Completing the Pass Read online

  “Didn’t . . . Didn’t . . . Di . . .” He ended the stuttering on a low moan and nearly pitched forward. The coach’s hands pushed at his shoulders until he was upright. Then, seeing the look on Josh’s face, Barnes took a big step back. Clearly, he looked exactly how he felt . . . as if he was about to vomit.

  “He’s faster at the L-drill than I was last year,” Trey said mildly, walking over with only a slight hitch. In the last three weeks at training camp, his ankle had gone from a thick Aircast to just a supportive wrap. To everyone’s naked eye, it looked like he was on the mend, ready for business as usual come game one. But every so often, Josh caught the wince as Trey would step back to work on a pass. And the team’s physical therapist was always nearby, hovering, as if they weren’t willing to let him out of their sight. It wasn’t a good sign.

  “He needs to get faster,” Barnes barked out. “His arm isn’t what yours is, with accuracy or distance. If he’s going to keep up with the big dogs, he’ll have to outrun them to give himself a better chance to hit a target or just do the job himself.”

  “Or you could just let him be and hope he does all right.” Trey shrugged when Barnes gave him an Are you on drugs? look. “He’s done just fine anytime he’s gone in before.”

  “He is standing right here,” Josh said, then clamped his mouth shut before he accidentally puked on one of them.

  “Uh, I’m just gonna . . .” Michael stood, looking supremely uncomfortable, then pointed in the general direction of the corner of the practice field. Where nobody else was. “I’ll just . . . Over there. So . . . yeah.” He took off without waiting for a reply.

  “If you keep pushing, you’ll give him a complex. Then how useful will he be to you?” Trey shot at Coach Barnes. A few receivers down on the opposite end of the field looked up, and Trey flushed, realizing he’d yelled the last bit.

  “I’m fine,” Josh muttered. He didn’t want Trey fighting his battles. If the coaches wanted him to run a fucking Iron Man before the game, he’d do it. He’d just have to get faster. Stronger. Somehow.

  Coach Barnes just shook his head. “Go shower. Bring your A game tomorrow,” he added in warning to Josh before leaving the area.

  “Let’s go this way.” Trey wrapped an arm around Josh’s shoulder and walked as if they were just two pals heading out to the bar for a drink. But Josh could tell he was using the awkward stance to mask the small limp as they walked by a few reporters on the way to the locker room. Trey waved, but then shook his head at their invitation to talk.

  “How are you handling the extra notice?” Trey asked.

  “They camped out at my apartment for a while, but after someone from a floor which shall remain nameless threw water balloons at them . . . they’ve stopped.” Josh smiled at the memory, and the innocent look Matt Peterson had been wearing for the following practice. “I ended up stopping to talk once, gave the party line for the most part, and they’ve moved on. It helped that the one guy from the Lakers was caught with the prostitute in his car the other day.”

  “Best way to clear a scandal,” Trey said dryly as they entered the tunnel to the locker room, “is make another scandal. Let me know if you need help with figuring out how to avoid them. It’ll get tighter as the season approaches, and then they back off a bit until playoffs.”

  “Good to know.” He was already sick of feeling like he had to dodge and weave when he made it to his apartment. They couldn’t come in—and none of them were stupid enough to try—but the apartment security could do very little to keep the vultures from camping out on the sidewalk of the public street in front.

  Trey pushed the door open, let Josh go in first, and followed behind. Josh walked with him to their lockers, which sat side by side.

  He hung his head and draped a towel over it, almost like closing the shade on a room’s window. Blocking out the brightness of the locker room, muffling the sounds. Creating a fraction of peace in a crazy environment.

  Until Trey ripped the towel off and tossed it into Josh’s locker. “Cut that shit out. You look like the definition of the word defeat when you do that. You’re the quarterback. You’re the guy they follow into battle.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” The whole Be a leader bit was getting old, fast. “Look, it’s different for me. I’m a sub. I’m temporary. I’m nothing to worry about. I don’t get the pressure.”

  Trey opened his mouth, then shut it again and settled back in his chair. “Why don’t you come to dinner tonight?”

