Chapter Seven
Serenity
‘Persia Takeda, I hope you’ve got another dress to wear because you’re not stepping onto the bus in that outfit.’
Still in my towel in the CMC locker room after early-morning practice, my hair wet, I look across at Harmony.
Our captain’s eyebrows are arched toward the third-year veteran, hands on her hips.
Persia holds out both hands, glancing innocently down at her bodycon dress.
It’s short, off the shoulder, baby pink in color with a pretty lace overlay.
‘Harm, this is an Ala?a,’ Persia says.
‘That might be, but I can practically see your pussy.’
Next to me, Jewel snorts. I bite my lip. Looking up from applying her makeup in the mirror, Shawny stifles a laugh. Persia pouts her lips in response, then tosses her long, straight black hair over her shoulder in defiance.
‘You so cannot see my pussy.’
‘Below the knee. That was the rule, remember? Ren got the memo, see?’
Harmony’s pointing to my dress, hanging next to me on the edge of my locker door.
It’s sleeveless, green with a high neckline and long pencil skirt.
It’s the opposite of anything I’d ever wear at Surly’s, yet while it looks brand-new, I bought it on an app for pre-loved clothes.
And unlike Persia’s dress, it’s regrettably more conservative, and most definitely not designer.
Persia looks at my dress with well-disguised disdain, but I know dislike when I see it. ‘Well, I don’t have anything else,’ she says.
‘That’s why I brought spares. You’re what, a two? Same as me.’
‘You brought spares? Harm, seriously?’
‘Go take a look.’
‘I’d rather not go.’
‘We go as a team, remember?’
Persia glowers at our captain, lets out an impatient sigh then turns on her heel. She heads for Harmony’s locker, almost bumping into Angel as she goes.
‘What’s up with her?’ Angel asks.
‘Inappropriate wedding attire,’ Shawny confirms.
‘You know, I didn’t have any dresses falling below my knee,’ Angel complains to Harmony. ‘I had to buy something especially. Are they gonna refund us the costs of that?’
It’s impossible to know what Harmony Reese is thinking because she always keeps such a poker face. ‘Probably not,’ our captain sighs.
Shawny’s finished with her mascara. ‘Who goes to a wedding by bus anyways?’ she blurts.
‘Seriously. We’re like a tour group showing up to Brody Conway’s wedding.
Kathleen might as well be holding up one of those stuffed animals with a stick up its ass so we can all follow it around. We might as well wear matching visors.’
‘You know, I heard the guys all got an invite in the mail with a plus one,’ Jewel says, turning so I can zip her into her dress.
‘Which guys?’ Angel asks.
‘Like, the whole football team. They’re all invited too.’
‘The football team is coming to the wedding?’ I blurt without thinking, because this whole week Jake Walsh has been coming to the diner most mornings trying to get my phone number, and he didn’t mention he would be there at the ceremony today.
And my thoughts immediately turn to whether he’ll be bringing a plus one.
‘Why, you interested in a player, Ren?!’ Angel laughs, until Harmony gives her a stern look in my defense.
Shawny is frowning. ‘How come they all get a plus one? We don’t get plus ones. I bet they don’t gotta go by bus neither.’
‘Are we allowed to talk to them at the wedding reception?’ Jewel asks wistfully, looking to Harmony for the answer.
‘Definitely not,’ Angel clarifies, and I swear I see a look of sadness shimmer across Harmony’s features.
‘That’s too bad,’ Jewel continues, ‘because I sure as hell would like to speak to Jake Walsh. Ask him if he’d like to take me to dinner one time.’
My stomach churns. ‘Girls, hurry it up,’ Harmony says, reminding us that we only have twenty more minutes before the bus is due to depart.
Kathleen ushers us all onto the bus, muttering ‘good’ and ‘very nice,’ as one by one she checks each of us is dressed appropriately. In front of me, Persia is now wearing a long, flowing peacock blue dress.
