Pass Interference

by Cami Checketts

  They pulled into the valley and she sighed. “Oh, I love it here.”

  “It’s fabulous,” Hyde agreed. “I haven’t been up this way in years.”

  They passed the lake first. The mountains towered on three sides, protecting the little town that looked like something out of the eighteenth century. She heard the train whistle and smiled. “We’ll have to come back another day and ride the train, go on a hike, and go to Cake.”

  He squeezed her hand. “It’s a date.”

  Lily sighed happily. This whole weekend was beginning to feel like something out of a fairy tale. She’d enjoyed every day this week training Hyde for two hours and getting to know him better, and the rest of her days being booked with training sessions also. She was making more money than she ever had, but the best part was being with Hyde. No matter how hard she tried to keep things professional, she liked being with him. She briefly wondered what would happen in two months when he started his regular practice schedule for the season and moved back to Denver. It was only twenty miles away, but it seemed farther. She shook her head. It wasn’t like they had some commitment. They’d gone to dinner once and he was doing her a favor coming to meet her family.

  She directed him to drive on the bridge over the creek, pointing to it. “See, this is a creek.”

  Hyde chuckled. “Doesn’t look like much fun to race down, though.”

  “No. Your creek definitely takes the medal on that.”

  As he went past the park she noticed that it was looking a little overgrown, especially when compared to his landscaped yard. Would he think her town was dumpy? She thought of her parent’s modest home and cringed. He would definitely think her home was lacking. Maybe this was an epically bad idea. Was she really bringing a man, who had homes around the world, to the shack she’d been raised in? Why hadn’t she thought about how he would react to her humble upbringing?

  “Lily.” He watched her with a line growing between his brows. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Why?” She was panicking hard core but he couldn’t know that. She was his trainer. Why had she been so caught up in the moment, and excited to see the looks of glee on her family’s faces, and not thought about the consequences? The best thing she could say about their house was everybody did their chores and it was clean. Unless Josh was on toilet duty this week. Josh was horrible at cleaning and spent more time complaining that he was the only one that was asked to do hard cleaning jobs. Dare she instruct Hyde to not use the restroom? Oh, this was awkward.

  “I just asked you where to turn and you were in your own world.”

  “Sorry.” She pointed, but dropped her hand when she realized it trembled. “It’s the gray house just past the park.”

  “Okay.” He drove around the park. “Must’ve been fun to have a park in your front yard.”

  “Yeah. The fort thing wasn’t here until a few years ago, but we always loved the park.” Her teeth were chattering.

  Hyde turned off the car and hurried around to get her door. She smiled at him gratefully as he took her arm. She wasn’t sure if she could walk on her own right now. Maybe they should just turn around and go.

  “Lily!” The call started from the open front door then it spread and became a chant. She loved her siblings so much. There was nothing like coming home, even if you were going to be humiliated because you unthinkingly invited a mega-stud and he was so awesome he willingly came with you. Dang Hyde being such a nice guy.

  Boys and girls started spilling out of the front door. Her fourteen-year-old brother, Brandon, noticed Hyde and stopped dead. “Lily’s here and she’s got a boyfriend!”

  Josh darted around in front of Brandon. His mouth fell open then he started jumping up and down. “That’s not a boyfriend, that’s Hyde Metcalf!” Josh did his celebration dance, complete with whoops then sprinted across the grass and slammed into Lily.

  He about took her down, but Hyde wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her hold her ground. Josh was a solid kid. “Hi, buddy.”

  “You brought me Hyde Metcalf. I love you so much!” He pulled back and looked worshipfully at Hyde. “Is this a dream? I can’t believe this is real.”

  The rest of her siblings approached more sedately. Brandon rolled his eyes, grabbed Josh’s arm and pinched him, hard. “It’s not a dream, dum-dum. He’s here.”

  Josh yelped and pulled his arm away.

  “Don’t do that,” Lily admonished.

  Hyde wasn’t moving. He stared at all of her siblings in a sort of shocked daze.

  Lily wanted to shrink into the ground. This had been a bad idea. Should they go? That would break Josh’s heart.

