11. Allie
CHAPTER 11
Allie
November
“We have to go over all the security protocols,” Zoey said, and I nodded. I sat at the large table with everyone who was anyone in the Allie Witt world.
Bailey sat next to me, a rare break in her schedule allowing her to come with me for moral support to my first game, which meant a few members of her team were here as well. After this meeting we would head to the stadium a few hours away. I would stay with Teddy for the weekend after the game and would leave for my next tour stop from there.
My mom beamed from across the table. In the time that Teddy and I had been together, she never stopped being his biggest cheerleader. While she hadn’t met him in person yet, they had FaceTimed often. They’d hit it off immediately, and she made sure to tell me daily that he was a “keeper” and “much better than any of those other puny men you dated.”
She was so excited that I was about to make my first public appearance as Teddy’s girlfriend. Not that we needed to have an entire discussion to be “official,” but we had that conversation not long after he was in New York. And yes, it was earlier than I originally anticipated going to my first game. It seemed that his Christmas game wasn’t going to be as easy for me to attend since it wasn’t a home game, so we decided to make it Thanksgiving week and see how it went.
His home team was much more accommodating, it seemed. Teddy let me make the decision, and with the serious escalation in our seriousness, I decided it was time. If it went well and my security team was happy with the way things went, they may feel better about me going to an away game. As it was, it took weeks for them to make this plan and feel comfortable with it all.
However, I had a pit in my stomach the size of Texas. Not because I had any doubts about Teddy or my security while there. I didn’t at all. Things with us in our bubble were amazing. I had managed to see him one other brief time in the last six weeks when we’d spent another night in each other’s arms at my house in Florida. We hadn’t thought it would be possible, but we made it happen. Not that we thought it was, but our second time together proved the first wasn’t just a fluke. We greatly enjoyed our time together, and it felt right, which made me feel comfortable going public now.
I wished I could keep this to myself, but it wasn’t feasible. If I wanted to live my life without hiding, which I did, then I had to do it. Teddy had to learn about the life I led and see if he could really handle what he thought he could before this went further. But I knew without a shadow of a doubt I would be destroyed if this ended at this point. Many of our conversations over the last several weeks had been with my team and his. Ironing out how this was all going to go and what he should and should not say on social media and to the press. And what we were comfortable “leaking” about our status as a couple after I was seen at his game.
The bags under my eyes that required extra makeup showed just how many late nights we spent talking. At this point, I could say that no one except my mom, Conor, and Bailey knew me better than Teddy did. The depths of our conversations were just so natural, and we both had the same philosophies about so many things.
“Juan.” Zoey turned to him, indicating he needed to go over his part of the plan. I zoned out, not because it wasn’t important, but because I knew he had it, and discussing all the things that could go wrong just gave me more anxiety. I thought through the scenarios that could happen this weekend.
First of all, and the most obvious, was the media attention that would happen the second I arrived. Selfishly, I was glad Bailey would be there too because, at least initially, the focus would be on us and why we were both there. Once they figured it out, it would shift dramatically.
Next, the suite that I would be in was his, and his parents would be there. I would meet them for the first time without him there. Cue the panic. He had me talk to them on the phone the last time we were together, but being together in person was a whole other thing. I wished my mom would be there, but she couldn’t go. She promised to go with me to the Christmas game if that worked out. Thank God Bailey had a blissful opening around the holidays and she was okay spending it with me in a fishbowl of attention. She may or may not have mentioned forcing Teddy to introduce her to a single friend as her reason to come, but I knew she wanted to be there to help me with my extreme nerves.
After the game, he would come up to the suite to meet me. We would then leave the game together and go to his house, where he had planned a Thanksgiving celebration where I’d meet his closest friends.
No pressure. At all.
The stadium came into view, and my leg bounced up and down in nervous anticipation. Bailey went back and forth between watching me and watching us get closer to the most nerve-racking moment of my life. She reached over and squeezed my hand. She had never been to a football game before, either, and she was excited.
“It’s okay, Allie,” she said. “It’s going to be fine.” I took a deep breath, trying but failing to calm myself. We went through all the scenarios together. I told him what would happen. I prepared him as much as I could. And here we were, about to see what actually came of this.
