False Start (Mavericks #1)

by Julianna Marley

  “Plus, the new cantina restaurant on Harbor Street is giving out free margaritas all day, so you can find me over there dreaming of being on a beach in Mexico with a Spanish cabana boy.”

  “Brat,” she mumbled sticking her tongue out half kidding…half not. What the heck was the point of having a business partner if he wasn’t going to help her out of sticky situations? Although, as much as she was dreading being close enough to smell Jax all afternoon, she was also looking forward to seeing how excited the fans would be.

  “Have fun with your big boys,” Ross laughed, grabbing his papers and coffee off the table before leaving the tent.

  Checking her watch again, she had exactly one hour before the fans would start lining up, fearing that she would need one…or maybe four of those margaritas to get through the day.

  * * *

  Stopping at the red light, Jax glanced on the dashboard.

  11:45.

  Good. He wasn’t going to be late.

  He hadn’t been completely confidant that he was going to make it to the stadium on time after the hectic morning. After dropping the girls off at school, he had stopped by his agent’s office to sign a small endorsement contract, then hurried home to shower and get ready for the fan meet and greet; all before waiting fifteen minutes in the driveway for the girls’ babysitter. He had no idea how Liv did it day in and day out; all the running around and keeping up with the girls’ school schedules, lunches, paperwork, doctor visits, and dance classes. Along with owning a successful business that demanded grueling hours, while still finding a way to attend and organize charity functions for the Mavs and being home in time to read the girls a bedtime story. She really was something spectacular.

  Maybe he was just jarred from all the rushing around or because he was pretty sure that the girls’ babysitter, Chloe, was in the passenger’s seat taking pictures of him as he was driving, but he was restless. And he didn’t like it. As per usual, he had been thinking all morning about seeing Liv and he was adamant about getting to the stadium on time, not royally screwing up the one time she had finally reached out to him.

  His heart had nearly jumped into his throat yesterday as he took out his phone in the middle of his workout, seeing her name appear on the screen. He thought about how many times in the past year he had looked down at the very same screen desperate for a message from her. His optimism had deflated a beat after reading the text asking if he could bring Chloe to the carnival with him so she could watch the girls while he and Liv worked the event. He hadn’t exactly known what he wanted the text to say, maybe something more along the lines of suggesting that they talk, but he also knew he had no right to expect that from her. He had been the one to put an end to all communication between them when he had left, but that didn’t stop him from wishing. Wishing like hell that everything was different. Chalking it up as progress because she hadn’t asked a thing from him since the day he had left, he ensured her that he would get Chloe to the carnival and the girls off to school.

  Pulling his truck into the stadium, he dropped Chloe off at the service entrance next to Liv’s car where her assistant, Whitney, was waiting just as Liv had said she would be. Making sure the two women made their way to the back of the stadium safely, he swung the car around to the opposite side of the lot towards the locker room entrance.

  Stepping inside the stadium, he shook the security guard’s hand before walking down the long empty hallway. He was told to meet the other guys and wait to be escorted to the tent as a group because of the excited crowd. The craziness of the fans never bothered him. He valued their passion for the game and interest in him and his teammates. He fed off their enthusiasm, using their faithfulness to get through some tough times on the field. He remembered what it was like as a young boy meeting his favorite football heroes, meeting most of them through his father, but he wanted to give the same experience back to other kids.

  “Monaghan! Nice of you to finally join us!” Shay yelled out as he stepped inside the room, his star receiver taking a long draw from his water bottle.

  “I’m not even late, ass wipe!” he barked, putting his keys into his locker. Slapping Trevor on the back, he nodded to Myles, Liam, and the new guy, Austin on the far side of the room.

  “Whoa!” Shay said holding up his hands in surrender. He could already see Shay prompting him, and he was in no mood to deal with his shit talking. Not today.

  “Is somebody still a little cranky because his hot wife still isn’t banging his ugly ass?” Shay laughed as if it was the height of amusement. “Dude, if you’re not gonna nail her then, just get out of the way and let another man get the job done.”

  Fury spurring inside his body, Jax closed the distance between them before Shay had another chance to blink. Stopping inches short of Shay’s face, Jax stood four inches taller and six inches wider, glaring down at the asshole.

  “The hell you just say to me?” he asked through his teeth, balling up his fists, physically keeping himself from beating the little smart ass into the locker room floor. “You mind your own fucking business you little shit and show some god damn respect!” he growled, resisting the urge to snap his receiver in half. It would be frowned upon by his coaches and teammates if he put the golden boy who caught more balls than anyone else in their conference into a body cast.

  “Alright, alright enough,” Trevor griped, moving his arm between them. Not moving a muscle, Jax continued to glare down at Shay, silently threatening him to disrespect his captain one more time. He kept his personal life quiet from the rest of the team. Aside from Trevor, Shay, and Myles, nobody knew about him and Liv being separated. And he wanted it to stay that way. How was he supposed to lead his team if there was no respect from his teammates because they all knew he couldn’t even sustain his marriage?

  “I’m just saying that if you don’t want her, there will be plenty that will,” Shay said simply, the smirk across his face infuriating him further.

