Samantha whipped it open and glared at her brother. “Just remember, I’m the other half of this equation.”
“Sorry, sis. Just giving my future brother-in-law a little ragging.”
“We weren’t…doing that. He was napping…alone,” she explained, opening the door wide.
Devon walked into the house, laughing. “Napping?”
“Thanks for telling them, Sam. That workout was rough.”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Dev taunted.
“How about I throw you through that window. Think you can handle that?” Bull indicated the large, plate glass picture one facing the backyard.
Devon backed up. “Where do you want these, Sam?”
She instructed him to place the gifts under the tree.
The smell of the ham wafted in, grabbing the attention of the men.
“Man, I’m hungry,” Bull said.
They ate quickly, the men wolfing down huge portions of food. Stormy had brought her homemade cookies. They put them on a plate, prepared egg nog, and settled in the living room.
“Time to open presents!” Samantha’s heart beat faster, remembering the anticipation she had experienced as a child. Christmas was her favorite holiday.
“Ladies first,” Devon said, selecting a small box wrapped in silver. He handed it to his fiancée. “Merry Christmas, baby,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips. She opened the box to reveal a blue diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet. Stormy’s mouth hung open. Devon fastened it around her wrist. “For my best girl,” he said.
“It’s beyond belief. It’s too much, Dev. Really? Oh my God.”
Bull opened his package and fingered the scarf. “This is beautiful. When did you do this?”
“When I was at the shelter, at night. It’s to keep your neck warm during the winter.”
He slung it around his neck. “Is this wool?”
“It’s cashmere.”
“Feels really soft. And it’s warm. Thank you, honey.” He leaned over to kiss her.
They had finished all the presents, but Sly hadn’t given one to Sam. Emotion choked her.
“Oh, wait a minute. Hmm. I forgot. Mine’s upstairs.” He took the stairs two at a time. “Didn’t want to leave this under the tree. Figured a chick as smart as you would guess what’s in it.”
The box was huge, but Samantha had no clue.
“Guess you and I were on the same page. I want to keep you warm this winter too. Merry Christmas, Samantha.” He handed her the gift.
She pulled off the top to reveal a gorgeous, full-length mink coat.
“They were all-farm raised, baby. Not trapped in the wild.”
With a little help from Bull, she slipped on the coat. Wrapping the luxurious fur around her, she felt like a movie star. “My God, Sly. You shouldn’t have.”
“You guys, you’re too generous,” Stormy said, shaking her head.
“Thank you so much, Sly. I love it.” Sam kissed him.
“And you’ll be warm all winter.”
Devon and Stormy left early, leaving Samantha and Bull alone. He went to the kitchen to clean up. When he got back, there was romantic music playing. Sam came down the stairs, slowly. She was wearing her new coat, stiletto heels, and nothing else.
Bull whistled low. “Holy shit, Sam. You’re smokin’, baby.”
She inched one side back and eased out one long, bare leg. The heat from his stare traveled all the way up from her ankle. “I was wondering how I could ever thank you for such an extravagant gift,” she said, her voice husky.
Bull swallowed. “Oh, baby.”
“You like the idea?”
“Honey, what are we waiting for?”
****
The first playoff game was scheduled for two days after New Year’s. Bull and Sam had had a quiet holiday of eating, working out, practice, and making love. He couldn’t stop smiling. He was pumped and ready to play. The first game was with the dreaded Columbus Bobcats.
Lawson Breaker, known as “The Kid,” was nervous facing Horse Jackson. The man had a reputation, and not a good one. “He’s ended the careers of some quarterbacks, hasn’t he? Did he injure Darvin Sweetwater of the Gamblers?”
“He’s not that bad. He wants to intimidate you. Don’t pay attention. I’ll be there. Coach wants us to double-team him, put him out of commission. Give Griff a chance. I don’t know what sidelined Sweetwater, but I don’t think it was Jackson.”
“If that’s what Coach wants, okay.” But the young man didn’t sound confident. Bull patted him on the back.
The team gathered for a meeting before the game.