My phone pinged with a text, and I looked down at the screen. Of course it was Teddy. He had a direct channel into my head at all times.
Take a deep breath. We’ve got this, angel. I cannot wait to see you up there today. I hope you and Bailey have so much fun. My parents are so excited you’re here.
I smiled and showed the screen to Bailey. This man was preparing for a game, and he was worried about me.
Bailey shook her head. “I’m telling you, Al. This man is it for you. I called it from the beginning. You went through all the shit you went through to get to him.”
I was afraid to hope for that, and she knew it. What my heart told me was one thing, but my reality was another. Plus my heart lied to me a lot in my life, so it made it hard to follow it.
We are about to pull in. I’ll see you after the game. Kick ass today, Teddy .
“Are you ready for this?” I asked her. Bailey’s security combined with mine today to escort us to the game, and we had a vehicle both in front and behind us with our team. Zoey was with them, too. She felt more comfortable coming with me, and I enjoyed having her around, so it worked out.
She nodded. “I’m excited. I’ve never been to a game before. I know hardly anything about football, but I can’t wait to watch men in tight pants throw each other around.”
I laughed. “Definitely a bonus, though the only one I want to see in tight pants is Teddy. And I didn’t know anything about football, either, until I googled things about him, and then Teddy taught me more. I am still a baby with my level of knowledge, but we watched some highlights of his game, and he talked me through a lot. At least I know now what his position even does.”
“He’s a running back, right?” Bailey asked and I nodded.
“He’s one of the top in the entire league.”
The SUV pulled into the stadium and I stopped talking, my hands twisted in my lap. I felt like I could vomit at any moment. My phone pinged again, and this time it was Zoey in the vehicle in front of us.
Stay in the car for a minute. Checking things out and getting transport into the stadium . Like I’d move without them telling me to. I knew who the bosses were.
Will do .
“Okay, spill it,” Bailey said.
“Spill what?”
“What’s the worst-case scenario going on in your head right now?”
“That I’m sick and tired of worrying about what drama me having a regular relationship with a man is going to do to my life. And his.”
“I think he can handle it, Al. I really do.”
“Maybe,” I said. I had to stop. I was here to support Teddy and see him do what he loved, and I couldn’t allow myself to get into this funk. “Anyway, ready or not, I’m doing it. I won’t let them control my life, and I need to show Teddy that he’s a priority for me. I am excited to see him. I just wish it didn’t come with the rest of it.”
The vehicles stopped almost inside a tunnel that went under the backside of the stadium. I worried my lip between my teeth and then forced myself to stop, smiling at the thought of what Teddy would say. My eyes fluttered closed at the memory of his body over mine, those blue eyes looking straight into my soul.
“Do I look okay?”
Bailey shook her head. “You never look okay. You look fucking stunning and like the sexy, confident woman you are.”
She was such a great hype woman. Today, I wore my long blond hair curled down my back and pulled up halfway into a clip. I loved fashion and the color black, and thankfully, the Blaze colors were black and red, so that fit what I loved. Despite it being November, it was a warm seventy-five degrees, so I chose a black skirt, platform-heeled boots, and a red off-the-shoulder blouse. I wore stacked gold necklaces and earrings and my signature red lip.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said.
“Let’s go turn a stadium full of men on their heads,” she said, and we both laughed. Shortly after, the door opened and we were escorted out of the vehicle by Juan and Alex, Bailey’s head of security. I looked up at the massive stadium, one that I played in many times over the span of my career, including the day that I ran straight into what may have been the best thing in my life. It looked so different today, filled with people wearing Blaze attire instead of the bright colors of my fans’ outfits.
They led us into an area where workers milled around, not paying much attention to us. We could hear fans in the stadium, but we couldn’t see them. Zoey stepped up next to me, and we walked with purpose through the underside of the stadium. Security flanked us on all sides. So far, so good.
When we reached a hallway and turned, I spotted people milling around in Flame gear and sucked in a breath. Bailey squeezed my hand, and Zoey gave me a small smile.
