No,” I say. “Maybe you can give me a taste and I”ll think about whether it”s worth it.” I”d probably be stupid enough to sit on this animal for a kiss from her. But the risk of injury is still too high. I can”t risk it and I don”t want to.

“It”s okay, Mr. McCarter.” Cara puts her hands on my neck and pulls me down to her. I bridge the last few inches between us and press my lips to hers. Cara immediately kisses me back and snuggles up against me.

My tongue brushes her lips and separates them. Cara opens her mouth and allows my tongue to enter. We moan as our tongues touch and my hands find their way under her shirt.

Without comment, I push her onto the bed behind us.