  The sound of clicking against the concrete floor was the only sound inside the silent locker room, a smooth cautioning voice bouncing between the walls.

  “Alright gentlemen… gird your loins!”

  Turning his head, Jax looked over to see his beautiful wife coming to a halt in the middle of the doorway.

  Damn it!

  Looking back at him, Liv darted her pretty little eyes between all of them, her brows furrowing watching him inches from Shay’s face.

  “We’re ready,” Jax ordered, turning back to Shay, giving him a silent warning letting the kid know that he was lucky for the interruption.

  Nothing more was said as they walked from the locker room to the back parking lot of the stadium with Liv and two security guards leading the way.

  “Just a warning boys,” she advised looking between all of them. “It’s a madhouse out there.” She paused, her eyes resting on him a moment, sucking on her lip. A nervous habit whenever she had been concerned about his safety.

  Without another word, Liv pushed the metal door open with the weight of her body and Jax was instantly struck with loud screams and fans jumping up and down, patting his shoulder and sticking their cell phones in his face. Reaching over, he shook as many supporters’ hands as he could during the short walk to the tent, taking in the energy of the crowd. He was grateful for the opportunity to be involved in events that made his fans so excited. He knew he would have to retire someday, not anytime soon, but one day, and he never wanted to take these moments for granted.

  Taking his seat behind a long table with a navy table cloth, he noticed Shay purposely taking the furthest seat from him. The kid was wiser than he looked. Jax still wanted to knock all his teeth out. Sitting down, he got comfortable, smiling at a small boy who was standing first in line eagerly waiting to come inside. He didn’t know what made him snap when Shay had been acting like the typical asshole he was. The thought of another man anywhere near Liv made him rabid. Living in a house with his wife and not being able to touch her or feel her was drivin
g him insane and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He practiced discipline and control for a living, but when it came to Liv, all bets were off. But he needed to get in front of the urge. To stay strong.

  Behind him, Liv quickly reached over his shoulder placing a black Sharpie in front of him and he was immediately hit with the scent of light coconut.

  Her scent.

  The perfect fragrance generated by her favorite perfume and her shampoo that had drove him wild since the first time she leaned down into his ear at his charity event six years ago. And one that that he desperately missed. Balling his fists tighter, he rested his elbows on the table, digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands to keep from grabbing her. He knew exactly what would happen if he had an opportunity to be close enough to inhale her again. To run his hands through her hair. Leaning his head back, he stared at the tent ceiling, exhaling a deep breath. It was as if karma was coming back around to bite him in the ass; spending all day inside a small tent with Liv running around in a pair of shorts. His pants were already getting tighter at the sight of her long smooth legs and the last thing he needed was getting more turned on in front of hundreds of excited fans. But he couldn’t help it. It’s what she did to him. What she had always done to him. But for as agonizing as it was watching her, the idea that she was wearing his navy blue jersey was pushing him over the edge. His number eleven outlined in small crystals shining in the light when she moved and his name displayed in silver between her shoulders, hugging every curve he had been dreaming about getting his hands on. The large wave logo stood out on the front of the jersey, splashing across her chest, convincing him that there was no way he was going to get through the day in one piece; or help alleviate the hard-on he was currently sporting.

  Resting his elbows on the table, he looked over at the sound of her voice getting the fans even more amped up than they already were. He knew she was only wearing his jersey to keep up appearances; he imagined she didn’t want to draw any suspicions to their separation any more than he did, but it did give him hope that she wore it because she still wanted to. In all of the years they had been together, he had seen her in expensive gowns, bathing suits, lingerie and no clothes at all, but his favorite had always been his jersey. His team and his number on his woman.

  His woman.

  For as much as he wanted to knockout his receiver at the moment, Shay’s words repeated inside his head.

  “I’m just saying that if you don’t want her, then there will be plenty that will.”

  Watching her at the entrance of the tent, she talked to the young boy in line who looked as if he was about to burst with excitement at whatever it was she had said, while the boy’s father looked as though he was about to burst with excitement in an entirely different way; the middle aged man standing a lot closer to her than he would have preferred, grinning like a damn fool. The urge to get up and put some much needed distance between the boy’s father and his wife threatened his will power. He may have left her for her own safety a year ago, but that didn’t mean he gave up the right for another man to have her. To be near her. Or had he?

  “You alright?” Trevor asked.

  Grunting, he didn’t take his eyes off her, contemplating intimidating some space between her and the father, but he knew it would only make her more annoyed at his making a scene and he couldn’t afford her to be any angrier at him than she already was.

  Snatching the water bottle sitting in front of him he took a quick swig. He wanted things to be different. To go back and rewrite the past year. But he couldn’t. It had taken everything inside of him to do what he thought was best and walk away from her, for her own good, but now sitting and watching her try her best to ignore him and thinking about other men putting their dirty hands on the love of his life, he was second guessing his decision of coming home and trying to fix things. Maybe it was easier for everyone if he continued to be the bastard that left her when she needed him?

  Over the course of the past year consisting of long days and even lonelier nights, missed holidays, and wasted weekends, he discovered that she had the power to ultimately destroy him. If the past year was any indication of how the rest of his life would be without her than he knew his life would be over; and that scared the shit out of him.

