by Nella Tyler
“Ah,” I said understanding. “You didn’t want him to join the military.”
She sighed and I could hear the sound of her worry and fear. It encapsulated me like heat. “I already have one son in the military, and I have been terrified every single day since his enlistment. I didn’t want to have to worry for another son, too. So, when Chase told his father and me that he was dropping out of college to join the NFL…I was just grateful that he wasn’t joining the military.”
“I don’t think he knows that,” I said softly, glancing at Chase.
“No, I don’t think so, either,” she smiled. “My sons can be extraordinarily obtuse at times. They have a habit of being so consumed in their own little moments that they forget that other people are having different reactions. Chase was so happy about his recruitment that he didn’t see anything else. Braden was the same way when he told me he had enlisted.”
I remembered the day Braden had left for his deployment. I had seen his mother’s fear, I had seen his father’s pride, and I had seen Chase’s excitement. He had held my hand and squeezed it hard. “I wish I could go with him, Laurie,” he had whispered to me. “I wish I was old enough.”
“What about me?” I had demanded, suddenly scared.
He had turned to me with a smile that took over his whole face. “You’d come with me, of course,” he said in a matter of fact voice. “We’d go together.”
“Is that allowed?” I had asked.
“We might have to get married first,” he had replied with a shrug that suggested that marriage was inevitable for us anyway, so it wouldn’t be a problem at all.
“How is Braden?” I asked.
“Doing well,” Mrs. Morgan sighed. “At least, so far as I can tell. He’s in some secret location that he can’t tell me about, which only makes me worry more. Sometimes I don’t know if he puts on a brave face for me or if he really is happy over there.”
“I think he is,” I said. “Why else would he have committed to another four years?”
She shook her head. “I just wonder…he’s missing out on so much…a wife or girlfriend, the possibility of children. It’s funny how life is sometimes. I never expected Chase to be the one with the long-term girlfriend.”
I smiled. “I suppose I’m too close to the situation to have an opinion about it,” I admitted. “I’ve been with Chase so long that I can barely remember what my life was like before him.”
Mrs. Morgan laughed. “How long has it been?”
“Nine years,” I replied promptly, a note of achievement in my voice.
“Nine years,” Mrs. Morgan repeated. “Dear Lord, sometimes it feels like just yesterday. You two were so young when you got together – only thirteen – I suppose it was meant to be.”
“I think so,” I nodded.
She looked over at where Chase stood with his friends and teammates. I could see the pride reflected in her eyes, but it was more than just pride. It was the comfort and security of knowing that at least one of her sons was safe, well, and had a certain future, even if it was not the future she had envisioned for him.
“Your graduation is coming up soon, isn’t it?” Mrs. Morgan asked, turning to me with a mother’s interest.
“It’s still a few months away,” I nodded. “But yes, it’s on the horizon.”
“How do you feel?”
“Excited,” I replied immediately. “Just really excited. I’m ready for the next phase.”
“Well, you’d be in the minority,” Mrs. Morgan smiled. “Most kids are nervous as hell to get out there into the world after the safety of college.”
I nodded, knowing that she was right. All my other friends were probably more nervous than excited about our impending graduation. Some of them even had jobs lined up and still there was the dread of the unknown that impeded their excitement. I knew why I felt differently than the rest, and it had everything to do with Chase.
We had been together since we were thirteen, and as we had grown and evolved together, the world had become much less scary because we both knew we were in it together. I was never worried about my future because I was certain it would always include Chase, and that was enough for me. Jobs and homes were just the background of our lives; as long as he and I were together, nothing really scared me. The unknown was more of an adventure than a worry.
“I’m going to check in on the kitchen staff,” Mrs. Morgan excused herself.
I waved her off, finished my drink, and then moved off towards Beth, who was leaning against the open sliding doors gazing out at the green-blue waters of the pool. She was twirling her fingers through her dirty-blonde hair.
“Having fun?” I asked.
“Hi,” she said, turning her blue eyes on me. “I’m sure I’ll have much more fun once you introduce me to some of Chase’s teammates.”
“See anyone in particular you like?” I asked teasingly.
“I see quite a few actually,” she said with a wink, and I laughed. She looked around and shook her head. “Man, the Morgan family really knows how to throw a party. This house is amazing.”
“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
“Only once before,” Beth nodded. “And, it looked a little different. It’s nothing that I’m used to.”
“Hey, it took me a long time to get used to it, too,” I admitted. “In fact, I still don’t think I’m entirely used to it.”
“Hmm. In any case, it suits you,” she said gently.
“Does it?” I asked in surprise.
“It does,” Beth nodded seriously. “You look like you belong here.”
I shook my head. “I look like I belong with Chase,” I corrected. “The rest of it…well, it doesn’t really matter much, does it.”
“I guess not,” she shrugged. “Where is your man?”
“He’s over there,” I said, gesturing in his direction with my head. “I wanted to pull back a little and let him ride the high he’s on, enjoy some time with his friends.”
