by Lucy Snow
After wishing my father a good night and getting a loud grunt in return, I picked up my all black clutch, dropped some necessary things into it, and headed back out to my car.
As I drove to meet Steve, it wasn’t him I was thinking about. It was Hudson Asher from earlier in the day. And this wasn’t one of the usual times I thought about Hud, despite my pulse quickening and me feeling a sudden lightheadedness at the thought of him touching me.
No, this was about the way his broad shoulders had drooped ever so slightly earlier today on the field when I had mentioned I had a date for the party.
I didn’t know why Hud would care. He and I had never had more than a polite conversation about the team in a social setting. Professionally, of course, he was on the team I helped manage, and he was also the popularly elected player representative, attending some front office meetings and making sure the players’ interests were kept in mind.
So why did Hud care if I had a date to the party tonight? And why did him caring make me feel so funny?
Ugh. I hated how awkward I was.
CHAPTER 02 - HUDSON
The only thing more fun than playing in an actual professional football game was practicing for a professional football game. Yeah, I know, that sounded totally strange, and if I had said that out loud almost every one of my teammates would look at me like I had just sprouted a second head, but it was true.
Lance Parker, though, he’d agree with me, which is why we were best friends.
Practice was where you got your head on straight. It’s where you and your teammates took all the lessons you had learned earlier in the week from scouting reports and watching and breaking down film in meetings, and learned the game plan the coaches had decided you needed to learn in order to come away with the victory in the next game.
More specifically, practice was when you got to go out and hit your teammates. Not to hurt them, of course, not maliciously, but just for fun. Love taps from all directions. Pretend football was almost as good as real football, because if you were playing pretend football, that meant real football was right around the corner.
So, yeah, I loved practice. Practice let me focus; practice let me build up for the real thing.
As much as I loved practice, though, I loved the moments after practice, the weariness that came as I walked to the locker room, the sun shining down on my back, the sweat running down through my pads and jersey, the feeling of accomplishment replacing the energy I had had before.
Sitting down in front of my locker and taking deep, long breaths, the breaths that made my entire body rise up a little straighter, before I exhaled and slumped over, leaning against the divider. In those moments nothing could wipe the smile off my face.
“Man, you always have that grin on your face after practice,” someone called out to me. I opened my eyes and looked over, but I knew who it was.
“Even bigger this time, Drake.” I twirled the ball I’d brought in from the field in my hands, tossing it from one to the other while smiling at Drake. “I think this used to belong to you.”
“Nah, man,” Drake laughed back at me, pointing to my right. “That one’s Lance’s. I got all mine in a special case, they don’t ever get out.” He held up his giant hands, his receivers’ gloves still on, opening and closing them for emphasis.
I looked over to my right, at Lance sitting in front of his own locker, his eyes closed, his face pointing downward. Lance didn’t look up or even open his eyes. “Don’t involve me in this,” he said wearily. “This is between you two.”
That was just the opening I needed. “Actually, I think you’ll agree, dear Lance,” I heard Drake snicker as I said that last part, “that it was I who was between you,” I pointed to Lance, “and you,” I reached my thumb backward to indicate Drake.
Lance sighed. “Semantics, my worst enemy.”
I snorted. “Your worst enemy is linebackers who know your tricks.”
That got a smile of him, and Lance turned his head, still holding it in his hands, to face me. “Good thing there’s only one of those, and he’s on my team.”
“Yeah, you really lucked out on that front.”
“And I thank my lucky stars every day for it.”
“I’ll bet you do.” I leaned back and relaxed again, reaching inward and enjoying the rush of my muscles slowly loosening after a couple hours of strenuous work out on the field.
When I opened my eyes again, Lance was already in street clothes, packing things into a bag. “You in a hurry?”
Lance smiled at me, but didn’t stop packing. “Yeah, man, you know it. Hot date.”
I winked at him. “What’s her name this time? Penny?”
“Shut up.”
“Rachel?”
“Dude, come on.”
“Wait, wait, let me guess. I’m so close, I know it, give me one more chance.” I looked pleadingly at Lance, and he shot daggers at me for a few seconds before he finally nodded. “Is it…Charlotte?”
“You know it’s Charlotte, man.”
Drake piped up. “Dude can’t talk about anyone else. We get it, man, no need to wave at her from the fucking huddle.” Lance and I looked over at Drake, but we both knew he was kidding around.
