Long Pass Chronicles 01 - Outing the Quarterback (4 page)

Will sighed. His father was on a roll. “I may not be good enough for the NFL.” Will pulled out some black jeans that did great things for his ass, not that anyone would be looking.

“You’re kidding. That right arm’s a missile. We still need to put some pounds on you. Hell, if I’d had your talent, I’d be coaching in the national league right now. Don’t fuck it up.”

“There’s a lot of ways to get hurt.” Shit, sometimes he just wished it would happen so he could get out of this trap. He loved football, but not as a career.

“Nah. Your guys love you. They protect their quarterback.”

He softly punched the wall. The trap had four high walls. No escape.

He slipped into a white silk shirt, then grabbed a lavender sweater to tie around his shoulders. The twenty or thirty degree drop in temperature at night, even in August, required an extra layer. Socks came next and then some loafers.

“You going out?”

“Yeah. Double date. I want to try that new seafood place in Laguna.”

He walked out of the closet, and his dad looked him over. “You sure you don’t want to rethink that sweater?” His dad grinned. “Especially if you’re going to Laguna?” He laughed at his own joke.

Will tied the sweater at his neck. “Think of it as fashion forward.”

“Fashion fruitcake, you mean.” He laughed again.

The tap on the door distracted his father, thank God. Will looked up. “Come on in.”

Tiffany peeked around the door and put on her best cheerleader smile. “Oh hi, Mr. Ashford.”

“Hi, Tiffany. How’s tricks?” Another cause for amusement.

She stepped into the room and threw up one arm and the opposite knee as she hopped. “Go Lions.” Her blonde, straight bob bounced.

His father clapped. “Excellent. You two make such a great couple. And you’re going to rule the school this year as seniors.”

“I sure hope so.” She cocked her head at Will. “What’s with the sweater?”

His father about busted a gut. He slapped his knee, then got up from the chair. “You tell him, Tiffany. Keep this guy on the straight and narrow.” He walked by her and gave her a peck on the head. “Have fun, you two.” He ambled out the door, still laughing.

It was a fucking bad sign when a guy was more comfortable with his asshole father than he was with his girlfriend.

Tiffany walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck, though she stood on tiptoe to do it. She wore flats, which made her five feet six to his six three. She pressed her lips against his with lots of tongue. He felt his body tense and consciously relaxed.
Girls were it, remember
? He wrapped his arms around her and opened his mouth. Enthusiastically, she pushed her tongue in and began to explore. He tried to reciprocate, but she was so assertive he couldn’t get a tongue in edgewise. Pulling back, he gently licked across her lips, then pressed his mouth to hers again.

Well, shit
. She moaned and started trying to climb him like a tree, one leg wrapping up to get on top of his butt. Cheerleading made her way flexible, so she just about succeeded. He got her tongue now in a fucking motion, and his own piece of mouth flesh wanted to run and hide. No place to go. The invader had taken the field.

Suddenly he wanted to gag. This was so bad. If he barfed in Tiffany’s mouth, she’d never let him forget it.

How could he get this female off him without making a big fucking deal of it?

The knock on the door sounded like a cavalry charge to the rescue.
Thank you, God
. He pulled away, smiled at Tiff, and smoothed his jeans like he was trying to control his erection. The erection that didn’t exist. “Come in, Jamal.”

The door opened, and Jamal stepped back to let Stephanie Positano cross in front of him. She smiled at Tiff and gave her a hug. “Hey, girl. Wassup?”

Stephanie loved all things black, including Jamal, despite the fact that her Italian roots were in the northern part of the country and she was as blonde as Tiffany.

Tiffany perched a hand on her hip. “You could have picked a better moment to arrive. I was just getting warmed up.” She laughed.

Steph gave Will a once-over and stared pointedly at his crotch. No idea what she imagined she saw.

Jamal to the rescue. “You guys ready?”

Tiffany nodded. “We can take my car since Will’s won’t hold all of us.” She dug in her purse and handed the keys to her SUV to Will. “You drive, baby.”

He took the keys. At least he could drive something.

W
ILL
LOOKED
over the top of his menu at the beautiful ocean view. The restaurant was on the second floor on a central corner in Laguna. Its big windows gave a look at the busy beach town as well as the surf and sea beyond the buildings across the street.

“So what’s good here?” Tiffany scanned her large menu.

