Chapter 15 #2
He shook his head and helped me out of the other coat underneath the top one. “I can see that we’re going to be arguing over the thermostat,” he commented. “Or I’m going to be wearing shorts and you’ll need ski clothes.”
“I’m not from a warm climate,” I told Morgan. “I’ve lived in a lot of places and some of them have been cold like this. But I’ve never liked it.”
“Xavi is a cuddler. He keeps me nice and toasty,” she said, looking across the room at where her husband was talking to some other members of the Woodsmen defense. “Your job is clear,” she told Ronan, and he didn’t bother to correct her idea that we would also be cuddling. “Come get drinks.”
Their house was very nice, with the mismatched elegance and elevated comfort from the videos I had watched.
“Nice pillows,” he remarked to me quietly.
He seemed impressed but his own house was similarly comfortable and well-decorated, just a lot smaller.
He could help me with my room when I’d moved in, which would be very soon. Soon, we’d be living together.
I reached and took his hand, and he looked down at me. “You ok?”
I nodded. I was very excited, and that was a bit of an issue. Even Taylor was getting nervous about my move. “You’re really keyed up about it,” she kept saying. “Would you be acting the same way if you were coming to live with us?”
“No, she’d be crying because of the mess,” Kiya had said, laughing.
“Ronan is very neat,” I’d assured them. “He’s careful with his tools, which is a sign of how someone is going to deal with life in general.
” For example, my dad had neglected his and mistreated them, so they got rusted and ruined, or often lost and stolen.
He had treated work, money, and people the same way.
All three of my friends had rolled their eyes after I’d spoken and Victoria had changed the subject, but now we had so many emotionally charged issues between us that it was hard to find something neutral to talk about.
Kiya was still agitated about her former Cado, Taylor was having trouble with her hook-up friend wanting more from her, and of course there were Vic’s own major problems with Mr. Gowan.
Beau. I mentioned him as we approached the buffet tables.
“I had a weird talk today with my boss,” I said. “Beau. He asked me to call him that.”
“Huh.” Ronan frowned. “He wants to make friends?”
“He said he realized that it sounded weird to be so formal,” I explained. “He seemed to be reaching out.”
“Screw him and don’t reach back. Have you met Alonzo?” He pointed across the room at a man eating from a plate of barbecue that was as big as my car. “That’s the best nose tackle in football. Let’s get dinner and I’ll introduce you.”
The food was definitely good and the people, like Alonzo, were generally nice. I did get an odd reception from one woman (she was dating a Woodsmen safety). “But who are you?” she demanded more than once.
“I’m Cate. Cate McNaughton,” I had told her, and I added “Alexis” when she asked again. But that wasn’t the information she was looking for from me. She kept posing questions about my relationship with Ronan and when I still didn’t answer with what she wanted, she stomped off, obviously annoyed.
“Don’t worry about her,” another woman told me. “She gets upset whenever there’s a new face. She feels threatened.”
“By me?” I asked.
“Yes, because you’re a very pretty girl.
But it’s not all about you,” Morgan explained.
“It’s her thing because she and Van are arguing about getting married.
I keep telling her that it doesn’t matter but it makes her worried and insecure, especially since he’s probably moving to a new team after this season.
She says that she doesn’t feel permanent. ”
“They’ll be fine,” the first woman said, and Morgan nodded.
“Xavier and I dated for nine years before we finally decided to get married. I got crap about it at the first game I went to after he signed with the Malamutes. I remember a running back’s wife flashing her ring and telling me that I was never going to move into the inner circle without one.
I was like, ‘I don’t want to be in the circle if you’re in it. ’” They all laughed.
“Not everyone wants the same things,” I stated. I had three friends who were very divided about their future plans.
“Exactly,” Morgan agreed. “Come on and meet more people. Ronan told me that your goal is to make friends with everyone.”
“Did he say that?”
But I did meet a lot of people and by the time we got ready to go, I had fourteen new contacts in my phone. That meant I had over twenty for the first time ever, and I planned to use them.
Ronan was yawning as we went to the truck/car and I offered to drive. He leaned the seat way, way back, and settled in. It was a kind of a long ride from where the Hurleys lived out in the country.
“We’re going past your apartment building,” he noted. “We shouldn’t have met at my house because you’ll have to drive right back there.”