  Hyde snapped out of wherever he was and stuck his hand out to Josh. “Hyde Metcalf. It’s great to meet you.”

  Josh’s eyes were wide as he took the hand. “Josh Udy, Mr. Metcalf, sir. You’re the best wide receiver, ever!”

  Hyde laughed and ruffled his hair then moved on to greet Sariah, Caleb, Brandon, Mary, and Trudy. He shook their hands and talked with each of them for a moment before moving on to shake the next hand. By the time he was done, every single one of them were staring at him in awe and in Sariah’s case, too much interest. Sariah was six years younger than Lily and she was “stop-dead gorgeous” as their mom always said. Lily didn’t need Hyde noticing that. She immediately felt guilty for her feelings. Sariah was a sweetheart and would never dream of stealing a man from Lily. As if she could claim Hyde was her man. She only wished.

  Hyde turned his attention back to Josh. “Hey, buddy. Can you help me get some bags out of my car?”

  Josh nodded hurriedly.

  Bags? She didn’t know he’d brought anything. Her face grew warm as she worried he’d brought food. She shouldn’t have said they fished for their dinner regularly. They had plenty of food, they just didn’t have the money for name-brand shoes, competitive sports’ teams, or college. Lily had been blessed with a full ride scholarship and grants to get her through school, but she still worked almost full time so she could eat and pay for housing. She was grateful she was enough older than her siblings to be experiencing positive cash flow and help out the family. There was an age gap between her and Sariah because her parents apparently had fertility issues that must’ve resolved themselves as the rest of their children were two years apart, except for the twin girls, who were four years older than Josh.

  Hyde opened the rear of his sport utility with a click of a button, talking softly to Josh as they walked around the vehicle. If Josh’s smile was any bigger he would probably burst. They returned seconds later loaded down. The bags all had the Denver Storm logo on them.

  “Hyde,” Lily whispered.

  He grinned at her. “You said your family were fans so I thought they might like some paraphernalia.”

  “Oh, Hyde.” She could’ve kissed him right there, hang professional boundaries.

  Her parents came out of the house. Her dad sized Hyde up like he would any man who was dating his daughter. A tall, thin man, he couldn’t have intimidated Hyde if he tried, but Hyde immediately handed the bags off to Caleb, saying, “Can you see who wants what, buddy?” Then he crossed the grass with sure strides and extended his hand. “Hyde Metcalf, sir. It’s very nice to meet you.”

  Lily’s dad faltered. “Jonas. This is my wife, Gabby.”

  Lily’s mom jumped in a move almost identical to Josh’s. “Hyde Metcalf!” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. Her mom was a little shorter than Lily, maybe five-six, but she looked teeny compared to Hyde. If Hyde was shocked he didn’t show it. He squeezed back. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Udy.”

  “Oh, my.” Her mom pushed her graying hair out of her face. “Hyde Metcalf, come to our humble abode. Do you like fried trout, young man?”

  Hyde shared a conspiratorial glance with Lily. “I love it.”

  She laughed and her parents looked at her with surprise. Her siblings didn’t notice Hyde and Lily’s private joke, they were too busy shouting about the treasure
s Hyde had brought—hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, big foam hands. There was more that she couldn’t even see. How thoughtful. Thinking of her siblings and bringing them gifts they would die over.

  Caleb turned to Hyde. “This bag has flowers in it.” His confusion was evident.

  “Thanks, bud.” Hyde took the bag, pulled a spring arrangement out and presented it to her mom then fished a box full of cupcakes out as well. Golden Mine Cupcakes was on the box lid. Lily gulped. Those cupcakes were four dollars each. She’d better not tell her mom that.

  “Oh, thank you, you big old sweetheart.” Her mom gushed. She glanced at her husband then batted her eyelashes at Hyde. “He really is big, isn’t he? All those muscles.”

  “Mom, no,” Lily said.

  Her dad recovered enough to laugh. “Well, come in. The food can’t get cold or Gabby will stop flirting and start bemoaning.”