“You’ve got this,” Zoey said, echoing Bailey from earlier. Zoey’s job was to protect my image like my security was to protect me physically, and even she was a thousand percent on board with me and Teddy. I told her everything, and she had spoken to him many times both with Jamie, his publicist and without her. Zoey was hard to impress and tough to let people fully into my life, but she gave him the gold stamp of approval. Jamie would also be in the box today, according to Teddy. I liked her a lot, and she seemed to really care about him.
“I’ve got this,” I said, forcing my shoulders back and my head up. I was Allie fucking Witt. I walked in and owned places. I didn’t need nerves. I needed confidence. It didn’t matter what they said about us. What mattered was what we said about us.
We reached an elevator, and the sheer size of our group, flanked by a lot of security, started making people stop and look at us. I watched as people scanned our group, and I willed the elevator to hurry. It was going to be seconds and they’d figure it out.
“OH MY GOD! IT’S ALLIE WITT AND BAILEY LEE!” a voice screamed from far enough away that I couldn’t tell who yelled it, but they got the attention of every single person within earshot. Everyone turned and looked, and just as pandemonium started to ensue, the doors opened and we slid in. Phones pointed at us as we entered the elevator, and we both waved as the doors shut.
“Whew,” I said. “That took longer than I thought, but in two seconds, it’ll be all over socials.”
Bailey rubbed her hands together. “Let’s fucking go! It’s football time!”
Zoey laughed at her. “Yep. It’s time to have fun and not worry about the rest. You’re here to see Teddy. The rest is just noise.”
“And meet the parents and friends and his publicist. No pressure.”
“Hey,” Zoey said, “Remember who the fuck you are. You’re an amazing person, and not just because you’re Allie Witt, pop superstar.”
I smiled, and the elevator doors opened to the suite level of the stadium. Cheers erupted as we stepped out. Yep, it took that long for it to go viral that I was here. People shouted our names and that they loved us. We walked down the hallway toward Teddy’s suite, and I imagined him there when I was here on tour, watching me. If it wasn’t for him seeking me out, I wouldn’t be here right now. After he helped me that day, had he not continued showing me who he was, I would’ve never seen him again. I made a mental note to thank him for doing what most people wouldn’t.
Juan stopped at the door to what must be Teddy’s suite and opened it, walking in first. I knew the routine, and I stood outside with Rico and crew until he gestured for me to follow. Most of the guys would be outside the suite, so they wouldn’t take up all the space and also because now that it was out that I was here, they anticipated many people attempting to come up.
Bailey and I walked in, Zoey behind me. Several people I didn’t recognize turned as we walked in, and my stomach clenched with nerves again. I was momentarily distracted by the view of the field from here. The team warmed up on the field and I searched for #23 immediately, ignoring the stares and phones I saw from the neighboring suites.
“He’s over there.” Jamie walked up, pointing toward the end zone. I smiled when I noticed him standing with Spencer. “It’s great to meet you in person,” she said, reaching out her hand to shake mine. However, instead of shaking her hand, I hugged her. I couldn’t help it—I was a hugger.
“Hi, Jamie,” I said. “It’s so great to officially meet you. This is my best friend, Bailey Lee, and my publicist, Zoey.”
Zoey shook her hand. “Definitely nice to meet you in person,” she said.
Bailey shook her hand also.
“I cannot believe I’m meeting both of you at the same time,” Jamie said. “Well, to be real, all three of you. Okay, that’s it. That’s all the fangirling I’m going to do.” She squealed and jumped up and down. “Okay, seriously. That’s it.”
We laughed together, and I hugged her again. I liked her. Despite the years of experience with it, I still enjoyed it when people freaked out like that, especially someone like her who worked with famous people for a living. It reminded me of all the years I wanted that.
“We’ve done a lot to get these two here today. Nice to finally be here,” Zoey said.
Jamie laughed. “For sure. Come on in. Make yourselves at home. We’ve got a full bar and food you can order, plus regular drinks in the fridge. Theo’s parents will be here shortly. Let me introduce you to everyone here so far.”
I followed her through the suite, where I met Teddy’s friend Ty, his neighbor Wyatt, and two childhood friends, Marc and Devin. We finally settled ourselves in a front-row seat and got drinks. The mayhem below us and next to us was steadily increasing, but I refused to look anywhere but next to me and in front of me at the field.
“You good?” Bailey asked, sipping her beer.