Lance stuck out a finger at Drake. “Don’t you fucking talk, man, the entire regular season all we hear out of you is ‘Lily this’ and ‘Lily that.’ I’m just giving you back what you’ve been doing all fucking year.”
Drake didn’t even flinch. “Yeah, man, I was totally like that.” His face broke out into a smile that went from ear to ear. “And I’m not even sorry,” he said, laughing.
I waved him off, shaking my head at Drake and Lance together. “Both of you are disgusting.”
Lance smiled. “You’re just jealous, man, it’s OK, we both understand.”
“I am not jealous!”
Lance held up his hands, and by now Drake was standing next to him, copying him and making no attempt to hide it. “It’s OK, Hud, it’s OK. We understand! It’s tough to get a woman to spend more than a couple nights with you, let alone date you for real.”
I threw my towels at them, and as I expected, they dodged out of the way. “Fuck you guys, the both of you.”
Lance finished packing up and slid his backpack onto his shoulders. He looked at Drake and I. “You guys both gonna be at the thing tonight?”
“Yes, sir!” Drake actually saluted. Fucking rookies. “Lily and I wouldn’t miss it.”
I waved at Lance. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Charlotte coming too?” I knew the answer already. When Lance wasn’t on the field or hanging out with me, he was with Charlotte. And I had a hunch that these days even when we were hanging out he was still thinking about Charlotte.
New romance had a way of doing a number on even the most stalwart of men, I had recently learned.
The twinkle in Lance’s eyes jumped out at me. “Oh yeah, she’ll be there.” He pointed at me. “You bringing anyone?”
“Not this time.” I didn’t want to get into it, and I guess both Drake and Lance got my drift, because they let the manner drop. We said our goodbyes and I relaxed back in my locker for a few minutes, waiting for everyone else to clear out before I showered and got dressed.
I certainly wasn’t shy, nor did I have any reason to be. Once in a while, though, I just would rather walk through an empty locker room and enjoy the silence as I cleaned myself off. Normally I’d go nice and slow, but today I had to get home so I could get ready and make it to the party in time.
After I had showered and put on my street clothes, I waved to the locker room attendants and left the facility, dropping my backpack into my motorcycle’s saddlebags and starting for home.
The roads were still pretty clear despite people rushing to get home, and I made it home with plenty of time to spare. I loved riding around New England on the back of a bike. I wasn’t from the cold - I was a California kid, born and raised, but 10 years living in the frozen wastes up here had worked its magic on me, and
when the season ended I usually gathered up my camping gear and found a nice mountain range to hike all over, just to disconnect from the season, however it had gone, and from the rest of the world.
More and more I was finding that I needed that kind of disconnect, that without it I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.
I parked my bike in the garage of my apartment building and took my stuff inside. I could have afforded something much, much bigger, but I had never been the kind of man who liked to accumulate too many toys. For me, the most important thing was experiencing new things, and sharing those experiences with the right people.
I quickly showered and dressed, putting on my best charcoal suit and tie. When a man was my size, suits all had to be custom and they were not cheap. Sometimes it felt like most of my pro football salary went toward paying to be able to live relatively normally while being a giant.
While I got ready I thought about Lance and Drake. Both of them had met girls in the last few months, and while I hadn’t known Drake before, I had heard stories about his life before Lily came into it, and I knew that if even a quarter of those stories about him were true, he was much, much better off now than then.
And Lance, well, Lance had always been a monk before he met Charlotte. I’d never seen him so energetic, though I didn’t know how much of that was the thought of playing in his very first playoffs, especially after the rough season he had had with his early injury and having to watch while backup quarterback Oliver Lee took over for a few weeks. If you heard Lance tell the story, though, and trust me, I had heard it over and over already, his injury was the best thing that ever happened to him, because it brought him closer to Charlotte.
I dunno if I’d go that far, but I had to admit I was thrilled for my boy, and I wasn’t even jealous that he and I weren’t spending as much time together.
It gave me more time for…whatever else it was I did, which, these days, with all the hoopla surrounding the playoffs, wasn’t much. My own dating life wasn’t anything special - I didn’t have anyone special these days. I certainly attracted women left and right, but I’d never met anyone who rocked my world.
I didn’t think about it too much - I had enough else going on with football and all the charitable work I did, coupled with staying in shape and spending time with my teammates.