  He couldn’t go on like this anymore. It wasn’t healthy for her or for the girls. Watching her direct a teenage boy to Myles for an autograph her eyes met his across the tent for a moment before she busied herself again. He had to fix this. He had been hesitant to come home, wondering if he tried to come back into her life if he would bring along with it all the same pressures and stress that he had caused her breakdown. But being so close to her, close enough to smell her and touch her, he wanted her back in his life; even if it was just to maintain a platonic relationship and repair some of the colossal mess he had made of his family.

  The young boy and his eager father who still had his beady eyes glued to Liv’s bare legs made their way towards him. Would she even want him back in her life? Did she even care about him anymore? Shay’s words popped into his head again.

  “Just start taking control again. Rattle her a little bit.”

  And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

  * * *

  Surprised when Whitney came to the tent to tell her it was already time to pick up the girls, Alivia checked her watch, noticing that she did indeed only have twenty minutes until pick-up. She had promised the girls that she would bring them back to the carnival with her after school so that they could enjoy all the rides and games.

  After prepping Whitney to take over her role as lead traffic controller, head of the complaint department and the one and only hype girl, she went in search of her purse. She hadn’t bothered to check for it since before the guys had arrived as she glanced behind the row of chairs, spotting it under the table.

  Next to Jax.

  Typical.

  Hesitating a moment, she bent down beside his chair as he talked to a fan, placing her hand on the side of the table for support. Good Lord, the last thing she needed was to be on her knees anywhere near him, especially close enough where she could smell him. His clean woodland scent affecting her more than she was willing to admit. Moving her hand around for the bag, she grazed his leg as he looked down at her. Meeting his amused eyes, she hadn’t realized just how much she had missed looking into them. How many nights had she wished those strong green eyes were looking back at her? Feeling her bag, she grabbed it, sitting up quickly smacking her head on the table.

  “Ow,” she groaned rubbing the back of her head.

  Quickly putting down the football he was signing, Jax pushed his chair back.

  “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine!” she shouted louder than she intended, holding out her hand in protest of him getting up and touching her. She had been so busy getting lost into those easy eyes of his, she had nearly given herself a concussion. Looping the purse around her arm, she stood up, darting for the back of the tent.

  “Whitney, I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” she called out, disappearing out of the tent faster than a bat out of hell. Being so close to Jax was making her behave like a fool. She couldn’t concentrate with him watching her like that. As if he was searching for something. She needed to be more controlled. To rein her feelings in because if she didn’t, she would find herself weakening into a smooth pair of green eyes that had once brought her just as much happiness as they had pain.

  * * *

  “Hey boss lady,” Myles’ unmistakable voice boomed over the noise of the carnival.

  Shielding her eyes against the strong afternoon sun, Alivia saw the large man with Jax, Trevor, and Shay following closely behind him, all looking a little out of place in the middle of a fair instead of gracing the pages of a magazine, something they had all done collectively a few dozen times.

  “There’s nobody else in line and my hand is about to fall off,” Myles complained, slinging his dark, heavily tattooed
arm around her shoulder. “Can we be released from duty?”

  Reaching for her margarita that she had stopped to try at the cantina booth that Ross had been favoring all day, he sniffed it curiously, before taking a big gulp.

  “Yeah, there is definitely a funnel cake around here somewhere with my name on it,” Trevor said rubbing his stomach. Him and his relentless appetite. No wonder Asher was weighing double in size these days.

  “I release y’all,” she announced, waving her hand in the air before stealing her margarita back from Myles, downing the last bit of tartness.

  “Chelsea is around here somewhere with Asher,” Trevor said, walking backwards. “I’m going to find them and we’ll meet up with you guys.” He took off in search of his family. And his funnel cake.

  “Gosh. I don’t know about y’all, but I am pooped,” Whitney said, waddling over, placing her hands over her large belly. Poor girl had been on her feet for hours despite Alivia ordering her to take frequent breaks.

  “You really need to go home,” Alivia said rubbing her very pregnant assistant’s back. “Go lay down and watch Housewives.”

  “Beverly Hills, of course,” they both said at the same time, earning them eye rolls from the guys.

  “Make Adam rub your feet while you eat some Ben and Jerry’s,” she smiled, remembering when Jax had rubbed her feet while she topped off a pint of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream when she had been pregnant. No matter how beat up he had been from practice or how hard a game he had endured, he had always given her the best foot rubs. The thought of him giving her one of those rubs now, after running around all day, had her almost moaning out loud.

  Whitney’s smile faltered a bit at the mention of Adam, a small frown gracing her pretty face.

  “Alright, well I’m off,” she said quickly, giving Alivia a hug before saying goodbye to the guys.

  “Hey. Text me when you get home safe,” Alivia called after her. Watching Whitney waddle away, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with her. Whitney was the most cheerful person she had ever met; her infectious laugh and optimism struck everyone around her, but that wasn’t the case lately. Pregnancy hormones? Maybe. But she made a mental note to talk to her ensuring she was being overworked. With so many events approaching, she needed all the help she could get, but not at the expense of her assistant being worked into the ground.