Chapter Eleven
Serenity
I check my watch. It’s two minutes after four. As I was getting changed in the bathrooms at The Bounty, my phone chimed with a message.
Block me again, Serenity, and I’ll show the whole of Canyon what you really are.
I wasn’t afraid to block him. Not the first time.
I thought blocking Brody Conway’s number without sending a response would make my stance clear.
That I wasn’t going to play games with him.
Almost a week of silence, and after the Labor Day weekend, today he comes back on a new number, and with these words.
He hasn’t said that it’s him, but I know that it is.
He’s been careful not to give anything away.
There’s been no mention of when he might return from his honeymoon, or when he might next appear at Surly’s.
None of that. But the idea makes me wanna vomit.
His aim is to keep me on my toes. Every shift this week, I’ve been anxious that I’ll walk through the door to find Brody Conway returned from his honeymoon and waiting for me to writhe around in his lap.
I straighten up as Jake Walsh pulls into the parking lot in his black Chevy pickup.
I haven’t seen him in a while. Behind the windshield, I can see that he’s wearing a cap and shades, and if I’d convinced myself not to be worried about anything, then I was wrong.
He’s the guy everyone’s talking about right now, the guy who scored two touchdowns in the last pre-season game.
And I know once I get inside that truck beside him, I’m in trouble, because he’s gonna be sweet, and charming, and probably handsome as hell.
I check around me, hoist my bag onto my shoulder and head for the vehicle, reminding myself that no matter what, this is a one-shot deal.
I’m wearing tight-fitting jeans, a sequinned top, tan leather jacket and cowgirl boots, because I don’t have the first clue what we are doing for our date.
‘Hey.’ He beams at me as I slam the door behind me.
‘Right on time,’ I reply coolly, pushing my bag down between my legs into the footwell.
He takes off his sunglasses. Handsome, check.
‘You look nice,’ he says, glancing down at my outfit. ‘Really nice.’
Charming? Check.
He’s wearing a short-sleeved chequered shirt and standard blue workman’s jeans. Wholesome, of course. The cotton material clings to his impressive biceps, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he’s nervous, like he’s lost a degree of confidence since our last conversation.
Just one date. Don’t get the hots for this guy. One date is all you agreed to, and one date is all Jake Walsh is gonna get. Cheerleaders can’t date football players. End of story. You don’t need any more complications in your life right now, Ren.
‘Thanks,’ I say, and run my fingers over the dash. ‘Sweet ride.’
‘It’s, uh… well, it’s brand new. I mean… I bought it when I moved to Canyon.’
‘Looks expensive.’
‘Uh… I guess. I mean, I guess… yeah, it was pretty expensive.’
‘But that’s like lunch money for you though, right?’
Oh god. What did I just do? I’ve rendered him speechless.
I squeeze my eyes shut. ‘That was so rude. I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I just said that.’
He laughs. I’m waiting on him to move the car. ‘It’s cool. We can talk about money on a first date.’
‘We definitely cannot talk about money. So where are we going?’
He puts his sunglasses back on and turns his cap around. Checks the mirrors before moving off. ‘So, I did some research. I found this lake.’
I raise my brow. ‘Lake Thunder?’
He moves out into a busy lane. ‘That’s the one. You know it?’
‘I used to go there as a kid. Everybody around here did. ’Til this guy nearly died from swimming in the water there and they discovered it was badly polluted. Everybody stopped going after that. They say now the only people who go there are junkies and prowlers. That, and the odd gator.’
He’s silent for a moment. ‘You’re serious?’ he then says, looking my way with one hand resting on the wheel.
I bite my lip. ‘Did you have a back-up plan?’
I see his throat working as we take the road north out of Canyon. ‘Uh-uh. Not exactly. No back-up plan. You got any ideas where else we could go?’
‘We can go to the lake. It’s alright. I’d like to see it after all these years. What were you planning on us doing?’
We stop at some lights, and he rubs the back of his neck, something I’ve noticed him do before. ‘Well, I got us a picnic. Thought we could sit in the back and watch the sun go down. Get to know one another better.’
Sweet? Double check.
My heart sinks a little because there’s something I gotta tell him. ‘I, uh, is it okay to drop me back at the diner around eight?’
His look is one of surprise. ‘You got another shift?’
‘No, I… I just have other plans is all. Is that alright?’
Guilt washes through me. How do I even begin to be honest with this man about who I really am?
