Chapter Thirteen
Ayda
My conversation with Tate had, inevitably, been postponed.
The coach had demanded they all stay at school and work through the plays before the game.
I should have known better than to expect anything from him on a Friday night.
We lived in small town Texas. The whole place revolved around the team, the mood reflecting just how well the season was going. This year was, thankfully, a good year.
Of course, I wasn’t complaining about the lack of time to talk. This was the kid’s meal ticket and, like for most of the people in this town, the team came first. For the first time in a long time, I was getting to watch Tate play.
I was standing alone in the stands, barely able to compose myself every time he was on the field.
It didn’t matter who was looking at me or what they were thinking because my sole focus was on jersey number ninety-nine.
Tate was a natural. He dominated the place and made the other guys look like a peewee squad.
His best friend, Rubin Walsh, was the quarterback and it was obvious that the two of them had played together since they’d met in the park all those years ago.
Rubin was a little pervert, but knowing someone for fifteen years meant I could give him a hard time and not feel guilty about it.
The excitement all around me as Rubin shouted out the plays went silent the second the ball was snapped.
The defense from the other team was fast and smooth, but our boys were faster, and the handoff to Tate was so smooth that the other team missed it completely, allowing him to get a ten-yard head start.
“Go! Run, Tate!”
Our side of the bleachers were on our feet, chants of Tate’s name coming hard and fast the closer he got to the end zone.
The school colors were waved around with fierce intent like a sea of red and gold.
The moment he crossed the line, a roar went up, the metal below us vibrating as we bounced around in excitement.
When half time finally rolled around, I was breathless and ready to drop in my seat. Babylon High was up twenty-eight to seven.
I’d forgotten how much I loved being present at his games, just watching.
With the electricity in the air, the excitement and the unity of cheering for the same team, I felt like I was a part of something bigger, something good and bright.
It was something I wanted to be a part of, rather than being included in.
I didn’t have any money for a pennant with my brother’s number on it, and I sure as hell didn’t have money for food or soda, so I stayed where I was, taking in the good vibes around me, while trying my hardest not to think about the effort it was going to take to change my schedule.
More to the point, trying my hardest not to panic about how I was going to pay the mortgage or bills when I was missing out on so many precious hours that I should have spent working, to repay a debt.
I’d thought long and hard about how to break it to Tate, but I’d already seen the damage that had caused.
I wasn’t going to risk him messing up again and doing something exponentially more stupid than he already had.
Though, I wasn’t entirely convinced that was possible.
Short of murder, there wasn’t much that could have landed us in more trouble.
I was so lost in my own world, I barely noticed the crowd beginning to filter back in, but more to the point, I failed to notice that the seat next to me was taken by someone that was even more out of place than I was.
I’m not sure what tipped me off to his arrival.
Maybe it was the distinct smell of leather and engine grease that clung to him.
Then again, it could have been the ominous air that seemed to surround him wherever he went.
Either way, I knew, and the moment I did, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I felt every eye in my section of the bleachers turn to stare at me.
This was probably unheard of. I wasn’t at many games, but even I knew no one from the MC had ever shown up to one, because if they had, it would have been headline news.
Peering around me, I forced my hands under my thighs and kept my eyes trained on the empty field. I could already see people leaning in to gossip to one another in my peripheral vision. I would forever be known as the girl who’d brought the pack down on them.
“Umm, I thought you said I’ll see you on Sunday?”
“I heard this place sold good hot dogs,” he said smoothly, like it wasn’t anything unusual or out of place for him to be there. He didn't seem to even care that everyone around us was staring at him with wide eyes. “Anyone ever told you you’re kinda skinny?”
“Not until now,” I said, pulling my hands from under my thighs and resting my elbows on my knees. “And I don’t think they stock a hundred and twenty pounds of amalgamated meat product, either, so you’re out of luck.”
I realized a little too late that my sense of humor would probably be taken as sarcasm, or worse, an insult to the man that was Drew Tucker. I really had to learn to keep my thoughts to myself.
“I changed my mind,” he said with a mouthful of food.
