Chapter 18
Mazzie
It had taken us thirty minutes to leave the stadium and find our way to the back entrance where the football players would emerge. The area was filling up with fans, family, and media. Cameramen were posed to snap pictures. Reporters had their mics ready.
Bailey, Kaylee, and I hung outside the guarded gate, waiting anxiously to see our guys.
“That was such an awesome game,” Bailey gushed for the tenth time.
Like during the pep rally, the atmosphere had crackled with electricity, and my heart had been in my throat the entire game.
“I can’t wait to meet Lucas,” Kaylee said excitedly as she held my hand.
When she’d heard Bailey and me discussing the game, Kaylee had begged us to come. She’d also overheard Bailey and I talking about Lucas, so I had no choice but to tell my sister that I actually liked a guy. “It’s about time,” she’d said.
I squeezed her hand. “You’ll like him.” I had no doubt she would be smitten with him. “I’m happy you came.”
She glanced up at me with wide brown eyes. “Me too. I think I want to be a cheerleader one day.”
Kaylee had been riveted to her seat the entire game. I was stoked to see her excited about something. I couldn’t remember the last time she and I did anything that had us smiling and cheering. In fact, we hardly did anything together, but I wanted to change that.
Kaylee tugged on my hand. “Your phone is ringing.”
I giggled. “I still can’t hear well after that game.” I fished my cell out of my back pocket to find the Lakemont County Jail’s name on my screen. “Bails, I need to take this. Kaylee, stay with Bailey. I’ll be right back.”
I walked toward the parking lot of vehicles as I accepted the call.
“Mazzie,” Mom said with excitement in her voice. “How are you, honey? How’s Kaylee?”
I found a quiet spot near a red SUV parked along the first row, facing the stadium. “Kaylee is good. I’m sorry we haven’t visited you. I got a new job, and with school, it’s been nuts.” My guilt came through loud and clear.
“I don’t want you and Kaylee to see me in here, especially your sister. I’ve put you girls through hell, and I can’t keep doing that. When I get out, things will be different, Mazzie.” Every inflection in her tone was confident and clear. Dare I say she sounded as though she’d had a wakeup call.
I wanted to believe her. I would like nothing more to have a mother who put Kaylee and me before herself. But I couldn’t count how many times she’d told me in life-changing situations that things would be different.
“Mom, you’ve given Kaylee and me false hopes for far too long.”
“I know my actions will speak the loudest. Anyway, I have some promising news. My lawyer, Brent Furlong, is talking to the DA’s office.
He thinks that since this is my first offense and no one was hurt in the accident that he might be able to cut a deal where I won’t have to do any more jail time. ” Hope weaved through her words.
Since the judge had denied her bail, I couldn’t wrap my head around a plea deal working to her advantage. But I couldn’t rain on her parade.
I watched the crowd in the distance grow. “What about Kaylee and CPS?”
“That’s the other reason I called.” She sighed. “Mr. Furlong is working with CPS. They might want to see Kaylee’s home environment, but as long as she’s with the Armstrongs, they won’t take her.”
Until I knew for sure that CPS would not become a problem for Kaylee, it was too soon to trust the government system. However, for the first time, I didn’t feel like I was the only one championing for Kaylee.
“That’s promising news,” I said.
Mom sniffled. “Please be patient with me. I want to be a better mother.”
I swallowed down my emotions, both the anger and the heartache. “There is nothing I would like more than for you to be a better mother.” I softened my tone. “Kaylee needs you, and I do too. But mean what you say. If the cards fall in your favor, then show us.”
“I promise that I will. One more thing, then I have to go. People are waiting for the phone. The rent is coming up. Before Nick left, he gave me money. It’s in my bedroom where I normally keep my cash.
” She whispered the last line. “It won’t cover the total amount, but it’s close.
Can you make sure we don’t miss the payment? ”
Don’t I always? was on the tip of my tongue, but I decided I couldn’t keep being a witch to her. After all, she wasn’t drunk and seemed to be more clearheaded than ever before.
