Touchdown (11 page)

Whatever happened there, it would be just as it was. She was a Jets fan, and he was the Patriots’ quarterback. They weren’t really a perfect match. Besides, this was all a show to fix his damaged reputation and to eliminate her as a witness. Their upcoming marriage included.

That was all. Nothing more. He should keep it that way.

Chapter 10

“Where the fuck is he?” Zoey anxiously uttered while flexing her fingers. The wedding ceremony was scheduled at ten in the morning. It was now ten thirty. She was already wearing her gown—the most beautiful wedding gown she had ever seen, with a three-meter long veil that would be sweeping the carpet as she walked down the aisle. But the groom had yet to arrive. She doubted if he would even come.

Troy left a week ago for Chicago to face the Bears. He promised he’d be back a day before the wedding, but he didn’t. Yesterday, he called her to tell her that his flight was postponed, but he assured her he’d be at the church in time for the wedding. He lied.

“Zoey, you’re in a church.” Franki, whom she had made her bride’s maid due to unavailability of any other friends, scolded her.

And yes, she was in a church—in a small room beside the altar. Her friend had taken her there just ten minutes earlier when she started whining about Troy being late for his wedding. She tried calling him but his number could not be reached. Everyone, of the few guests they had invited, had all arrived ten minutes before the scheduled time, and each one was trying to search for Troy. They tried calling every person close to him, but to no avail.

“You think he’ll come?” Zoey asked. “I can’t stand this humiliation. If he stood me up today, I swear I’d sue him.”

“Relax, Zoey. He could be on his way.”

“The priest is getting impatient. He just said he can only wait for another ten minutes. Oh, Franki, this is too embarrassing!” she whined, as tears welled in her eyes.

“Shh, don’t cry.” Franki quickly wiped the drop of tears brimming on the edges of her eyes. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”

“I can’t help it.” Zoey sobbed. “I wish I hadn’t agreed to this.”

They heard a knock on the door. Franki was about to open it when Kirk pushed the door open and peeked inside.

“He’s here,” Kirk said, gasping. “You may go back to your places now. The procession is about to start.”

Zoey could finally breathe. That was such a relief.

“Thank, God,” Franki said and held Zoey’s arm. “Let’s go, dear.”

“Wait,” Zoey said and ran after Kirk. “Where is he? I need to talk to him?”

“Can’t you do that later?”

“It can’t wait. I need to talk to him before we go through this.”

“Alright, wait here,” Kirk said and ran to the back of the church.

“What for, Zoey?” Franki asked. Suddenly, the music started. They both froze. “Oh, God. It has started.”

“Go ahead, Franki,” Zoey told her friend. “I’ll come after you. “I only need a minute.”

Franki nodded and reluctantly left.  Zoey turned around and found Troy walking towards her. He was in his white suit adorned with golden embroideries and buttons. He looked like a prince. He had never looked better than before. Right at this moment, he became the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

Sorry, Wayne.

“Zoey,” he uttered as he came closer.

“Where the hell have you been?” she hissed through her teeth. “You didn’t even call. I can’t reach your phone.”

He stood before her. “I’ll explain later. You’re needed at the entrance.”

“No, I won’t go until you tell me the truth. You’re not so sure about this, are you?”

“Who would be? You know very well we both didn’t want this.”

“Oh, fuck that!” She stomped her foot. “You should have cancelled it! There are scores of media waiting outside the church yard. They were about to conclude you have stood up your bride on your wedding day.”

“I know. I got nervous all of a sudden—”

“So was I,” she interrupted. “I was afraid to go through this, but I came because I didn’t want to embarrass you. I accepted your proposal because I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of the crowd. Now, you almost made me look like a fool.”

“I’ve come, Zoey. Here I am now. I realized I still want to go through with the wedding. So please, let’s just go.”

She sniffed and blinked her eyes dry. When she spoke again, her voice was calmer. “Are you sure you want this? You have to make a decision now. I don’t want you leaving me at the altar when we exchange vows.”

He sighed. “I’m sure now. Let’s go.”

He walked her to the church door where she waited for her turn to march down the carpeted aisle, while he hurried to the altar to wait for her there.

Bessie and Franki’s daughter, as flower girls, graced the carpet with rose petals. Franki followed them. When it was Zoey’s turn to walk down the aisle, everyone turned their heads to look at her.

There weren’t many people inside the church. Troy wanted this private so he only invited his close relatives and his team mates. As for her, she only invited Franki and her daughter. She didn’t have many friends. She wondered why. But she wasn’t used to being the center of attention. She’d never been anybody until that day Troy hit her along the road.

Her knees turned to jelly. Her injured leg, which was supposed to have been ninety percent healed already, suddenly felt heavy again. She was afraid she’d stumble down, but she continued to move forward, struggling not to limp.

She saw him standing beside the altar. His best man, Kirk, was smiling while staring at her, but the groom didn’t seem interested. His eyes may be fixed in her direction, but he wasn’t seeing her. He was staring at something else in a distant place.

All the while, she thought she looked beautiful. Her stylist had spent almost an hour with her hair and make-up. But he didn’t seem to notice that. He had totally ignored it.

She hooked her hand into the crook of his elbow just the same and he led her closer to the altar. The priest started to speak and everybody kept quiet.

As the ceremony went on, she kept glancing at Troy. He wasn’t moving at all. He just stood there like a statue, with his eyes glued to the floor.

He wasn’t sure. She feared that at any time, he might just walk away. When the priest finally got to the exchange of vows and asked him if he would take her as his wife, she panicked.

He did not answer, even when the priest quietly called his attention.

