Hail Mary Baby: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (3 page)

J
enkins looked
at me like I was crazy. "Don't tell me that bitch is really coming." He said.

I laughed. "She's coming, man."

We walked up to the massive warehouse in front of us. The party of the fucking century, decked out in flashing neon lights, a perfect male to female ratio, and all the drugs and alcohol we could get our hands on. The bass was pumping as we made our way inside and people scrambled to be around us. The life of a football star. Perfection.

"Man, Cindy has got to be the worst human I have ever met. I'm sorry, I know she was like your ex-love and all, but she's a total bitch." He said, as we pushed our way to the VIP area.

"Yeah I know man. She cheated on me, remember? Me, of all fucking people. Trust me, I hate her more than anyone. There's a reason why I didn't walk in with her." It didn't take much time to find the rest of our crew, the best players on the Cowboys. "We'll talk about it later. Right now, I just want to enjoy my night with ya'll."

Jenkins nodded in agreement. "Well boys, cheers to that!" He yelled, holding up a bottle of vodka that he found in the middle of he table. A waitress quickly put another one down for us. Everyone, of course, cheered even though they had no idea what they were cheering for. I gave a loud yell in solidarity.

Truth was, I couldn't even enjoy myself. I kept looking around for the reporter girl and she wasn't anywhere. I should have gotten her number, but I was cocky. Shit, who could blame me? I had just won the Super Bowl for Christ sakes. Now I was paying the price for my actions. I soon felt a hand on my shoulder and heard the words, "Hey babe!"

I shuddered with fear and anger. Cindy. felt like I was going to be sick. That's how much I loathed this woman. "Cindy, glad you actually made it." I said.

"You sound excited." She said, knowing full well I didn't.

"Why don't you sit down." I said, gesturing at an open chair near Jenkins. He gave me a look that said, "What the fuck."

She pulled the chair over and sat in between us. Great. So now I couldn't even talk to my boy without leaning over this witch.

"So, do you like what I'm wearing?" She asked me, pushing her ass onto my lap. I looked her up and down and have a half-smile. Despite the fact that she might have been the devil incarnate, she looked hot as hell. She did have that going for her. She leaned in close to me and whispered, "I want you to tear every piece of fabric off of me tonight. I want you to plow me against the wall of your hotel room." She bit my ear and gave a shrill laugh.

I stayed silent. If the reporter chick didn't show up, I would let her come home with me. But that would be the last time. After that, we would be through for good. Jenkins was just sitting there, shaking his head.

In front of me was Randy Towman, one of the best defensive guards we had. He busted his ass in every game and got in a good amount of sacks. He spoke up to clear the tension. "Jenkins. Conway. You two killed it out there today. Fuck, Jenkins broke his fucking arm out there for this game!" We all started drinking pretty heavily after that. It was time to celebrate and the music was on full blast.

"Cocaine anyone?" Jenkins asked, throwing a huge bag of white powder onto the table.

"Holy shit!" Randy shouted with excitement, emphasis on the word holy. "That's what I'm talking about!"

He immediately breathed in a big line for himself and almost fell backward in his seat. "Woo-ey!" He yelled. I picked him up and slapped his back. "Your turn, brother!"

"No!" The words came out of Cindy. "It's my turn!" She selfishly announced. Everyone grumbled and looked at me. I didn't give a shit. There would be drugs waiting for me until the sun came up in the morning. There always was.

Jenkins wasn't having it though. "Hell no." He said. "I didn't break my arm to watch you steal our party favors." But Cindy had some audacity in her. There she was, already taking two lines to herself. After she finished, she took a swig of our vodka. She cackled with an unnerving amount of energy.

"It's alright guys. Let her have her fun." I said, trying to be the better man. I could tell Jenkins wanted to throw her out the front door.

"Alright, Jenkins. You're up." I said, cutting one for him. He smiled brightly and leaned over the table. "You know," he began, sucking up the drug, "I always feel like a scum bag when I do this shit." He laughed.

Randy slapped the table, "That's because you are, brother!" We all broke out into laughter.

Now, of course, it was my turn. Jenkins carefully cut me a line and I turned to inhale the whole thing. As soon as I breathed inward, I saw her. The reporter from Channel 5. I choked with surprise and blew outward. Half of the cocaine went flying.

Randy couldn't handle it. "C'mon man! Have some self control." He said. I shrugged it off and picked myself off my chair. The coke that I did inhale, made its way through my bloodstream and I felt a rush of euphoria.

Cindy, on the other hand, wasn't feeling too good. She immediately saw that I was eyeing the woman that just walked in and quickly formed a plan to keep me at the table. "Come on, babe. What's wrong? Don't you want to party with me?" She said, grabbing at my belt buckle.

I shoved her off me and said, "Just leave me alone will ya?"

Unfortunately, the girl I had been waiting for saw this and headed for the front door. "Shit!" I said aloud, and chased after her.

I
walked
up to the extravagant building where the party was and realized Liam Conway hadn't given me any insight as to how I would get in. I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the piece of paper the star quarterback had given me.

"Name?" The door guy asked me.

I scrambled to answer correctly. "Umm, Laura Alvaroy. Liam Conway told me to come?" I spat out.

