Chapter 34
“It’s gaaaaaaaaame time!” Nina sang as soon as I answered the phone Sunday morning.
I was riding to the game with Nina and Russ. Aaliyah and Ahmad were driving separately, and the five of us were meeting at eleven o’clock.
With a laugh, I confirmed that I was ready, and I came out of my apartment in my jeans and T-shirt.
Nina was out of the passenger side of the car and meeting me on the sidewalk seconds after I stepped down. “No, ma’am,” she said, shaking her head.
Confused, I stopped in my tracks. “Huh?”
We went back inside my place, and she put together something cute, much dressier than what I’d had on before. Once I’d changed my outfit, Nina and I made our way back to Russ’s sleek car.
“And it’s confirmed he’s not a kingpin?” I asked as we approached.
Her head fell back as she laughed. “You know good and damn well he isn’t!”
I lifted my hands, feigning confusion. “For a while there, we didn’t know.”
Snickering, we climbed in.
“Hey, Russ,” I greeted him.
“What’s up?” He looked back at me. “I see you changed.”
“Nina said I looked like I was going to the game to sell concession snacks, but I didn’t look like a WAG,” I replied.
“What’s a WAG?” he asked.
“Wives and girlfriends of athletes,” Nina responded. “She looked cute before, but since this is the first game and she’s ready to claim her man, she needed to come correct.”
I looked down at my scoop-neck black jumpsuit and the cute green cardigan with the black M on the front and Monarchs on the back. It was a much more pulled-together and sexy look than the skinny jeans and Monarchs T-shirt I’d had on before.
I lifted my shoulders. “I trust Nina.”
Russ brushed Nina’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Yeah, I trust her, too.”
I grinned. “Y’all are cute.”
Pulling out my phone, I sent two texts to Lamar.
Jazmyn Payne: I’m so proud to have watched your dream elevate to this level.
You are an inspiration to many, but I want to let you know how inspirational you are to me.
You changed my life by coming in and making everything better.
Just like you came into the starting position and made the D-line better.
You are a game changer. With the Monarchs.
And with me. Just by existing, you are already enough.
Everything you do on that field is extra.
And each week you show up and show out and remind them why they call you Hollywood.
Jazmyn Payne: I look forward to watching you play today. We’re going to be in Section 135, row 3, behind the Monarchs bench.
We arrived at the stadium, and Aaliyah and Ahmad were already there. We linked up, took some pictures, and then went inside. We had excellent seats. We were in the third row, slightly askew from the fifty-yard line.
“Nina, how much were these tickets?” I hissed.
“Huh?” she said, pretending not to hear me.
“Nina!”
“How are you going to do what you need to do if we’re in the nosebleeds?”
“Thank you.” I gave her a hug. “Let me know how much it is, and I’ll pay you back.”
“Ordinarily, I’d say no because you’re a teacher and I know on a teacher’s salary after rent, you have to forage for berries to afford food—”
I burst out laughing. “What the hell?”
“—but now that you have a professional-athlete boyfriend, I’ll send you the amount to request from him.”
“I cannot with her,” Aaliyah commented through her laughter.
Since we were early, the stadium looked relatively empty. Most people were at the concession stands or in the parking lot tailgating. There were hardly any people in our section. I patted my regulation-size stadium-approved bag and gave my best friends the nod.
Nina and Aaliyah walked with me to the railing that overlooked the field. Looking around, I made sure security wasn’t paying attention to me, and I said a silent prayer. Digging the vial out of my bag, I held it in the palm of my hands.
“You made it to a Monarchs game, Aunt Addy,” I whispered as I took off the top. “You would get a kick out of this.” Discreetly emptying the ashes onto the field below, I watched the wind sweep it up and float it toward the sideline. “I love you.”
I stood for a minute, imagining what Aunt Addy would say about finally being back at the Monarchs’ stadium. And when the sun heated my skin, I couldn’t do anything but smile. Satisfied, I stuffed the empty container back into my bag, and we headed to our seats.
I was in the middle of the two couples, with Nina and Russ on my right and Aaliyah and Ahmad on my left. The five of us laughed, joked, and talked the entire pregame.
Prior to kickoff, I stared at the tunnel, waiting for Lamar to emerge, and when he did, I jumped to my feet.
The game was a good one, and the offense and defense on both sides of the ball were holding their own. But in the third quarter, Lamar got loose and sacked the Geckos’ quarterback. The ball came out, and the Monarchs recovered. The five of us screamed like the game was over.