“Columbus wants this bad. We’re undefeated. They lost one. To us, actually. Now, they want revenge. We can take ’em,” Coach said.
“What about Jackson?” The Kid asked.
“That fucking asshole isn’t going to stop us. You and Bull are going to double-team him. Take him out of commission, humiliate him, make him mad enough to get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Fifteen yards. Hell, a penalty in the right place can give us the game. I’m not gonna lie to you. They’ll be a challenge. But we’ll beat ’em. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.”
“We’ll take down Murphy, right Tuffer?” Trunk asked.
Tuffer Demson, defensive linebacker, nodded.
“Their wide receiver is why they’re winning so many games. We have to stop him.” Coach looked down and shuffled some papers. “Name’s Tom Gallagher. Drake, he’s yours. Shut the fucker down. We’ve got to win this. We deserve to play in the Super Bowl and, unlike last year, bring the trophy home this time. Get out there and be the savage beasts you are. Be smart. No penalties. For Christ’s sake, no illegal procedure, Breaker! Hear me? You guys can do it. I believe in you. Now, go out there and believe in yourselves.”
The men put their hands in the circle, gave the Kings’ cheer, and then took the field.
“Stop looking at Jackson. You’re giving him an advantage. Don’t let him know how scared you are. I’m here. I don’t give a shit about him. We’ll take him. You’ll see,” Bull told Lawson.
Griff won the toss, a good sign. The Kings elected to kick off to the Bobcats. Bull gave The Kid the thumbs up sign. Sly saw Jackson staring from across the field and ignored him. Instead, he perused the box, looking for Samantha. She caught his eye and waved. She had Angela, Breaker’s girl, with her.
“Hey, Kid. Look. It’s Angela.”
The young player looked up. He gave a weak smile and a nod.
“Come on, jerk-off, you gotta make her proud.”
The ball was hiked, and the two offensive linemen, standing on the sidelines with the team, turned their attention to the field. Trunk was as ferocious as ever. He charged like a herd of cattle on stampede, raising his arms, aiming for the Bobcats’ quarterback. Bull watched the offense bounce off Trunk as he got closer to Sean Murphy.
Shifting his gaze, Bull poked Breaker and pointed to Drake, plastered, like a second skin, on Gallagher. Bull smiled.
Before Murphy could find a receiver, Trunk took him down. Sack. Loss of nine yards. The crowd roared.
“That’s my boy,” Bull said, elbowing Breaker in the ribs.
It wasn’t long before the Bobcats were punting. Bull put on his helmet and ran out on the field with The Kid.
“Brodsky, back again for more torture?” Horse Jackson sneered.
“I had enough last night with your mother. She’s wicked,” Bull shot back.
Anger flashed in Jackson’s eyes. Breaker stared at Bull.
“Who’s the little asshole?”
“The next guy who’s gonna fuck your mother.”
That did it. Jackson lost his cool. The whistle blew, flag on the play. “Offsides, five yard penalty. First down,” the ref announced.
Bull winked at Breaker, who could barely contain his laughter.
They lined up again, and the ball was hiked. Jackson charged at The Kid then reversed direction as Bull backed up, protecting Griff. B
uddy, Marquel, and Harley took off. Bull went at Horse, and they collided shoulder-to-shoulder. The Kid backed up and looked around. He spotted another linebacker heading for Griff. The offensive lineman lowered his head and ran straight into the Bobcat, knocking him back. Montgomery got off a pass to Marquel Johnson, who caught it and went for ten yards.
“First down,” the ref yelled.
Jackson rubbed his shoulder and moved his arm.
“Getting old, Jackson? Aren’t you on Medicare yet?” Bull asked.
“Very funny, dickwad. Hilarious. We’ll see who’s laughing when we’re flying to Arizona for the Super Bowl.”
“In your dreams, jackass,” Breaker threw in, startling Bull, drawing a smile from his teammate.
They marched downfield ten yards here, eight yards there, until they hit the red zone. Breaker and Sly managed to keep Jackson from sacking Griff, although he got close a couple of times. They lined up at the ten yard line.