The guy didn't even check the list. He just eyed me up and down.  After a few seconds of torturous silence, he uttered those three magic words, "Go on through."

In I went, walking toward the glittery lights, the pumping music, and crazed football players and fans. There must've been 1000 women there, and somehow Liam Conway asked me of all people to come to the party. I couldn't help but smile. I was excited.

Of course, as soon as I looked up, I saw him. He was bending over a table full of drugs with some blonde around his arms. I felt the rage build inside of me followed by the familiar letdown that always comes after a sighting like that. He turned and saw me, coughed his drugs up, and walked toward me. He at least pushed the girl off of him.

"You made it!" He said, seemingly excited about me being there. Though, I could tell he was more flustered than anything else.

I gave a dull reply, "Uh. Yeah." I looked down at my feet, feeling misled.

"You want a drink?" He asked me.

"Sure." I found myself saying. "Or two."

He laughed and led me to the bar, away from the blonde woman who was staring a hole into my head. We sat down and I watched as he made a simple hand gesture to the bar tender who quickly whipped up two cocktails for us. "Cheers." He said.

"Cheers." I took a big sip and set my drink down. I still didn't know what to say. Here I was with the winning quarterback, and I didn't feel a thing.

He moved around in his seat a little. "I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have been such a prick. You probably work hard at what you do and you deserve better." He said. Finally something sweet. He sounded genuine at least.

"Thanks." I muttered. "You going to give me that interview to make up for it, or am I wasting my time again?"

He seemed taken aback, as if he didn't expect me to be so set on things. "Of course. If anything, I'm a man of my word. How about tonight? After the party?"

"Tonight? Won't this thing end at like five in the morning?" I asked him. There was no way I was staying out that late. Besides, I had pretty much had it set in my mind that I wasn't going to sleep with this guy. He was already too much to handle.

"Six in the morning actually." He smiled. "But listen. I got my ex here following my every move. She's a horrible woman. How about we dance for a little and take off. I need to be away from all these people anyway. Too much celebrity shit, you know?"

I looked over to the blonde woman. She was still staring at us and from the looks of it, cocaine was all around her nostril. She looked like a wreck. "Is that her?" I asked, trying not to be too obvious.

"That's her alright. It's okay, you can point." He waved at her and smiled. I quickly knocked his hand back down.

"Oh my God!" I yelled. "You really don't care, do you?"

"About what?" He faked a dumb look.

"I don't know. Anyone or anything, it seems!" I said, with a slight smile on my face.

"Oh I care about some stuff. It's just that a lot of things bore me. Don't you ever just look around you and get bored?" He asked.

"Not really. I like my life now. My life used to be boring. Now I almost have everything I've asked for." I said proudly. "What things do you care about then, Liam?"

He lifted his eyebrows and sighed. That's a good question. A very good one. I suppose I like you." He said.

I blushed. "Me? You don't even know me." I said.

"Sure I do. You're the reporter lady from Channel 5." He said.

"Oh God. That's all you think of me as? Do you even know my name?" I shook my head.

"Kristine?" He said, knowing full well my name is not Kristine.

"Laura." I said. "My name is Laura."

He laughed. "Well, it was a good try on my part, right? I bet you don't even know my name."

I have him a silent stare and rolled my eyes. "You know, you're not a funny as you think you are." I said.

"Well I'm not much of a comedian, but I'm a hell of a dancer. Care to dance?" He winked at me.

If I had any self control I would have said no, but of course I said, "Why not?"

He quickly led me to the dance floor and, though he was on a small amount of drugs I didn't necessarily agree with, he was actually quite calm and collected. Playing out of the speakers was a slow song. He gave me a twirl and within seconds I was in his arms.

"Have I charmed you yet?" He asked me.

I gave a half-nod and smiled. "You're doing better than earlier. But I think your ex is a little angry."

We both looked over at her. She had thrown all the bottles of vodka onto the floor and was being carried out by security. "Liam! I love you!" She yelled.

He ducked his face near mine and whispered, "Oh God. How could I even date that woman? Don't even look at her. She doesn't deserve the time of day." He said. "You know, I was hoping you'd show up. Still can't believe you did."

"Well, it's like you said earlier. I work hard for what I want. And I want that interview Mr. Conway." I said as he brought me closer to him.

"
I
love confident women
." I actually said out loud. I have to admit, I was already pretty drunk at this point and the small amount of cocaine was now wearing off.

The slower song had ended and she picked her cheek off from my shoulder, looking slightly awkward around us. "Let's leave." I said.

"What? Now?" She asked me.

"What's stopping you?" I asked, seriously wondering why it was such a big deal. Women normally killed to go home with a gig like me. With her, things were different.

She laughed. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I do actually."

"Well," she began, "I don't want to go because I don't want to sleep with you, and I feel like if I go I'll have to sleep with you."

Oh, well I guess there was my answer. Normally I would have pushed her aside. But something weird happened. It was if she knew I wouldn't.

"You don't have to sleep with me." I said. "I'm bored of that one night stand shit anyway. We can just...talk." I gulped. Was I really saying this? It was stupid of course, but I hoped maybe she'd want to sleep with me after getting to know me some more.

