Under the Autumn Sky

by Liz Talley

  “Or it will make me look like a coach so desperate to sign your brother that I hedged my bets with his sister. Neither of us will look good, especially after we openly admitted contact when we first met at Lake Chicot. People saw us there, and the press will throw suspicion on everything we’ve done to this point. People will remember us talking at the Owls game, they’ll question the reason you visited Beau Soleil. Everything will be under the microscope. We have to prepare for it, so find somebody to help you deflect this.”

  She closed her eyes and then opened them. No more tears. Just regret and perhaps a hint of anger.

  “Deny. No matter what anyone asks, Lou, deny. We aren’t lying. We’ve never had sex, we’re not in an official relationship, and we’ve never done anything knowingly suspect. That’s what you say. The truth.”

  She stepped toward him. One, two, three steps. And finally the fourth. It brought her close enough to kiss. “If everyone’s going to believe it, Abram, why don’t we give them something to talk about?”

  Her voice had dropped, intimate and soft. His body responded, his blood heating, desire flaring. He watched her as she nervously licked her lips—a habit that inflamed.

  “Take me home with you,” she whispered. “If we’ve got to go down, then let’s go down in—” she seemed to search for words “—pleasure.”

  He wanted to take her up on her offer. God, he wanted to. She was so beautiful and she made his heart throb, not to mention another important part of his anatomy. They could do it. Leave here, go to his house, spend all night exploring each other, loving each other. It would be so good. He knew it. She may be a virgin, but his Lou was made for loving him. “Babe, we can’t.”

  “You don’t want me.”

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her beneath the ramp. Deep in the shadows no one could see them. Not even a camera. It was dark, intimate, and he waited only a second for her to crash into him.

  He clasped her face and lowered his lips, capturing her gasp of surprise with his mouth. Wasting no time, he plundered her mouth, sliding his hands down her body and pulling her tight against him.

  She met him full on, opening her mouth, winding her arms around his neck. But he stopped her, grabbing one of her hands and pressing it against the erection throbbing inside his khaki coaching pants.

  He ripped his mouth from hers. “Feel that?”

  Dumbly, she nodded, allowing her hand to curve against him. He nearly exploded at the warmth, the certainty in her grasp.

  “This is even after knowing my coaching career has likely gone down the tubes.” He pulled her hand away. “Don’t ever say I don’t want you, woman, because that would be a lie.”

  She looked up at him, her lips still glistening from their kisses, and he wondered if he were the dumbest ass in the whole world for not tossing her over his shoulder and taking her home. Maybe she was right. If everyone was going to think they’d been naughty, why not make it legit?

  But then he’d have laid his honor out on the field and stomped on it himself.

  Both he and Lou had to look at themselves in the mirror each morning. He had to live with himself. If they were going down, he’d do it the Dufrene way. The honorable way.

  “Go back to the hotel. Let everyone see you there. Act like nothing is wrong. When you get home to Bonnet Creek, go to an attorney or trusted friend, or see if your boss has a suggestion. Issue a statement to the press when they demand one, then go about your normal life. Go to work, take Waylon on his other official visits, and let everyone see this is nothing to you.”

  “But what about you? Will you actually lose your job over a hug?”

  “I’ll handle me.”

  She frowned. “Are you still going to recruit Way? Is this it? Is this all over?”

  “I don’t know. I’m calling Leo when I leave here. We’ll have to see how the allegations bear out. We can’t sweep this under the rug, but we may not get as much play if there is another big sports story to track. Hopefully, we’ll get lucky…for Waylon’s sake.”

  “But what about us?” Her words were soft, floating up to him with plaintive, ill-disguised want.

  “There is no us, remember?”

  Pain flashed across her face, and she looked like he’d kicked her. Yet, he needed to remain stalwart. Couldn’t touch her again or he’d change his mind. It had to be this way. They had to drop everything they’d had between them. Only then would they possibly survive the scandal that would break. Don had followed them for a reason, and he’d been rewarded by a moment that had nothing to do with sex. The whole idea of how this would be misconstrued churned acid in his stomach.