‘Stunning, Persia,’ Kathleen says as Persia grants her a perfect smile. ‘Nice work.’
Jewel and I stand side by side as she looks us over. ‘Just lovely, girls. On you go.’
We’re the last of the squad to get on the bus and there aren’t two seats together.
‘I’ll go back, you go front,’ Jewel says as I retrace my steps. The only seat free is next to Harmony.
‘You mind if I sit down?’ I ask her.
She shifts over a fraction. ‘Sure,’ she says, and I sit.
Kathleen steps onto the bus and exchanges words with the driver. Then she’s grasping the tops of the seats and addressing the squad as a group.
‘Ladies,’ she says as she raises her voice.
‘Y’all look beautiful today. Now, I know this is a wedding, and weddings are a time to celebrate.
No doubt there will be plenty to eat and drink.
May I remind you that first and foremost, you are CMC.
That means, you are still on representational duty.
While there will be many guests there from the NFL, there will be many guests who are unfamiliar with who you are and what you do.
Please be courteous and act respectably at all times.
Any inappropriate behavior could result in your expulsion from this team.
The entire Mutineers team will be present today with their partners.
As per the terms of your contract, it is not permitted to speak to them, so please do not do so. ’
From behind, I hear Shawny’s voice. ‘Kathleen, what happens if they talk to us?’
‘Then you politely excuse yourself. They have been asked not to approach you.’
‘What if it’s one of their wives? Or girlfriends?’
‘Well then, that’s fine,’ Kathleen says with a sigh.
I then hear Angel’s voice. ‘What happens if you’re talking with one of their wives and the husband wants to join in the conversation?’
Kathleen rolls her eyes. ‘Ladies, please just use your common sense. They have been reminded of the rules for our squad.’
The driver starts the engine and it stutters into action. As we begin our journey to the Country Club, on the far east of Canyon on the Texas coastline, I look across at Harmony, offering her a smile.
‘I like your dress,’ I say.
‘Thank you,’ is her response. ‘I like yours too.’
I like Harmony. I guess I’m in awe of her.
This is her second year as captain of the squad, and she has to walk a fine line between keeping everyone in check but also maintaining friendships.
Everyone loves and respects her, but I sense she keeps her distance a little in order to remain impartial and just a teensy bit authoritarian.
‘Thank you,’ I say.
We sit in silence for a moment. ‘Can I ask you something?’ I ask, keeping my voice low. ‘What if Persia had refused to change her dress?’
Harmony’s lips twist. ‘Then she’d be sitting on her own in the CMC locker room right about now.’
‘Would that have bothered you?’
‘Not as much as if it had been game night and she’d refused to go out on the field for any reason. It’s only a wedding. I doubt anyone would miss her.’
‘You do a real good job.’
She laughs, looking out the window. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘Can I ask you something else?’
She turns her head back around to face me. ‘Ask away.’
‘I was gonna ask about…’ I swallow. I want to know how she manages to keep her cool, knowing that a hot NFL player is crazy for her and she’s managed to resist his advances the entire time she’s been on the squad.
I want to know how she manages to put up fences around her heart.
Because the more attention Jake Walsh pays me, the more I’m tempted to give him my phone number, violating the terms of my contract.
‘Actually, don’t worry. It’s none of my business,’ I say.
I feel my cheeks burn. I keep my eyes forward, looking out the window as the coach leaves Danube Stadium behind.
‘To be in this squad, we have to make choices sometimes,’ Harmony says after a moment.
‘But we also have to back our own decisions, even if we doubt the validity of them, or if it makes us unpopular. Doin’ the right thing by you might not be the right choice for somebody else.
I think you have great potential, Ren. I think you could be captain of this squad one day. ’
I blink at her. ‘You do?’
‘I really do. I know we don’t know each other well. But I can see you’re the kind of person who always wants to do the right thing. And that’s an asset to be exulted. I believe we uphold values of common decency in this squad. And you’re the embodiment of those good values. I can tell.’
