Chapter 25
“Here, give me the last box,”I say and take it from Tessa.
She follows me inside, and I deposit the box onto the stack of other boxes we brought with us. Tess looks around the otherwise barren room. “We really need to get some furniture.”
“More than a mattress on the floor?” I tease her.
She waggles her eyebrows. “At least no one will complain about the noise.”
“Please, you’re a screamer,” I tease her.
Her mouth falls open like it always does when I say something shocking. “I am not.”
“Do I need to record us to prove it to you?” I ask her.
Tessa freezes in place, and I realize immediately I’ve stepped on an emotional landmine. Her eyes get this blank, faraway look, and I approach her cautiously.
Sometimes I want to kick my own ass. Of course, those words would trigger a negative memory. She seems so much like her old self sometimes that I forget there’s this wound she’s still fighting to heal, that she’ll probably always be living with to some degree.
“Hey,” I try to get her attention. When that doesn’t work I carefully put my hands on her shoulders, slowly so as not to scare her further. “I’m sorry. That was completely thoughtless of me.”
She blinks several times, and the fog slowly clears from her eyes. She tries to smile, but it falls flat. “I don’t expect you to walk on eggshells around me. You can”t always know what the right thing to say or do is. And I don”t want you to be constantly on guard. That”s no way for us to manage our relationship.”
I shake my head. Here she is fresh off of a flashback, and her first reaction is to reassure me. I don’t deserve her. I’m not sure how I’ll ever be good enough for her when she is always willing to sacrifice her own feelings to preserve mine.
“Don’t do that,” I tell her. “I don’t want you to put your needs on the back burner to take care of me. You’ve been doing that for far too long. It’s okay to let me take care of you. I’m not going to take off if you break down.”
Her smile becomes a bit more natural, and she falls into my arms. She clings to me tighter than she normally does. “Don’t let go for a while.”
“How does forever sound?”
Tessa playfully swats my chest. “Cheesy, but I’ll take it.”
I open my mouth to spout more mushy lines, but my phone rings from my back pocket, interrupting what was sure to be pure poetry. “Ford Shaw,” I answer.
“Hello Shaw. It”s been a while. I followed your stats while you were at Playa Community College. I”m excited to have you back on my team.”
“Coach Greer,” I say surprised. “Thank you, sir. I”m excited to play for you again.”
“Good to hear that, son. I checked in with your college to verify your grades and found out you graduated early. They said they believed you headed up to Seattle early?”
“Yes, Coach. My girlfriend and I came up here early to get settled in before summer training starts.”
“That”s great news because I need a favor. Well, actually, the university needs a favor. There”s a big dinner tonight with some of the boosters, and they wanted some of the school’s star athletes to show up and entice them to open their wallets even more.”
I groan. “I don”t know, Coach. I”m not really good with the political side of this game.”
“A word of advice, Ford, if you plan on going pro, you better get good with it,” he says.
I exhale. “Can I bring a date?”
“Absolutely. Dinner is at seven and we”re meeting at the Rainier building on campus,” he says, and then hangs up without another word.
“Shit, I didn”t even ask if you wanted to go. I hate these things, please go with me,” I beg her. I don’t need to fill her in, because Coach Greer is a very loud talker.
“Yeah, I”ll go. I like these events about as much as you do, but we’re a team, right?” she says.
There’s a knock on the door, and movers enter with furniture. Two guys walk past carrying a couch. “Where do you want this?”
“Uh, where did this come from?” I ask instead of answering his question.
Tessa goes to help them at the same time that Josephine knocks on the doorframe of our open door. “That would be from me. Remember I told you guys that I had some furniture to give you?”
Being a stubborn asshole, of course, I open my mouth to argue with her, but she gives me a stern mom look. “I know you’re not about to argue with me for doing something nice for my daughter and her boyfriend, especially since my douchebag of an ex-husband prevented me from doing anything for her for five years. You wouldn’t prevent me from making up for lost time, would you?”
I snap my mouth shut and shake my head. Jo pats my arm and smiles at me. “You and I are going to get along just fine. I can see we are both motivated by the same things.”
“Spoiling Tessa?” I ask.
Jo looks to make sure her daughter is still preoccupied showing the movers where to put the entire household worth of furniture. “She deserves it, don’t you think?”
I nod. “More than anyone else I know.”
Jo takes a deep breath, and the question I’ve been waiting for arrives. “She was sad when she came here her senior year. I know that was because she had to leave you behind. There’s something more there now, isn’t there? Is she okay?”
It isn’t my place to share Tessa’s secrets. She’ll tell her mom if she wants to, when she’s ready to. I hate to leave her with nothing though, so I give her the best answer I can. “She’s getting there. Any more than that is up to Tess to tell you.”
“You’re a good boyfriend,” she praises me.
“Tessa makes me a better man. Anything good about me is thanks to her.”
* * *
“I already hate this,”I whisper to Tessa as I hook my finger in the collar of my dress shirt and try to pull it from my skin.
“You hate anything that requires you to wear a tie,” she whispers back.
She’s not wrong. I’m wearing my only suit to this dinner while she’s dressed in this body-hugging black dress with a zipper running up the entire back. I lead her into the room, and maybe it’s paranoia, but I can feel all the eyes in the room turning our way.
