29. Kamryn
“Are you guys ready?” I ask the girls. We’re walking up to the stadium for the game since it’s so close. Choosing to avoid all of the tailgating, because we’d rather eat and drink in the stadium. Mason getting us passes to get on the field during warmups also swayed our decision to skip the tailgating experience. We’re being escorted by security and seeing the field from ground level is a whole other experience.
“Oh…my…goodness!” Jax says in awe. “It’s so much bigger from down here.”
“Agreed,” Emily and I say at the same time Sarah says, “That’s what she said.”
Once we’re on the sidelines, the security guy walks off to let us watch the warmups.
I can’t believe Mason does this for a living. I thought my stage was massive. His makes mine look like a high school stadium.
“These guys look so much bigger on ground level,” Sarah surmises. “I wonder if any of them are single.”
“Don’t be one of those girls Sarah. It’s not attractive,” I chide her. “Although…this guy’s pretty cute.” I say as I see Mason walking over to us.
“Hi ladies,” Mason says by way of greeting.
“Hi Mason,” They dreamily respond.
Mason stops right in front of me so I’m forced to tip my head back to look at him. “Nice jersey.”
Since it’s veering into early fall, I paired his jersey with ripped, high-rise, dark-washed jeans and Nike Air Force Ones. I left my hair in its long natural waves and very minimal makeup.
“Oh this old thing…?”
I’m rewarded with his signature smirk. Yep! It’s still panty-dropping worthy.
“Get together you two,” Sarah instructs us.
Mason wraps his arm around my shoulders as I wrap my arms around his waist and lean my head on his chest.
“Oh that’s being framed,” All the girls announce.
When the girls swipe through the picture, Mason leans down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you after the game, yeah?”
I nod, because I don’t trust my voice at the moment.
“Bye, ladies.”
“Bye, Mason.”
I’m still looking at him running back to the field because his butt in those shorts is something else.
“Earth to Kamryn.”
I blink a couple times and look over at the girls that have matching grins. My face burns hot at having been caught looking at Mason’s butt.
“Let’s go and get some food.”
“Touchdown baby!” Sarah hoots from our seats. My best friend knows how to garner attention.
Mason hooked us up with the swanky seats in the stadium. He tried convincing me to sit in a box, but I wanted the feel of the crowd. It’s the third quarter with five minutes left on the play clock. Mason has done really well for his first game with a new team. He meshes with his offensive line like a well-oiled machine, he’s calm under pressure, and he looks healthy. He and I both know that being a professional athlete, in a high-contact sport like football, an athletes shelf-life is only so long. That’s if they can stay healthy for the entirety of their career.
The game flies by with very only a few timeouts pausing the speed of the game. Before I know it, the game is over and Mason and the boys won. If that’s not a great sign for how the rest of the season should go, I’m not sure what other sign anyone would need. I heard some veteran fans complaining about Mason’s ability to last the five years his contract is good for. It took everything in me to defend him. But his game defended himself.
While following the crowd out of the stands and veering off to the side entrance to the locker rooms, I get a text from Mason that he and some of the guys are headed out to a bar. I slow my steps as I respond to him.
“Hey do you guys wanna meet Mason and some of the guys at a bar? He said we could go home, shower to get ready, and then meet them.” I watch as the bubbles pop up signaling him typing.
“Hang out with pro football players? Is the sky blue? YES, I will come!” Sarah says. “Hopefully.” She’s the most boy-crazy and painfully single one of all of us.
Emily and Jax shrug their shoulders, and Jax answers for the both of them. “Why not?!”
Me: Yeah, we’re in. We’re gonna head back to my place to get ready and then we’ll meet y’all.
Mason: Okay. We’re going to Shooters. So whenever you’re ready, we’ll be there.
Me: Okay. See you soon.
I forgot how bad football traffic is. Which is why I’m glad my house is within walking distance of the stadium. It’s a tiring walk, but at least we’ll walk off some of this food and beer. Once we get to my house, I’m in drill sergeant mode.
“Chop chop ladies! One of you takes the shower upstairs and one of you takes the shower downstairs.”
“Ma’am yes ma’am!” They all stand at attention.