“I’m good,” I said. “Nervous but excited to meet his parents. Spencer’s fiancée, Lacey, is here, too, but she’s in the stands. She told Teddy she’d come over at halftime.”
Zoey sat down next to me with a soda. She didn’t drink, probably because handling my life meant she had to stay on her toes at all times. “You’re creating quite a scene,” she laughed. “Not that we didn’t expect that, but the two of you? Yeah. Pretty sure the internet is broken trying to figure out why the two of you are in Theo Nolan’s suite at the Blaze game. It was genius, though, because it will take them a bit to figure out which one of you is associated with him.”
Bailey giggled. “It’s me. He can pick me up and put me in his pocket.” We laughed with her, the image in my head too much. “Nah, he’s all Allie’s. But I am on the hunt for one of his hot single friends.” She looked over at Jamie, sitting on the other side of her. “Have any candidates?”
Jamie grinned. “There are several unattached players on the Blaze. The only one I represent who is single is the safety, Briggs Callahan. He’s number twenty-two.”
“Hey, Teddy is twenty-three!” I exclaimed.
“Teddy?” Jamie asked.
Oops. I forgot our bubble was no longer, and I needed to remember no one called him that but me. “Sorry. Theo.”
“No,” Jamie said, “that is the cutest thing. You call him Teddy?”
My face flamed, but I nodded. “I’m glad I said that in front of you and not someone else. He told me his teammates called him T-Bear because a kid called him a teddy bear once, and I liked it. It fits him.”
Jamie put her hand over her heart and fell back in the chair dramatically. “Swoon. I just cannot with how cute you two are.”
Bailey pointed at herself. “Excuse me. Enough with those two lovebirds. Tell me about Briggs. That name is hot as hell. Is he as hot as his name is?”
Jamie pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed, then turned the phone to Bailey. Her mouth dropped open and she looked at me. “Um, this is the hottest man I’ve ever seen. No offense, Al.”
I laughed. I doubted very much that he was near as hot as Teddy—Theo—but I leaned over to look at Jamie’s phone. The man in the picture was hot, for sure. He had short blond hair and striking green eyes. His face looked like something chiseled out of stone, with no facial hair to speak of. Much like Theo and every other football player, his muscles had muscles.
“I’m going to need to meet this one. Will he be at Theo’s later?”
Jamie grinned. “As a matter of fact, he will be. He’s a rookie and Theo has taken him under his wing, so he is often at his house.”
Bailey smirked. “Well, isn’t this perfect. My day is made now. Does he like country music?” She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m not sure,” Jamie said. “But I doubt there is a man on this earth that wouldn’t look at you and be interested.”
“Awww, thank you, Jamie.”
The suite door opened again, and in stepped Theo’s parents. My mouth dried as we made eye contact and they made their way directly to me.
“Allie!” His mom, Sandra Nolan, walked up to me first. She wore a jersey with Theo’s number on it, her blond hair styled in a cute bob to her chin. She definitely did not look her age, which Theo said was in her late fifties. I stood and she enveloped me in her arms. Immediately, I felt safe. “So great to meet you in person. You’re just gorgeous. Look at this beautiful outfit you have on. Sigh. I miss being young and able to dress in whatever I want.”
Sandra pulled back and her husband, Thomas, beamed from next to us. He was tall, just as tall as Teddy, and handsome with the same dark hair as his son but with more gray than brown. He had the same smile and blue eyes.
“Allie. I can’t believe we finally get to meet face to face,” he said. He wrapped me in a hug, and I felt like I was in his son’s arms. I saw where he got it. He exuded protectiveness. “Thank you so much for the smile I see on Theo’s face again. It’s been too long.”
He stepped back from me and put his arm around his wife and squeezed her to him. She rested her head on his chest, causing a ball of emotion to form in my throat.
Sandra nodded, dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes. “It’s true. All a mom ever wants to see is that her baby is happy, and it is obvious to me that the two of you have something really special.”
“Thank you,” I said. “It’s so great to meet both of you, too. Your son is amazing, which is a testament to you and your parenting. And, obviously, your love for each other.”
They smiled. “Forty years together,” his dad said. “The best decision I made in my entire life.”