“Please, don’t do this to me,” she pleaded silently. She took a quick glance at the audience and saw Logan glaring at Troy, as if warning his nephew that he’d kick his butt if he’d say the wrong word.

“I do,” Troy finally said after his long silence, to Zoey and everyone else’s relief. She heard a deep sigh from the audience. But Troy never even looked at her.

When the priest asked her the same question, she promptly replied the same answer. This time, Troy finally looked at her, and then he smiled.

His face looked different now. The uncertainty she just saw earlier had vanished. She wondered what sort of miracle just happened, or what was going on in his mind at that instant.

At the end of the ceremony, the priest permitted the groom to kiss the bride. Troy lifted her veil up and kissed her, without a tiny bit of hesitation.

She kissed him back as the audience applauded. It had been more than a week since the last time they kissed in her doorstep, and every night, she had secretly wished to feel his lips again.

“You're beautiful,” he whispered afterwards as if it was the only time he had noticed her.

She forced herself to smile. That was strange. It was the very first time he’d complimented her looks. “You look great yourself,” she replied.

*****

Troy smiled as he glanced at Zoey, now his wife, who had fallen asleep on her seat. She was exhausted. Her earlier anxiety could have added more to her stress.

They just came from the hotel where they had celebrated their wedding. It was only past eight in the evening, and he was driving back all the way to his house in Springfield, where they would have to stay together for a few days.

His mother had volunteered, or rather insisted, to take care of Bessie while they were on honeymoon. That was just what they thought, though. He and Zoey knew there wouldn’t be a honeymoon. He had made it clear in their agreement that sex would not be a part of it, but if she consented, he wouldn’t let go of the chance.

It was their Bye week. He’d have a lot of spare time to quench his hunger for sex, and it would be great if he’d spend it with her.

It was a long day for him, and a long night before that. He just suddenly got nervous about this wedding, but at the last minute, he had decided to stop being a coward and raced toward the church.

He stood still during the ceremony, hoping that it would be over soon, until he heard her say “I do”.

Her voice sounded like an angel to him that moment. It relieved him of his fears. It soothed his nerves. As he stared at her, something told him he did the right thing.

So he enjoyed the rest of the day dancing with her for hours. He didn’t like it when his team mates smeared icing all over his face though. Even after he had washed, it still felt sticky… until now.

Finally, they made it home, but Zoey was still asleep. He stepped out of the car and scooped her up in his arms. She woke up.

“Good evening, wife,” he teased and entered the door.

She yawned. “I can’t believe I slept all the way here.”

He lowered her on the couch and fixed her dress. She got rid of her wedding gown after the cake slicing part, but she wore another white dress with almost identical bodice, but shorter.

He caught a sight of her cleavage and he quickly pulled his eyes off it. This woman was tired. She couldn’t possibly accommodate his insatiable sexual appetite. Not tonight. He did not like the idea of a quickie either. That was just for amateurs who couldn’t control their orgasm.

“Should I take you to bed?” he asked.

She shook her head and sat upright. “Later.”

“Wine? Champaign?”

“Red wine. If you have.”

“Got it,” he said and headed for the kitchen. There was one bottle of red wine that he had kept in the fridge for a month now.

He returned to her and placed the bottle and two tall glasses on the center table. He poured the wine in the glasses and handed one to her.

They tossed before she took a sip. “It’s quite a day, isn’t it?” she asked.

He nodded. “So do you regret being Mrs. Troy Myers?”

“Oh.” She rubbed her forehead as she rested her head on the top of the couch. “I can’t imagine I am now sharing the name of my most hated player.”

He laughed and sat beside her. “Don’t tell me you still hate me until now.”

“I could have if you had not arrived for the wedding. I could have exposed all your antics as well.”

“That’s another reason why I had decided to come. I knew you could do that.”

Although weak, she laughed. “Well, now that all your plans have been accomplished, what’s next?”

“Hmm.” He thought for a moment. There was one more thing. This would be for his mother who suddenly changed from being an alcoholic to a doting grandma the moment she set her eyes on Bessie. Perhaps if he could give her a grandchild, particularly a boy, she would be even happier. “I’m thinking about having a baby.”

Her eyes widened. He was kidding, right? “Baby? Like adopt?”

“No,” he promptly shook his head. “My own baby, coming from my own sperm, to carry my own genes.”

She shrank backward. She already knew what he meant. “That isn’t a part of the deal.”

“I know,” he smiled at the horror on her face. He had taken her by surprise once again. “But we can make another deal. Besides, we’d be staying together for a year. It would be nice if we can accomplish something.”

“You consider making a baby an accomplishment?”

“That’s what married couples do.”

“Well, we’re not like any regular couples. We can’t make babies.”

He raised his eyebrow and swallowed the content of his glass. “Just let me know if you changed your mind,” he teased and winked at her. “I’ll see to it that I always have some reserves for you.”

She followed his finger pointing at his crotch. She rolled her eyes. “Jack it off with your hand. You won’t put a drop of that in me.”

“You think so?” he dared.

“Don’t try, or I’ll smash them.”

He laughed and laid his glass on the table. He knelt beside her and took his jacket off, and then he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Are you sure you don’t want it?” he taunted.

“Stop that,” he said, turning her head away as he bared his chest.

“I know you want to touch me, Zoey,” he said. “Remember what almost happened in your apartment? If Bessie had not come, you could have spread your legs for me right on the floor.”

She threw the content of her glass in his face. Fortunately, only a drop was left. It hit his lips and he just licked it off, annoying her further.

“You’re unbearable,” she said and stormed away from him. “Dipshit,” she added before climbing up the stairs.

He shrugged. It seemed he had upset her. He used to say those words to his women, but none of them reacted like how she just did.