Текст книги "Game On"

Автор книги: Katie McCoy

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Five

I was starting to think that my mother had hired someone to watch me; since she had the unpleasant talent of calling me at exactly the moment I did not need her specific brand of motherly advice. At least that morning I wasn’t hung over.

“Get a good handle on that cute butt?” was how she started the conversation.

“Mama,” I warned, half embarrassed that if Tim hadn’t interrupted us the other night, I would have gotten a rather good handle on Nathan’s cute butt. Just like he had gotten an exceptionally good handle on mine. Among other things. I could still feel his mouth against my breast, hot and wet, and his fingers, confident and capable, making me scream. The very thought of him touching me there again, or anywhere, really, made me shiver.

Since that night, however, contact with him had been scarce. The final game was tomorrow and I hadn’t heard much from him except the occasional text telling me he was thinking of me and he was sorry he was so busy. I was starting to worry that I been right to be so cautious—that this was just a fling to Nathan, nothing serious. That I had allowed myself to get distracted by a guy who was only looking for his own distraction. Mandy kept assuring me things would change after the game, and I wanted to believe her, but I was having a hard time believing in anything these days.

The only silver lining, of course, was that Tim had been having a tough time with his project as well. We had interviewed almost a dozen of Nathan’s old classmates, but none of them had anything negative to say about the star player. I knew Tim was getting frustrated.

“There’s no way this guy is as nice as everyone says he is,” he kept saying.

I kept my thoughts to myself, but remained pleased that there was no dirt to find on Nathan. I hoped Tim’s trail would go cold before the majors made any decisions about the draft. My own article about the animal shelter was coming together better than I had expected. It had everything—cute kids, adorable pets, all-American sports stars and of course, a community-run organization that needed help. People were going to love it. And with Mandy’s photos, well, it could definitely go viral. I knew that I’d definitely be saving some of those shots as my screensaver. On my computer and my phone. Maybe even keep a picture in my desk. Or two.

“Are you listening?” a voice in my ear asked, and I remembered that I was still on the phone with my mother.

“Uh-huh,” I said and she picked up right where she had apparently left off.

“You’re gonna lose your looks one of these days,” she chided. Oh, it was this lecture. I had heard this one for a few years now. Why she was so scared of me getting older, I couldn’t tell. I had her genes, there was no doubt about that, and she looked fantastic. I wasn’t worried, why was she?

“I’m twenty-three,” I reminded her, not sure why I was bothering. Anything over twenty-one was halfway to the grave according to her. If you were a woman, of course.

“Those tits won’t last forever,” she continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “And that boy has money to shower you with right now.”

I put my head in my hand, wishing, not for the first time, that I had a mother that could imagine a life for me that wasn’t dependent on me finding a rich husband. I’d rather have a Nathan, with or without his success. Just him. That was sugar enough for me.

On the other end of the line, my mother was still waxing poetic about the buoyancy of my boobs and butt. I finally interrupted her when she started in on the importance of good plastic surgery and how I should start saving my pennies to make sure I had the money when I needed it.

“Mama, I have to go.”

“When will you be back in Houston?” she asked.

As soon as they fire me, I thought, but didn’t want to admit out loud how scared I was of the possibility of losing my job if they didn’t like the piece on the animal shelter. It was going to be hard enough to ask to move back in with her when I got back, I didn’t need to add more fuel to the fire of her argument for landing a rich husband. And I really didn’t want to say anything about what had happened with Nathan. It was bad enough that I had gotten my hopes up, the last thing I wanted to do was give her the idea that a soon-to-be major league player was interested in me. Especially since I didn’t know if his interest extended beyond the bedroom. From what I knew about Nathan, he hardly seemed the type to sleep with someone and toss them aside, but what did I know? I had thought Nick was a decent boyfriend. Well, OK, I had had my doubts about him for a while. But still, I really couldn’t be trusted to make good decisions about guys.

“Soon, I’ll be back soon,” was what I finally ended up saying.

“Good,” she told me and then there was a slight pause. “I’m proud of you, hon. You know that, right?”

I was speechless. My mother had never acknowledged how hard I had worked to get where I was, let alone told me that she was proud of me. I felt my throat grow tight. Suddenly I missed her terribly. No matter what, she was always there for me. And she always gave the best hugs when I was upset. And I really could have used a hug at the moment.

“Thanks, Mama,” I told her, rushing through the words before I could start crying.

“Now go write that fancy-assed article,” she told me and hung up.

I looked at the phone in my hand and laughed. It wasn’t the kind of pep talk I would have given myself, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

There had been no texts or calls from Tim that day, which I could only assume meant that he had run out of sources. Either he would give up and head back to Houston after the game tomorrow—unlikely—or he was out hunting for more people to give him dirt on Nathan. I was grateful to have a break from him but the silence made me a little nervous.

