The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (26 page)

“Well, most of it was true.  I didn’t know Holly was engaged.  She never bothered to tell me that.  But I suppose that’s because neither one of us planned on spending much time together.”  He pauses, searching for the right words.  “I only went out with each of them a couple of times.  Sometimes we would hook up when I was in town.”

“It looked like it got a little more serious than that with Averee DeVeau, Evan.  I saw pictures of you going to awards shows with her and vacationing in Mexico together.  Pictures don’t lie.”  I need him to be honest with me.

“Pictures may not lie, but they don’t tell the entire story, Juliette.  Averee was someone I had a lot of fun with.  She knew I wasn’t looking for a relationship.  I never let it get serious.  That Mexico trip was something we did on a whim.  We’re both young and had money burning a hole in our pockets.”

“How do you keep meeting all those beautiful, famous women?”

“See, when you’re in the NFL, you get a lot of invitations for movie premiers, awards ceremonies, charity functions, and stuff like that.  You know, just like the benefit here next weekend.  I have managers that pick and choose which ones I should attend.  They usually pick the ones that get us the most publicity.  The more publicity I get, the more press the team gets.  All that attention translates into better ticket sales at the games.”

“It sounds like you were living the golden life.  How could you possibly give all that up?  Now you’re here, in this little beachy town, spending time with this silly local girl.  How long do you think you will be satisfied with this small life?”  This is the question I want answered the most.

“For as long as you’ll have me.  No contest.  This isn’t a small life.  The life I was living before was small.  Not one of those women gave a rat’s ass about me.  I was a plaything, a toy, a shiny new piece of jewelry.  All we did was live in the moment before we moved onto the next distraction.  That’s not a life, Juliette, that’s an existence.”

“Adam said you’ve had a rough year and that you can’t afford to be like that anymore.  Can I ask you what happened?”

“I don’t like to talk about it, but I want you to know everything.  Are you sure you want to hear more?  I’m afraid that if I tell you, you’ll leave me for good this time.”

I hold his hand and look directly into his eyes and tell him, “I’m not going anywhere.  I want to know.”

“The NFL has a personal conduct policy that all players have to sign.  If any player is found engaging in violent or criminal activities, they face the possibility of fines, suspension, or being banned from the league entirely.”

“I don’t understand, Evan.  Nothing you’ve described to me so far sounds inappropriate.”  He shakes his head and closes his eyes.  This is the part he didn’t want me to know about.

“Some of the players receive invitations to speak on college campuses about a wide variety of topics.  After the lectures, there are parties.  Lots and lots of parties.  Frat parties, sorority parties, you name it, we get invites.”  Now I start to remember the pictures of him with beer funnels and hot tubs.

“I saw the pictures.  A website called ‘the Dirty’ had it all online.”

“Did it say that some of the girls were under twenty-one?  They tried to charge me with furnishing alcohol to minors.  I didn’t buy the alcohol and I didn’t live in the residence, so they couldn’t charge me, but there were threats of other felony charges with a maximum penalty of actual jail time.”

“Are you serious?  Evan, I’ve been to tons of college keggers.  They actually wanted to hold you, one of the guests, responsible for serving minors?”

“One of the girls’ families threatened to sue me unless we settled out of court.  I almost did it, too. I almost gave those blood suckers enough money to take care of their little party girl for a very long time.  Before signing anything, I had to meet with the team’s legal department and explain the whole fucked up situation.  They felt that I was setting myself up to be the next Ben Roethlisberger and the best thing for everyone, including the front office, would be for me to start fresh with a new team.”

“Ben who?”

“Roethlisberger.  He’s the quarterback for the Steelers.  On two separate occasions, women tried to extort him for a cash payoff with threats of rape charges.  Ben claimed each encounter was mutual and no one was underage.  It’s a he-said, she-said kind of thing that no one ever wins.  He came extremely close to getting kicked out of the league permanently.”

“Oh my God, Evan.  That’s horrible.”

