by Julia Bright
“I’ve called the police,” the woman on the other end said with worry in her voice.
“Police would be good,” he finally agreed in defeat. “I’m in the elevator, headed downstairs.” So much for a dignified split. He should have manned the fuck up and ended things before he’d ever left Chicago.
“My manager will be waiting by the elevators to escort you to the back offices.”
“Thank you,” Roan said and ended the call as the doors opened. He took a deep breath, centered himself, and looked up at a very concerned manager sticking his arm out to hold the doors open for Roan.
“You’re bleeding,” the manager said, reaching for a handkerchief in his breast pocket. Roan took the offering, covering his cheek. “This way, sir. Can I get you anything?”
Before Roan could answer, a shrieking, shrill Elle screamed over the balcony for the entire hotel to hear. “I’m not leaving!”
Great. Every head in the busy lobby looked up at Elle then over at Roan. He prayed no one recognized him. He so didn’t need this press before he even signed his contracts with his new team. “Security’s on their way up. Come this way, sir.”
Roan did, moving to the side of the lobby, hoping to be out of Elle’s eyesight. An amenities notebook clattered hard on the floor not ten feet from them. Roan looked up as Elle screamed, “That’s it! I’m calling your mom.”
Once Roan got behind the closed door of the office, he took an uninvited seat and let himself take a breath, trying to calm himself down.
“I’ll get you a glass of water,” the manager said from the doorway.
“A whiskey might be better.”
He gave a single nod and shut the door behind him, leaving Roan alone in the room. His cell phone started ringing, and he looked down to see his mother’s name. He rejected the call then turned off his phone. As bad as that had turned out, and as much as he hated the exchange coming from his parents, Roan sensed he’d absolutely made the right decision. Now, he just had to keep his resolve.
“Mama! Watch me, Mama,” Maddie yelled. Presley looked up from the gym’s paperwork and watched her daughter strategically maneuver across the hanging bars on the jungle gym at their nearby park. When Maddie got to the end, she dropped the foot or so to the ground, proudly beaming at Presley as she clapped for her daughter’s big accomplishment. That got the desired results. Maddie threw her arms in the air, a perfect high-v, before losing interest in her latest learned skilled and moving to the next obstacle, the pint-size rock climb leading to the tallest slide.
The whole time Presley watched her daughter play, her thoughts remained focused on the applications lying in front of her. Some of these applicants had real skill. If everything held true, she could possibly have a complete team of level-five athletes. Her excitement soared with the possibility even as her natural state of insecurity had her wondering if she had what it took to coach a team of very talented cheerleaders.
To add another layer of stress, Presley considered the future. If there was any way she could continue to build on this momentum, she’d be exactly where she’d hoped. Her entire family’s sacrifice would have paid off. She’d have the money to get her and Maddie their own place to live. If she kept her teaching job, then she could even have her sister come live with them and maybe even help pay for some of her college.
How badly she wanted that dream to come true equaled the exact amount of fear and doubt niggling its way into her happy place. She was afraid to believe in the possibility. Every day that she lived without her daughter with her was a day that ripped her heart out and made her question everything.
Presley stared at Maddie as her heart picked up a beat in her chest. She’d be able to buy Maddie new toys and new clothes. Her little girl was so sweet. She deserved something more than the hand-me-downs she’d always had to wear. With a herculean effort, Presley pushed all that worry aside and looked down at the applications.
Don’t jump too far ahead. One step at a time. The goal from the time she’d decided to keep Maddie was to work toward getting them a better life. Nothing had changed. One step at a time, that was all it took.
“Hey, you.”
Presley turned toward the voice, a smile on her face.
“Hi, Mom. I didn’t hear you come up.” She rose to give her mother a tight hug. Pat was young, barely forty-three years old. Still pretty, but she looked older than her years. She’d lived a long hard life and carried that burden in each well-earned wrinkle on her face.
“I didn’t think you did.” She straddled the bench, sitting down beside Presley. “She’s sure happy you’re home.”
“I know. That’s why I came early.” They both stared at Maddie as she ran after another child who had just arrived, finally giving her someone to play with.
“You’re doing the right thing, honey. I know it’s hard on you,” her mother said, reaching over to pat her hand. Her mother’s faith in her had never wavered from the first tearful phone call explaining her pregnancy. Presley turned her palm up, taking her mother’s hand in hers.
“These are the applications so far for next season. I posted we had two new teams starting, so roughly sixty open spots, and we got two hundred applications this week,” she said, pointing to the small section of applications she’d brought with her to review.
“That’s great. Will you add more teams than just the two?” That was the great thing about her mom, she always had hope and encouragement. She’d been Presley’s personal cheerleader her whole life.
“That’s what I’m thinking. I don’t like turning anyone away, but there are some talented girls who applied. I think I could start a beginner’s team, all the way through level five. We could work to a level-six team for the next year.” She turned more toward her mother, trying hard to contain her excitement. “If this holds, I could move Maddie to LA with me soon. That would mean we did it. This last year of being apart wasn’t in vain.”