At least it gave me time to work on my own article. I was really pleased with what I had so far and was starting to look forward to presenting it to Mike. I knew he was going to give me a lecture for not sticking with the original assignment, but I hoped that Tim’s article would give him enough on Nathan that he would be able to appreciate my forward thinking. I was also hoping that Tim’s article on Nathan would be so boring and lacking in drama that it would get pulled. I doubted I would be so lucky, but a girl could hope, couldn’t she?

I hadn’t heard from Nathan all morning, though, and I was starting to get a little bummed out when there was a knock at the door. A glance through the peephole showed the kid from the front desk, Greg.

“Hi.” I opened the door, curious as to what he needed. He had a huge box under his arm and a hand behind his back.

“Afternoon, Ms. Hall,” he said, his strong Texas drawl as adorable as ever.

“You can call me, Sophie,” I told him. “I’ve been here long enough for that, I think.”

He grinned at me. “Well, this was dropped off for you and I thought I’d bring it up.” From behind his back he pulled out a bundle of beautiful red roses and laid it on top of the box, which he then handed to me.

I was dumbstruck, but before I could ask who had sent them, or even reach into my pocket for a tip, he was already halfway down the hall.

“Thanks!” I called out to him.

“See you at the game tomorrow,” he responded with a big smile before disappearing into the elevator.

For a moment I wondered how he knew I was going to the game and then I remembered that it was Texas and everyone was going to the game. Besides, he had probably figured out I was a journalist. My mom had worked in a hotel for a while, she told me that people always ignored the staff, which was a dumb idea, because they saw everything. You couldn’t keep a secret from cleaning ladies and busboys that was for sure.

My face went hot at the realization that they had probably seen Nathan coming and going from my room a couple of times now and had made their own—fairly correct—assumptions that something was going on between the two of us. No doubt I was the subject of gossip downstairs. I thought of my last encounter with Nathan and grinned. If I had my way, I’d make sure to really give them something to talk about.

I realized that I was still standing in the hallway with a box and a huge bouquet of flowers, so I quickly ducked back into my room to examine my surprise gifts in peace. I didn’t have a vase, but I figured an ice bucket would do for the roses, though it hardly did them justice. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had sent me flowers. I had been lucky if Nick had saved me a cookie when we shared a box in front of the TV during our date nights.

There was no card with the flowers, so I figured the box was going to hold all the answers. Boxes usually did. They also usually held presents. I liked presents. I was human, after all. It was packed with orange tissue paper, and I had to dig to find anything, but once I did, I discovered the box held an envelope and a jersey. A Longhorns jersey with Nathan’s number on the back.

I opened the card.

Sophie,

Please come to the game tomorrow. Here’s a ticket so you can watch the game in my box with my family. They’re nice folk and I’m sure they’ll tell you plenty of embarrassing stories that they’ll be happy to share ‘on the record.’ I’ll be looking out for you during the game and hopefully afterwards as well.

Nathan

Chapter Twenty-Six

I tugged on my jersey nervously. The stadium was packed and overflowing with orange Longhorn memorabilia. Everyone was cheering and the game hadn’t even started yet. The excitement seemed to buzz all around me.

Down near the field, in the seats designated for players’ family and friends, I saw a row of dark hair that I could only assume belonged to Nathan’s family. Like everyone else, they were dressed in Longhorns colors. His sisters had ribbons in their hair, and they all wore matching jerseys, like mine, that had Nathan’s name and number across the back. Sitting behind them, to my relief, was Mandy, wearing Chris’ number, talking to who I could only assume was Nathan’s father.

For a moment, I thought about turning around and going up to the press box where Tim was. Or back to the hotel. Or back to Houston. What was I doing? I didn’t belong here in Nathan’s special section with his family, wearing his jersey. This was crazy. This was moving too fast.

But before I could turn around, Mandy spotted me.

“Sophie!” she cried out and every member of the Ryder family swiveled their head to find me. I gave a nervous wave and began my way down towards the field, my stomach twisting in knots. The closer I got, the more out of place I felt. Yes, we were all wearing the same shirt, but all of Nathan’s sisters looked far more put together than I ever had in my life. Their jeans were expensive, as was their jewelry. I was pretty sure his mom had just come from the hairdresser. Even his dad looked well-to-do, wearing a fancy watch on his wrist. They all stood when I approached the aisle and I saw, with horror, that they had saved me the spot in the very middle of all of them. Oh great, being surrounded by such majestic creatures was going to do wonders for my self-esteem.

“We were wondering when you’d get here.” Nathan’s mother was the first to greet me and gave me a big hug. Her perfume smelled lovely. And expensive.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Ryder,” I said. “Mr. Ryder.”

“Oh please.” She let out a twinkly little laugh. She looked like she could have been one of Nathan’s sisters, her hair still chestnut brown and her face barely lined. “You can call me Sara.”

