27. Sensory Overload
SENSORY OVERLOAD
“ H i. Are you Warren’s girlfriend?”
Emma turned her head from where she was standing inside the stadium halls under the stands. The team was going to be coming out to go on the field. She had her choice to be upstairs and see Warren enter that way or down here to give him a kiss for luck.
She went for being by his side since she didn’t get enough of that in her life. She could watch him entering the field from home another day.
“I am,” she said, putting her hand out. “I’m Emma.”
“Tiff,” the woman said, lifting her chin.
She’d seen her on the field with other women in a group.
They were laughing and chatting. Some of those women had kids, but she could tell if Tiff did, she wanted to make sure everyone knew she got herself back in shape with the red leather pants she was wearing and her child at home so she was center stage.
How the hell did you move in those things?
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Warren hasn’t brought women to games,” Tiff said matter-of-factly.
“So I’ve been told by him,” she said. She didn’t know where this was going.
Tiff put her hand up to make sure her hair was in its perfect style. Ugh, she had those long pointy claws with sparkles on the ends of them.
No way this woman worked or even washed a dish. You almost couldn’t wipe yourself without scratching a sensitive part.
Imagine the typos if she had them?!
“How long have you known Warren?” Tiff asked.
Since this woman gave off the vibes of making tea and spilling it haphazardly, she decided to play coy.
She’d been doing that her whole life.
Some could even say she was a pro at it, coming from the Bond family.
“For some time,” she said, grinning.
Tiff smirked back. “You’re going to be that way?”
“What way?” she said, keeping her smile in place. “I don’t keep track of dates.” Which was the truth. “How long have you known your...fiancé?”
The big old diamond on the left hand gave it away.
“We’ve been together for six years,” Tiff said. “We’ve got one child. DeMarcus Jr. is four.”
“But not married yet?” she asked. “How long have you been engaged?”
Tiff frowned. “We’ve been engaged for four years.” Wonder if that diamond was a push gift or a pressure proposal?
“Yes,” she said. “It takes time to plan a wedding.”
Tiff didn’t seem to appreciate the comment, but she wasn’t trying to be mean. Emma just turned it around so that she didn’t have to answer questions.
“I haven’t been able to decide where I want to get married yet. I want my wedding to stand out from others. People would expect that of us.”
“I like to do the unexpected,” Emma said, nodding her head.
Her hair fell in front of her face and she pushed it behind her ear quickly. She wanted to get a better idea of when the team would come out. She’d been told soon by one of the security guards. Other family members were gathering now.
Tiff got called away and left without getting much information.
“Don’t let her get to you.”
“Excuse me?” she asked. It was Mike this time.
“Tiff,” Mike said. “She is the leader of the WAGs. Or so she thinks she is. She was sizing you up to see if you could fit in with them or not.”
“Not,” she said.
Mike laughed. “I don’t think so either. And you’re not bothered, are you?”
She closed one eye at Mike. “Does it look like things like that bother me?”
“With your background, probably not,” Mike said.
She hated that came up so often. Or that Mike focused on it.
It was only going to get worse though, she knew.
In the next week, there would be promos for her series coming out to tease for a January release.
Her mother’s announcement would follow at some point.
She didn’t have time to worry about whether or not she could fit into the cool group. Nor did she have time in her life to add friends she’d have to socialize with.
No, thank you. She barely had time to see her boyfriend.
“Looks like they are coming out now,” she said.
“They are. Get ready for the cameras.”
She’d seen them around on the field. Warren had been giving some pregame warmup interviews.
The guys were walking out now but not really in a line.
Warren caught sight of her and moved closer.
“Hey, there,” he said. “Not too overwhelmed, I’m sure.”
“Are you kidding me?” she said. “I’m on sensory overload and loving every single minute of it. You don’t even want to know what is on my phone right now.”
“I’m sure I’ll get quizzed on it later.”
“You betcha,” she said. “Kiss me for luck. Though I doubt you need it. Then I’m going to find my way to your Mom. I’ll run.”
“I’ll have one of the guards bring her,” Mike said.
The publicist moved away after saying that. He’d been close to her for an hour and she didn’t know if Warren asked for that or if Mike was taking it upon himself to monitor things for their star player.
