The whole room was quiet as everyone watched this exchange. Smith looked around. “They elect you spokesperson?” he asked sarcastically. He focused on Tyler. “What about you, quarterback? You ready to throw away a star running back because I made your center cry?”
Tyler shrugged. “I’ve got nothing to prove that I can’t prove without you. And for the record, I think there are only a few people on the planet who can make Cass cry, and you aren’t one of them.”
There were murmurs of laughter and agreement around the room, and Cass smiled smugly at Smith. Before he could start something else, Beau stepped up. “Jo Jo, why don’t you show him his locker? The trainers are waiting for you in the back,” he said, addressing Smith directly for the first time. “You don’t touch anything until you get a thorough physical. Welcome to the Rebels.”
Smith looked around slowly and met each hostile stare. “Yeah, right,” he said sarcastically. “Welcomed to a team full of losers by a junkie. Great.” Then he followed Jo Jo out of the room.
Beau glared around the room. “Get to work, you pussies,” he said to them, his jaw tight as he tried to ignore Smith’s words. “Or do you need a group hug?”
“I’m going to go talk to Marian,” Cass told him quietly, after everyone got back to work and the noise level went up.
Beau needed a minute to figure out how to say what needed to be said; surprisingly, Cass waited, as if he’d been asking permission, or at least Beau’s opinion, which was new. He led Cass just outside the weight room and the door shut behind them, giving them some privacy.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, leaning back against the wall. Cass faced him. “Marian is scared.”
“I know that,” Cass agreed.
“Do you?” Beau asked seriously. “You don’t act like it. You’re trying to railroad her and push her where you want her to go. And that’s the problem. She’s not afraid of us, but of where this is going between her and us, and maybe between you and me.” Beau didn’t blame her. He was scared, too, but he wasn’t going to pretend that scene in her office hadn’t happened. It was too late for that. “This is new territory for her, for us, for the rest of the world. Because the rest of the world is going to find out. I saw your face earlier when that girl from PR mentioned a video of last night. Maybe they didn’t catch us with Marian last night, but they are going to catch us, Cass. Sometime, somewhere. An honest-to-God relationship between the three of us will absolutely make the tabloids. Any woman willing to take on the two most notorious players in the NFL is bound to be newsworthy. And all they have to do is check out that damn sex tape online and they’ll know what the three of us are doing and how we’re doing it.”
“It wasn’t anything like that tape with Marian. It was more,” Cass said quietly.
“True. But you made a good point back there. I want to know what she and Smith are hiding, too. Is it something that could hurt us all if the press gets wind of it? And even if it is, do we care?” Beau shook his head. “If I’m a rock,” he said, “I’m sinking. I’m out of my depth here.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll face it and get through it,” Cass said angrily. “I don’t care. Don’t tell me you do. I know you. I know how you feel about her.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Look, we can go and get her now, take her home and talk about it. She’ll tell us what’s going on and then we can deal with it.”
“Drag her back to our house, lock her up, and throw away the key?” Beau suggested wryly. “Good idea. She’ll go for that.”
“If no one else can get to her, no one else can hurt her,” Cass said, and he sounded so hurt and angry and frustrated that Beau just wanted to touch him, to make everything okay.
“Except us,” he said quietly. “We can hurt her, and we will if we treat her like that. She doesn’t want to be rescued, Cass. I think she just wants to be loved.”
“That’s all I’m trying to do,” Cass said angrily, his voice rising. “She won’t let me, and you keep telling me I’m doing it wrong. What the hell? If I’m not supposed to change, then what am I supposed to do? This is who I am. This is how I deal with shit.”
“No, it’s how you’ve dealt with it in the past, because people put up with your bullshit and let you get your way,” Beau said, finally unleashing his own temper. “You barrel through life like a bull in a china shop, and for whatever reason, people just clean up behind you. I’m not going to clean this one up, Cass. Don’t break it. Don’t break her.” Don’t break me, he thought, but didn’t say it.