  The abrupt change of topic threw him for a minute. “Dinner?”

  “Yeah, people sit down, they talk and eat . . . food and company. Come over to our place and . . . Our place.” He froze for a second, then a big grin spread over the quarterback’s face. “Ours. Feels so much more permanent now that she’s leg shackled to me.”

  “Sounds medieval.”

  “Sounds good,” Trey said simply. “You dating anyone? I just realized I don’t know much about you. I’m an asshole.”

  “It’s fine,” Josh rushed to assure him. “You already had friends when I got here and—”

  “No, that’s on me. I should have made a bigger effort to get to know you when you first joined the team. Some captain.” Trey shook his head. “If you’ve got someone you’re with, bring them, too. Cassie loves having people over.”

  Dinner with all-star quarterback Trey Owens and his wife, who also happened to be Coach Jordan’s daughter. Just a typical weeknight. Yeah, sure. Josh smiled weakly. “Sounds great.”

  ***

  Carri stood by the door, ready to make her escape the second she saw Josh’s car pull into the driveway.

  “Carrington?” Maeve walked by, blinking. “What are you doing?”

  “You said you had Dad tonight. I thought I’d go out.” She clutched at her leather bag, silently begging her mother not to ask anything else.

  Of course, she did anyway.

  “With who? Are you driving? Do you need my car?” Her mother started patting her pockets, as if looking for the keys that were routinely hung on the hook by the door to the garage, like they always had been since Carri was born.

  “I’m not driving, but thank you for offering.” She saw the glint of metal turning into the driveway and opened the front door. “I’ll be home early, but call if you need me.”

  “Well, okay, but . . .” Maeve approached and peeked out the side window. “Oh, that’s Joshua! Why wouldn’t he come in?”

  “We’re running late,” Carri tried, but Maeve already stuck her head out the door.

  “Yoo-hoo! Joshua! Come on in!”

  Carri shut her eyes briefly, counted to three, and let her breath out slowly. “Mom, really, we’re in a hurry.”

  “No, we’re not.” Josh walked up the sidewalk and grinned at them. “Hey, Mrs. Gray. You’re looking good.”

  “Joshua,” Maeve greeted him, turning her cheek for a kiss. “I didn’t know you two were going out tonight. Carri, you should have said.”

  “I didn’t think it mattered who I went out with,” she said through her teeth, but nobody was listening.

  “Is that Josh I hear?” her father called from the living room.

  “Yes, sir,” he said, walking past Carri, even as she tried to grab his elbow. “Hey.” He stopped, held her shoulders and squeezed gently. “We’ve got time. It’s fine.”

  Her arms still tingled from his touch after he let go and headed into the living room to say hello to her father.

  “That young man,” Maeve said with something of a dreamy sigh. “I’m so glad you two are reconnecting. It’s wonderful to watch.”

  This had to stop now. She couldn’t lead her mother on. Not like that. “Mom, we’re just spending time together. Nothing more. Don’t get your hopes up.”

  “Mmm,” was her mother’s reply, humming softly as she walked back into the kitchen. “Go see if they want
a drink, Carrington.”

  Shaking her head, she walked back into the living room and found her father and Josh sitting together on the couch, heads close together. Whatever they were talking about, it had to be riveting because neither looked up as she approached.

  “Women are complex,” Herb said, and Josh nodded in agreement. “But when you can get them in bed, they’re only more complex. See, sex simplifies things for a man. For women, it just makes them insane.”

  “Dad!” she said, shocked. “What the hell . . . heck are you two talking about?”

  Josh grinned at her. “Your dad’s giving me the Talk.”

  The tips of Carri’s ears burned. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Someone has to tell the boy about the birds and the bees,” Herb said, shuffling his feet in his house shoes a little while he leaned back in his seat. “If he’s going to be taking my daughter out—”

  “And that’s the end of that.” Carri reached out and grabbed Josh’s forearm, pulling as hard as she could. He let her pull him off the couch. “Have a good dinner, Dad. I’ll be back later.”