“The Commissioner thought it would be best if I moved back closer to my family so I could get my shit together.  There was an opportunity to make the change, and I jumped at the chance.  I’ll never be that guy again, Juliette, I swear.”

“I believe you.  I understand.  Will you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive.”

“But there is.  I didn’t have faith in you.  I believed everything they printed about you without getting the full story.  I promise I will never let that happen again.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that.  You have to swear to me that you won’t go looking for more information on the Internet.  If you hear something, you have to come to me and ask.  Let me explain, or let Adam explain.  If I have lunch with some woman and the press is there, they assume I’m sleeping with her.  Please believe me when I tell you that there’s no one else.”

I crawl onto his lap and cuddle into his chest.  I wrap my arms around him and inhale his scent.  “But you have to have faith in me, too.  Faith that I can handle whatever you throw at me.  I’m not made of porcelain, you know.  You can’t break me.  Other men have tried, but none have succeeded.”

Evan wraps his arms around me and holds me close. “Who tried to break you?  Give me their names and I’ll make sure they never come near you again.”  He kisses me on my forehead and allows his lips to linger.  Electricity shoots through every nerve ending.

“Let’s order some take-out, and then it’s my turn for confessions.” 

Unchartered Waters

“C
onfessions?  As in plural?  More than one?  You’ve got me worried, sweetie.”  I lie in his arms as he runs his hands up and down my body.  “Is it about last night?  Did something happen?  I knew I should have come out to find you.”  His hands stop and I can feel him gripping the arms of the lounge chair.

“No, Evan, nothing happened. I swear!”

“Then tell me.  Now.  Please.”  He starts caressing me with his gentle touch again.

“Food and drink first.  Come.”  I pull him up and off the lounge chair with me.  Time to eat.

Evan finds a take-out menu for the local Chinese restaurant that delivers.  We settle on Lo Mein, Beef & Broccoli, Wonton Soup, and Crab Rangoon.  While I place the order, Evan opens up a bottle of Riesling.  Trying to keep the topic light, I ask him where he’ll be spending Easter Sunday.  We’ve just reconnected and I cannot stand the thought of not seeing him tomorrow.

“Funny you should ask.  I was just going to invite you to join me at my sister’s for dinner.  I don’t know if you remember me telling you about Callie, but she and her husband Dean live in Cedar Grove.  Both my parents will be there and I really want them to meet you.”

“Baby, I’d love to meet your parents, but I can’t.  I have plans with my mother and grandmother in Bayonne.”  He puts the bottle of wine down, and takes three quick strides straight for me, gathers me in his arms and kisses me.  My mouth immediately opens to welcome him.  Our tongues become reacquainted and I know immediately that I’m falling deeply, madly, passionately in love with this man.  How could I think that I could live, for even one more moment, without him?

He releases me slowly.  “Wow!  I should say no to you more often.”

“That wasn’t for saying ‘no’.  That was the first time you called me anything other than my name.”

“That’s not true.  I’ve called you chief and bossy man plenty of times.”

“Not the same.  You called me ‘baby’.  It’s a name that’s only shared by lovers.  And I absolutely love hearing you call me that.  Especially now, after everything I’ve told you.”

“I wish I could meet your family tomorrow.  I really want you to meet my mom, too.” 

“Why can’t we do both?  Can’t we have dinner with one and dessert with the other?” 

Is he crazy?  It’s easily a half an hour drive between the two towns.  “Seriously?  I don’t know, Evan.  I’d hate for everyone to have to change their plans just to suit us.”

“Well, what time is your mother’s dinner?”

“Early, probably around three o’clock.  She’ll start cooking right after church.”

“See, it’s perfect.  Callie will be eating closer to six o’clock.  That means dessert’s not until seven.  We can make it in plenty of time.”

“Are you sure about this, Evan?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure.  I’m calling my mother now.  OK?”