  “So are we talking…” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “Like never?”

  God, he couldn’t imagine never having a chance with Lou, but perhaps they’d never been meant for one another. “For now, there can be no us, Lou. Has to be this way. Not for me. Or you. But for Waylon. For the Panthers’ program.”

  She rubbed a hand over her face, and he could see she struggled for a footing. Maybe because seconds ago she’d been in his arms and now he told her she had to go this alone. He hated himself for doing what he did, but it was best for everyone involved. Even Lou herself. “Right. I have to keep the goal in front of me. Waylon and Lori. College. I’ve got to finish the job.”

  He stepped away from her though every muscle, every nerve, in his body screamed against doing so. His heart felt shattered and it plain hurt to be Abram Dufrene at that moment. “Good. You’ve got goals. Keep those in front of you. We’ll weather this and everything will work out. Trust me.”

  She stepped out from the deep shadow of the ramp. “Sure.”

  For a moment she stood hesitantly. “Go ahead, baby, go back to your hotel. Nothing to hide. Okay?”

  She nodded and crossed her arms against the chill of the night. “Okay.”

  Then he watched her walk away from him, knowing he’d likely not get her back again. Ever.

  “Lou?”

  She turned.

  What could he say to make this better? Nothing. “Take care of yourself.”

  A sort of fierceness traversed her face. Behind her lay the panther habitat and the beautiful black panther pacing the yard. In Lou he saw the same power, the same restraint. “I will. I always have. Goodbye, Abram.”

  “Goodbye, Lou.”

  And then she walked away, gobbled up by the swaying shadows of the oaks. Abram wanted to cry, but, of course, he didn’t. There didn’t seem to be much left inside him. He lifted his eyes heavenward as if God might help him, but he found nothing but a dark sky, glittering with stars, invoking the inky black of the animal still pacing, with a half moon sitting high behind it.

  His world had crashed under a fierce panther sky.

  * * *

  WAYLON WATCHED THE PEOPLE on the dance floor beat the air with rhythmic fists. The music thumped, the DJ had mad skills, the drinks flowed and the girls were smoking hot. What more could a dude want?

  Griffin Tate, a big offensive tackle with a mountain of muscles to balance out his impressive gut, passed him another beer. Waylon had already downed two and was getting close to a tight buzz. He’d have to lay off if he wanted to pass the Lou test.

  “Dude, that’s a nice piece of action right there. Maybe you’ll get you some play tonight, brother.” Griffin nodded toward Riley. She was pretty spectacular so he ignored the thoughts of Morgan that filtered through. He didn’t need a cheater like her, even if she did say Hayden had set her up. She’d gone along with him, hadn’t she? Everyone knew you couldn’t trust someone like Morgan. Look where she came from. Wasn’t her mother sleeping around with a married man? Apples don’t fall far from the tree, and lies came easy to girls like her.

  Riley glanced over at him and smiled. She stood with a group of similarly hot girls—the hostesses for the other recruits. He’d seen about eight or nine of the guys he’d been doing the tour with around the club. The others had gone to a different place. Presently, they were at Rin
go’s, which was right across the train tracks from campus and so close to the river he could smell it on the breeze.

  Riley held his gaze.

  Was she supposed to do this? Flirt with him? Make him think he’s the man so they could reel him in and have him signing on the dotted line?

  Probably.

  But maybe he didn’t care.

  He beckoned her to him with a crook of his finger. If she was supposed to make him feel like a king then why not take advantage? But even as he did it, he knew he was being an ass. Guys didn’t treat girls that way, not even when their hearts had been torn into and spit upon by another girl mere weeks before.

  “You need something?”

  He bit down on a suggestive response as images of Lou and Lori flashed in his head. Riley was somebody’s daughter. Maybe somebody’s sister. He wouldn’t want some random dude treating either of his sisters like property or something. “Not really. You’re a better conversationalist than Griffin. Plus, you make me look good.”