“Think you’re gonna score?” Jackson sneered.
“Yep. Like I did with your wife. She’s hot,” Bull answered.
Again, Jackson’s eyes shot fire. The Kid and Bull kept Jackson busy. But the receivers were covered. The offensive line created a hole and since he had no runner left, Griff took advantage to run a quarterback sneak. He took it into the end zone for a touchdown.
Horse shot Bull the finger behind his hand before leaving the field. Bull and Breaker took off their helmets and chugged some water as they watched Robbie Anthony hit the field to kick for the extra point.
“Jackson’s pissed. We’d better stop,” Bull said.
“Coach said to make him mad.”
“I know, Kid. But don’t go over the line. He’s mean and evil.”
Anthony’s kick was good. The Bobcats called a timeout, and the kickoff team took the field. Trunk gave Bull a thumb’s up as he loped out to his position. Sean Murphy managed to connect on a few passes, and the score mounted.
At the half, it was tied, ten to ten.
“We’ve got to win this,” Breaker said to Bull.
“We will.” Bull joined him back on the field. The Bobcats were going to kick off to the Kings to start the second half.
Breaker faced Jackson directly. “Big pussy,” the young footballer hissed in his opponent’s face.
“Nobody calls me that.”
The ball was hiked, and Jackson tore off after Lawson. The Kid realized his mistake and took off, but Horse was faster. He lit into the younger man with enough force to flattened him. Bull watched in horror. He could hear the air being knocked from Breaker’s lungs.
“Why, you dirty dickhead,” Bull said, charging Jackson.
The other offensive linemen saw the action and jumped in. Meanwhile, trainers ran out to attend to Breaker. There was pandemonium on the field. Whistles kept blowing, but the men kept throwing punches, tackling, and piling on.
Even Coach Bass was drawn in as he tried to pull his players off the Bobcats. The two coaches plus three referees were able to break up the melee. Coach Bass ordered his men to the sidelines. The guys in black and white conferred, and the clock was stopped. Jackson was moving his jaw back and forth. Bull was rubbing his stomach.
Breaker was getting up to applause from the fans. The referees awarded off-setting penalties and threw both Horse and Brodsky out of the game. Bull joined Samantha in the box to watch the rest.
Though Angela and Sam asked him what happened, he brushed them off, his eyes on Lyle Barker, who didn’t look happy.
“There’ll be a fine from me too, Brodsky. You asshole. How are we gonna win now?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Barker. It’s just, when he went after The Kid, something snapped.”
“It’s okay to defend your players, but know when to quit.”
“I will. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
“Breaker’s worth it,” Lyle mumbled. “He’s having his best game yet.”
The two teams tussled again and again, moving the ball up field, only to be forced to punt. A couple more field goals still kept the score tied at thirteen-thirteen. Bull was riveted to the action as the clock wound down.
The Kings had the ball with only a minute left to play. Griff called a huddle.
“Bet he’s gonna use the reverse,” Bull whispered to his girl.
“Reverse? What’s a reverse?” She looked at him.
“Looks like one guy’s got the ball, but he doesn’t. The other guy does.”
The ball was hiked. Buddy Carruthers ran toward the QB from one side and Harley Brennan from the other. Griff handed the pigskin off to Buddy. The runners crisscrossed. It looked like Buddy had the ball, but he had handed it to Harley, who was going the other way. With two linemen protecting him, he took off.
“Watch Brennan. He’s got the ball, and now he’s going to run like hell.” Bull was impressed to see Harley turn on the speed. Damn, that son-of-a-bitch can run.
The Bobcats caught on, but it was too late. Harley’s lead was too big. The linemen took out the men who got almost close enough to stop Brennan, who ran all the way for a touchdown.
The crowd went wild. Streamers flew into the air. The roar almost hurt Bull’s ears. Samantha hugged him.
“Way to go, guys,” he murmured to himself. Pride in his team watered his eyes.