“OK.”  So much has changed in the course of a day.  Yesterday, I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again.  Now we’re making plans together as a couple and he wants me to meet his family.  Am I ready for this?  Are we ready for this?

“Hi Mom, how are you?  I’m sitting here talking to Juliette about our plans for Easter dinner.”  He steps a little closer to me and plants a small kiss on my lips.  “Yes, she is.  I couldn’t agree more.”  He winks at me.  “We’d like to stop and visit with her family in Bayonne first if that’s OK.  We can make it to Callie’s in plenty of time for dessert.  What do you think?”  Evan looks at me with a grin and a nod.  “Great.  See you tomorrow.  Tell Dad I said hi.  Love you, too, Mom.” 

I love that he’s obviously told his mom about me.  They must be close.  I can’t wait to meet them.

“Your mom seems OK with the change in plans.”

“She is.”  He kisses me.

“And she seems to know exactly who I am.”

“She does.”  He kisses me again.

“I guess I should call my mother now.”

“You should.”  Another kiss.

The call to my mother is a little longer than Evan’s call was.  I haven’t told my mother anything about him.  She’s surprised to hear that I have a boyfriend, much less one that I’m interested in bringing home for Easter dinner.  She wants to know everything: how we met, how long we’ve been seeing each other, how he treats me.

Evan tries to give me a little privacy by grabbing some plates and silverware to set the table, but I know he can still hear my conversation.  I’m grateful when the doorbell rings.  Evan leaves the room to pay for our dinner and I have a moment to talk privately. 

“Mom, I’m really falling for him.  But he has a past.  A relationship with Evan is going to be ... challenging.”

“Juliette, every relationship has its challenges.  The real question is, is he worth it?”

Evan is back with our Chinese.  He’s standing at the dinner table, sorting through the cartons and pouring us more wine.  I can easily see this becoming routine.  Sharing meals together, chatting about our day, making plans.  He looks over to me and our eyes meet.  “Yes, Mom, he’s definitely worth it.”

Immediately, Evan’s at my side, feasting on my neck and shoulders with his hungry kisses.  He knows how much it tickles and that he’s torturing me.  I can’t hold back and a small giggle slips.  It doesn’t go unnoticed by my mother.  “Yeah, that’s Evan.  I’m going to go now. Give Gram my love.  See you tomorrow, Mom.”

“Was that necessary?” I scold Evan as I try to push him off me.  It’s no use, that man is hard as steel.

“It was completely necessary.”  He wraps his arms around my waist, lifts me off my feet, and kisses me deeply.  I tangle my fingers in his hair, close my eyes, and revel in the delightful sensations coursing through my body.  Too soon, my feet are placed back on the floor and Evan is leading me towards the table where our dinner awaits.

As we eat, we chat about tomorrow’s plans.  If we leave around noon, we should arrive at my mother’s place in plenty of time for a nice little visit and dinner.  I cannot show up without dessert, and now it seems I have to make twice as much.  That means a trip to the grocery store tonight.  I want everything to be perfect.  It has to be.  You only get one shot at a first impression.

Once we’re done and all cleaned up, I try to stall a little longer.  “Evan, can you take me to the Food Mart now?  I have to get a few things for tomorrow’s dessert.  You know we can’t show up empty handed.”

“Sorry, Juliette, but time’s up.  The grocery store can wait.  Let’s go sit in the living room and finish our talk.”

There’s no use arguing, so I sullenly follow him back to the living room.  “You’re going to be mad,” I tell him.

“I don’t know how I’ll feel until you tell me what happened.  But I can’t imagine anything you could have done that would change how I feel about you.”

“It’s not what I did, it’s what I didn’t do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, yesterday, there was a flower left on my car when I got out of work.  It was wrapped in cheap plastic with a sticker on it.  I knew it wasn’t from you.”

“No, you’re right.  It wasn’t from me.  Did anyone follow you again like last time?”

“No, I’m positive.  I drove straight home and called Derek to come pick me up.  That’s where I was when you texted me last night.”