  Oh, my. Did anyone in her family have a filter? She hoped this wouldn’t turn into an embarrassing day for her and Hyde. What part of her had thought it would be a good idea to bring a world-renowned, ultra-wealthy athlete to her humble home? She glanced at her siblings. The part that knew how much they would love this experience had obviously overridden any worries.

  Her parents walked into the house and Hyde followed. Lily placed her hand on his arm. “Thank you. You really didn’t need to do all of this. They would’ve been thrilled just to meet you.”

  “Oh, it’s no big deal. I have so much extra stuff at my house. You wouldn’t believe it.”

  “It’s a big deal to them.” She gestured to her siblings who were still sorting out the prizes, clutching their own to their chests and beaming at each other.

  “I’m happy to do it,” he said.

  “Throwing your money around,” she teased him.

  He bent close to her ear and whispered, “But you’re grateful?”

  “Yes, I am, you mega-stud, you.”

  Hyde grinned. “Remember this when I kidnap you and take you to the beach.”

  “Why?” That sounded heavenly.

  “Because then you won’t be able to say no.”

  “Like I could ever tell you no anyway.” Oh, my, she needed to stop with the flirting.

  Hyde winked at her and she trembled from head to toe.

  Dinner actually wasn’t as crazy as usual at her house. Everyone was so excited about Hyde they plied him with question after question about teammates and playing for the NFL and how he felt next season would go and if he was recovered from pneumonia.

  Josh sat next to him and mostly just stared at him. Josh was built like a tank and loved food almost as much as he loved the Denver Storm. Lily wasn’t sure the boy ate more than a few bites at this meal. Occasionally, he’d gaze up at Hyde and say, “Mr. Metcalf, sir. Can I ask you a question?”

  The other siblings teased Josh a little bit, but they seemed to understand the level of joy their brother was feeling having his favorite football player in his house, and for the most part they laid off of him today.

  Lily felt pretty great that she had facilitated this for her family, but she kept watching Hyde for any indication that he was uncomfortable or that he noticed the frayed armrests on the chairs and couches or the stains on the carpet that never came out no matter how much they all scrubbed. Their mom ran a tight ship and a clean house, but there just wasn’t money to update and repair. Yet Hyde either didn’t notice or hid it very well. He beamed down at Josh and answered everyone’s questions with kindness and a smile. She’d had a crush on him for a few years now watching him play football on television, and seeing how he always interacted kindly with his fans. This past week getting to know him had only increased her attraction. Today sealed her fate. If he asked her to go to the beach or the moon she wouldn’t be able to say no.

  Then she looked at sweet, beautiful Sariah across the table, picking at her fish. Lily had to play this right, keep earning her hundred dollars an hour and get that bonus. The joy on Sariah’s face when Lily gave her the money for school would probably equal Josh’s joy at meeting Hyde.

  Dinner clean-up went quickly and Lily was in awe again as Hyde pitched in like he was part of this large family. She wished she could buy a few minutes in his head and know what he was thinking. Was it—oh, man, paste on a smile and get this over with and never agree to visit some crazy chick’s house again. Or was there any chance it was—hey, these people are pretty chill. It’s not bad to be worshipped by my fans and see it up close and personal.

  It was obvious nobody in her family wanted them to leave after dinner, but Lily was trying to gauge Hyde’s reaction and desire to stay around or get back to his huge and probably quiet home.

  “Do you want to go on a hike with us?” Josh asked Hyde, his big brown eyes begging and Lily knew she could never resist the little man, but didn’t know if Hyde would be immune to that gaze. He’d probably seen that out of a lot of little kids.

  “Sure. I love hiking.”

  Josh jumped up and did a happy dance. “Sweet! Can we do the Silver Lake Trail?”

  “The whole trail might be a little long, buddy,” Lily inserted, “But let’s drive up there and see how far we can get.”

  They all laced up the closest-sized tennis shoes they could find, her mom was a champion shopper at Goodwill, and headed out front. Josh and Mary climbed in the back of Hyde’s sport utility while the rest of the family followed in the old van. They drove out of town and up Guanella Pass.

  Mary reverently stroked the leather armrest as Josh bounced in his seat. “Show some respect for the ride,” Mary admonished her little brother.