“If I’m so awful,” Cass said angrily, crossing his arms, “then why are you still here?”
“Because you’re not awful,” Beau said, exasperated. “You’re spoiled. That’s different.”
“Are you saying I’m some prima donna, like Smith?” Cass asked incredulously.
“Fuck,” Beau yelled in frustration. “No. I would never say that. Don’t you get it? I’ve been in love with you for years. Years, Cass. I’ve followed you around like a puppy dog. Maybe I leaned on you so much for support so that you wouldn’t leave me.” He shook his head, furious at himself for revealing so much here. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down. “I’ve seen you at your best, Cass,” he said a little more quietly. “You’ve taken care of me when I was at my worst. You were never impatient with me, you were never mean or spiteful. You could have mentioned cleaning up my messes a minute ago, and you didn’t. Maybe what Marian needs right now is that Cass. The bull in the china shop has his uses, too. But not right now. Not in this.”
Cass stood there gaping at him. “I knew you wanted me,” he blurted out. “I mean, you know, what just happened and other stuff. I’ve known. For a while. But you love me?” He looked up and down the hallway. “And you tell me here?”
“I’ve got terrible timing,” Beau said wryly. “I know.” He waved his hand. “Forget it. It’s not important. Let’s focus on Marian right now.”
“Fuck, no, we’re not going to focus on Marian right now,” Cass whispered harshly. “You don’t say something like that and then wave it off. It’s not a minor penalty, for Christ’s sake. You love me.” The last was said with amazement. “Why?”
“I’m beginning to wonder,” Beau said, straightening from the wall. Cass pushed him back with one hand on his shoulder and stepped in close.
“I’ll tell you why,” Cass said quietly. Beau’s stomach tightened at the rough timbre in his voice. “Because I know what you need. I give it to you, and I’ll keep giving it to you until you get all that you want. I know you, Beau. I know you inside and out. And I’ve stayed with you because I love you so much I can’t stand the thought of ever leaving you. Sharing women and sex was a way to have you, to be closer to you. It started out as a way to give you something that would replace the drugs and the loneliness. But somewhere along the way it became about the two of us. And now it’s about Marian, too.” He put his hand on the side of Beau’s head, holding it almost the way he would a football, a rough, possessive hold. “Before Marian, neither of us had the guts to take the next step. I don’t know why it’s her, why she’s the key, but she is. What we have together is better, richer, stronger because of what she’s brought to it.” He pressed their foreheads together. “Make no mistake, I want this. I want us. With Marian.”
“With Marian,” Beau agreed, choked up at Cass’s honesty and naked emotion.
Cass sealed the promise with a kiss. Right there in the hallway. A rough, hard kiss, forcing Beau’s mouth open and taking possession of it. He tasted salty and citrusy, like Gatorade, and just so…Cass. Beau had gotten a hint of it from kissing women after him, but this was straight from the bottle. Ninety-proof Cass. He held Beau’s head in both of his hands and owned him right there. Beau grabbed the back of his shirt and let him have what had already been his for a very long time.
It was over too soon. The sound of someone cursing loudly broke through the haze and then Cass was pulling away. Beau’s lips felt bruised and overly sensiti
ve, a bit raw from Cass’s beard. It was the strangest sensation he’d ever felt.
“What the fuck?” Rebels tackle Dominique Reyes stood a few feet away glaring at them. “I knew you two were fucking fairies, but word was you kept it out of the locker room. This shit is not cool. I did not sign up to be on the NFL’s token gay team.”
“We’re not in the locker room,” Cass growled at him. “And we are not fucking fairies, asshole.”
“Yeah?” Reyes said with sneer. “Well, I don’t tongue fuck my buddies, Zielinski. Shit, man,” he said, shaking his head. “Now I can’t even shower here, motherfuckers. Ain’t getting naked with damn faggots in the locker room.”
“You get naked with me in the locker room.” Tyler was standing just outside the weight room window, blocking most of the view for those still inside. Beau wasn’t sure how long he’d been there. “Everyone knows I like dick.”