“And call me Matt,” Nathan’s dad said, looking like an older, more distinguished version of his son, with some gray in his hair and a few wrinkles around his eyes.

“This is Robin, Maureen, and Brandi,” Sara introduced Nathan’s sisters. From what Nathan had told me, he was the baby by about four years. Robin was the eldest, a doctor, then came Maureen, the lawyer, and then Brandi, the big-time editor, who had flown in from New York to be there. All of them had the Ryder green eyes and dark hair, though they shared their mother’s petite build, while Nathan had inherited his dad’s broad shoulders and height.

“Nathan’s told us a lot about you,” Brandi said, patting the seat next her. I sat down, feeling nervous as hell as all five Ryders stared at me.

“Glad you came,” Mandy said from behind me, reaching over the seat to give me a hug.

I hugged her back, so glad that she was there.

“So, Sophie, Nathan says you’re a journalist,” Sara inquired politely.

“Uh, yeah,” I responded, feeling like the most boring, average person in the world next to this beautiful, accomplished family. I thought of Tim up in the press box, wondering if he had thought it strange that I wasn’t sitting with him. Of course I couldn’t tell him I was sitting with Nathan’s family, so I had said something about Mandy getting us seats, and he had said something about us being lesbians together and laughed, and I had just rolled my eyes because he really was the absolute worst.

“Sophie is doing an article on the animal shelter,” Mandy piped up, saving me from myself and my apparent inability to communicate like a normal human being when confronted with the glory that was the Ryder family in their entirety. They were just so beautiful and perfect. I felt terribly out of place, like the random kid next door who always happened to show up for dinner and no one had the heart to tell her to leave. That was me. I was that weird, random kid invading the perfect Ryder family. But they didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I felt totally welcomed. “I’m going to photograph Nathan and the guys there the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s wonderful,” Sara said, her smile showing a row of perfect white teeth, and I felt really weird for admiring Nathan’s mom’s teeth. What was wrong with me? I was an adult—I could speak for myself, couldn’t I? “That will get the shelter some much-needed publicity.”

“Someone should make calendars,” Brandi said. “I’m sure that would make a ton of money and get them lots of attention.”

“That’s a really good idea,” Robin piped in. “I bet all the women in my office would pay good money for a copy of that.”

“Call it something like Bats and Cats,” Brandi added with a smile. “People would go nuts for it.”

But Nathan’s third sister, Maureen frowned. “I don’t know, guys. Y’all know how Nathan feels about being the center of attention.”

“He’d do it for the shelter,” I said quietly.

Suddenly all eyes were on me. There was silence for a moment and I felt like sinking down until I was underneath my stadium seat and maybe even into the concrete floor or the dirt beneath it. Please stop staring at me, I thought.

But Nathan’s mom smiled. “I think you’re right.”

“He’s a sucker when it comes to that kind of thing,” Brandi said. “Such a soft touch.”

A very soft touch, I thought, thinking of how he had touched me and how I couldn’t wait for him to touch me again. Soon. Suddenly I was very warm and ducked my head, trying to hide my blush.

“It appears that you know my son pretty well,” Nathan’s dad told me.

“We’ve only just met,” I was quick to point out, but he shook his head.

“It’s easy to see why he likes you.”

Luckily, I didn’t have to respond because the crowd let out a tremendous cheer as Nathan and the rest of the Longhorns came out onto the field.

Even after watching him and his team practice for the past few days, nothing prepared me for the heart-racing experience of watching Nathan play. If I hadn’t fallen for him before, watching the intensity he brought to the pitching mound would have surely done it. I found myself surging to my feet more than once, cheering along with his family as he struck out batters one after another. And when it was his turn up at bat, I found myself clutching the seat, white-knuckled with anxiety.

The game was close, way too close, and even though Nathan had scored the only points so far, the opposing team still had a chance to score and take the game. The bases were loaded. My hands were fisted in my lap, my teeth toying nervously at my bottom lip as the next hitter stepped up to bat.

From the pitcher’s mound, I could see Nathan’s jaw clench. He was nervous. Of course he was. Then he lifted his head, the lip of his cap revealing his eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he was looking right at me. Those sexy green eyes burned across the field, focused completely on me, and my ovaries damn near exploded. Holy shit, I loved baseball.

“It’s got to be a fastball,” Nathan’s dad was muttering. “This guy loves the fastballs—can’t hit ’em, but can’t resist.”

“Chris will know,” Mandy reassured him from behind us.

We all held our breath as Nathan gave Chris a nod and fired one slick fastball across the plate.

“Strike one!” the umpire shouted.

The crowd cheered.

“You can do it, Nathan,” I found myself saying under my breath. “Come on, come on.”

“Just two more,” Nathan’s dad said.