  Hyde chuckled. “It’s just a car, sweetie.”

  “Just a car? Just a car? This is a Lexus GX 460. It has 301 horsepower and the best entertainment system and most luxurious interior in its class!”

  Lily laughed and Hyde looked bemused, but was nice enough not to laugh at her little sister. “Sounds like you know more about my car than I do. I’ll make sure to appreciate it more.”

  Mary gave a dramatic sigh. “See that you do.”

  “Mr. Metcalf, sir,” Josh said. “Can I ask you a question?”

  Hyde pressed his lips together. Lily hoped he was hiding a smile and not irritation. “Sure, Josh, but it’s okay if you call me Hyde.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t do that, sir.”

  Hyde glanced at Lily and smiled. “This one’s been trained to respect his elders.”

  Lily didn’t tell him that the exuberant Josh had a hard time sitting through school or church let alone showing exorbitant amounts of respect, but this was his idol.

  “What’s the question, bud?”

  Josh took a long breath then rushed out the words, “I know you’re the best player ever, and it’s not your fault you got sick and stuff, but sir, can you please, please tell me that you’re going to win the Super Bowl this year?”

  Hyde chuckled out loud. “Of course! At least, I’ll do my best.”

  Josh sighed dramatically. “I guess that’s all anyone can do, right, sir?”

  “Definitely. You do your best and leave the rest up to the Lord.”

  Hyde absolutely loved this family. Lily kept watching him closely, checking if he was handling everything okay or something. He wanted to tell her not to worry. This was the best time he’d had in a long time. He always enjoyed interacting with his fans, but of necessity kept them at arm’s length. With Lily’s family he had the opportunity to be with people that obviously thought he was the stuff, but were able to be real with him and talk with him.

  He hiked up the wide trail and over a bridge with Lily walking in front of him and Josh clinging to his hand. This stout little dude was such a stud. Hyde had to keep hiding the laughter when he called him Mr. Metcalf, sir. He loved that Josh was enamored with him, the ego boost was always fun, but he just felt a connection to him. For some reason it reminded him of the way he’d always felt with his father—worshipful and in awe, but still comfortable enough to talk to him and stay close. Yet his
father had deserted him and his mom. He would never do that to Josh. He squeezed the little guy’s hand and Josh grinned up at him and squeezed his hand back.

  “Isn’t it cool here, Mr. Metcalf, sir?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  The rest of the siblings were down by the stream, tossing in rocks and laughing as they splashed each other.

  “Do you want to go throw some rocks in?”

  “Yes!” Josh tugged on his hand, pulling him off the bridge and down to the water. He finally released his fingers as he pried large boulders out of the ground and threw them in. Hyde helped him get some really big ones up and together they’d toss them in and scream out when they got splashed.

  When the sun disappeared behind the mountain, Hyde realized his fun was coming to an end. Allie had been with his mom since early afternoon and it was past time he got home. He turned to Lily. “We’d better get back. My mom.”

  She nodded, her eyes filled with understanding.

  “We need to head out,” Lily told her dad.

  “It is getting late and these monkeys have school tomorrow.”

  Sariah sighed. “I’ve got to be at work by five.” She pulled a face.

  Hyde wondered what kind of work she did and why she wasn’t in college. He remembered the dilapidated state of their small home. They probably couldn’t afford college. He wished he dared ask Lily how she’d gotten through.

  They all trooped back to the vehicles. Hyde took his time saying goodbye, shaking everyone’s hands and receiving a hug from Lily’s mom as he thanked her for the delicious dinner. Josh was waiting to be last. Hyde extended his hand but Josh threw himself against Hyde’s abdomen and squeezed tight. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Metcalf, sir. This was the best day of my life!”

  Hyde rubbed Josh’s head and grinned. “Mine too, buddy. I’ll come see you again, soon, okay?”

  “You will?” Josh’s eyes were wide as he leaned back.

  “For sure. Lily tells me I need to come get a cinnamon roll from Annie at Cake.”

  “Oh, yeah. Those are the best.”

  “And next time I come I think we should go to the park and play catch.”