I grant her a big smile, but on the inside I crumple.
She doesn’t know about my double life.
None of these girls do.
And just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.
The Club House at the Canyon Country Club is an enormous white building with black-and-white tiled floors and pillars out front.
On arrival, men in suits usher us through the building to a large patch of grass at the back, where rows of gold seats have been lined up in a half-moon shape, facing a pretty white pergola with fresh pink roses woven through its wooden frame.
We’re high up, and the view is stunning out across the gulf, the crashing waves audible in the distance.
The other guests are already seated. I feel all eyes on the squad as we enter. Kathleen stands at one end of a row, shepherding us all in one by one.
‘Sit with me, sit with me,’ Jewel hisses at me from behind, grabbing my hand. ‘That’s him over there, see?’
I glance to my right. On the other side of the central aisle, which is lined with a long carpet, is the Mutineers football team and their plus ones: glamorous wives and girlfriends and otherwise.
It doesn’t take me long to locate Jake Walsh.
He’s looking over his shoulder and smiling at me, the breeze ruffling his hair.
He looks different in suit and tie. There’s a woman in a purple satin dress sitting next to him.
Jewel squeezes my hand. ‘Oh my god, don’t look,’ she breathes. ‘He’s looking this way.’
Kathleen makes eyes at me, and I move down the row, Jewel on my tail. We both sit down at the same time.
‘What do you think?’ Jewel asks me. ‘Seriously cute, huh?’
‘What’s there to get so het up about?’ I ask innocently. ‘You do know you signed a contract, right?’
‘I swear, if Jake Walsh asked me out on a date, I’d tear up my contract right there.’
‘You’re serious? All those auditions? Everything you dreamed of? You’d give all that up?’
Jewel gives me a withering look. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t do it for just any guy. Do you know how much he earns in a week?’
We collapse into giggles, and I don’t even know the answer to her question.
I crane my neck. I can see the back of his head. The girl he’s with leans close to his ear and I wonder if they’re related. ‘Who do you think the girl is?’
‘I read he brought his whole family with him to Texas. She’s gotta be his sister. They look like one another.’
I feel an odd sense of relief at her words, but his presence has got my stomach all twisting in knots, asking myself what I’ll do if he tries to speak to me. ‘Maybe he’s got a girlfriend already.’
Jewel glares at me, eyebrows raised. ‘Girl, do you not look at social media? He’s as single as can be.’
‘It’s not like you can do anything here, right under Kathleen’s nose,’ I whisper.
‘A girl can look,’ she says with a smile. ‘And admire from afar.’
We laugh again and before I know it, Kathleen and some of the other girls are shushing us.
We watch as Sam Conway accompanies her son down the aisle, along with Hank Conway.
Brody Conway is tall and slender, with black hair.
Together, they greet various guests, before Sam and her father take their seats on the front row, Brody greeting his best man in front of the pergola. The breeze catches my hair.
It isn’t long before we’re invited to stand for the arrival of the bridal party. The bride wears a princess-style gown with a wide chiffon skirt, her hair cascading down her back underneath a long veil.
When we sit down again, the man who is officiating the wedding gives an address. There are microphones, so I can hear everything crystal clear.
The first time I hear Brody Conway’s voice, it sounds oddly familiar.
Then it hits me.
As he reads aloud his wedding vows, I feel myself craning my neck again, to get a closer look at him. I need to see his hands.
And when I do, I panic inside. My breathing alters. My palms go sweaty. Jewel gives me a wide smile which I attempt to return, but the discomfort in my chest is spreading wildly to my limbs.
I’ve met Brody Conway before.
At Surly’s.
There’s no mistaking those weirdly long fingers, the ones that pressed into my thighs as I writhed naked in his lap.
I danced for Brody Conway, only a week ago. Surly’s rules.
Now I’m watching him get married.