  She lifted her eyebrows. “Now that’s a pretty nice thing to say to a girl.”

  “I’m a pretty nice guy.”

  “Really? You seem all brooding and distant to me. You barely spoke on any of the tours and you kinda had a frowny face. Thought maybe I wasn’t doing a good enough job showing you around.”

  Hmm. He’d never been called brooding. Or distant. Of course, this past year had sucked. Once people had dubbed him a clown. He’d been the most liked camp counselor for his silly antics. Why had he changed? “Lots on my mind I guess.”

  “Like this recruiting stuff?” She slid onto a stool at the table where he sat.

  “Sure, the recruiting is harder than I thought. Coaches calling at all hours, and now I have all these official visits lined up through the middle of January. And my girlfriend and I just split.” He didn’t know why he told Riley this. He didn’t even know her.

  “My brother was recruited pretty hard, and I remember how difficult it was on him to choose between two schools. One was ULBR.”

  “Did he come here?”

  “Nope. Went to Florida. At first we were all devastated because my whole family cheers for ULBR. My daddy, well, it broke his heart. But Josh knew what was right for him, and though he’d always liked ULBR, Florida’s schemes and the coaches seemed a better fit. He did awesome there though it nearly killed my daddy to put on a Gator shirt.” Riley smiled and at that moment he understood why she worked as a hostess. She was genuine, knew football and loved her school. And it didn’t hurt she was hot.

  “Wait, you’re Josh Hamill’s sister?”

  She laughed. “Yeah.”

  “He’s with Green Bay?”

  “Backing up, but working hard to stay there.”

  “Cool,” he said, his gaze straying to her tight T-shirt. A necklace with a small strawberry pendant hung between her full breasts. It turned him on the way it nestled right in that little valley.

  “Hey, you know I’m not gonna hook up with you, don’t you?”

  He jerked his head up. Humor shone in the depths of her eyes. “Uh, yeah. I mean, I didn’t figure you would.”

  “Not trying to embarrass you, but you were staring at my boobs pretty hard. We don’t do that here,” Riley said, averting her gaze to the dance floor.

  He tried not to blush, but felt the heat flood his cheeks. “Jeez, you’re blunt. And why wouldn’t I stare? I’m a dude.”

  She looked back at him and smiled. “Sorry. It’s just I have two other brothers beside Josh. One is the punter for the Panthers. He’s over there hanging with a few other guys.” She pointed across the bar.

  He turned his head and found Jason Hamill staring at him with a frown. “He knows I’m not touching you, right?”

  Riley rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t decide who I date or hook up with. None of his business. But this is my job, you know. I don’t usually go when the team takes the recruits out. I mean, you’re cute and all, but I don’t want to be kicked out of the ambassador program. Plus, you’re too young for me anyway. I’m twenty.”

  “I like cougars.” He realized he didn’t mind not getting any action. He also realized Griffin had set him up. The dude knew she was Jason’s sister, knew the rules and knew there would be no scoring for Waylon tonight. “It’s fine. I’m just flirting with you. Getting my feet wet again.”

  “Well, maybe I’ll let you give me a little good-night kiss later, you know, since you just lost your girlfriend.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled.

  “If you’re lucky.”

  Riley laughed and placed a hand on his arm. “Let’s dance, prospect.”

  He allowed Riley to pull him toward the floor, mostly because he wanted to watch her dance. As he passed the bar, he saw Griffin laughing and punching another offensive lineman on the arm, and it struck Waylon that he really liked being here in Baton Rouge. All the schools had pretty much the same facilities and the same primo coaching staff, so no matter which school he chose—Texas, Alabama or Clemson—he’d get the same chances as he would at ULBR. So it came down to a feeling. Something that nudged him toward the right place for him.

  And tonight he was feeling it for ULBR.

  It would be the best choice. He’d be close to home. Get a good education. Play on a team contending for a BCS championship every year. And there were sweet, hot Louisiana girls like Riley around every corner.