“Well, he deserves that title,” Beth said. “He had one hell of a season.”
I nodded emphatically. “He was amazing,” I agreed. “But he put in the work.”
“And you finally got your work out buddy,” she pointed out.
“I’ll admit, that was an unexpected perk,” I nodded. “We had a lot of fun training.”
“If there was a girlfriend of the year award, you’d get it,” she said.
I laughed. “Come on,” I shook my head. “I was just being supportive.”
“Please, you go above and beyond when it comes to Chase and you know it.”
“Well, it’s no less than he would do for me,” I countered. “That’s what you do when you’re in a relationship.”
Beth sighed. “Funny, I’ve never actually had a relationship like that.”
I gave her a sympathetic smile and nudged her comfortingly. “Hang in there,” I said. “It’ll happen; you just have to be patient.”
Beth rolled her eyes good naturedly, “That’s easy for you to say; you met your life partner when you were still a kid.”
“I got lucky,” I nodded.
Chase was now on the opposite side of the room. His back was to me, but his broad shoulders and intimidating height cut an impressive silhouette. He was talking to my mother and she had to crane her neck backwards to look up at him.
Chase and my mother had always had an easy relationship. She would refer to him as the son she never had and I knew he thought of her as his second mother. It had worked out so perfectly that sometimes even I was floored by it. We had carved out a little world for ourselves, Chase and I. We were cocooned in that world and the comfort it brought.
Mom saw me watching them from across the room and waved at me. Chase turned back to look in my direction and as his eyes fell on me, his face split into a smile I knew was specifically for me. He had been looking at me that way for nine years and I took for granted that that smile would always be there, ready to warm me with its brig
htness.
Chapter Two
Chase
“That last game…man, it was good!” Tyler said emphatically. “I mean, that last play!”
I laughed and nodded. “Thanks, man,” I said.
I was surrounded by some of the old high school gang, and I was slightly uncomfortable with the way they were all looking at me. It was as though I had just come back from the moon: as though I was some kind of hero.
I was looking around for Lauren when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I reached in and retrieved it. Coach Kimmel’s name flashed at me from the screen and I moved into a quiet, neighboring room to take the call.
“Hi, Coach,” I said as I closed the door behind me, shutting out the sound.
“Hi, kid,” his raspy voice sounded from the other line. “Sorry I couldn’t make it to your party.”
“Hey don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s not like this title is a one-time thing. Oh, wait…”
Coach Kimmel’s loud laugh came through clear as a bell, drowning out all other sound. “I just wanted to call and tell you…well, how proud I am of you. You’ve come a long way, kid.”
“Thanks, coach,” I said sincerely. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Ah, well, that girlfriend of yours made my job a lot easier,” Coach Kimmel replied. “She had you fit as a fiddle by the time you stepped onto my field.”
“She’s always been into fitness training,” I nodded. “In fact, she works part time as a personal trainer for one of the local gyms downtown.”
“Took you on as a client, did she?” he asked teasingly.
“Pro bono client,” I replied. “I got to enjoy all the perks.”
“I’ll bet,” he replied. “Are you ready for next season?”
“Next season?” I repeated. “We just finished this one.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Coach Kimmel said as his tone changed slightly. “It’s all about getting your head ready for the upcoming season. Don’t stop training; you gotta keep fit, you gotta stay strong.”
“I will,” I nodded.
“Listen, kid,” he said, a serious note to his tone. “You’ve got it, and that means you can go far. This season was stand out for you, but we’re going to make next season even better. In fact, this time next year, every football fan out there is going to know your name.”
“Geez,” I replied in awe. “No pressure.”
“Pressure is good,” he said, using the voice he used just before a big match when he was trying to light a fire underneath us to spur us forward. “Pressure is what drives you forward and refuses to let you give up. Pressure is what reminds you that some things are important and those things are worth fighting for. You understand me?”
“I understand you,” I nodded soberly, even though he couldn’t see me.
“You’ll do great things, kid,” Coach Kimmel said with a conviction that set my teeth on edge. “Now get back to your party and enjoy yourself. And give that pretty girlfriend of yours a kiss from me.”
I smiled into the receiver. “You got it, Coach,” I said. “Thanks.”
I hung up and moved back into the main room where the party was being held. Immediately after I opened the door, the drum of music assaulted my ears and the guys welcomed me back with cheers that were tilted from drinking. I smiled at them, but I moved passed the boys in search of Lauren.
I spied her in one corner talking to Daniel, Tyler, and Beth. She was gesturing animatedly and I smiled fondly. She was a hand talker, and you could decipher the crux of any story if you watched her hands move long enough. I could tell she was telling the group about Lewis McCredie, one of her newer gym clients whom she had a soft spot for.
She was wearing dark jeans that hugged her long, lean legs and an off the shoulder blouse that brought out the deep green of her eyes. Her dark-brown hair was pulled back to reveal the pale skin of her neck.