“Get out of my face!” I say this with their sarcastic remarks.
Those girls are something else. Lucy pushes my hand for some attention. “I know my sweet girl. Let’s go potty.”
I let Lucy into the backyard and head up to my room to figure out what to wear. My default is a black outfit. But I’m in the mood to shake it up. Walking into my closet I find a dress from one of my first launches. It’s a mini dress with cap sleeves and a cinched bodice. I’m still cheating a bit with the black, white, and pink flower design of the dress. But it’s casual enough for a bar, but not too casual that it makes me look younger than I should. I heft out my Doc Martens and place them by my bed along with my dress. I’ll figure out my hair and makeup after I shower.
“Next!” I hear Jax call from the downstairs bathroom.
“Okay, Kamryn. The bathroom is all yours,” The calm and soft tone of Emily’s voice sounds from the threshold of the bathroom.
“Thanks Em.”
Once in the shower, I do a quick soaking of my body, then I run the razor over everywhere, even though I just shaved the other day. I make sure to exfoliate and deep condition my hair, which is a challenge in itself when trying to get ready on a time limit. I thoroughly rinse out my hair then wash my body to get rid of the deep conditioner residue. When I step out of the bathroom wrapped in my towel with a towel around my hair Emily is looking at me comically.
“What?”
“I haven’t seen you this eager before. It’s refreshing.”
“Thanks…I think.”
I forget that Em and I weren’t around each other when Mason and I first started dating. As she’s a year younger than me it’s easy to forget. One of the downsides to not going home as much in college was that I wasn’t around to see James and Emily fall in love. We texted weekly, but being around when they fell in love…makes me regret not going home more often.
Once my body is lotioned up, I tackle my hair. I did try to continue to bring my natural curls back after college, but once those Pennsylvania winters hit my outfits just went better with straight hair. One of my interns told me about a blowout brush and after giving it a weeks test I ditched my flatiron for the brush.
While doing my hair, I run through a list of vendors and influencers that I could work with in an attempt to keep my nerves at bay. I shouldn’t be nervous. But this is mine and Mason’s first outing since reconnecting and as adults.Turning off the blowout brush I open my makeup cabinet and debate on what to do. Looking at the time, I decide to keep my face makeup light but pack on the mascara to make my eyes pop.After the final coat I walk into my bedroom and put on my dress. Sliding on some thicker socks and pulling my Docs on, I head down the stairs to let Lucy back inside.
“All set! Anyone else done?” I yell throughout the house as I feed Lucy and Poppy. I hear a collective “Yep”, “Yeah”, “One second” so I go and put what I need in my clutch.
“Whoa Kam, you look hot!”
“Well, thank you. You ladies don’t look half bad yourself.”
We all burst out in giggles.
My phone dings with an alert notifying me that the Uber’s out front. “Uber’s here.”
I give Lucy and Poppy one last pet. Then I lock up my house and we head to the car.
“Mason said they’re at the back two pool tables,” I tell the girls when we walk in.
Shooters is a local dive bar that has…you guessed it: pool tables and dart boards. I’ve yet to venture in here, as it’s not usually my scene. But if this is the place Mason and the guys choose, who am I to say no?
We’re all scanning the bar when Jax says. “I see them! And damn his teammates are hot!”
With that, we head over to the guys. Mason hasn’t noticed us yet, but one of his teammates says, “Hot girls coming this way.”
Mason turns and his smile is back on. He props his pool stick on the side of the table, comes over, and wraps me up in a hug. “Hi.”
“Hi. Good game.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
I cock my eyebrow in a playful manner. “I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it.”
“No?” Mason asks.
“Well…I mean…your butt looked great in those pants. That part I did enjoy.” I was always a sucker for him in his football pants.
“You were always a butt girl. Just as long as you were only looking at mine.”
“Eh. I can’t make any promises.”
Mason laughs and is about to say something else when one of his teammates stops him. “Yo Brooks! Introduce us to your girl.”
“Yeah. Introduce me to them.”
Mason places a kiss on my forehead before leading us back to the others. “Guys, this is Kamryn.”
