“And why the hell not?” she asked. “You are fine, flexible, and freshly divorced. What exactly is the problem?”
“He’s a baby,” I insisted, rolling my eyes. “What can he do for me?”
She sucked her teeth. “He can keep up. And keep it up.” she stopped talking, and I followed her gaze to where Nate was now standing with his father – who was standing with Zora’s father, and a few other men. “That is no baby. That is a… blank slate. Prime for learning.”
“Mmmhmm. So why haven’t you thrown anything in Trei Norwood’s direction?”
“Because that’s different. He’s practically family.”
“Uh huh. Excuses.”
“Whatever bitch. We’re not talking about me right now – we’re talking about you.”
“And I am not screwing a man who used to jack off to my pictures – as a teenager!” I hissed, making her laugh.
“Would it be better if he’d been a grown man? Because… you do know there was a lotion shortage all around the world the day those Sports Illustrated pictures dropped, right?”
Shaking my head, I drained the rest of my champagne. I had looked amazing in those pictures.
“Anyway,” she continued, “You act as if he’s still a teenager now. He’s pushing thirty.”
“And I am knocking right at forty’s door,” I countered. “Again – what can he do for me?”
Zora dropped her empty champagne glass on a server’s tray as they passed, then faced me again, putting her hands on my shoulders. “He can fuck you like he’s been dreaming about it all his life. He can worship you, like a goddess. He can make you forget Garrett’s trifling ass… even if it’s just for a night. All you have to do is swipe that card.”
I looked away from Zora because I felt eyes on me – Nathan’s.
He winked at me, then turned to walk away, disappearing into the crowd.
Presumably, up to his room, where the unknown awaited.
All I had to do was swipe the card.
2018
“Okay I must have the wrong office – can you point me to the one you use for your actual job? Thanks.”
I grinned as my sister – my twin – Nicole didn’t even bother looking up from what she was doing to flip me off. Taking a seat in front of her desk, I watched as she referred to some list she had, comparing it against what appeared to be a page full of numbered circles, with lines extending from each one.
“Shouldn’t your fancy wedding planner be handling that?” I asked, and finally she looked up, brushing sleek, shoulder-length strands from her face.
“What do you want, Nate? I’m busy.”
I frowned. “Damn, I can’t just be checking in on my sister, seeing how she’s adjusting to our promotion?”
In previous years, our title had been Assistant Director of Player Success, and there had been four of us with that title, managing the team. Now, Cole and I shared the new position of simply Director of Player Success, splitting the team in two – offense and defense. The other two people had gone to different positions on the team.
“Well, considering that it’s offseason, and my guys know I’ll string them up by the balls if they fuck up on a day off, I am doing peachy. Don’t have much to do.”
“So you plan your wedding at your desk?”
“Yes. We are just two months away right now, with plenty to do. So this is what I’m working on. Problem?”
“No.”
“Good. Do you think Emma is old enough to be a flower girl, without eating the petals?” she asked, referring to our baby sister.
I twisted my lips, thinking. “Eh… not sure. Maybe have somebody walk with her, to guide her? She just turned two, so I imagine those flowers are going to look pretty appetizing to her.”
“True. But it’ll probably make for great pictures. Maybe Mel can do it, and that will give her something better to do than just sitting there. You know? Like an actual place in the wedding.”
Instead of responding, I chuckled.
“What?” she asked, looking up from her seating chart again. “Why is that funny?”
“Because two years ago you barely wanted to be in the same room with Mel, now you’re making sure she has a place in your wedding.”
Cole shrugged. “That’s true. I guess I realized it was time to grow up… at least for some of us,” she added, giving me a pointed look that made me frown.
“Whoa, hold on – are you suggesting that I haven’t grown up?”
“Of course not, brother,” she said, with a syrupy sweet smile that suggested it was exactly what she was saying. “You’re just… not that serious. Which is fine, as long as you aren’t hurting anybody, I just… I don’t know. I never thought I’d beat you to the altar.”
“Because I beat you at everything else. I was trying to give you a win, and look at you holding it against me!”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever Nate.”
“Don’t whatever me, it’s not too late for me to pull off a little quarterback sneak, pop up with a wife on you. Put you back in second place – your rightful spot.”
“The day you “pop up with a wife” is the day I eat this desk,” she laughed. “Are you even dating anybody? Like seriously?”
Immediately, my mind went to Sloane – and how she’d resent the implication that what we were doing extended beyond the bedroom.
“Nah,” I shook my head. “Not seriously.”
“So what are you waiting on?” she asked. “It’s not like either of us are getting younger.”
“We’re just thirty, Cole. You say that like death is knocking on our door.”
She scoffed. “Death may not be around the corner, but my biological clock is starting to sound more like a time bomb. I want a few years with my husband before the babies start coming. Look at Dad and Mel – married ten years before they decided to have children, and they were so in tune with each other that they didn’t miss a single beat.”
“So that’s what you think is going to happen with you and Jordan?”
