15. Liam
LIAM
“Do we really have to do this?” Liam asked, gritting his teeth.
“It’s not going to do any harm,” Cara said. “We don’t have to talk to anyone. Just a quick appearance to show that we’re not harboring any ill will toward anyone in the football community, and then we can go.”
They were standing outside the stadium where the Stingers played.
Apparently, Liam hadn’t been taken off the list of team veterans, all of whom were welcome in their own special box any time they got the urge to take in a game.
He had sort of assumed his name would have been removed from the list after everything that had happened, but Cara had made a few calls and confirmed that he’d be allowed to attend.
He knew, though, that the minute he walked into that box, there would be eyes on him. There would be pictures taken. Cara insisted that was the whole idea, but Liam didn’t like it.
“Couldn’t we go see another team?” he asked. Or better yet, just go back home. The two of them had been cohabitating at his house—though Cara was staying in the guest wing—to feed the public image that they were a besotted couple.
“That could be taken as pointed,” Cara said. “It might look like you were sending some sort of passive-aggressive message to your old teammates. Telling them that you were too good for them, or that you don’t care about this team anymore.”
“I don’t know if I do,” Liam said. “They’re the ones who dumped me.”
“Right, but we’re trying to sell the story that you really like the Stingers and would go back to them if you could,” she reminded him. “That doesn’t work if you’re avoiding them. So let’s go in there and make nice for a little while, and then we can leave.”
Liam held back a groan. He didn’t want anything to do with this. But the two of them had established that when it came to PR stunts, Cara knew best. Gritting his teeth, he allowed her to lead him up to the box office.
After she had checked them in, they made their way to the elevator that would take them up to the mezzanine level.
Cara kept her eyes down as they walked down the carpeted hall.
He’d noticed that she did this whenever she was surrounded by the trappings of wealth, almost as if she thought it was inappropriate for her to look too long.
He’d been up to this box before, and when they got close, he took the lead without thinking about it. He opened the door and stepped inside, wrapping an arm around Cara both for comfort and for appearances. It was the image they needed to project, but it also felt good to have her close.
Two retired players were in the box already, standing by the big window and looking out over the field. When they heard the door open, they turned to face him. Both their eyes went wide.
“Sims?” Gerald McNair said, stepping forward. “What are you…are you supposed to be here?”
“I came to watch the game,” Liam explained. “Good to see you, McNair, Brennan.”
Morgan Brennan didn’t approach. He looked Liam up and down. “Heard you caused a scene,” he said. “I always reckoned your temper was going to get you into trouble one of these days, Sims.”
Liam took a deep breath. He wanted nothing more than to shoot back at Brennan, to get into the argument his old teammate so obviously was after.
Brennan had retired at the end of last season, and he and Liam had never quite gotten along.
Liam found himself wondering now whether Brennan had seen him the way he saw Sandusky—as a young upstart forcing more experienced players out.
Well, if that’s what he saw, he’s wrong. I was never like Sandusky. I was never so arrogant, and I never acted like I was better than anyone else.
He paused. Maybe that wasn’t entirely true.
He’d definitely rallied the rookies in his first season to play pranks on veteran players.
He had thought the whole thing was in the spirit of fun…
but then, he could also remember thinking that these older players didn’t really understand what a good time was, and that they’d do better to take a tip from someone like him.
I could have chilled out and listened to them when it came to team culture, I guess. Still, they weren’t very welcoming, and Brennan always did have it out for me.
Regardless of what he wanted to say, though, he knew he couldn’t. He and Cara had plotted this encounter so carefully that Liam felt as if he had a script. He couldn’t deviate from it.
So he pulled Cara close and pretended that Brennan hadn’t gotten under his skin. “Good to see you both,” he said. “This is my wife, Cara.”
“Yeah, I heard you’d gotten married,” McNair said. “I told everyone I’d believe it when I saw it for myself.”
“Well, here she is,” Liam said.
“Hi.” Cara flushed and grinned. Liam was amazed.
She was like a different person, her usual toughness and confidence completely gone as she played the blushing bride.
And I don’t like it, he realized. I like the real Cara.
If I could have come here and introduced her to these guys, it might be that the four of us could have had a good time.
At the very least, Cara and I could have laughed about all this when they weren’t paying attention.
He went to the window. The opening kickoff was happening, and he watched Sandusky run out to receive it. The kid caught it, but it was an easy catch, and Liam was sure he could have done it.
