The Hard Way: a Sports Romance

by Katie Ashley

  I glanced up at the newly improved bouquet that now overflowed with red and yellow roses. “Really nice.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad you like it.” While I guessed it was nice having the woman’s stamp of approval, I really only cared if Avery would like it. Jesus, what had happened to me? I was not the kind of guy that gave two shits about fruity shit like flowers. I sure as hell had never given a girl any, unless you counted the corsages my mother’s personal assistant ordered for formal dances. Yet there I was in broad daylight acting like a pussy over a bouquet for Avery. I seriously needed my man card revoked.

  After paying, I grabbed the bouquet and started off grumpily. The lady called out, “Good luck with the girl!”

  “Whatever,” I mumbled.

  Although Avery had told me Thanksgiving was a mad house, it didn’t quite prepare me for all the cars lining the driveway. I was beginning to wonder how the hell we would have enough food with all these people, let alone fit them in the farmhouse. After grabbing the bouquet, I started up the walkway and onto the porch.

  When I reached to open the door to knock, it flew it open and I jumped in surprise.

  A red-faced and beautiful Avery greeted me with a smile. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.

  “Hi.”

  She wore her long, dark hair down instead of in its usual ponytail. The sides were pulled back with those barrette thingies. Although I fully expected her to be decked out in some sorta hokey harvest outfit, she wore a simple burgundy colored dress with sexy knee-high black boots.

  Damn, she was so beautiful. It felt like I was really seeing her for the first time, even though we’d spent countless days, hours, and minutes together.

  Avery gave me a small smile. “Sorry if I startled you. I saw you drive up and I decided to come out to meet you.”

  “Are you stalking me?” I teased.

  She laughed as she motioned me inside the house. “Sort of. I’d been keeping a look out so you wouldn’t have to face a bunch of strangers.”

  Leave it to Avery to always be thoughtful. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  After she shut the door, she drew closer to me. In a hushed voice, she said, “Plus, I wanted to warn you that the men in my family are going to give you hell because they think you’re my boyfriend.”

  Oh shit. First the nosy florist and now Avery’s family. “Seriously?”

  Raising her right hand, she said, “I swear on everything that is holy that I have set them straight a million times, not to mention my mom has, too.”

  “Ah, I guess that means she’s gonna be thrilled to see me again.”

  “I wouldn’t call it thrilled, but it’s nice to see you again,” Rose said from behind Avery.

  “Nice seeing you, too.”

  “Posh flowers,” she remarked with a coy smile.

  “They’re for all of you, but especially for Margie.”

  She tilted her head at me. “You’re hitting on my mom?”

  “Etiquette dictates that you bring a gift for your hostess. Since this is her house, she is my hostess.”

  “So you don’t have a granny fetish?” Rose asked teasingly.

  I grimaced. “Uh, no. I don’t.”

  “Good to know. Here, let me take the flowers to the kitchen. I know a perfect vase for them.”

  I handed over the bouquet and Rose started into the kitchen. Once she was out of earshot, I exhaled in relief, but the feeling was short-lived because I suddenly felt about ten pairs of eyes on me. I slowly turned to the left to see the living room overflowing with the men of Avery’s family. “Uh, hey,” I called as I threw up my hand.

  One heavyset guy rose off the couch. “You Avery’s boyfriend?”

  “Uncle Tim, I told you he was just a friend,” Avery hissed.

  “Is that because you don’t have the balls to ask her to be your girlfriend?”

  Oh Christ. I was so dead. Glancing over my shoulder, I quickly calculated if I would be able to haul ass out of there and to my car before one of them caught up to me. I knew I could beat Tim, but two of her cousins wore Rome High School Track hoodies.

  I cleared my throat. “No, sir. It’s more like Avery is too good to ever lower her standards to date me.”

  Silence reverberated around the room as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly. The next thing I knew laughter erupted around me. “Good answer, son,” Tim asserted as he came over to me. After smacking me on the back, he asked in a low voice, “Wanna come out to the back porch for some beer? Mama doesn’t allow it in the house.”

  Since I figured it was another test, I shook my head. “Thank you for asking, but I better refrain.”

  Tim rolled his eyes. “Lord, you sound as fancy as Avery with the way you talk.”

  “High praise,” I murmured as I grinned at Avery.

  She laughed nervously.

  Margie came into the living room, and thankfully, I seemed off the hook. “Lunch is ready. Everyone come into the dining room.”

  All the men were off the couch in a flash before stampeding down the hall. “You handled that well,” Avery mused.

  “Thanks. To be perfectly honest, I pulled that one out of my ass.”

  She grinned. “

  The bathroom door opened and a sniffling Rose stepped out. Without a word to us, she hurried on to the dining room. “Is she okay?” I asked.

  “It’s just today is kinda hard.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “It’s the first Thanksgiving without my grandfather.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s really the first time we’ve all been together as a family since the funeral.”

  “I guess your mom was pretty close to him.”

  Avery nodded. “She was not only the baby of the family, but she was the late-in-life baby. Nana was thirty-five when she was born, and Papa was forty. He spoiled her a lot—just like he spoiled me.”