“Don’t think that don’t creep me the fuck out, man,” Reyes said. “But you’re too tiny to take my ass.”
“I don’t want your ass,” Tyler said with a curl of his lip. “No worries.”
“Ditto,” Beau said, finding his voice again.
“Sure,” Reyes said, clearly not believing a word they said. “That’s what all the faggots say.”
“You’ve certainly got a high opinion of your ass,” Tyler said.
“It’s out of the locker room,” Cass said, and his tone shut the conversation down. “Go do your circuits and rest assured your ass is safe in the shower.”
Reyes gave them all a wide berth as he stomped past them into the weight room, muttering to himself. He was another new addition to the team and didn’t have many friends here yet. Actually he didn’t have many friends, period. His history was clouded with stints in juvie and gang connections. Beau hoped that meant he’d keep his mouth shut. There were other guys on the team—hell, in the league—who wouldn’t be too happy with this development either. Better they find out later rather than sooner. Plus, he didn’t want it to get back to Marian before they had a chance to talk some more.
“Trust me on this, guys,” Tyler said, smiling at them. “You want to take this somewhere else. Guys tend to get a little freaked out when they see two players making out.”
“We will definitely take this somewhere else,” Cass said, staring right into Beau’s eyes. “Later.” Beau shivered in anticipation at the promise.
Chapter 21
Marian was sitting on the couch, calmly sipping a glass of wine, when the knock on her door finally came. She’d been waiting for them. Quite frankly, she was surprised Beau had gotten Cass to wait as long as he had. But she’d been hoping they’d come. It was time to get it all out in the open. She owed it to them, after all. As soon as she had decided to go to bed with them, she’d made her choice. She opened the door and smiled at them, taking a sip of her wine.
“It took you long enough,” she said, turning and walking back to the living room without waiting to see if they’d follow.
They did, of course. “If you wanted us here sooner, you could have called,” Cass said. “Your phone broken?”
“Nope,” she said, sitting down and tucking her feet up beneath her. “It was a test. You passed.”
Beau stood just inside the arch that led from the entryway to the living room of her apartment. “Did we?” he asked. Wow, they were all playing it cool. She grinned at him. He smiled back. “What subject did we pass?”
“How to be good boyfriends and give your girlfriend time to cool off,” she said.
“I never even studied,” Cass said, throwing himself down to sprawl in the big chair next to the end of the couch. “It must be a natural-talent sort of thing.”
“Must be,” Beau muttered, strolling in to sit on the other end of the couch. He picked up one of the two empty glasses sitting on the table and raised an eyebrow. He emptied the rest of the bottle into it.
“Sorry,” Marian said, pointing at her glass. “It took you longer than I thought to get here, and I was thirsty.”
Beau passed the glass across the table to Cass. Most people would have had to get up to do it. Not these two. They just reached out and their hands met in the middle, without either ass losing contact with the seat. She laughed.
“That’s okay,” Beau said. “I don’t drink at all anymore.”
That sobered her up. “Oh, Beau, I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a shrug. “Just because I don’t doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t. Got a soda?”
She pointed behind her to the kitchen. “There’s a Coke in the fridge.”
Beau laughed. “That means there’s some sort of soda in there,” he said. “I’ve learned to interpret Southern speak. How come you guys call all soda Coke?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. We just do. But in this case it is a Coke. And not diet. That artificial shit will rot your brain.”
“I think I’m in love with you,” Cass said quietly. Just like that. She stared at him. He wasn’t joking.
“It’s just Coke,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts.
“Marian,” he said, and there it was, the impatience. It made her laugh again. Before he could say anything else, she held up her hand and silenced him.
“Please,” she said. “We have some things to talk about first. Don’t we?” She looked toward the kitchen and saw Beau standing there, frozen in the doorway. With a wave of her hand, she motioned him over. “Come on,” she told him. “You, too.”