He shrugged. “It’s called the Flying Fish so I figure fish.”

She squinched up her face. “But I don’t want fish. I want a steak.”

“There’s a steak on the menu. Order it.”

“But what if it’s not good?”

He breathed out very slowly. “Then you send it back and order something else.”

Stephanie nudged her friend. “C’mon, sistah. I’ll order steak with you. We can both get ptomaine.”

Jamal grinned at Will. He nodded at the menu. “So what you having?”

“They had escolar on the Today’s Catch board. I’m trying that.”

“An excellent choice, sir.” The voice came from behind him.

Will looked over his shoulder and had to swallow his gasp. Noah. From the art class.
Shit
. Will hoped the guy didn’t recognize him. And if he did, he could not say how he knew Will. Damn, this was bad. His brain was racing, but his cock was bobbing hello. He frowned big, screwed his eyes to the side, and slowly moved his head back and forth. Man, he must look weird.

Noah frowned back at him, then looked up at the table. “Hi. I’m Noah. I’ll be your waiter. Can I answer any questions about the menu?”

Whew
. The guy caught on.

Tiffany’s high voice took attention from Will. “Yeah, is the steak good?”

Noah stepped up beside Will. “Yes, it’s excellent. They use Kobe beef, the finest in the world.” The guy’s long brown hair was captured in a queue at the back of his neck, but one hank of the silky stuff hung in front of his face, nearly disguising the scar. God, he was so beautiful, with or without that blemish.

Steph smacked Tiffany’s hand. “Hey, how about that, girlfriend?”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what I’m having.”

“Me too.”

Jamal stared at the menu. “Uh, I guess I’ll have salmon.”

Will smiled. “Don’t you want a steak, big guy? I’m paying.”

“Hey, man, you don’t have to do that.”

Will gave a harsh laugh. “I’m not. My old man is.” He felt more than saw Noah’s eyes glance at him.

Jamal handed his menu to Noah. “I’ll have the steak, baked potato, and lots of broccoli. I love broccoli.”

Steph smacked him. “You’re weird.”

Noah made a half turn and looked at Will. “What will you have with your escolar? Sir.”

Why did his voice seem softer and sexier than when he talked to the others? Will cleared his throat. “Uh, a big green salad and lots of veggies.”

“No potatoes?”

Jeez, he’d take anything this guy was selling. “No thanks.”

Jamal leaned over. “C’mon, man. You need some extra weight.”

Shit, don’t say football
. “Right. I’ll take a baked potato with sour cream.”

Jamal laughed. “Add butter to that. Don’t want my man getting squashed.”

The girls giggled.

Noah looked at Will. Gazed might be a good word. “Anything else for you?”

A helping of cock with some balls on the side
. “Uh, no thanks. That’s enough.”

Will tried not to stare at that gorgeous profile when Noah turned to the others. “What can I get you to drink? Oh, and please don’t kill the messenger, but I’m required to card you.”

Well, shit.

Tiffany leaned down to her purse, flashed her ID showing she was twenty-one, and gave Noah a snarky smile. “I’ll have a white wine.”

Stephanie and Jamal pulled out their IDs too, and Jamal ordered beer while Steph did the wine thing.

Noah looked at Will.

Will shrugged. “I’ll have a mineral water. I’m not legal til October.”

Noah nodded, but a couple of dimples winked out of his cheeks and then returned to hiding. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.” The guy walked away toward what must be the kitchen. So graceful. He moved like wind, boneless but purposeful.

Tiff leaned in and spoke softly. “I’m surprised a nice restaurant lets a guy like that be a waiter.”

Will dragged his eyes back to the table as Jamal said, “Hey, it’s not his fault he has to card us.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean all deformed and everything.”

The words flew out of Will’s mouth. “Deformed? Are you nuts? He’s beautiful.” Six eyes fixed on him. “I mean, his face has classic symmetry and shit.”

Stephanie nudged Tiffany. “Oh come on, girl, it’s not catching.”

Tiffany crossed her arms and stared at Will. “I suppose.”

Jesus, he couldn’t breathe. A year. A fucking year of this shit. Hell, he’d live with Jamal on a desert island, but Tiffany was driving him nuts. “So, Jamal, how’s your family?”

“They’re good, man. Let me tell the girls what Tyrese did.”