“Missing it?” Brennan asked, coming up alongside him.
There was a bite in his voice. “You know, I don’t know why they kept you on the team as long as they did, Sims. You’ve got good hands, but you always were more trouble than you were worth.
I used to tell the coach that you’d cross the line one day. I guess you finally proved me right.”
“I left to get married,” Liam said through gritted teeth.
“Nobody believes that,” Brennan scoffed.
“Oh, your fans might want to believe you’re some kind of hero.
But everyone who’s met you knows that you’re just a cocksure mess.
I don’t know how you tricked this woman into marrying you in the first place.
Probably a stunt of some kind. I wonder what she’ll do when she finds out what you’re really like? ”
Smirking, he wandered off.
Liam’s blood boiled.
It was just too much. After everything he’d said to Cara in Rose Valley the other day…he had trusted her with who he really was. Had that been a mistake?
She hadn’t run from him. She was still here. But she was a professional. She wouldn’t take off just because she realized he was unlikeable.
She always thought I was unlikeable.
And Brennan had a point. Everyone else in his life had turned on him eventually. His father had never given a damn about him. No woman had ever taken an interest in anything but his fame and his money. Now his team had dropped him as if he’d never mattered.
He couldn’t stand here and go through this charade anymore. It was all too painful.
He waited until Cara was looking out the window, then opened the door and slipped out.
Half an hour later, he was at the bar down the street with his third shot in front of him, filled with self-loathing.
How can I expect anyone to help me when I can’t even help myself?
“This new guy is a real winner,” said the man on the barstool next to Liam.
Liam looked over. The guy was in his mid-forties, and he was staring up at the TV in appreciation. Garrett Sandusky had just caught a touchdown pass, and he was dancing around in the end zone like an idiot.
“He’s not any good,” Liam grumbled, slamming down his shot.
“Did you see that catch?”
“Anyone could have made that catch.” Liam signaled the bartender for another beer.
The bartender looked at him skeptically. “Maybe slow down a little there, friend.”
“I’m not your friend. I’m the guy who’s paying you to bring me liquor.”
The bartender raised his eyebrows. “Okay, well, I’m the guy who’s cutting you off.”
“What? I’m not even drunk, come on.” Liam slammed a hand down on the counter. The man next to him jumped up in alarm.
“Hang on,” he said. “I recognize you. You’re Liam Sims, aren’t you? The guy who got thrown off the Stingers for brawling in a bar?” He was backing away. “Maybe we should call the cops.”
In the space of a few seconds, it all flashed before Liam.
They’d call the cops. He would be arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct.
He’d be photographed taking a breathalyzer, and there would be articles about the whole mess, whether he went to jail or not.
There would be a court date. Everyone would know.
And there would be no hope of saving the situation.
“Hold on,” he said, raising his hands. “I don’t want any trouble, okay? I’ll leave. I’m sorry. Just let me make a quick call.”
He retreated to the back of the bar. The bartender watched him like a hawk, but he didn’t follow, and Liam breathed a sigh of relief as he took out his phone and dialed the number.
It didn’t even ring once. “Liam?” Cara’s voice was high-pitched, panicky. “Where are you? What were you thinking? You can’t just…”
“I’m at the Lion’s Den,” he said. “It’s a block away from the stadium, and…they want me to leave. I kind of lost my cool.”
A moment of silence. “Liam.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t do anything, I promise. Just got a little drunk and snapped at a guy.”
“I’m on my way,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere. Don’t talk to anyone. Just wait outside and I’ll come and get you.”
He had never been more ashamed in his life. “I really am sorry, Cara…”
“I’m just glad you called me,” she said. “This could have been a lot worse, Liam. We’ve made a lot of progress.”
“Do you think I ruined it?”
“No,” she said quietly. “I think you might ruin it if you keep this sort of thing up. But right now…we’re okay. It’s good that you called me.” She paused. “Thank you for trusting me, Liam.”
Who said anything about trusting?
But he did trust her, he realized. She was absolutely right. That was the reason he had called her when things had gotten sticky. Something in him had known that she wouldn’t give up on him.
And I guess I owe her the same. I shouldn’t have given up either.
Next time she comes up with a plan—no matter how crazy it feels, no matter how much I hate it—I’ll do it.
Cara won’t steer me wrong.