  As he watched Riley sway and move to the beat, he decided he definitely wanted to be an ULBR Panther.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  One month later

  LOU HADN’T UNDERSTOOD the scope of what would happen when Don Verdun unleashed his incriminating video. He’d sent it to a local television station and called a local journalist and given his story replete with rumors about the night at Rendezvous, Lou’s relationship with the entire Dufrene family and the reason he knew something had been going on—his son hadn’t received an offer and Waylon had.

  And the backlash was bad.

  As in she could barely get though the day without some reporter or, heaven help her, a sports blogger, calling her house or dropping by the job site. And this was after almost a month of constant abuse at the hands of the media.

  Her foreman, Manuel, waved her down as she walked toward her mover on the site they were preparing for yet another bank. “Yo, Lou, got another one of these reporters. You wanna talk to him?”

  “No,” she yelled across the freshly churned red dirt she’d been working for the past half hour.

  Manuel looked back at the pale man punching something into his smartphone. “Hit the road. She don’t want to talk.”

  The man started forward. “Ms. Boyd, you should talk to someone. At least explain your side!”

  Manuel clamped a hand on the guy’s shoulder. “She said she ain’t talking, hombre. Now take your ass back to your rental car and get the hell outta my site.”

  “Have you had contact with Coach Dufrene? Is Waylon still a recruit for the Panthers?”

  “You brought this on yourself.” Manuel grabbed the man by his polo collar and dragged him from the site.

  “Hey, hey! Get your hands off me!” the man shrieked. “I’m just doing my job.”

  Manuel released his hold and loomed over him. “Do it off my job site. Lou has nothing to say to you.”

  “Fine.” The man straightened his collar and cast a hateful look toward her. “But you’re not helping yourself, Louise Boyd. Everyone thinks you’re nothing but a—”

  “Don’t say it,” Manuel growled.

  The man clamped his mouth shut and headed toward his economy car.

  Lou released the breath she held, waved her thanks to the foreman, and climbed into the cab of her mover. She slid on her leather gloves and fired the engine, finding comfort in the vibration beneath her. She refused to give in to the anger. To the tears.

  She should have felt comforted. Her true friends had rallied around her. All the guys who worked with her had chased away the creeps and
lookyloos. Tom Forcet had found an attorney to help her fight the rumors. And Mary Belle and the girls had brought food over like it was a damn funeral again.

  And in some ways it was. A funeral for her heart.

  She hadn’t wanted to love Abram, but she’d not had a choice in the matter. Walking away from him that night nearly a month ago had been so hard, but facing her friends and family with the allegations that she’d gained a foothold by sleeping with Waylon’s recruiter had been harder, even though she knew they’d stand by her.

  But she’d not expected the reaction Waylon had given her—and it had hurt.

  It still hurt.

  When her brother had gotten back to the hotel room the night Don had filmed her and Abram, Waylon had not bothered being quiet coming into the room, in true male fashion. Hadn’t mattered. Wasn’t like she was sleeping anyway. He’d snapped on the bathroom light and she’d made the decision to do exactly what Abram had said. Tell the truth.

  “Hey,” she called as he knocked something on the tiled floor.

  He poked his head out. “Oh, you’re still up.”

  She pushed a hand through her hair. “Couldn’t sleep.”

  He rattled around in the bathroom, before coming out in his boxers and an old zydeco festival T-shirt. “The game was awesome, huh?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded, trying to decide how to tell her brother about Abram and the caught-on-tape incident. She remained silent for a moment. “So what do you think?”

  “About what?” He sank onto the double bed opposite her and plumped up a few pillows. The light from the bathroom door cast a beam through the room. Waylon always slept with a light on. Had since he was a little boy.

  “About ULBR. It’s your first official visit. Wondered what you thought.”

  He shrugged and settled back into the bed. “I didn’t think anything. I know what ULBR is about. It’s not like I haven’t been to a game before or walked around campus. We come here every year for camps and stuff.”

  She slid back so her back hit the faux-wood headboard affixed to the wall. “But you’re seeing it as a recruit now. That’s different.”