Warren leaned down and put his arm around her and whispered in her ear. “Are you getting turned on seeing me like this?”
She stuck the tip of her tongue on her lower lip and wiggled her eyebrows. “That’s half my notes.”
“I should know better than to play word games with you.”
“No one can best me,” she said, winking.
“Maybe your mother,” he said before he smacked his lips to hers.
“That’s mean, but probably true. Good luck. I’ll be watching.”
The guard came over and they left. She felt a lot of eyes on her back, but wouldn’t turn around to see who they were.
She was all but running to her seat, the guard keeping up with her, and she made it right when the visiting team was running on the field.
“Perfect timing,” Stacy said. “I didn’t know if you’d get here or not.”
“The guard is out of breath, but I didn’t need him if he just told me the way,” she said. She got right by the front of the suite and up against the glass to watch as the home team came out, Warren running onto the field all confident and cocky.
“I’ll never tire of seeing him run out there,” Stephanie said.
“It is a spectacular sight,” Emma said.
The crowd was screaming, lights were flashing though it was hard to see them in the daylight. She was trying to take it all in when she wanted to write her notes, but she’d do that by memory later.
She never could take her eyes off the game.
Thankfully, Warren gave her a crash course on what to expect when she watched highlights with him while he explained more of the game.
Seeing her boyfriend dodge and get tackled on TV was nothing like being here and hearing the noises that went along with it.
Like when he was running for his life toward the end zone and then sidestepping across the plane to score.
The crowd went nuts, Emma jumping up and down with Warren’s family celebrating too.
When the game was over, they’d won by two touchdowns and she felt as if she’d had just as much of a workout as him.
Who the hell knew your emotions could be so powerful for that long of time?
“How did you handle your first game?” Casey asked her.
“My heart won’t slow down. It should by now and it can’t.”
“I’m like this all the time,” Casey said. “I’m always fearful when he’s tackled.”
“I’d rather not talk about those things,” she said, shaking her head.
The first time someone laid him out flat, she thought she was going to throw up.
But he popped back up and got back in line for the next play.
“We’ll just wait here for about twenty minutes or so until things thin out before we leave,” Casey said.
His family was driving home. It’d be out of their way to go back to Warren’s house.
“I’m going to snack and type up some notes while they are fresh in my head,” Emma said.
It didn’t bother her to be alone once Warren’s family left. The stadium was emptying rather quickly and when she got a text from Warren that he was ready and coming to get her, she stood up and stretched her legs.
Her ass was numb. She was used to sitting for long periods of time, but not in seats like this.
She turned when someone opened the door five minutes later.
“How did you like your first game?” He’d showered and put on the same suit he’d arrived in. His hair was damp and combed like it was when he got out of the bathroom at home.
It’s funny that it was the first she’d seen him dressed up when they left his house this morning.
She felt almost under-dressed compared to him, but he laughed.
He said players could wear what they wanted, but he always dressed nicely.
She wondered if it was part of his image, but he’d said he didn’t always have a suit on.
She’d seen other players didn’t either, but plenty did. Some came in designer tracksuits. She tried not to laugh over that. No way Warren would ever do that.
“Awesome,” she said, running over and jumping up to hug him. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, then got a kiss she’d been waiting for to know he was okay.
“I’m glad,” he said.
“My heart can’t seem to stop racing. At least your mother said hers always does.”
“She worries,” he said.
“After watching you on the field I can understand why!”
He laughed. “Are you ready to go home?”
It was the first he’d said that.
Home.
It was odd that it was feeling comfortable enough for her there. She’d told her mother that wasn’t the case months ago, but once she opened her mind more, she found she did some damn good work there when she was visiting.
“I am,” she said. “I bet you’re starving. There are some snacks over there.”
“I’m good,” he said. “I’ll eat when we get home.”
They left the stadium, waving to other players and wives or girlfriends in the parking lot, and then drove the less than an hour to Warren’s house.
“I’ll get some food ready for you if you want to change,” she told him as they walked in the door.
“I’d like that,” he said. “Whatever you want to put together.”
She went to his fridge and pulled out the chicken. It’d be the fastest to warm up. There were plenty of sides, and she picked two vegetables at random and then cheesy mashed potatoes. She’d put a special request in for them herself.