For all my bravado, I shy a wave at them. “Hi.”
“Kamryn, this is Jason, Mac, and Tommy.” They all acknowledge Mason when he says their names.
“You look really familiar,” Tommy ponders. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“I don’t know.” I reply, giving Mason an odd look.
“Tommy, what are you talking about?” Mason asks.
“Are you a local?” Tommy ignores Mason and goes straight back to me.
“What are with the questions for her?” Mac asks him.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…you -- your name sounds really familiar.”
Oh so this is what he’s getting at. “Have you been to New York during Fashion Week?”
Tommy claps his hands together in recognition. “That’s it! You’re Kamryn Rawlins. Of Ryn amp; Co.”
“Guilty.”
“Oh man, my wife is gonna freak. She loves your line.”
“Why couldn’t you have just asked her, instead of giving her the third degree?”
“I had to make sure I wasn’t going crazy,” Tommy defends.
“Newsflash Tommy…you’re already crazy,” Mac says in a loud whisper.
“So how did you two meet?” Jason pipes up and asks.
“College.” Mason responds quickly without getting into all the nitty gritty of our relationship. “Let’s play some pool. Y’all can get to know her that way.”
“You know how to play Kamryn?” Mac asks.
“I may have played a time or two,” I respond coyly as I hand my clutch to Jax and walk over to grab a pool stick and wink at Mason.
He’s holding in a silent chuckle. On some of our last minute dates, we would go to the student center and play pool. I beat him every time.
“Do you wanna break or rack?” Mac asks. Looks like I’m playing against him.
I mull it over just for fun. “I think I’ll break. And no calling the pocket. That just makes you seem like a tool.”
“As you wish,” Mac says as he racks up the pool balls.
“I might be bad at this,” I feign innocence and say as I get in my pool ready position. I really might be as it’s been so long since I’ve last played a game.
“I won’t judge you,” Mac declares with the overconfidence of an athlete that he might have this game in the bag.
Looking up at Mason and the girls who are all holding in their laughter. I focus back on the pool balls in front of me. I set up my hand and place the cue stick in the crease, I take three fake pumps, and then on the fourth time forward I put all my mite into breaking up the balls. I crack it perfectly, sinking two stripes. When I look at Mac he’s utterly confused.
“You played me,” He chokes out when he finally finds his voice.
I walk around the table to find my best shot. When I see one that I can bounce off the edge I set up there.
“I guess you will never know.” I sink two more and then miss on my third. I take a sip of Mason’s drink and then settle between his legs.
“It’s not nice to fool people.” Mac says as he pouts and tries to find a spot.
“It’s not nice to assume that because I design clothes, that I can’t play pool either.”
Mac sinks two shots and misses on his third. “Fine. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Thank you.” I proclaim and go up to the table to spot my next shot. I find one and sink one, and then the last stripe. “8 ball corner pocket.” All I have to do is lightly hit the cue ball for it to hit the 8 ball. And I do just that. I stand upright and look at Mac who is still in a bit of shock. “Good game Mac. It was fun beating you.”
I rack my cue and go settle back between Mason’s legs. The warmth of his body calms me. It’s weird how these years apart didn’t dull the feelings I had for him.
Mason places a kiss to my cheek and I soak it in. Wrapping my arms further around his. Securing my body to his.
The rest of the night passes with easy fun. I get to know the guys a little better. They tell me about their time in the league, how many teams they’ve played for, if they ever had an injury that they thought they wouldn’t come back from; are they married or do they have any kids? Are they close with their families? They ask me how I came to be a fashion designer, when my original plan was psychology. And why I decided to launch my brand in Cincinnati rather than Philadelphia. I regal them of how I was heartbroken in college and used that as a way to heal.
When Mason and I were in school, we talked about the possibility of moving to Cincinnati. I mean, Nashville could have always been the plan for us, but we figured a place far enough away from our families was a good plan. Ohio has an equal balance of city-life and home-life; it also isn’t far from Pennsylvania or North Carolina so that was a win. When Mason got traded to the Bengals he said he thought it was a cruel twist of fate…or even karma. I told him the same thing about my line. That I unconsciously made the decision to move here.