I glanced over at his sisters, who were watching the field with the same intensity as their parents. I almost missed the second pitch, looking back just as it thudded into Chris’ glove.

“Strike two!”

Everyone in the stadium was cheering, but our row was deadly silent. I almost wanted to close my eyes, I was so nervous. I felt a hand take mine and looked down to find that Nathan’s mother had linked her fingers with me.

“He’ll be fine,” she said, but I could see the anxiety in her eyes.

Out on the field, we were too far away to see Nathan’s expression and his cap was blocking most of his face, but I knew he was nervous. He had to be. But he gave Chris a nod and drew his arm back.

When he let it go, I held my breath.

“Strike three! You’re ooooooooout!”

I leapt to my feet, my cheers lost in the thunderous applause and cries of joy bursting from the stands. All around us people were screaming and orange confetti burst out of cannons fluttering around us like fireflies. Nathan’s family was shouting, caught up in hugs and tears that I got swept up in. It was amazing. I had never experienced anything so intense and electrifying in my entire life.

Mandy leaned over her chair to hug me and I hugged her back, both of us crying tears of joy and happiness for the team and for the guys. When we finally pulled apart, I found that she had slipped something into my hand.

“He had me promise to give this you after they won,” she said, wiping happy tears from her cheers.

It was a note. He was apparently fond of sending me notes now. Not that I minded. There was something terribly charming about seeing his slanting handwriting across a piece of paper.

Sophie,

Meet me on the field after the game. I want to see you.

Nathan.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Nathan’s family insisted that he had cleared it with them.

“We’re going to see him tomorrow,” his mom assured me, when I tried to get them to wait with me on the field. “He wants to see you.”

“Besides,” Maureen teased, “he’s pretty insufferable after he’s won a game. Acts like he’s a big deal, or something.”

Somehow I couldn’t imagine that, and by the look on her face, a big open smile, it was clear she didn’t believe it either. So I said goodbye to Nathan’s family, feeling strangely sad that I wasn’t able to spend more time with them. Even though I had been tongue-tied at first, they proved to be very easy to talk to once I stopped second-guessing everything that came out of my mouth. I would even venture to guess that they liked me. At least, I hoped so.

In fact, the whole evening had given me hope. Obviously Nathan thought there was something between us. Guys didn’t just invite any girl they wanted to sleep with to spend the final game of their college career with their family. He had felt something between us. Maybe I wasn’t alone in this. Whatever this was.

I rubbed my hands against my arms. It was surprisingly chilly on the field, and the jersey Nathan had given me was thin and didn’t provide much warmth. I felt a little awkward standing there next to the gate leading onto the field, but that’s where I had been directed to wait. The stadium was near empty now, the press box dark. Even Mandy had gone.

“I promised Chris I’d meet him after,” she had said when I tried to get her to stay. “Besides, what do you need a wing-woman for? Nathan is easy.” She had given me a wink and a hug. “Call me tomorrow, OK?”

I heard footsteps and whirled around to find Nathan walking towards me. He looked amazing, his hair damp against the collar of his button-up shirt, which was tucked into a pair of gray slacks. In his hand he had a red rose, which he held out to me. Suddenly I felt quite underdressed. I preferred, of course, to be undressed with him, but I could be patient. For now.

“I should be the one bringing you things,” I said, taking the rose and bringing it to my nose. It smelled wonderful, but not as good as Nathan did as he stepped closer and put his arm around me.

“I want to show you something.” He led me out to the center of the field, to the pitcher’s mound. He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me so I was facing the stands. He pointed to a spot behind where the catcher would be. “You see that seat?”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t really focusing since I was so distracted by how great he smelled. Yep, I was smelling him again, and this time I wasn’t even the least bit embarrassed. If he came in cologne-form I would douse myself in this scent every fricking day. And all night long.

“That’s what I was watching each time I came up here. Do you know who was sitting there?” He came around to face me. I was speechless, since I already had an idea of what he was going to say. “You. That’s where you were sitting. And every time I felt nervous, I would just look over and see you there and I would feel better.”

“Glad I could be of service,” I said like a total idiot, but Nathan just smiled.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“What do I think of what?”

“Would I make your fantasy draft?” he wanted to know, his eyes twinkling.

“Oh yes,” I responded immediately, thinking, of course, of an entirely different kind of fantasy.

He laughed and I could feel my pulse pounding in the silence of the stadium.

“Sophie Hall.” Nathan took my face in his hands. “I like you.”

“I like you too.” I felt like my heart was about to explode out of my chest. All the doubts I had been entertaining the past few days disappeared in a flash. This felt right and I wasn’t going to fight it.

“Good.” He leaned down and gave me the softest kiss. “So what are we going to do about it?”

I licked my lips and watched his eyes go hot. Volcanic hot. “I have a couple of ideas.”