“Grandma, we’re having a picnic. Are you staying?” Maddie asked, bounding up to the picnic table, climbing on the bench on the opposite side of them, reaching for her water bottle. Her long dark hair had been brushed out this morning and now hung in a lopsided ponytail, and dirt smudges marred her face. Time had helped Presley see Maddie for herself instead of the little version of Roan that she’d turned out to look like. Apparently, she’d gotten over another thing involving Maddie’s douchebag sperm donor. The immediate spikes of anger that always came with thoughts of Roan also seemed to have eased, not quite as intense as they once were. Only a small burst of fury ran along her spine, and she quickly tamped that down.
“Baby, I gotta go to work. I stopped by to see you and your mama between shifts, because I’m working a double today,” her mom said, reaching for the packet of wet wipes in Presley’s picnic basket.
“Ah, man!” Maddie jumped off the seat in a disappointed thump. It took just that long to get over her upset, and Maddie flipped around, running back to the playground as her mom sat poised to clean Maddie’s dirty face.
“She’s got so much personality,” her mom said.
“She does.” Presley watched her mother fold the wipe perfectly to fit back inside the small opening. Her mom had never been wasteful on anything. The wipe would be reused just like all the Ziploc baggies that had been washed so many times over the years.
“I gotta go to work. I’ll see you two in the morning,” her mother said and started to rise, kissing Presley’s forehead before she got all the way to her feet. “I’m real proud of you, Pres.”
“Thanks, Mom. I talked to her school. A week from now, I’m taking her out for the week. World’s is in Orlando. I’ll take her with me, so she can see Disney World. The school’s good with it,” she said, shielding her eyes from the bright sun as she looked up at her mom.
“She’ll love that. Bye, baby.” Presley got another kiss on the forehead before her mom called out to Maddie and waved goodbye to her.
Maybe if she played her cards right, she could ev
entually bring her mom to live with her and Maddie. They all needed out of this town. There was nothing there for any of them. She prayed these applications in front of her held true, and she could make some good teams out of these girls. This had to be their way out. It just had to be.
Chapter Nine
May 2017
The slow build of excited little voices had Presley lifting her hand to signal for her eager students to be quiet on the school bus as it came to a stop in front of Los Angeles Stadium. After a full minute of her arm stuck high in the air and the children unable to contain themselves, she rose from her seat. “Keep it down and stay seated. We aren’t leaving this bus until everyone is in their seat and sitting quietly.”
While the rows in front of her class unloaded, Presley walked the aisle, giving her teacher-approved death-stare glare to help keep her students in order. Even then, her normally well-behaved class could barely hold themselves together. Never taking her eyes off the children, Presley carefully began walking her class off the bus to the waiting lines in the parking lot.
“Miss Adams, are the football players gonna be here?” Marcus asked, bouncing at her feet. Presley estimated that was about the fifteenth time he’d asked that particular question over the last two days.
“We’ve talked about this. No players are here today. It’s just us. Are you ready to run fast?” she asked, trying to redirect his focus. Marcus was her fastest runner in the class and that always turned his attention from whatever he obsessed about in that moment.
“I am,” he stated proudly then proceeded to run in place as hard as he could. Marcus wanted to be a professional football player when he grew up. Since the whole class was betting on him to win the district-wide field day games this afternoon, his announcement got a whooping round of cheers. The entire school wanted that trophy for the next year.
“Okay, follow me,” she called out as the different classroom groups started to move inside. It took everything she had to keep the children in line and together. This was their one end-of-year field trip, and with one week left before summer break, they had become a rowdy, restless bunch.
When her class got inside, Presley divided the students between the parent volunteers, each assigned a handful of students to watch for the outing. She loved this year’s class. For the first time, she had so many parents involved that she didn’t have to take a group of students herself. Instead, she concentrated on managing the flow. A few minutes later, they were off. Their tour guide planned to take them through the hour-long tour of the locker rooms, workout facility, and private suites before making their way down to the field for lunch and then for the competition this afternoon.
Presley trailed behind, watching these children that she’d grown to love fill with wonderment at what they were seeing. Her heart was in a seriously happy place. Maddie was coming up this weekend, moving to LA permanently. Luckily, Presley had ended up with over three hundred applications, which allowed her to grow the gym by six new teams. More than even that, her school district had extended her contract for the next year. There was no question; she and Maddie would be able to get their own place pretty soon. Finally, things were turning around for them.
From his position in the locker room, Roan could hear the children coming from a mile away. Who couldn’t? They sounded like a bunch of wild monkeys barreling toward him, but he didn’t flee like the rest of the professional staff. Instead, he lingered, their obvious excitement built happiness inside him. Being in an emotionally better place than he had been in years, he wanted to see their enthusiasm firsthand, remember standing in their shoes, wanting everything this locker room represented. He even encouraged the coach to continue the formal tour to keep them there longer in hopes the voices would continue his way. Roan was ready to become an active member of not only this team but also the community.