‘Sure,’ he says, but I can hear the waver in his tone, like he’s disappointed. ‘I can do that.’
‘It’s just that… I mean, I live with my dad and… he needs me to take care of him sometimes.’
This time he nods his head, maybe in relief. We’re moving again. ‘Your dad, does he work?’
‘Not anymore. He has emphysema.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘He smoked cigarettes all his life. He’s given it all up now.’
‘What about your mom?’
‘She left when I turned seventeen. She’s in Mexico right now. At least she was. I haven’t seen her in a while. What about your parents?’
‘They live in Canyon. They moved with me after I got drafted. But it’s not like… you know… I wouldn’t want you to see me as that guy who still lives with his parents.’
‘Well, we’re even, because I still live with mine.’
He laughs. ‘That’s true.’
We lapse into silence as he navigates traffic.
I glance to my left, let my eyes drift down his body, but not in a way that’s obvious.
And it’s truly something to behold. Jake Walsh is a protector-type, with broad shoulders and sculpted arms, a strong jawline.
A body made for footballing greatness, is how Jewel described him.
I don’t need a protector, or some white knight. I told myself during my shift at The Bounty that I would remain indifferent. That whatever happened on this so-called date, I’d roll with it and let him down easy at the end. It’s not like we can ever be anything while I’m a CMC squad member.
Yet I don’t remember the last time I got asked out on a proper date.
If you don’t count the regulars who sit beside the stage at Surly’s who ask me to have a drink with them while they’re slipping twenty bucks into the hemline of my panties, or the college kids at the diner who ask if I’m single.
Jake Walsh is a decent guy, and talented no less.
He’s a guy you’d be proud to call your boyfriend.
And I like the idea of having somebody in my life that I can trust. But every time I let my guard down, I’m reminded of the contract I’ve signed with the Mutineers that says this guy is off limits.
Even sitting in his car right now is against the rules.
If Kathleen saw me now, or Samantha Conway, they’d fire me faster than I could say ‘guilty’.
I’m in dangerous territory. I can’t fall for this guy. I can’t show any interest. It’s safer to keep my distance.
‘Good game yesterday,’ I say. ‘That was a nice touchdown.’
‘Yeah, we got the win, that was the main thing.’
‘Don’t underestimate yourself. Everybody was talking about you when it was all over.’
He looks over at me. It’s a shy smile he gives me. ‘I don’t know about that. It was a team effort.’
I wanna say that I call bullshit. That he was one of the main reasons the Mutineers took the game. Everybody said so. But rather than heap praise on him like everybody else, I ask him a different question.
‘How do you recover? After a game like that?’
‘Uhm. Last night I went back to the training facility for an ice bath. I didn’t sleep all that much. Still sore this morning too. Training room was packed full of guys. Heat therapy, stretches, deep massage, all that. What about you? Those high kicks must murder your glutes, huh?’
I bite back a laugh. ‘Glutes, adductors… medial hamstrings, deltoids… I didn’t think you’d be focused much on what the cheerleaders are doing.’
He beams. ‘Oh, hell yeah. You guys steal the show. Really. Feels the whole stadium showed up to see what you guys can do. I mean, I’m blown away. It’s the way you’re all so in sync.’
The way he takes one hand off the wheel at a time and twists his wrists in some pretend dance moves has me giggling like I’m back in high school.
‘Seriously,’ he continues, maybe pleased that he’s managed to make me laugh. ‘That’s good muscle knowledge. Where’d you learn to back flip like that?’
‘Gym class, when I was ten.’
‘And the dance moves?’
‘Gymnastics from I-don’t-remember-when. Modern dance classes in middle school. My mom was a keen dancer.’
‘Was the CMC always the goal?’
‘It’s one of the best squads in the whole country. Last year I didn’t make the cut. Made me a little more determined to make it this year.’
‘Why’d you wanna be a cheerleader?’
I look out of the window. I can see the mountains in the distance, the sun already dipping low on the horizon.
The traffic that was around us in the city center has petered out.
‘I don’t know. Growing up in Canyon… the Mutineers were…
they were like this shining light. Something unattainable.
I never went to any games. We couldn’t afford it.
But I saw the girls in a show once, and on TV, and I knew I could dance as well as they could.
They were so glamorous. I wanted to be like them. To have all that positivity.’
‘And now you are like them,’ he says. Except I remember that he doesn’t know me at all, because while I might be like my squad mates, there are things that none of them know about me. Those same things that I can’t tell Jake Walsh about.