“I don’t have time for that to happen with me and Jordan. I don’t have ten years to wait – I can give it two. Three, max.”
I nodded. “So around the time Jordan will probably be ready to leave the league.”
“Yeah. So he doesn’t have to miss anything.”
I propped my elbows on my knees, leaving one hand up as a resting place for my chin. “Man… you’ve thought this all the way through, haven’t you?”
“As much as I can. Haven’t you?”
That question made me sit back, raking my fingers through the springy hair at my chin.
Nah.
I hadn’t thought about it.
At least, not in any significant way. Whenever I brought up marriage and babies, it had always been in a joking manner – never something I could foresee for myself. I was happy for my friends and family of course, when it happened to them… I just never saw it for me.
“Are you just going to spend your life as a player?” Cole teased, finally closing the folder she’d labeled “seating” in her neat handwriting. “Is there really just no woman that can lock you down?”
None that wants to be locked down.
“How did we get on me?” I asked, trying to deflect the conversation. “You’re getting married in two months, what else do you have left to do?”
“You know damn well you’re not interested in anything related to this wedding.”
“I’m interested in how fine your bridesmaids are, and if they need help getting dressed that morning.”
Cole laughed. “They’re all either married, lesbian, or off limits to you.”
“Off limits to me, specifically? Damn, what did I do?”
“Ronnie Newell, in high school, is who you did, Nate, remember that?”
I shrugged, drawing a blank. “You’ll have to refresh my memory.”
“Gladly. She was my best friend, and you stole her from her boyfriend, then dumped her two days later. She bla
med me, told the whole school, so I lost the election for class president.”
For a few seconds, I frowned, then sat up straight when the details clicked for me. “Ohhh, damn. I did do that, huh?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “You did. And now, you keep your dick to yourself and out of my friends. No exceptions.”
“I’m a changed man.”
Cole snorted. “We already followed this line of conversation, didn’t we?”
“And I see we’re back, yet you still haven’t given me a real reason that you think I’m… immature.”
“I never said you were immature, and I don’t think that about you. I do think you’re an asshole, but that’s a different conversation. Regarding the matter at hand though… no, I don’t think you’re a changed man. You come here and do your job very well – that’s never been an issue for you. But how do you spend your time outside of that?”
I shrugged. “I’m… sleeping. Or with my boys or my family. Occasionally, female company.”
“Occasionally?” Cole challenged, eyebrow raised.
“Yes, occasionally.”
“Then I stand corrected. You are a changed man, because you were definitely a hoe before.”
I opened my hands. “See? Respect my progress.”
Cole laughed. “Sure, Nate. But that one thing isn’t enough to change the perception, and as you know…”
“Perception may as well be reality.”
“Right. If you’re happy with life as is, I’m happy for you, but whether or not it’s fair, when the world sees a thirty-year-old man with no serious partner and no kids, they think perpetual bachelor. They think you need to grow up.”
“Which is bullshit.”
She smirked. “Try being a thirty-year-old single woman with no kids. At least people just think you need to grow up. For us? There must be something wrong. And God forbid you own a cat or two. You may as well sign your spinster papers according to these folks.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“I will stab you with this pen, don’t say that shit to me,” Cole warned, knowing I’d only used that word to get under her skin. “It’s not dramatic, it’s the truth. And you know it.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I do. But you’re engaged – going to be married soon. You don’t have those problems.”
“No, I don’t. My predicament is these damn blogs and their Bump Watch 2018, because they swear I must be pregnant already. As if that’s the only reason Jordan would want to propose to me.”
“Well…” I grinned. “This is quite the quickie wedding. Engaged in February, wedding date in June? Don’t most people take a year to plan?”
“I’m not most people. And I want to have everything wrapped up before training camp. You sure you can handle the team by yourself for those two weeks?”
I scoffed. “Between our assistants and me, it’ll be covered. I can’t wait to show our father that your job is disposable.”
“Don’t play with me,” she warned, holding up the pen she’d threatened me with earlier. “But thank you for covering for me. And if there’s an emergency, you -”
“There won’t be,” I insisted. “It’s handled. You can focus on your wedding, and your honeymoon.”
A grin spread across her face. “Thank you, Nate. Your help means a lot to me.”
“No point in being twins if I can’t bail you out when necessary, right?”
I left Cole in her office with her wedding plans, intending to head to my own. The draft was approaching, fast, and I still had to finish up the generic parts of my welcome package for whoever we got on offense – something Cole must have already done, if she was working on other things. I already had a list of the rookies that the team was considering, but we wouldn’t know for sure until after the draft. Then, I could go back through and personalize.
I was almost there when my father’s assistant came rushing up the hall, flagging me down.
“Mr. Richardson wants to see you,” she reported, so I bypassed my own office to follow her to my father’s much larger one.
“Ah,” he said, looking up from his desk. “I see she caught you before you left.”
I glanced back as she stepped out, closing the door behind her. “I wasn’t leaving yet. Had some business to take care of first.”
“I’ll keep this brief then – Sloane Brooks.”