Swaying from side to side, I looked over at him and saw a small smudge of mustard on his lip and pointed at it, the words that went with the gesture being swallowed compulsively.
How the hell did I have a conversation with a man like this?
He’d made it clear that the only thing he was interested in was making my life difficult, so polite musings about the weather were out.
I was, mercifully, saved by the second half starting up. The high school band was playing the school song, which had Rubin and Tate bursting out onto the field, followed by the rest of the team. As the noise died down a little, I looked over at Drew again.
“What is it you changed your mind about?”
“You.”
My head swiveled to look at him in surprise. “Me? What about me?”
“I got it wrong before. Let’s put it down to me being out of practice.
” He leaned forward, shuffling his ass back in the seat as he parted his knees and held the hotdog out in the space between them.
“You’re not a hundred and twenty pounds at all.
I’m guessing one eighteen. I over estimated the meat on your ass.
” Drew turned to look at me, the smirk playing on his lips making me want to smack it off him instantly as he held my gaze and waited.
“Very impressive, Mr. Tucker,” I said. “Are you saying my ass isn’t as big as you’d assumed?”
“It’s got nothing on your mouth, doll.”
My eyes widened, then narrowed in one jerky movement. I stopped myself and counted to ten, averting my gaze to the field where our offense was making the snap. I had to think about what I said. The kid currently sprinting toward the end zone was counting on me and I couldn’t let him down.
“I realize that, and I’m going to try and work on that, too. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to work this off.”
Before he could respond, I was on my feet, watching Tate sprint down the field, but covering my face at an interception. It was only when I realized Drew might conceive it as being rude that I glanced down at him again.
When he looked up at me with nothing but light in his face, I thought I’d gotten away with it for a moment.
It was only when he groaned deep in the back of his throat and slowly began to rise to a stand that I felt the small hairs on the back of my neck begin to come alive again.
Drew gazed out at the field, pretending to be interested, before his feet shuffled closer and his body leaned down towards me to whisper.
“Keep working on it. I don’t need any lip from you in front of my guys.
Don’t give me a reason to be that typical asshole you have me pegged as, Ayda.
” His eyes lifted to mine, looking up at me through the thick of his brows expectantly.
“Just remember, I’m always watching you both now.
You’re on my books, which makes you like an asset to me.
I protect what’s mine.” And before I could even respond, he’d slipped some kind of paper in my pocket, whispered in my ear about me getting something to eat, dropped his empty hot dog tray on the side, and started to slide out of the row full of spectators. Just. Like. That.
I waited for a while before looking over my shoulder at his retreating back.
The skull on his leather vest seemed to be smiling at me as his confident gait carried him out of my view.
I wasn’t the only one watching. Everyone who had seen him come in seemed to be turned away from the game as he left, all of those eyes spinning back to me the moment he was out of view.
There was arrogance in the way he carried himself, but at the same time, I knew it was also confidence. He seemed to understand the gravity of his status and he used it. There was a certain appeal to that, even if it did make me want to kick his shins like an elementary kid.
Glancing down at my hand, my eyes widened and then look around before doing a double take. The five and zero were still staring up at me the second time around, and without thinking, I pushed the fifty-dollar bill back into my jeans.
I didn’t know what Drew wanted when he’d shown up. It was a rare thing for him to be alone from what I’d heard, so him being there without backup had probably spoken volumes. From the eyes still burning holes all over me, I guessed I wasn’t the only one who was thinking that.
If his visit had done anything, it had shown me that he wasn’t just the jacked up asshole he seemed to be when surrounded by his friends. That wasn’t to say he didn’t demand respect and obedience from the people around him, and the way he spoke, it was easy to see why people complied.
I’d also discovered that he was generous.
He’d left a decent tip at the diner for me that morning, but the money now burning a hole in my pocket told me that while digging for information about me, he’d probably seen my bank balance.
Whether this was pity or kindness, I couldn’t afford not to take it, even if my pride did take a hit.
I was dreading what Sunday would bring. He’d demanded my respect in front of his men, which meant curbing myself, as well as my natural reactions to everything. At least it would prove to be interesting. If I could get through repaying this debt, I could literally get through anything.