CHAPTER 21 Maverick Jennings
An Errand
What the fuck is she doing here?
Anger courses through my veins, but that’s nothing new.
Did she follow me here?
The really fucked-up thing is that I have to keep reminding myself about how much I hate her. The problem?
After last night, I can’t hate her.
Instead, I can’t stop fucking thinking about her. One night and it’s already a fucking obsession.
It’s why I came here to gamble. I thought a game might take my mind off her, but I wound up here in her father’s casino. My plan was to play in the secret underground room. Instead, I’m in the main lounge at the bar sipping Lagavulin 16 as if I wasn’t just trying to get downstairs.
I try to tell myself that the only reason I keep coming back here is because of the underground room. If I win big, I don’t have to pay taxes on my winnings. And if I lose big, the casino doesn’t have to, either.
I knew it belonged to the Bradley family since Everleigh told me it did, and I suspected the man in the suit who walks around schmoozing players was the Bradley patriarch.
I can see a little of Dex in him, a little of Madden.
I don’t know the others as well, but I’ve either played with or against all four of the Bradley football brothers at some point in my career.
Maybe it was the fact that Everleigh told me the money I’m depositing here will go to her future kids’ college tuition. It was a sassy way for her to tease me, but the idea of the money going to her felt more right than it going to some other establishment here in town.
I wish that weren’t true, but I can’t change it.
Just like I wish I could stop thinking of the way her face twisted as she came. Just like I wish I could stop thinking about what the fuck her cunt tastes like. It was a slip of phrase that I should’ve kept inside, but the truth is that I need to know just as much as she wants me to know.
It’s getting late, and I need to travel with the team tomorrow even if I’m not suiting up to take the field.
That’s what I tell myself, anyway. I certainly don’t stand at the bar instead of going to a table because I’m hoping to catch her before she stalks off—so I can confront her to ask her why the fuck she followed me here.
I spot Everleigh stalking through the lounge, so I chug what’s left in my glass and take off toward her. I catch up to her just as she exits the lounge and walks over toward the valet to bring her car around.
I walk over and stand beside her. “What are the odds I’d run into you here for a second time?”
“Pretty good considering my father owns it. What are you up to, Jennings?” she demands.
“Just paying toward your future kids’ college tuition funds.”
She purses her lips, and maybe the sex didn’t have the same effect on her that it had on me. “Illegally?”
I hold up both hands. “I was invited to a private poker game. That’s all it is.”
“And it’s ammo for you. Something for you to hold over me,” she says flatly.
I wish I could say I won’t, but I’m not sure that’s true. Knowing something about her family gives me an advantage, and if push comes to shove, I’ll do what I have to in order to come out on top.
I suppose that is the legacy I’ll leave behind. The grinding athlete who stops at nothing to win against every opponent. Jack didn’t bring me over to the Aces so I’d be compliant. He brought me over to win.
I don’t respond to her words, instead asking, “Can I bum a ride home?”
She offers a small glare as she folds her arms over her chest, and with a purse of her lips, she finally nods. “Fine.”
Once we’re in the car and on our way, I break the silence by asking, “Why do you keep following me?”
“I didn’t!” she yells at me, slamming her open palm against the steering wheel. “I went there to look for my dad. I had no idea you’d be there. I had no idea I’d find him in some basement doing God knows what sort of illegal activities.” She’s still yelling, and clearly she’s angry.
I reach over and slide my hand on her leg in some effort to calm her down. “Okay. Sorry for asking.”
She bats my hand away. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Being a totally different person. You’ve made it clear we aren’t friends, and your hand on my leg is crossing into territory neither of us wants.”
I think about her words. Yeah, I am a totally different person after what happened last night.
She unlocked pieces of me that I stored away.
She opened up doors that had been closed for years.
She awakened feelings I didn’t think I was allowed to feel anymore after all I’ve been through.
It’s confusing as fuck, and I tried to play it off like it didn’t happen, like everything was business as usual this morning.
It’s not.
It took one goddamn night for me to feel something I didn’t think I deserved, and now that I’ve felt it, I’m afraid I won’t be able to let it go. It’s an addiction. Something I crave. Something I need. Something I’m terrified of.
Something that has the power to change me.