In addition to that sack, Lamar was instrumental on a number of tackles, and he spent the day rushing the passer. He did an exceptional job, and I was grinning from ear to ear.
People had started heading to the parking lot when there was one minute left on the clock. It was clear that the Monarchs were going to win, so Geckos fans were streaming out of Franklin Financial Field.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Aaliyah asked.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. If I go down there, would he even hear me?”
“If we all go down there and call his name, he’ll hear us,” Nina insisted. “But it’s whatever you want to do.”
Nerves swirled in my belly, but I nodded. “Let’s go.”
The five of us got up and headed down the steps to the railing.
When the game clock hit zero, everyone was screaming, cheering, and exiting the stadium.
The players flooded the field to congratulate the other team.
A minute later, I saw number ninety walking around the bench and looking into the crowd.
“There he is!” I exclaimed, pointing him out. I cupped my hands around my mouth and screamed, “Lamar!”
“Lamar!” Nina and Aaliyah yelled.
It was so loud and there were people yelling “Hollywood,” so I could understand how it would be difficult to find us. He located the section, and as he drew closer, I could see his thick brows furrowing as he scanned the crowd. We called out to him again, louder.
“Lamar!” the five of us bellowed in unison.
And then he saw me.
A smile spread across his handsome face as he approached.
“What’s up, y’all?” he greeted all of us, even though his eyes kept returning to me.
“You did your thing out there,” Ahmad told him.
“Yeah, you killed that shit,” Russ agreed.
Aaliyah pumped her arms in the air. “Hollywood doing the damn thing!”
“I barely knew what was going on during the second half,” Nina pointed out. “It felt like every time the Geckos got the ball, they had to give it back! You were all over their asses!”
“And that sack!” I put my hand to my chest. “So good!”
Aaliyah laughed. “Even if I don’t know football like them, I know a good-ass play when I see it.”
“Thank you, thank you. I appreciate that,” Lamar said, reaching upward and dapping everyone up. When he got to me, he held my hand. “Jazz.”
Electricity crackled between us. His thumb caressed my knuckles, and with each swipe, my stomach fluttered, and my chest heaved.
The combination of him looking deep into my eyes and caressing me while in his uniform was doing something to me. But I managed to speak. “Lamar.”
“It’s good to see you,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad to be here. Seeing you do your thing on the field was everything. You are everything.”
“Come back to my place.” He licked his lips. “Celebrate the win with me.”
Excited, I nodded agreeably. “Okay.”
His smile grew. Seeming to remember we weren’t alone, he looked at my friends. “And y’all are more than welcome to come by my spot, too.”
“This sounds like a celebration we shouldn’t be watching,” Nina joked.
Russ was weak. Aaliyah and Ahmad snickered. Lamar shook his head as he chuckled.
My face flushed. “I cannot.” I bumped her with my hip. “You are a problem.”
“We’d love to, but we have to get back before six,” Aaliyah told us. “One of Ahmad’s best friends is having a birthday dinner.”
“It’s not a birthday dinner.” Ahmad chuckled. “We’re linking for the Sunday-night game. It just happens to be Darius’s birthday this week.”
Aaliyah pursed her lips and then looked at us. “Birthday dinner.”
As we laughed, some people jostled us to try to get Lamar’s attention for pictures.
“Hollywood!” a man, someone from the coaching staff, yelled out. “Yo! Hollywood!”
Lamar looked behind him and noticed half the field had cleared out. “I need to head to the locker room, but”—he locked eyes with me—“go downstairs to the Chamber level. I don’t have a pass on me to give to you, so I’ll have to come out that way.”
“I’ll be there,” I told him.
He dapped everyone up again, and then he got to me and lifted my hand to his lips. A tingly sensation raced from my hand up my arm. He attempted to let my hand go, but I continued holding on to his.
“Did you figure out what you want?” he asked when I didn’t release him.
“I knew what I wanted the whole time. I was just afraid to stand in it,” I admitted, leaning over the railing. “But I’m done.”
As he rubbed his thumb across my knuckles, his eyes never left mine. “Done with what?”
I put my face within reach of his. “Hiding.”
“If I do what I want to do”—his eyes dipped to my lips—“people are gonna talk. There’s gonna be attention on you.”
“Fuck them people.”
Wrapping his hand around my throat, he brought me closer, and his soft lips moved against mine.
The stadium went silent.
Everyone disappeared.
“Chamber,” he reminded me as he slowly backed out of the kiss.
I swallowed hard and nodded.