“Are they all looking at us?” I ask her.
“You’re a star QB. You should probably get used to it,” she says.
Coach Greer breaks through the crowd and slaps me on the back. “Good to see you again, kid. There are some people I need to introduce you to.”
He starts to steer me through the crowd, and I hold onto Tessa’s hand to keep from losing her. Coach sees what I’m trying to do and stops. “This isn’t really a meeting to have with your girlfriend in tow.”
Then he turns his attention to Tessa. “I promise I’ll get him right back to you.”
I shake my head. “No thanks. She doesn’t know anyone here, so if I have to leave her alone, I’m not going.”
“I wouldn’t say she doesn’t know anyone,” a voice says behind me.
If I could have made a list of the top five people I’d least like to run into at this event, I’d have put his name at the number one spot. I turn around, and sure enough, Bennett Richards is smiling at my girl.
“Bennett,” I greet as neutrally as I can.
He gives me a tight smile in return. “Ford. You can go on and meet the bigwigs. I can keep Tessie company.”
“It’s okay, Ford. I’ll just catch up with Benji,” Tessa tries to reassure me. Every time she uses that stupid pet name for him though it reminds me how close they are, and how much closer he wants to be.
“Let’s go, Shaw,” Coach demands, reminding me why we called him Coach Hard-Ass in high school.
“I didn’t know you knew Bennett Richards,” he says as we move through the room.
I nod, not really wanting to talk. That doesn’t deter Coach, and he keeps rambling to fill the silence. “That’s really good. I’m glad you’re already making friends. Richards just transferred from the University of Washington. They have pretty much every program there, but Cascade has smaller class sizes, so we managed to snag an Olympic hopeful.”
The pattern of who they trotted out for this party is starting to become clear. Olympic hopeful, check. Future professional football player, another check. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tall guy in the corner is already being scouted to play pro basketball.
Greer stops in front of a distinguished looking man in his late fifties. He’s tall, with wide shoulders, and a nose that looks like it’s been broken a couple of times. “Ford Shaw, this is Nelson Jones.”
The man takes my hand and gives it a firm shake, the kind where it’s obvious the other person is trying to assess something about you. “Coach Greer has been talking you up for a while now. A few of us went to the championship game you played. We’re real happy to have you here. I hope we get a championship of our own before you go pro. Have you gotten representation yet? Once the rest of the country sees you in action, you’re going to be inundated with offers for your endorsement.”
“My head is still spinning just being in Seattle getting ready to play D1 ball. Endorsements haven’t even crossed my mind,” I tell him honestly.
He digs a card out of his jacket pocket. “I started my own agency after my pro career ended. I was with the Evergreen Bay Knights in the nineties.”
I’m nodding my head as if I know who he is, when in reality he doesn’t ring any bells for me. There are thousands of former players out there, and while it’s an exclusive club, not everyone experiences enduring fame.
“I’d be happy to help you navigate through this time. Anything you need, not just about endorsement deals. I’m here for you. I’m a die hard Cascade U Ram, and I want to help you anyway I can,” he continues.
I tip his card at him and slip it into my pocket. “I’ll keep your offer in mind. Thank you.”
“Ford, there are some other people that would like to meet you,” Coach Greer beckons.
Glancing over my shoulder I see Bennett put his hand on Tessa’s back and guide her over to a group of people and introduce her. I turn back to Coach. “I really need to get back to my girl.”
He gives me an exasperated look. “If I’d known you were wanting to babysit your date the entire night, I’d have told you not to bring her,” he grumbles.
“I think you knew that I wouldn’t have come.”
“This is your future. I’m just trying to help. Look, the athletic director is wanting to put forward a certain image. It doesn’t have to be the reality, but I’m trying to show them you can be a team player. I went out on a limb for you, this is the least you can do for me,” he says.
I freeze in place. “You need to explain that right now.”
He grunts, and pulls me off to the side. I can tell by the look on his face he’s not happy about anything he’s about to tell me. “They overheard me tell you that you could bring a date. The AD wasn’t aware you were seeing anyone. Your reputation as a, uh?—”
“Manwhore?” I provide.
He nods. “Let’s say ladies’ man. That reputation proceeded you, and they thought they were going to be able to sell you to the crowds as this unobtainable football god.”
“Except I’m very much possessed by a beautiful brunette, and that won’t drive ticket sales for women. Is that it?”
“Pretty much,” he confirms.
“Where is the man who stood up to the establishment when the rich parents were expecting their pampered sons to play?” I ask.
“He learned that integrity doesn’t feed your family. Coaching jobs don’t grow on trees, especially if you develop a reputation for being difficult. Is this going to be a problem for you?” he asks me.
“Yeah, I think it is,” I tell him honestly.
“Just meet a few more people and then you can leave. It’s not like you’re going to be expected to actually date other women, just don’t advertise your relationship,” he pushes.
My nostrils flare. I need to talk to Tessa before I do anything. For now, I’m going to have to stomach letting her catch up with Bennett. I trust her. When that realization hits me, I relax marginally. No matter what he wants, she chose me, and that is really all that matters.