"Maybe." She acquiesced.

"All on record, of course." I added.

She looked around and took a deep breath. Jenkins was in the back corner of the room, with some other woman. Cindy was passed out on one of the couches with her eyes open, still basically staring us down. "It's now or never!" I said.

"Alright, fine. Let's go." She said hurriedly. I grabbed her hand and threw her into my arms, carrying her outside. I smashed open the doors and set her back down onto her feet. It was a chilly Dallas night and the streets were busy. After all, everyone was still celebrating the Super Bowl game.

"It's this way." I said. "We can walk."

We walked down a sidewalk on the strip. Suddenly she broke the silence, "Is it weird?" She asked me.

"Is what weird? Football?" I replied.

She shook her head. "No. But like, people knowing who you are wherever you go. I think that would be real weird. I think I'd hate it." She said so innocent and sweet.

"I think I hate it too." I laughed. "Maybe you can understand why I'm such a prick to the press, huh?"

She grabbed my arm. "I guess I get it now." She said. "We're all people though. There's got to be some kind of mutual respect, right?"

"I think we can find some kind of mutual respect. I definitely think we can do that. Between you and me." I laughed.

She pushed me lightly. "Come on!" She said.

We made our way forward, the lights around us shining brightly. We passed a strip of bars where a group of drunks were standing out front. As I passed them, one of the guys called out, "Hey! That looks like Liam Conway!" I kept walking, hoping they would shut up.

“Holy shit, that
is
Liam Conway!” His buddy said next to him.

“Fuck.” I muttered under my breath. I looked over at Laura. She looked more worried than annoyed. I kept walking.

“Hey Liam, stop for a second. Talk to your fans.” The first guy said.

I turned around. “Come on guys. It’s late. I have to take my friend here home. If you want, I’ll take a picture or sign a jersey, but I have to be heading home now.” I said, feeling uneasy. These guys were clearly wasted beyond repair, and they looked angry for whatever reason.

They all burst into laughter. “Oh, so you think we want your autograph. Cute. Nah, we’re all set on autographs and facebook pictures. We just wanted to exchange a few words with you. That’s all.” He said.

“Well, okay. But it’s like I said, I have to go home. My friend is counting on me here.” I said, standing in front of Laura. I didn’t trust these guys one bit.

“The girl is fine, pal.” He said. “Now I suggest you come talk to us.” He gestured down with his eyes. In his right hand was a gun. In his friend’s palm was a knife. And slowly, they surrounded us.

“No!” Laura screamed, although it came out as a rasp whisper.

“It’s going to be okay.” I whispered to her.

“Yes, it’s going to be just fine.” The clear leader of the group muttered. “Now get your hands where I can see ‘em.”

We both put our hands up and tried to remain as calm as we could. “What do you want from me?” I asked.

“First I want all your money. Put your wallet, your watch, and whatever else you got on the ground.”

I did what he asked and put all my belongings on the ground, but Laura hesitated. “Come on. We have to do what he asks. He could shoot you.”

The guy with the gun walked forward and put it close to her head. Tears ran down her cheeks. I felt like none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me. “Leave her alone!” I yelled.

“What’s the matter?” He asked her. “Can’t you listen to reason?”

She sat there shaking with utter and complete fear. “My ring…” She mumbled. “It belonged to my grandfather.”

“Put it on the ground!” The man shouted. I looked all around us for an escape. The only weapons these guys had was the gun and the knife. If I could somehow get both of those, I could get us out of this mess fast.

“No.” she said, still trembling, but courageous nonetheless. I was completely surprised. “I won’t. It’s one of the most important things I own.”

“Just leave her alone, God dammit. I’ll give you whatever you want.” I said.

The man started laughing as he pointed the gun at me now. “Anything? You know, I was never a big Cowboys fan. More of a Patriots guy myself. And after the game tonight, I lost a hell of a lot of money. Now I’m broke. Might lose my fucking house. All because of you Liam Conway. I bet against you.” He aimed the gun against my forehead. “Both of you. I want you to say your goodbyes.”

“Don’t do it!” Laura screamed.

I could see his finger curling around the trigger. He was actually serious. He was actually going to kill us. All over a lousy bet. I gestured to the door behind him. “Looks like security showed up after all.” I said, trying to get him to look behind him. He took a short glance and realized the lie, strengthening his grip around the pistol. That’s when everything slowed down for me.

It was just like the game. The roar of the people around me. The deafening silence of concentration. I kicked upward. My boot hit his jaw, shattering the bones in an instant. He didn’t stand a chance. As his gun flew up in the air, his friend tried to stab me in the gut. I jumped backwards and he missed me by an inch. I slammed my elbow down into his gut, grabbing the hand with the knife and twisting. His wrist broke and he dropped the weapon.

Time sped up again. I grabbed the gun and the knife and aimed both at their friends. “You really want to try me, motherfucker?” I asked one of them.

Well, I guess that was it. They all scrambled away like a few little girls. I wasn’t trained in fighting, but I
was
trained in football, which was practically the same thing. “Come on.” I said, offering my hand. “Let’s get you home.”