  “Remember what I told you about condoms!” Herb called out after them as Carri dragged Josh from her house.

  The moment they landed on the sidewalk, Josh burst into laughter. His shoulders shook with it and he doubled over, butt resting against the brick column leading up the walkway. “Oh . . . my . . . God,” he said in gasping breaths between laughs.

  “This is absolutely not funny.” Carri crossed her arms and glared. But his laughter was contagious and she felt her traitorous lips start to curve. “No, not funny at all.”

  “Yeah, it was. I thought . . . Oh man.” Josh straightened and held a hand to his side. “I thought your head was going to spin right off your shoulders.”

  “He was giving you the sex talk,” she hissed, falling into step with him as he walked toward his car.

  “And you cut him off. It was just getting to the good stuff. Now how will I ever know how to please a woman?” With a wink, he walked to the passenger door and held it open for her.

  “Ugh,” she moaned, and slid inside.

  ***

  Josh pulled up to the two-story home and parked in the driveway. Beside him, Carri leaned forward and stared up.

  “This is it?”

  “Were you expecting a castle?” he teased, but knew what she meant. For someone with Trey Owens’s implied wealth—one didn’t just become a franchise star like him without making serious bucks to go with it—the house was surprisingly . . . normal. The neighborhood was on the high side of middle class, but not gated and not segregated from the rest of the population. No security guards, nothing that screamed, “Millionaire Lives Here.”

  “Huh,” Carri said, and got out of the car. “Shit!”

  “What?” Josh spun around and dashed over to her side of the car. “What’s wrong?”

  “We forgot a hostess gift.” Carri grimaced and held out her empty hands before reaching in for her purse. “I’m a dunce. I should have brought something.”

  “I brought a bottle of wine,” Josh said, forcing his body to relax. “And don’t scare a guy like that. Jesus, Carri.”

  When he pulled the bottle from the backseat, Carri took it from his hands and read the label. Then she handed it back and patted his cheek. “Good pick. You’ve matured from that nasty hard cider you used to drink in high school.”

  “That was all we could get our hands on.” He followed her up the walkway and waited while she rang the bell. A few moments later, Cassandra Wainwright-Owens opened the door with a huge smile on her face.

  “Hey! Welcome! I’m Cassie,” she added for the benefit of Carri. Cassie stood back and let them in. Josh noticed she was barefoot beneath her jeans and a graphic T-shirt that proclaimed, OH, SHIFT! written on a keyboard. Closing the door behind them, she led them toward the kitchen. “Trey’s grilling. It’s, literally, the only thing the two of us can cook without ruining. I hope you’re okay with that.”

  “Grilled is fine,” Carri said, looking around the kitchen. “I’m Carri, by the way. Nice house.”

  “It’s small, right?” Cassie laughed when Carri flushed. “I know. I thought the same thing. He owned the house before I got here. Truthfully, it’s perfect for us. After spending some time in my father’s house . . .” She shuddered just a little, and Josh wondered what that was in reference to. “Large houses are just not for us. Oh, hey, wine.” Reaching for the bottle, she liberated it from Josh’s grasp. “Awesome. Why don’t you head on back and hang out with Trey doing the manly thing where you grunt at the grill while Carri and I do sides?”

  “I can tell when I’m not wanted.” He held up his hands and headed for the patio, easily spotted through the sliding glass door. Just before he stepped out, he looked over his shoulder at Carri. She was watching him with a little panicked look in her eyes. He hesitated, even took a step back. But she straightened her shoulders, shook her head a little and mouthed, Go.

  She’d power through, even though she was intimidated by the company and the situation.

  Atta girl.

  Waiting until the door snicked closed behind him, he greeted Trey. “Hope you’re not burning my food for taking your starting spot.”

  Trey laughed as he used tongs to turn a piece of meat. “I’d never be that obvious. Years of playing have taught me some much more subtle, dastardly ways of playing pranks on a man. The locker room is never safe, my friend.”