Roan hadn’t talked to his parents in well over six glorious weeks, which happened to also coincide with the last night he’d had a drink. They, of course, sided with Elle and had given him an ultimatum, one he saw as a silver lining, not the final stand they had planned, freeing him of his heritage.
The lack of communication was their choice, but he also hadn’t fought their decision to cut him off. Instead, he’d flourished without all that oppressive elitism they thrived in. Now, those kids’ excitement would go a long way in helping him rebuild his love for this game.
Centering into the few minutes they had alone before the sea of children hit the locker room, Roan focused on other things. He planned to begin a strict workout routine, an aggressive schedule to help rebuild some muscle that all that partying had torn down. He was also meeting with the team’s dietician in about an hour. He’d gotten his motivation back, something he hadn’t had in more years than he could remember, and his only goal was to be back to his old self, running the ball in the season opener.
“We’re glad to have you,” Coach Wenzel, his special teams coach, said and stuck out his hand. “I’m gonna head on out before they get in here. I’ll get trapped if not.”
“Sure thing. Thanks for the tour.” Roan nodded, hearing the kids right outside the locker room doors.
“Call if you need anything.” Coach barely got through a side door right beside his locker before the main doors opened. It sounded like a herd of elephants had entered. The kids were past excited, many bolting forward to get their first look at a professional locker room. The sheer volume of children coming through the door had Roan changing his mind and retreating. If they spotted him, he’d surely be there for a while, talking to all the boys and girls.
Roan went for the same door the coach had used. He got as far as pushing it open when the air around him altered and his heart stuttered in his chest. An unseen electrical charge crackled, and out of a force all its own, Roan involuntarily turned his head over his shoulder in time to see Presley Adams coming through the main doors behind a pack of kids.
As if punched in the gut, he gave a rushed exhale of breath. Everything faded around Presley as he absorbed her impact. A sweat broke across his body, his heart double-timed in his chest, and he reached out to the wall to steady himself as the world rocked underneath his feet. Short pants of breath started as the door closed, knocking him in the shoulder.
With eyes riveted only on her, he saw she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Fury spiked and adrenaline flared. He had trained himself never to think of her, because every single time he did, she would steal his inner balance and send him into a serious mental nosedive. Every bit of the hurt and pain, all the longing he’d ever had, resurfaced with just this simple glance.
As if she’d experienced the same connection, her eyes grew wide and her hand lifted to her chest as she began scanning the room, looking around as if she sensed a threat. Yeah. Good call. He was a big fucking threat because he hated her. He hated her even as desire swept through him like a freight train. Wasn’t this fucking great? Exactly how he’d always reacted to her—wanting her from afar and never getting his heart’s desire. Roan clenched his fists tight.
He couldn’t force himself to leave. Out of nothing more than morbid curiosity, Roan hurriedly stepped aside, hiding behind a partition extending from a locker. Through a crack, he could still see her, but he didn’t think she could see him. Well, at least not enough to know who he was. When her gaze landed in his general direction then homed in on his hiding spot, he froze. So did she.
Luckily, a child came forward and knocked her in the arm, another pulled on her hand, and it still took a second for her to force her gaze away, looking down, but only for a second. Her eyes lifted back up, this time with confusion, maybe even fear. Instinctively he knew she still felt the draw. They were still connected, even after all this time.
What the fuck was she doing in LA?
This was the worst possible scenario.
Slow your roll, Westfield. Even if she does live here, you’ll never see her.
Ha, I see her now. So much for that last though
t.
Quickly, he tore his gaze from her to scan the children beside her, trying to figure out why she might be there. Maybe she had a kid? No, they looked too old. His gaze again lifted to her and held there, taking in his fill, readjusting the memory of her in his head to this new vision. Her hair was still long and silky. She was well put together, still a petite thing, her body tone and fit. Her complexion was darker now, but those deep blue eyes still bore straight through to his soul, causing all the hurt he’d experienced to settle right back inside his heart.
Fuck.
Self-preservation made Roan pivot, forcing him through the side door. He stopped short as he looked around. He hadn’t been on this side of the building. The need to flee had him frantically looking for an escape route, trying to find a way out of the building. He’d go anywhere to get as far away from Presley as he could.
“Can I help you?”
Startled, Roan jerked his head around, his gaze skidding across an unknown woman as he scanned the back walls for an exit door. A hand came out to his arm, drawing his attention.
“Are you all right? You don’t look so good.”
“I need out. A back way. Away from the kids.”
“You look flushed,” she said, concern written all over her face.
You think? Of course, he looked flush. The demons of his past just threatened his newfound sanity. Everything wrong with his life was a result of that terrible female in the next room. He took off in the opposite direction, leaving the woman standing there as he searched for an exit.
It had been almost seven years since he’d last seen Presley. How could he still be experiencing all this emotional bullshit? Roan hated Presley. She’d crushed him, turned his heart to stone. What the fuck was wrong with him?
Calling himself the stupid fuck he was, Roan refused to behave this way. He shoved through the outside doors and stopped short, sucking in gulps of fresh air and lifting his face toward the bright sunshine. The freak-out was still there, but somewhat manageable now that he’d made it outside the building.