  “Yeah, I had an amazing grandfather, too. He used to do all the things my parents said not to, like giving me ice cream or chocolate, just to piss them off. No matter how busy he was, he always made time for me. I used to run around his office like a hellion, and he never yelled at me.”

  Avery’s green eyes widened in surprise. She wasn’t used to me sharing stuff about my family. “Had? Has he passed away?”

  “Two years ago. He had a heart attack on the golf course.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Hey, he died doing what he loved, and there’s no better way to go than quick.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Avery, Cade, come in and sit down,” Margie instructed. When she motioned to the kids’ table, I couldn’t help laughing.

  Avery’s face turned blood red. “I’m sorry that we haven’t graduated to the adults’ table yet.”

  “It’s all good. The food will taste just as good no matter where we’re sitting.”

  “I guess so.”

  Once everyone was seated, Margie turned to the man at the head of the table. “I know it was always Robert’s place to say grace, but in his place, I think you should, Bobby, as the oldest son.”

  I bowed my head to the sound of Bobby saying, “Dear Heavenly Father…”

  I opened my eyes and peered around the table at all the bowed heads. I felt hokey as shit, like I was having some Lifetime movie revelation, but I wondered if they knew how lucky they were to have such a loving family. It just drove home the point that while on the outside it looked like I had everything, I really didn’t. I had a fragmented family who had never really gathered around a table together unless it was at some political function where we needed to make my father look good for the cameras.

  Avery’s family was real while mine was just a fancy knockoff.

  “Amen,” Bobby said.

  A chorus of “Amen” rang throughout the dining room.

  “Now, let’s eat,” Margie declared with a smile.

  Avery had been right about the size of the feast. Not one but two turkeys adorn
ed the table. Vegetables on platters overflowed the table and filled up another table in the room. Conversation flowed as freely as the food and sweet tea. Of course, everyone was curious about me, so I had to pony up some details for them. The men were especially interested in how I was set to play for Georgia Tech.

  “Man, that’s tight,” said Blake, one of Avery’s teenage cousins.

  Uncle Tim grinned down the table at me. “I’m a UGA fan myself, but I’m still impressed.”

  “I would have totally played for them, but their offer wasn’t as good as Tech’s.”

  “Did ya get a lot of money?” Blake asked.

  “Blake, that’s not polite,” his mother chided.

  I laughed. “It’s okay. I usually get asked that question. It wasn’t so much about the money, but the fact that I’d get to play college football. That doesn’t happen a lot when you come from a private school.”

  Margie smiled at me. “Isn’t it nice that you and Avery will both be attending college in the big city?”

  “Yeah, it is.” Damn, I hadn’t even thought about that. Emory and Tech weren’t that far from each other, and there was even a shuttle than ran between the two. I wondered why Avery hadn’t mentioned anything about it before when we’d talked about her graduating early. I cut my eyes over to Avery, who suddenly found her sweet potatoes very interesting. “Maybe we can meet up sometime.”

  She glanced up at me. “Maybe.”

  The conversation then got heated about who was going to win between the Cowboys and the Packers in the upcoming game. While I debated with the men, Avery talked with some of her younger cousins about God knows what.

  Just when I was seriously considering unbuttoning my pants, Margie stood up. “Let me go get the dessert tray.”

  I cocked my brows at Avery. “You guys have a dessert tray like at a restaurant?”

  Avery grinned. “You seem so surprised. Doesn’t this dining room reek of five-star dining?”

  With a laugh, I replied, “The food is better than any five-star place I’ve ever eaten in.”

  “Nice save there with the compliment.”

  “I’m serious. People would pay good money for this food. I should have known how good it would be after that grilled cheese sandwich at Rose’s Garden.”

  “If you were in heaven with the grilled cheese, wait until you get some of my Aunt Regina’s cheesecake.”

  “I should have worn sweatpants,” I moaned.

  After sampling one of each of the ten—yes, ten—desserts, I expected the men to haul ass into the living room to watch football again. Instead, the women left us to clean up while they went to the den.

  When I handed some of the plates to Bobby, he snickered. “What?” I asked.

  “Tell me the truth, have you ever had to wash dishes in your life?”

  I scratched the back of my neck and gave him a sheepish grin. “Not exactly.”

  “I figured as much.”

  Tim slapped me on the back. “Maybe he should be the one scrubbing, Bobby. You know, to give the kid the experience.”

  “I’m okay.”

  Bobby grinned. “Like I’m going to entrust Mama’s fine china to his hands.”

  “You know, I’m pretty good at handling precious objects,” I argued.

  Bobby and Tim laughed. “Then I guess I can trust you to dry,” Bobby suggested.

  “Okay.”

  I was just finishing up when Avery peeked her head in the doorway. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Do you mean has this manual labor crushed my soul?”

  “More like have my uncles been giving you a hard time and making you do all the work?”

  “Nah. They’ve treated me just fine.”

  “Good.”

  Tim shut the fridge door after putting in the last of the leftovers. “Honestly, Avery, you act like we’re out here making him plow the south field.”

  “He probably could since I took him out on the harvester.”

  Tim’s brows shot up. “Oh, you did?”