“I don’t mind,” I said.
“We could stop and get some of your stuff,” he suggested. “Polyphemus, for example. You could do a trial run with the two of you staying over at my house. You’ll warm up to it, like taking practice golf swings.”
“We could do that. We could also play golf,” I said. “Some people, and I’m not going to mention names, could win their own crocodiles with some more work.”
“Who do you mean?” he wondered. “You’re probably talking about your boss, Mr. Dapper. I hate that guy.”
“I feel a little sorry for him,” I admitted.
“Really? I can’t stand him and his bullshit, running out on his responsibilities.”
“How do you know what happened?” I demanded, shocked. “Did Kiya tell her ex-Cado?”
He grimaced. “I thought you weren’t going to say that name anymore. I’m talking about him avoiding work with his constant vacations.”
“Oh, right. His vacations.”
“What’s going on?” he asked me. “What did he do?”
I hesitated but then ended up telling him about Victoria and the baby. “Please don’t repeat any of this,” I requested. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything, either, but the news is going to come out soon.”
“Yeah, babies don’t stay secret for long.” He shook his head. “I knew that guy sucked.”
“You felt that way before you knew about Victoria. Why? Just because he takes all those vacations and doesn’t ever work? Because his actual job doesn’t require any work? Because he wears ties every day? I know how you hate them.”
“Yeah, those things. And uh, others.” He hesitated. “You were so impressed by him.”
“Me?” I pointed at my chest. “I was impressed? Me?”
“You talked about him being handsome, well-dressed. He’s a world traveler.”
“He’s an idiot,” I said. “Didn’t that come across, too?
I think he’s a total fool. I feel sorry for him at times, but it’s the same way that I felt sorry for that dog Blossom and how she had been left at an RV park.
Like they’re pathetic. I can’t imagine how he got someone to marry him and then also got Victoria to like him enough to sleep with him. ”
“Good. Not good for him that he’s pitiful, and it’s definitely not good for Victoria. But I’m glad that’s what you feel about him and you’re not impressed by his pocket squares.”
“I think they’re a huge waste,” I stated. “You’d never really use one to blow your nose.”
He offered more of his ideas regarding the stupidity of men’s dressy clothes but I was a little stuck on his dislike of Beau Gowan.
Of course, there were plenty of reasons to dislike the guy, but being jealous?
That was just silly. There was no comparison between the two of them—in fact, I couldn’t even think of a reason that anyone would attempt a comparison.
We did stop at my apartment and Ronan, being a terrifically strong football player who shoved three-hundred-pound men onto their butts, helpfully picked up Polyphemus.
“I’ve got this,” he assured me. “Don’t worry, I can carry him.
” But then he did also want to take my bag once I’d packed it.
I was efficient and very fast, after the way that my dad and I had lived.
“What are you thinking about that makes you do this?” he asked as we went to the parking lot. He made the same angry, bitter expression that I’d seen on others’ faces when they imitated me.
“I was remembering my suitcases,” I explained. “I had two and I used them for every move we made, for as long as I could remember. After I came here and unpacked, I threw them away in the dumpster because I decided that I was home.” I looked over my shoulder at the building behind us.
“I have bags you can borrow to get your stuff to my place.” We got into his car and he took the wheel, then glanced over at me from the driver’s seat. “What now?”
Now I was thinking that he might have been moving away himself—he probably would, in fact, because he’d been playing so well that Ed had gotten teary about it and the rest of the teams in the league would also notice. “I just hate moving.”
“My parents are deciding where to move for the winter,” he mentioned. “I’ve been telling them that Montana is not going to work as well as Arizona.”
“Your dad did seem interested in Missoula,” I remarked, remembering their questions in the car on the way to the wedding.
“They’re also thinking about settling down near Chicago,” he said. “They’re extremely interested in their new grandson. I guess it will be fun to have a baby in the family. I decided that I’m not going to go with your gift idea of cymbals.”
“I had another thought,” I said. “What about a little Wilder jersey?” No one at the team had responded yet to my many suggestions that they produce Wilder gear in various sizes, but we could make a special one.
“That’s a good idea.” He also glanced behind us, in his rearview mirror. “I never noticed how dark it got outside your building.”