“Well, they just figured it out,” Bailey said from the seat next to me, indicating all the cameras facing our way. More than likely, the professional cameras for the stadium were trained up here, too. It was Zoey’s job to monitor what they said online as the game progressed. Right then, I was focused on the people in front of me. I forced myself to block out everything but the people who created Teddy.
“The game is starting!” Wyatt called, and we settled into our seats, Bailey on one side of me and Zoey on the other. His parents sat behind us. My eyes scanned for Teddy, and I couldn’t help but grin when I found him. He stayed out on the field, so the offense must be starting first. Look at me; I knew things about football.
“What are they saying?” I asked Zoey without looking away from the field. She scrolled away on her phone, and I knew she was reading what was posted about us.
“Both of your names are a trending hashtag. The Allie-Cats have lost their damn minds. People are feral. A video of you and Bailey walking in was posted, and underneath it the speculation was wild on what both of you were doing here. Once you guys entered Theo’s suite, the real chaos began. And then when you hugged both of his parents and Bailey stayed seated? Yeah. Losing their shit. They’re wondering if this is the first time you guys are meeting each other in person.”
Bailey and I exchanged a glance, and both of us started laughing. “They think this is our first meeting ? In front of the whole world? Are they serious? Why would anyone ever do such a thing?”
Zoey laughed, too. “Right. Like I said, feral. Then the more astute Allie-Cats remembered that Theo went to your concert back in July and posted pictures from his suite and kissing the cheek of your cutout, so now the speculation is that you started talking back then, but then you were still with Josiah—as far as they knew—so they are confused. The documentary Theo was on where he mentioned you is the current fixation. They’re trying to put together the puzzle pieces. They’re not too far off, but they don’t know all the details yet.”
I blew out a breath. Well, it had begun. “Okay, so everything we anticipated so far. At least they don’t know anything about our actual dates.”
“Yep. The AFL has posted you all over their socials and on the live coverage of the game no less than five times already, and the game just began. They’re very excited that the two of you are here and in Theo’s box. At first, they were confused, too, but now they know it’s you that they’re focusing on.”
“Hey, it could be me, too,” Bailey said. “I want to find a hot man, too.”
It was halftime and the Blaze were up 30–7. I stood at the back of the suite to hide a bit from the onslaught of cameras trained on me the entire game. According to Zoey, I was being shown on the television a ridiculous number of times, and that wasn’t even counting the people taking videos and pictures and posting them on socials. It wasn’t like I didn’t expect this wherever I went, but it was a lot, no matter what.
Right now, I was waiting for Spencer’s fiancée, Lacey, to make her way over. Bailey waved at fans through the glass of our suite, loving the attention. She was always giving her security a run for their money. She’d be over there taking pictures with them if Alex would let her.
The door opened and Juan walked in with Lacey. She wore an oversized jersey with the number thirteen on it and “Green” on the back, Spencer’s last name and, soon to be, hers. She saw me and stopped in her tracks, a frozen smile on her face.
“Lacey?” I said. I stepped forward to greet her.
“Allie,” she said, her voice barely a squeak. “I am sorry. I am a full-on, grown-ass adult, and I’m going to freak the fuck out for a moment. Am I really standing in the same room as you? Are you really dating my fiancé’s best friend?”
I held out my arms and she stepped into them and we hugged. “Nice to meet you in person, Lacey. Yes is the answer to both of your questions.”
She stepped back and shook her head side to side. “I just literally cannot believe you’re really here. I mean, it’s not that I didn’t believe Theo, it’s just ... wow. I just can’t seem to process this. That night he watched your concert, I was on FaceTime with them. Later, Spencer told me that Theo was beside himself over you, and I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been a fan of yours forever.”
“Thank you,” I said. “To be fair, I’m still processing that I’m really here, too.”
Lacey looked over at the cameras pointing at us from every angle. “Well, I guess they got the memo that you’re here.”
“They sure did.” I laughed. “Come on. I want to introduce you to my best friend. You know Bailey Lee?”
Lacey’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.” When she spotted Bailey in the seat, scrolling on her phone and drinking her beer, she looked back at me. “I think this is the best day of my life. Don’t tell Spencer that.”
I liked her already. “Girl code.”