  I nodded. “Since I’d never been on a farm, Avery showed me around.” I met her gaze and gave her a knowing look as I thought about us almost getting arrested.

  Tim glanced between us before crossing his arms over his broad chest. “I hope the south field was all she showed you.”

  Avery’s face reddened like an overripe tomato. “Uncle Tim!” she shrieked.

  I couldn’t help laughing at both her reaction and the irony of the situation. Little did he know I’d seen a lot of Avery that afternoon when we went skinny dipping.

  Tim chuckled before throwing an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, kid. Let’s go warch the Packers clobber the Cowboys.”

  “Actually, I think it’s going to be the Cowboys doing the clobbering.”

  “Bullshit.”

  I crooked my finger at Avery. “What?” she questioned.

  “You told me if I came you’d watch football with me.”

  She grimaced. “I was hoping you wouldn’t remember that.”

  “Oh, I totally remembered.”

  “Okay, okay. A promise is a promise.”

  As I led Avery to the living room, it felt like I was leading a prisoner to their doom. Since the couches were taken, we sat on the floor as the last strains of the national anthem were sung. After kickoff, I pointed to one of the guys. “That’s the running back. That’s what I play.”

  “Really?” She sounded generally interested, and that was the difference between Avery and any other girl I knew. When she sounded genuinely interested, it was because she actually was. There was not one fake bone in her body.

  “Yep.”

  “Since I didn’t come to any of Harlington’s games this year, I’ll have to come see you play next year.”

  “I’d like that. Maybe I can swing you some tickets.” When it looked like she might protest out of embarrassment at the insinuation that she would need free tickets, I said, “So I can get you in the VIP section or something like that.”

  She smiled. “I’ve never seen myself as a VIP.”

  “Oh, you’re total VIP material.”

  A grunt came from behind us. “Would you two shut up? We’re trying to watch the game.”

  While Avery turned red, I just laughed. We watched the rest of the game in silence, except for during halftime when Avery listened intently as I rehashed some of the game highlights with the guys. For someone who hated football, Avery was a really good sport about watching with me. Of course, I had to explain some of the fundamentals to her so it was more than just a bunch of guys smacking into each other over an oblong ball.

  When the game was over, I turned to her. “I guess I better get going.”

  She opened her mouth, but Bobby interrupted her. “You sure you don’t want to stay for the eight thirty game?”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I really need to get back to the dorms.”

  After I stood up, I held out my hand to help Avery up out of the floor. “I’ll walk you out.”

  I threw up my hand at Avery’s remaining family members. “Thanks again for letting me hang out.”

  “You’re welcome. You can come back any time. We’ll be looking for you on TV next year at Tech,” Tim said.

  I laughed. “I don’t know how much play I’ll get as a freshman, but you can try.”

  After hugging and thanking Margie, I walked out onto the front porch with Avery close behind me. “I had a really good time today,” I said as we started down the steps.

  Avery smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid my family might have you running for the hills.”

  I shook my head. “No. They’re great. You’re really lucky to have them.”

  “I’ll try to remember that the next time they’re teasing me relentlessly about something.”

  “They’re just doing it because they love you.”

  “I know.”

  “It’s funny how different you act around them than you do at school.”

 
Avery’s brows shot up. “How do I act differently?”

  “You just seem more comfortable, more like yourself. Harlington seems to make you uptight.”

  “Or maybe it’s the people who make me uptight,” she murmured.

  I could see her point with that one. “Well, whatever it is, I’m just glad I got to see it.”

  “Me too.”

  “I guess I’ll see you next week at school.” Smooth, Hall. It’s pretty much a given you will see her at school. If you’re going to miss hanging out to work on the project, maybe you should ask her to do something outside of school, but then that would be a date, right? That wouldn’t be good because I don’t date.

  “For just a few more weeks,” Avery said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

  “Well, thanks again,” I said. I didn’t know why I leaned in to give her a hug. Being platonically touchy with a girl was so not my usual style. With the talk about her leaving soon, I wanted to be as close to her as I could.

  “You’re welcome,” Avery murmured against my neck. Her breath scorched my skin, and in that instant, I wanted nothing more than to feel her soft, delicate lips against mine.

  Slowly, I pulled my head back to stare into Avery’s eyes. The expression in them seemed to mirror every emotion I was experiencing: confusion, lust, sadness. Although I knew it was the last thing in the world I should do, I dipped my head and brought my lips to Avery’s.

  Fuck. They were everything I thought they would be, everything I knew I’d been missing out on when I had been more concerned with second and third base action than first.

  At the sound of the front door opening, Avery jerked away. Panic now replaced the other emotions in her eyes. I knew I needed to get the hell out of there, both for her sake and mine. “Bye, Avery,” I muttered.

  I barely gave her time to move out of the way before I threw open the car door. I hopped inside and started the engine. After I turned the car around, I gunned it down the driveway. When I glanced back in the rearview mirror, I saw Avery standing with her arms wrapped around her, watching me go.

  That’s exactly what I should have been doing: driving away, leaving her. Avery Prescott was everything soft, sweet, and beautiful. She was…real. The last thing in the world she needed was someone like me in her life.