“Meyers, hurry up,” someone near her complained.
“I love you, Mazzie. Give Kaylee a hug and kiss for me.” Her voice hitched as she hung up.
That high I’d been on was completely gone. I returned to Bailey and Kaylee, who were standing along the outer perimeter of the fence.
“I’ll be right back,” Bailey said. “I see one of my study partners. I need to talk to her quickly.”
As she darted off, Kaylee craned her neck up at me. “What’s wrong? Was that about Mom?”
Staying close to the fence, I moved her long ponytail off her shoulder. “That was Mom. She says hi.”
“Are we going to see her?” she asked.
Kaylee had been asking if we could visit our mother. I couldn’t bring myself tell her that Mom didn’t want us to see her in jail.
“Soon,” I said as more football players emerged, taking my sister’s attention away from the topic of my mom.
“Any of those players Lucas?” she asked.
“Nope. Don’t worry. I’ll point him out.”
During the next several minutes as we waited, I zeroed in on a conversation between two older men. Fathers of players, I would guess.
“Remember when we played for Lakemont?” the taller of the two men asked. “The pep rally was the best part of the season.”
I smiled as I watched the exit doors, thinking back to last night.
The man was so right. I wanted to relive the pep rally over and over again.
I wanted to experience the rush, the feeling that I was part of something bigger than myself, that my problems were a dot on the radar.
I wanted to feel my stomach flip and flop as I gave in to the kiss.
The shorter, dark-haired man chimed in with, “I heard Lucas Allen broke the tradition.”
Both men laughed.
“When I played for Lakemont, I did the same thing. That’s how I met my wife,” the taller man said. “Everyone thought we would lose the homecoming game, but in fact we went on to win it. Just like they did today.”
The shorter man chuckled. “So Lucas has found his mate.”
Inwardly, I laughed as I remembered what Lucas had said. We’re fated, Midnight. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Up until the pep rally, I’d thought the Wolf Howl was just a motivator for fans and the team. But the football players really believed in the superstition.
“One thing is certain,” the short man said. “Lucas is definitely slotted for the NFL. He’s had a rough start to the season, but it looks like he’s returned to being the player from last year.”
Every time I’d heard Lucas’s name in the stands, and I’d heard it a ton, my pulse had picked up.
He deserved to be on the big stage with bigger lights and larger crowds, which meant that this time next year he could be playing in the NFL while I stayed behind to finish out my senior year, and that made me sad.
But I had dreams too. I had no idea what the future held for us.
But fated or not, I shouldn’t be thinking of Lucas and me as us since we hardly knew each other.
My thoughts were broken by a loud female squeal. “There’s Lucas.”
“There he is,” I said in Kaylee’s ear. “The blond.” My body vibrated with anticipation.
“Ooh, he’s handsome and big,” Kaylee said. “This is so exciting. I’m dying to meet him.”
I leaned down to get closer to her ear. “It’s not serious between us.” I didn’t want her to get her hopes up only for them to be shattered if things didn’t work out between Lucas and me.
She rolled her eyes. “Mazzie, I’m thirteen, not five. I know you only had one date with him.”
“And you’re too perceptive for your age.” And an expert eavesdropper.
She giggled, light and airy. “You need a good guy in your life. I’ll see if I approve.”
I had to laugh that my younger sister was giving me boy advice.
Woofs, howls, and shouts grew louder as more players spilled out of the building behind Lucas.
“Lucas!” a female called out. “A minute of your time.”
I couldn’t see the reporter, only her microphone cutting through the crowd. Lucas still hadn’t spotted me, but I wasn’t about to run to him. He deserved his moment in the spotlight, especially after a clutch winning play to end the game.
“Does he know you’re here?” Kaylee asked.
“I sent him a text earlier.”
Then the air shifted from warm to scorching hot as we finally locked eyes.
I waved, my stomach going haywire, even more so when he smiled.
“Hi, Lucas,” my sister shouted.