“What if I’m starting to want it?” I ask quietly.
Her head whips in my direction, and I see brake lights in front of us, so I gesture toward the cars. She slams on the brakes.
I blow out a breath.
“What the hell are you saying?” she asks.
I don’t know what I’m saying. “Never mind,” I grunt.
We sit in silence the rest of the way back to our building. We take the elevator up together with no further words exchanged, and we disappear into our separate condos without so much as a goodnight.
Morning dawns, and her car is still in the parking garage when I take off for the Complex, and I feel conflicted as to whether I actually wanted to run into her this morning or not.
Once we board, she sits with the team staff up front, and I can’t see her from where I am toward the middle of the plane. I sit beside Brandon Fletcher, who will be starting the game tomorrow, and he makes small talk as I grunt replies and try to get a view of the gorgeous woman sitting up front.
When we land, we’re taken by bus to the team hotel, and it’s after we’ve gotten our room assignments and most of my teammates have started to disperse toward their rooms that I ask Coach Nash for a special favor.
“I know this is a bit unorthodox, but since I’m not taking the field, I wanted to ask if I could take the time between practice and dinner to run an errand.”
His brows dip together. “What sort of errand?”
I clear my throat. “My mother lives about five miles from here, and I’d like to pay her a visit.”
His eyes soften a little. He knows nothing of my situation with my mother, but what I know of him is that he’s a family man and he’s very close with his own mother. “Of course, Mav. Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you.”
Everleigh is waiting for me near the elevators after I finish my conversation with Coach. “What was that about?” she asks as she pushes the button for the elevator to head up.
“Nothing,” I mutter.
She narrows her eyes at me, but she lets it go. “I’d like to touch base with you after practice.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” she asks, indignant.
“I have things to take care of. I’ll be back for dinner. We can talk then.”
“I want you to eat with the team. We’ll meet after dinner,” she says.
“Fine.” I sigh as we step onto the elevator together, and she pushes the button for the eighth floor. “What floor?” she asks.
I glance at the envelope holding my key that has 814 scrawled on it. “Eight.”
She glances at my envelope. “I’m 816. Looks like we’re neighbors.”
Can’t escape her at home. Why would on the road be any different?
I don’t make that comment aloud, but the truth is that tonight I’ll be going to bed thinking about how her headboard is against the same wall mine is.
I’ll be thinking about how she’s just on the other side of the wall in that tight gray tank top that I shoved up to her neck and those tiny black shorts I pushed to the side as I sank my fingers into her hot, wet cunt.
Great. Just exactly what I want to be thinking about when my only option is to push away what I’m feeling and bury it down good and deep, never to feel or speak of it again.
We enter our separate rooms right beside one another, and I call my mother’s facility to let them know I’ll be visiting in a few hours.
I attend practice in my street clothes and watch from the sidelines as I stand beside Coach Richards, the quarterbacks coach. We confer on a few of the plays, and he seems to admire my play-calling abilities. I guess that’s something, anyway, to hold onto for the future.
Could I work with quarterbacks when my playing days are over?
Not like this. Not when I won’t let anybody in. Not when everyone is afraid of me.
It’s the first time I’m making that realization, and I glance over at the bench where Everleigh is sitting. She’s staring straight at me. Observing. Studying. Making these realizations long before I do. As if she knows me even though I’ve been careful to keep her at a distance.
I don’t know if I need to put an immediate stop to that or let things happen as they may. Is it because nobody’s ever taken the time to understand me? Is it because everyone else gives up on me so easily?
I’m not sure.
But what I am sure of is that it’s throwing me off balance. It’s making me unsteady, and the last thing this team needs is an unsteady quarterback.
I have one week to pull my shit together.
I’m nervous in the back of an Uber on my way to visit my mother. The only time I feel any sense of nerves is when I do this.
It’s been three months since I last saw her, and I have no idea what to expect. Last time was hard. She had no idea who I was, and it took me a few days to bounce back after that.
I check in at the desk, and the woman wearing a nametag that says “Marie” on it asks, “Would you like to meet in a common area or in her room?”
“Wherever she’s most comfortable.”
She nods and offers a smile. “Susan’s on duty today with her, and she’ll be up in a moment to escort you back.”