Immediately, my shirt felt buttoned way too tight around my neck. “Coach Brooks, yes. What about her?”
“What do you think? Good hire?”
I raised an eyebrow, surprised that he was seeking my opinion on it, especially after she’d already signed the paperwork securing the job.
“Are you asking me as your son, or as your staff?”
“Both,” he answered, gesturing for me to take a seat.
I did, then nodded. “Yes, I think so. She had an excellent coaching record at the college level, and she was good at the game herself. She’s played the position, so she knows the ins and outs. She deserves a chance to prove herself as much as anyone else.”
“And you think your players are ready for this? A female coach… who looks like her?”
I chuckled. “Well… honestly, that part might be a little tricky, especially with the younger guys. But she managed at BSU.”
“Indeed.”
I leaned forward. “What makes you ask me this now?”
“Are you or are you not Director of Player Success?” he asked, eyebrows lifted. “It occurred to me that since you’re the liaison, it would be wise to have you prep these guys – our wide receivers. It’s never been an issue before because we’ve never had a female coach before.”
“These guys aren’t stupid,” I assured him. “And from what I’ve seen on the field, Sloane is no shrinking violet. There may be a bit of an adjustment, but I think she’ll be fine.”
Eli nodded. “Good. As you already know… the Kings are in a transitional period. We’ve been lucky the last two years, even making it to the Super Bowl… I’m not expecting lightning to strike a third time. As such… this is the year we evolve, take risks, change the game. You’ve seen the players we’re looking at for the draft – it’s a volatile bunch, with a lot of potential.”
“Yes, I noticed that.”
“And so will the press. They’re going to be all over us, especially with the addition of Ms. Brooks. She’s not the first female coach in the league, but she’s the first Black woman. Which means we’re traversing uncharted waters. We cannot afford a scandal here. Make it clear to your guys, before we hit that field for training camp in July – if it comes to a choice between them and Brooks… we will still be the first in the league with a Black female coach, and they… will be on the bench. If not looking for a new team.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Emmanuelle has a new tooth,” he said, sitting back as he shifted from business to family. “Bit the hell out of me last night.”
I laughed. “That’s what she’s supposed to do with them, right? You know Cole is worried she’s going to eat the flower petals instead of throwing them at the wedding, right?”
“That’s a valid concern,” he agreed, chuckling. “Either that or refuse to let them go. But we’ll get it worked out.”
“No doubt.”
Not knowing if Cole had mentioned it to anyone but me yet, I decided not to bring up her idea of Mel walking with little Emma. Knowing Cole, all the details of the wedding were probably fluid, and liable to change any day.
“You have anyone in mind to help you catch up to your sister?” he asked, drawing my attention. “We have the wedding now, and then soon after, you know there will be babies.”
I shook my head. “I thought having your own would get you off our backs about it, old man.”
He laughed. “I’m not on your back, I’m asking a question. A simple one at that – yes or no.”
“No,” I answered, immediately and honestly. “I’m content to let Cole have this one.”
“That’s…
unsurprising. You never have enjoyed being anchored to anything except this job – reminds me a lot of myself when I was your age.”
“You were already a widower with twins when you were my age.”
He shrugged. “Fine – give or take a few years. The point is that, it wasn’t until I met your mother that I had any interest in being settled. It takes the right one.”
“Well… I’ll let you know when I find her, how about that?” I asked, standing from my seat in front of his desk. “But until then… I’m good. Why does nobody seem to believe that?”
“Ah. So your sister has been in your ear too, with her soon-to-be-wed wisdom.”
“If you want to call it that. I need to put these packets together for my incoming rookies – was there anything else?”
My father shook his head. “No, son. That’s all.”
I got my ass out of there as quickly as I could without looking like I was rushing. Between my father and my sister, I was exhausted with talk of my future.
I lived a great life, and saw no pressing reasons to change that.
In my office, I got to work finishing up my packets – a task that took less than an hour. As requested, I made sure to make a note about Coach Brooks, giving her bio and coaching record, and even linking to a video of her in action.
Videos I went back to once my work was done.
Woman or not, Sloane was a great choice, and it showed in the way her players took direction from her. They trusted her, respected her, and in return, she’d molded several mid-tier wide receivers into players that were dominating now in the NFL.
Jordan Johnson included.
We’d been at BSU at the same time, even though she’d long since graduated. I wasn’t on the team – had never felt the urge to play, even though I loved the game. I’d gone for the business degree, with a minor in sports management. She was just as fine now as she’d been back then, on the sideline with her clipboard, hyper-focused on the game, watching for the smallest mistake on either side – looking for whatever adjustments she could make for our team, or whatever weakness she could exploit for the other.
It was sexy as hell.
I knew back then that shooting my shot was beyond pointless. I was a kid at that time, not to mention that Sloane was still married to her high school sweetheart, Garrett Brooks – a linebacker for the Kings who would’ve snapped any of us in half for even looking at Sloane too hard.
Pass Interference (Connecticut Kings Book 6) Page 3