Will had heard the story of how Jamal’s older brother had walked into his boss’s office and carefully outlined in a PowerPoint his value to the company, then asked for a 20 percent raise and got it. Intrepid, man. All the Joneses had balls to spare. It would be nice to be more like them.

Will’s glance moved around the wide-open room with the big windows facing the ocean. Where was Noah? How had the guy understood Will’s crazy expressions? How had he known not to say they knew each other? Will wanted to thank him. Big understatement. Will wanted to fuck him.

Oh yeah. The tall, superlean figure walked out of the back hall carrying a tray of drinks. Bad. Just watching him walk, seeing that piece of hair bouncing in front of his face, and Will’s cock got antsy.

“Will? Will?”

“What?” He dragged his eyes back to Tiffany. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

Tiffany glanced over her shoulder and frowned. Did she see Noah?

Will nodded toward the waiter. “The waiter’s coming with our drinks.”

Her frown deepened. “Yeah, so?”

Jamal laughed. “Well, I for one am anxious for my beer. Don’t know about you.”

Will looked up and met Jamal’s eyes. What did that expression mean? It looked like compassion, which was weird.

Somebody should have given him a fucking medal for keeping his eyes on Jamal and the girls. It was sick, but he wanted to watch Noah walk so bad. What the hell did they call it? Poetry in motion? Will’s eyes didn’t move, and he kept a smile plastered on his lips as the girls talked about cheer practice. He might not be looking, but he could sure feel. Noah was walking behind him. Was it his imagination, or did the air get warmer when he went by? Will felt the slight brush of the guy’s arm against Will’s shirtsleeves as he put down the mineral water, and then he looked up in time to see the flow of Noah’s hair in front of his damaged eye when he placed the beer in front of Jamal. Will shifted. His damned cock refused to be heterosexual.
Shit.

Noah smiled. “Enjoy your drinks. The food will be coming right up.”

Don’t look
. Noah disappeared from Will’s peripheral vision.

Jamal held up his glass, shiny with condensation. “Cheers.”

Will saluted him with his water glass. The girls sipped wine and fell back into their conversation.

Will looked at Jamal. “I didn’t get to talk much to Evangeline. How’s she doing?”

The white teeth flashed. Like his brothers, Jamal loved his only sis. “She’s great. Phi Beta Kappa, baby. First one in the family.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah. I wish the family could have sent her to SCU, but after the two older boys, there wasn’t much left.”

“Hey, Cal Poly’s a great school. Besides, you got a full ride, so nothing much got spent on you.”

“True. But Mal’s in medical school and that’s pricey, even with his scholarships.”

“Just think how great it’s gonna be to have a doctor in the family.”

Jamal shook his head. “I doubt we’ll see much of him. I think he’s headed straight to Africa to do hand-to-hand with malaria.”

“Jesus, you’ve got a passel of do-gooders in that family, Mr. Jones. I don’t know why some lightning bolt doesn’t strike me dead by comparison.” Hell, that wasn’t even a joke.

Jamal shook his head and laughed. The sound of dishes rattling made Will look over his shoulder. Noah placed a big tray on a folding stand and turned his tight butt in slim black jeans toward Will. Better quit looking before he turned to stone. Will cleared his throat and sipped his water.

Noah served Tiffany first. He placed an oval plate heaped with french fries and a huge slab of meat in front of her. Blood ran from the extra-rare steak. Crap, why did that make Will shudder?

Stephanie and Jamal got their similar servings but neither was as bloody. Everything felt like a fucking sign to Will.

Finally, Noah reached from his right and placed a plate with the fish dripping a butter sauce and accompanied by a heaping salad. Will glanced up, met those startlingly blue eyes—and held. “Thanks, the escolar looks delicious.”

Noah grinned. “It’s my favorite thing on the menu.”

Something in that voice made the conversation not about food. Will swallowed. “Uh, good to know.”

Noah looked at the others. “Can I get you anything else right now?”

Oh crap, what a question.

Jamal shook his head as he cut his meat. “No thanks. This looks wonderful.”

Tiffany nodded. “Yeah. Ketchup.”

Noah smiled. Was it tight? “I’ll get that right away.” He turned and walked toward the back.

The words flew out of Will’s mouth. “Excuse me. I need the men’s room.”

Tiffany frowned. “Your food will get cold.”