They had time to kick for the extra point. Bobcats called their last timeout. But with only twenty seconds left, their options were evaporating. Robbie Anthony kicked off. Trunk was on the case, hunting down the receiver and taking him out, careful not to draw a penalty. Sean Murphy took a shot at a long, Hail Mary pass to Gallagher, but Devon Drake managed to get fingertips on the ball and deflect it from the wide receiver’s grasp.
With no more timeouts, the clock ran out before the Bobcats could score. The players and fans went crazy. Bull, Lyle, and the wives and girlfriends in the box started dancing and clapping. They still had more games to win before heading for the Super Bowl, but this one, maybe the toughest, was now history with them as victorious.
Bull joined his teammates back in the locker room. Breaker was getting high fives and pats on the back. He stood with a towel around his waist, the bruises on his shoulders evident. “Tell me, Kid. What the fuck did you say to Jackson?”
Breaker shrugged. “I just called him a pussy.”
The action in the locker room came to a halt. All eyes were on Lawson.
“You what?”
“Called him a pussy?”
Griff shook his head. “Bull, didn’t you tell him?”
Bull sensed the heat in his face. “I forgot.”
“Tell me what?”
“The one thing you can never say to Horse Jackson. You can never call him a pussy. He goes wild. Ape-shit. It’s a death sentence, for sure.”
“Thanks for telling me, Bull. You almost got me killed.”
Bull laughed and smacked The Kid on the back. “Now you know.”
His teammates gave him a round of laughter and applause before getting back to showering, dressing, and returning to their lives. With one tough contest out of the way, the men had a lot to celebrate until next week.
Chapter Eighteen
After dinner at The Savage Beast with the other Kings and their women, Bull and Samantha headed home. It was Sunday night. He had a game the following Thursday, but not again until the Sunday a week after that.
Bull slipped his naked, toned body between the sheets. She joined him, snuggling up for warmth.
“Can we talk?” Sam asked.
“Uh oh.”
“We’ve been together for a couple of months. Engaged for at least one. Don’t you feel comfortable enough with me to have a real wedding?”
“Do we have to talk about this now?”
“If not now, when?”
“Why can’t you let this go?”
“Because a real wedding is something I’ve always wanted.”
“It’s real enough if a justice of the peace says you’ve tied the knot.”
“It’s just an expression. Don’t get all huffy. Come on, Sam. This is cuddle time.”
She rolled over, turning her back to him.
“Ten days. I’ll have ten days between games. We should go away,” he said, changing the subject, hoping she didn’t notice.
“Don’t want to talk about a wedding, do you?”
“When I’m in bed with you? No, I don’t.”
“Okay. I get it.” She sighed. “Where can we go with so little time?” She pushed up on her elbows, her gaze meeting his.
“Can you get a couple of days off? I’ll make a reservation at that Inn. You know the one we went to when we got the tree?”
“I remember. It was beautiful.”
“Good. Let’s go. We deserve a few days away. Coach wants us to rest for two. What do you say?”
“I say okay.”
“Leave everything to me,” he said. “Now, come over here. I need you to warm me up.”
She laughed. “You always run hot.”
“Only when you’re around.”
Samantha snapped off the light and curled up in his arms.
“Goodnight, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Sly.”
Thursday’s game against the Portland Cougars was not an even contest. The Kings, pumped from their victory over the Bobcats, ran over the Oregon team, winning with a score of twenty-eight to seven. Thursday night’s celebration at The Savage Beast went later than usual, since the next game wasn’t for almost ten days.
Friday morning, Bull and Samantha took it easy then packed up. Bull called the Coach to report where he was going, loaded the two suitcases in the car, and joined his fiancée. It was cold out, so Samantha had wrapped herself in her new fur coat and slid into the front seat.
“I’ll have the heat on in a minute,” Sly said, buckling his seatbelt.
“I don’t need it when I’m wearing this.” She beamed at him.
They drove along the backroads. The scenery looked like a Disney set, all gleaming in frosty whiteness with golden highlights from the sun glistening off fresh snow. Trees had their limbs lined in white. Fields showed acre after acre untouched by humans with only delicate animal footprints to show who had been there.
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