  “No kidding,” Josh said, coming to stand beside Trey at the grill. They both stared down at the meat in silence for a minute until Josh thought back to Cassie’s words of wisdom about how men acted with a grill. Then he chuckled. “Your wife seems to think grilling is a man’s sport.”

  “My wife has a big mouth.” Trey hung the tongs on the side of the grill and motioned toward the picnic table on the deck. “They’re good for a bit. Let’s sit. Who’d you bring?”

  “Friend from the early days. She’s in town for a bit, so . . .” He shrugged. They might be going along with the dating thing for her father’s benefit, but he wouldn’t lie to a teammate. “She’s staying with her family right now. There are health issues with her dad—well, you met him at training camp, so you know what I mean. It’s tense. I thought she could use the break.”

  “Good deal. Good friends who ground you are the only way to make it in this business.” Looking inside, Trey seemed to get lost for a minute. “Did I ever tell you how Cassie and I met?”

  “No,” Josh said slowly, wondering about the segue. “Not that I can remember.” He knew there was some drama there—everyone knew when the story broke that the coach’s illegitimate daughter was dating the team’s quarterback—but how they met was still a mystery.

  “She had no clue who I was.”

  Josh snorted, but Trey smiled and shook his head.

  “Seriously. We met in some dark club, and she’s not even remotely a football fan. Or she wasn’t. I’m bringing her over to the dark side.”

  “The light side,” Josh corrected.

  “True. So.” Trey took a pull from a bottle of water he had sitting on the table. “We met, and we had one night. Neither of us knew who the other really was. This was before she was introduced to the team. Before she’d even met her father.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yup.” Trey nodded in acknowledgement of the craziness. “The odds were insane, but we found each other, formed that bond before any of the noise of our careers, our family, our connections got in the way. I really think that connection was what kept us from losing our shit along the way. The reminder that we chose each other first, in a dark nightclub, without even knowing each other’s last names—just how we liked our pancakes.”

  Pancakes? Josh ignored that and asked, “Once you figured it out, did you laugh?”

  Trey huffed out a laugh. “Hardly. Th
ere was no laughing about that not-so-happy coincidence . . . at least not back then. It caused some issues, which we have mostly worked out now. But there’s a point to the story.”

  Josh didn’t think all stories needed a point, but he was interested all the same. “Yeah?”

  “She’s the one person who will always call my shit. She’s the one who will tell me if I sounded like an ass, or just if I’ve got spinach in my teeth. She’s my sanity keeper.”

  “You’re telling me to find a girlfriend to keep my sanity,” Josh guessed.

  “Doesn’t have to be a woman. Before her, teammates helped. Stephen and Josiah, my closest friends, were there. But there’s something about a person not connected to this world—at least on the field—that keeps you level.”

  Josh thought about Tony and Derrick, and how much they loved him but weren’t able to quite hide their excitement at his job, at wanting him to play more.

  “Yeah, I got ya. I’m getting . . . pressure.”

  “I’d be shocked if you weren’t. Sorry, but that’s just a way of life for now.” Trey looked worried for a second, glancing over his backyard, then lifted one shoulder for a moment. “I’m doing what I can to get back out there, but the pressure isn’t gonna end anytime soon. Sorry.”

  “Not your fault. Heal up.”

  “Amen, brother.” Trey stood. “Let’s finish the meat so we can go barge in on the ladies.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “I’ve never been to Utah. Is it nice?”

  Carri sat, watching the wife of an NFL god and the daughter of the god’s coach toss a salad. It was surreal. “Uh, yeah. I mean, I don’t hate it, so there’s that. It’s just . . . Utah.”

  Cassie laughed a little and reached for a pepper. “Are you and Josh okay with some of this in here?”

  Josh hated red peppers. “Yup. That would be great, thanks.”

  Cassie started chopping. “It’s almost embarrassing to do this in front of someone else. I go so slowly.”

  “Please. At least you’re cooking. My best meal of the day is the one I get from the Taco Bell drive-thru.” At Cassie’s quick glance, Carri smiled sadly and nodded. “I’m afraid it’s true. Josh gives me hell about it all the time, but it’s an addiction.”