As he made his way out of the fenced area, he was swallowed up by the crowd surrounding both him and the female reporter. She must have additional questions for him because somebody had told me that Lakemont already held a postgame press conference with the coach and the game’s star players.
The buzz of voices quieted as the lone reporter asked, “Lucas, so far this season you’ve been struggling. But today you were on fire. What changed?”
Some dude yelled, “The Wolf Howl.”
“That’s right,” another chimed in. “The wolf has found his mate.”
Whispers bounced around, and the two dads close to us were bobbing their heads.
From where I stood, the bodies in front of us blocked my view of Lucas.
“Is that true?” the pretty reporter asked.
“Our team played exceptional,” Lucas started. “We were in sync, and our QB1 was on point. I would like to give a shout out to Hill Country for a great game. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
The fans surrounding Lucas parted, like he was a celebrity walking the red carpet.
Sweat beaded along my skin as my barometer climbed up to a point of no return.
“He’s coming over here,” Kaylee announced, slipping to my side. “Do you think he’ll kiss you?”
Think? That was the problem. I couldn’t. I’d lost the ability to conjure up a thought or, hell, even a word.
Lucas strode toward me with determination and purpose.
The world narrowed to just him and me, and the closer he got, the harder my heart rammed against my ribs.
“Hey, Midnight,” he said in that raspy Southern drawl that had my panties soaked in an instant.
If Kaylee was still next to me, I couldn’t feel her presence.
“Hey, Hellion. Awesome—”
His lips crashed to mine, cutting off my words, sucking the air out of me, and kickstarting my heart.
He sneaked his arms around my waist, his hands slipping under my Lakemont T-shirt, warm and strong.
I melted into his hard body as my tongue danced with his.
That high feeling I always had around him multiplied tenfold.
I was so far gone that when he broke the kiss, I forgot where I was, who I was, and when it was.
Kaylee’s giggle prickled through my synapses. “You two have everyone watching you.”
“You good, Midnight?” he asked, his large palm firmly on my lower back in case my legs gave out.
I was more than good. But all I could manage was a shrug.
“You must be Kaylee.” Lucas bent over slightly and shook her hand. “I’m Lucas. It’s nice to meet you.” He talked to her in a voice that was all kinds of sweet, stealing another piece of my heart.
She blushed. “You have that same lady reporter behind you.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Don’t care about the reporter.”
The petite brunette stuck the mic in my face, rude and irritating. “Who, may I ask, has snagged the attention of Lakemont’s best wide receiver of all time?”
That fight-or-flight instinct kicked in as a wave of panic had sweat sliding down my back. I did not want to be on TV or bring any attention to myself.
You should’ve thought about that before you did the Wolf Howl.
Kaylee tugged on my hand. “Mazzie.”
“Mazzie,” the brunette reporter parroted.
I glanced at Lucas for help. What should I say other than my name? Because more questions were coming. Were we dating? How serious was our relationship? Where had we met?
Lucas stood beside me, a gentle hand on my back. “So, what other football questions do you have for me?”
The brunette gave me one last look then started questioning Lucas about the game. Thank God.
But even as Lucas deflected the attention back to football, I could feel the weight of the curious stares boring into me.
I would bet the students watching knew I was the girl from the Wolf Howl.
That I was Lucas’s fated mate. I was beginning to hate that term.
Still, the camera was making me itch to run, and I forced myself to breathe, to smile, to play the part of the normal college girl.
Because if I ran, I would only bring more attention to myself.
More scrutiny. Questions about my life that I had no intention of answering.
“Mazzie, you okay?” Kaylee’s voice cut through the spiral of panic, threatening to pull me under.
I forced a smile as my phone buzzed in my back pocket. A distraction I welcomed. I grabbed Kaylee’s hand, and as I answered Bailey’s call, I slipped out of the limelight and into the crowd.
“I think you need rescuing,” Bailey said through the line.
I laughed, albeit nervously. I felt like I had stepped in quicksand with no way to save myself.