“Before this goes any further,” Beau said quietly, “you should know that I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you, too.”
“Of course you are,” she said. “That’s how this works, isn’t it?” She waved between them.
“I don’t love you just because Cass does,” Beau said angrily. “I can think for myself.”
“That’s not what I meant at all. Don’t be so defensive,” she scolded him. “We’re going to have to work on that. But for now, just get over here, sit down, and let me talk.”
Beau sat down again, then picked up the empty wineglass and poured some Coke into it. He toasted them with a wry grin and took a sip. “So, talk,” he said, setting the glass down on the table.
“My father is Rufus Sedgeway.” She didn’t explain who he was or give any more detail. She didn’t have to.
“Holy shit,” Cass said. “And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“So, that’s how you met Danny Smith,” Beau said. “When he played college ball for your dad.”
She tapped her nose and pointed at Beau. “Ding, ding, ding. Correct answer. I met a lot of guys who played for my father.” She took a deep breath and then reached for the wine. She needed fortification for what was to come.
“Did he teach you to coach?” Cass asked. “That explains a lot.”
Marian laughed, but sounded bitter instead of amused. “Are you kidding me? He didn’t—doesn’t—think women belong in football, at any level. I learned from observation. I was allowed to be a water girl, and then an assistant to the trainers. But only because my mom was dead, and we had no other family to take care of me. He was forced to let me attend his practices. At first I was left to my own devices, not even allowed on the sidelines. Then I got caught by an assistant coach smoking weed and making out with some random college guy up in the stands, when I was only fourteen. From that moment on I was sidelined, literally. But you don’t get to just sit on Rufus Sedgeway’s sideline. He puts you to work.”
“Who was this random guy?” Cass asked with a frown.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I’d never seen him before and I never saw him again. That’s pretty much what random means. I can’t even remember his name, if I ever knew it. I was only doing it because I was pissed at my dad.”
They were silent for a moment or two. “This isn’t the big secret you’ve been keeping, is it?” Beau asked. “It’s one, but not the big one.”
“You’re sc
oring all the points today,” she told him. “Right again.”
“I’m not going to like it, am I?” Cass asked, resignation in his voice.
“Knowing you, nope,” she told him. “But it is what it is, and it’s too late to change it. And you know what? I’m okay with that. Seeing Danny today, I realized I’ve come to terms with it.” She glanced from Cass to Beau. “I think you guys have had a lot to do with that.”
“Tell us,” Cass said quietly. “I promise not to yell.”
“Oh, I’m not worried you’ll be mad at me,” she told him. “But you’ll be mad.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes. Back in college, when I was working with the trainer—I was twenty, a junior—I started dating this guy on the team. Not just a guy, but the guy, you know what I mean? Big man on campus. My dad was thrilled.”
“I bet he was,” Cass said drily. “He’s not going to like us, is he?”
“As if I give two shits what my father thinks,” she said, curling her lip in distaste. “I haven’t spoken directly to him in over six years, and if I’m lucky, I’ll never have to again as long as I live.”
Cass blinked a few times, his mouth gaping. “Okay,” he said, dragging the word out. “And so our story continues. Go on.”
“Not just a story, my sordid life,” she said, bitterness seeping into her voice. “You see, I thought I was in love with…this guy.”
“No names?” Beau asked, his arm spread along the back of the couch as he watched her with those intense eyes of his. “I guess we know who we’re going to be mad at.” He paused. “Was it Smith?”
“No.” She shook her head firmly. “He’s the hero of the story.”
“This I’ve got to hear,” Cass said, smiling at her reassuringly. “Go on, sugar.”
The endearment warmed her on the inside, where she’d been going numb, forcing herself to relive the events of that night and tell the tale. She reached out and he took her hand, kissing her palm. When she gave a tug, he let it loose and sat back, waiting for her to finish.
“Thinking that we were on the same page, in love, all that starry-eyed crap, I told this guy what my sexual fantasies were.”
Broken Play Page 14