I approached the small group and snuck in behind Lauren, putting my arms around her before she saw me.
“Oh,” she said, taken off guard. “I didn’t see you there.”
“You were busy telling these guys about McCredie,” I said smugly.
“You were listening?” she asked, leaning back so she could look at me.
“No,” I smiled. “But your emphatic storytelling abilities gave it all away.”
I didn’t have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes at me. I laughed and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Do you guys mind if I steal Lauren away for a few minutes?”
“Go ahead,” Beth nodded.
“We’ll give you five minutes,” Daniel said jokingly. “Then we’ll come looking for you two.”
Tyler laughed as Beth punched Daniel in the arm. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I took hold of Lauren’s hand and led her away from the party and into a quiet, adjoining room where Mom kept her grand piano. The moment we were alone, Lauren moved straight towards the piano and sat down in front of it. She had always had this image of herself as a musician, but she was self-aware enough to recognize that she had absolutely no musical ability.
“I love this piano,” she said as leaned into it.
I joined her. “You say that every time you see this thing.”
“Because it’s true,” she replied. “I don’t understand why you don’t love it.”
“Because you weren’t forced to spend Saturday mornings sitting in front of it for two hours trying to remember musical notes with Mrs. Thierry.”
“You should have committed,” she insisted passionately. “You should have stuck with it.”
“I did.”
“Four months doesn’t count, Chase,” she said giving me major side eye. “Just think, if you had stuck with it, then you could have spent your Saturday mornings serenading me with song. You could have taught our children. You could have taught me!”
I smirked and then tried to cover up the smirk behind a cough.
“What?” she demanded as she raised one eyebrow expertly.
I smiled apologetically. “Sorry, hon,” I said. “It’s just that music doesn’t exactly come easily to you.”
She was about to argue, but then her face relaxed into acceptance and she sighed dramatically. “I blame my mother,” she replied. “She’s tone deaf, and she decided to pass that gene onto to me.”
I laughed. Sometimes it seemed like our lives were made up of a steady stream of conversations that we left off and picked up at any given time depending on the day, the mood, and the object in front of us. We had been together for so long that there was no longer a beginning and end to the things we spoke about. We were like waves that came and went of their own accord, disregarding the rules and thrilling in that disregard.
“I was looking at houses the other day,” I told Lauren in the abrupt manner that usually started off most of our conversations.
“You were?”
“I think it’s time for us to invest in a home of our own.”
“We have a home of our own,” she reminded me.
“We have an apartment, which I’ll admit is our home, but we don’t own it,” I said. “We should own a home, don’t you think?”
Lauren looked at me carefully for a moment and then she smiled. “I always wanted a house of my very own. Living in apartments your whole life kind of makes you look at houses with a whole new respect.”
“So you’d be interested in purchasing a house?”
“Can we even afford one?” Lauren asked as her brow wrinkled. It usually did that when we discussed money.
“We can now,” I told her. “Or have you forgotten that you’re sleeping with an NFL football player?”
She laughed, and her green eyes burned a little brighter when she did. “I have some money saved up, too.”
“You need that money to open up your gym one day,” I said quickly. “I’ll take care of the house.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Does it even matter?” I asked reasonably. “What�
�s mine is yours. I don’t even think of it as my money; it’s our money and I want to buy us a house.”
“I’d still like to contribute something,” Lauren insisted in typical fashion.
I kissed her on the forehead. “Okay,” I agreed, knowing that she wouldn’t give up until she had exacted some form of acquiescence from me.
“Good,” she smiled happily.
“We could move right after your graduation?” I suggested. “Provided we find the right house.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds like an adventure,” she said, and I could see anticipation flit through her eyes as she imagined the house she had always dreamt of living in. It was the imaginative fervor that had drawn me to her. She was childlike in her dreams, simple as they were, and it made me want to dream, too.
I leaned in and kissed her tenderly. Her lips parted willingly against mine, and I pulled her as close to me as the piano would allow. We were wrapped around each other like teenagers under the bleachers when the door opened and Lauren and I jumped apart instinctively.
“Oh, excuse me,” my mom said as her cheeks colored slightly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“No, no you didn’t,” Lauren rushed to say as she tried to suppress a laugh.
“What is it, Mom?” I asked, not quite suppressing my own laugh.
“We have a little surprise for you,” she said. “Your brother is on Skype, and he would like to congratulate you.”
I glanced at Lauren in delight, not having expected a Skype call from Braden today. I grabbed Lauren’s hand and we rushed up the stairs together and into the first room on the right, which served as my mother’s lounge and study. Her laptop was open and dad was sitting in front of it. He looked up as we entered and swiveled the screen around to face us, revealing Braden’s burnished face.
“Braden!” I said pulling up a chair and pulling the screen a little closer to me. “Hi, dude!”
“Hi, little brother,” Braden said. “You look huge.”
I laughed. “Thanks, I think.”
“No, no, that was a compliment,” he hastened to assure me. “Is that little Laurie on the left of the screen?”