Once I was ready to get my party on, I went outside, got back on the hog, and rode out to the hall. It was a big and boisterous affair, music drifting in from everywhere, and flashing lights getting right up in your face.
The theme was Casino night, and everyone was encouraged to bring large bills with them. All of the winnings would go to fund pediatric cancer research, and there was going to be a silent auction with all sorts of prizes donated by the Patriots and local businesses affiliated with the team.
I came into the brightly lit hall through roman arches done gaudily in gold, and I knew this was gonna be a fun night. Sticks in the mud like Lance Parker might rather spend the night with his face buried in a playbook, but we were here to have some fun and help some kids out - what could be better? And in a few days, we’d go out and show the Chiefs who the real chiefs around here were.
The first thing I did was locate the different bars, so I always had a good place to either post up, or escape to if a conversation got too boring. Nothing like planning ahead.
As I looked around the room, she caught my eye. I could only see her from the back, and I didn’t know who it was at first, but whoever she was, she was the only woman in the room.
Not literally, of course; there were hundreds of women already in the room. But she might as well have been the only one. Her dress was dark blue satin, and as she turned slightly, while I couldn’t see her face, I could make out the curves of her body and without willing it, I found myself licking my lips in anticipation.
Fuck, she looked tasty as hell. Whoever that girl was, I had to meet her. Lance and Drake could have Charlotte and Lily, this girl was mine.
And then she turned around, her brown hair moving around to catch up with her as if in slow motion. She looked me right in the eyes, and time and motion stopped in that moment.
My eyes widened.
Oh shit.
Mackenzie Mayfield.
I should have known it would be her.
As our eyes locked together and time resumed, Mack noticed me and waved, smiling at me so wide that my breath caught in my throat. She was beautiful, I’d known that from the second I had laid eyes on her years ago, but this time she was on another level of beautiful.
She wasn’t just stopping traffic, she could stop air traffic, holding planes in the sky till she personally approved of their landing.
I was mesmerized. She lingered on me for a few seconds, and I don’t know if she noticed just how discombobulated I must have looked, because she turned away and raised her champagne glass to her lips while talking to the man next to her, blond guy with blue eyes who just screamed finance guy.
That must have been the famous Steve I had heard nothing about till this afternoon.
That run-in with Mack after practice had been both the best and worst part of my day so far.
I wanted to go over there and talk to her, but I knew at the same time that I really did not want to meet her date. Steve could have been the nicest guy in the world, but I knew myself - I would find a way to start some shit with him, and that wasn’t fair to Mack.
“Hud!” I heard my name called from behind me and I shook my head, trying to dispel thoughts of Mack from my mind, but knowing she’d come roaring back to the front as soon as I picked her up in my peripheral vision again. I turned around and saw Drake and Lily standing there, arm in arm, just after they had arrived.
Drake looked dapper and trim in his navy suit, and Lily wore a matching navy dress that made her look even more beautiful than she normally did. “Drake! Lily! You made it!”
They stepped toward me, and I cocked my head toward the nearest bar. Drake nodded and we walked there together, passing a bunch of players and their wives or girlfriends, and some coaches too. Of course, Patriots players and employees weren’t the only people in attendance, but the rest of the patrons all gathered together, as if they were scared to mix with the players.
“Where else would we be?” Drake said.
“It’s the only place in town tonight,” Lily added, in that way she did. I went back and forth between it being really awesome and totally irritating that they had started finishing and adding to each other’s sentences. Like they were quickly becoming one instead of two distinct people. I felt a twinge of regret, like I was jealous that I hadn’t found someone like that yet.
Drake punched me on the shoulder, bringing me back to Earth. “You all here, man?”
“Wha-? Yeah, I’m good, just something crossed my mind.” I clapped my hands together like we did in the huddle during games to show we understood the play and were ready to go, then I looked around the room. More people were starting to show up, everyone dressed to the nines.
We got to the bar and stopped, a few spots from the front of the line. I grinned. Charity events were some of the best places to keep a steady flow of drinks coming. So many stuffy society types milling around, all trying to convince each other they were somehow more regal and richer than everyone else.
At least it was for a good cause - that was the only reason I came to these things. I would rather spend my dwindling free time doing more direct and hands on volunteering stuff, but even I couldn’t deny that charitable organizations most of the time needed money more than they needed volunteers, and evenings like this had a way of getting rich people to reach deep into their pockets for big checks.
