Pinned Down: A Triple Threat Sports Romance (19 page)

Kendra

My parents had come back up for the championship game. We sat in box seats, courtesy of Mr. Stevens. As far as I knew, it was their first NFL game ever. We sat and watched. We could tell it was a close game because of the score. That was the only thing that made sense to us. The plays went over our heads. The back and forth between the teams on the field only made sense in so much as we could usually tell who had the ball.

We judged the tension in the crowd at times, telling us when there were close plays or when things were just going well for the guys on the field. We really didn’t have any idea what we were watching.

“When does Lucky come on the field?” my father asked over a hotdog he’d purchased from one of the vendors. I had told him that we had access to our own food in the box seats, but he insisted on getting a hotdog.

“He’s the kicker, so he’s not really on the field a whole lot,” I explained.

“And he gets paid good money for that?” my mother asked.

“Yeah, it’s probably the best paying position on the team for the amount of work he does. I mean, he’s not getting paid as much as the quarterback or anything, but he’s also not on the field nearly as much,” I told them.

“Well, shit, tell them they need to kick the damn ball or something,” my father said, his mouth full of the bite he’d just taken.

“Take it easy. They’ll probably end up using him soon. They always do,” I explained. Lucky probably got more action on the field than most kickers. It seemed they were always pulling him out onto the field. They just hadn’t done it once all game.

I hoped nothing was wrong. I was sure they would have notified me if anything was, though. I had been re-introduced to everyone after he’d been reinstated on the team. It seemed that Lucky was the only one who wasn’t married.

In fact, the team had even discussed dropping his nickname since it was representative of the days when he pretty much ran wild. I still called him Lucky because that was who he was to me. He wasn’t Cade to me unless he was in trouble.

The announcement finally came that he was being called to the field. It was the last play of the game, the end of the fourth quarter. They didn’t have any time to run the ball. From the looks of things on the scoreboard, they had just enough time to kick it.

There was no way anyone could have made that kick. It was over half the field. I had no idea how many yards it was, but they were on the back end of the field with the ball.

The ball was snapped, setting the players on the field into motion. The other team started closing in, and all of a sudden, that ball shot out over their heads. Everyone stopped. The stadium fell silent. I was sure no one was even breathing.

All eyes were on that ball as it flew towards the goal posts on the far end of the field. There was just no way he had kicked it that far. There was no way it was still soaring through the air, but it was.

And the referees threw their hands up to signal that the kick was good.

The stadium erupted in cheers. Lucky’s teammates picked him up and carried him as the score was updated and they won the game. Players and team staff stormed the field. Reporters and security joined them. Cameras and microphones were everywhere. Everyone was either a reporter or a member of the team and staff.

“Come on,” I said to my parents.

“What do you mean?” my father asked.

“Come on, I’m taking you down to meet Lucky in person,” I insisted.

“Both of us?” my mother asked, almost in protest of going down to the field.

“Yes, both of you,” I said. “Come on. You can come with me or not, but I’m going to see my boyfriend.”

I started down to the field, not caring if they were behind me or not. We were stopped by security from stepping onto the field, but one of the staff members saw us, and he recognized me.

“Sir, that’s the kicker’s wife,” he said, embellishing a little to make sure he stepped aside to let us pass.

“These are my parents,” I told him. “They’re with me.”

The security officer nodded with his severe face, and we walked past him.

“This way. I’ll take you straight to Cade,” the kid said as he led us through the crowd.

As we got closer, I could see Lucky standing under the lights of several TV news cameras, talking to a couple of different reporters about what had happened and why they hadn’t used him all game.

“You know, I trust Coach Anglin. If he decides he wants to save me until the last play of the game, I’m good with that decision. If he wants me out there early on, that’s awesome, too. But he knows what’s going on out there on the field throughout the game, so I’m going to keep my faith in his calls and make sure I’m ready when he needs me,” he told one of them.

“How does it feel to kick the winning goal?” another asked.

“Look, the guys won this game. They set me up for that last kick. If it hadn’t been for how hard they worked out there tonight, I wouldn’t have been able to pull anything off,” he told them, laughing.

Someone was starting to ask another question, but the staff member pushed me forward, through the line of reporters surrounding Lucky. I had wanted to hang back while he was talking. I didn’t want to get in the way of his spotlight, because I knew he loved the attention, and he had certainly earned it by playing straight this season.

He looked up. He his eyes met mine, and even though I froze, he didn’t. He grabbed me and pulled me to him, throwing an arm around my shoulder.

“I want to introduce you all the woman who singlehandedly has made me a better player this season. Her name is Kendra Boles. She’s the director of the local office of Older Brothers. She’s been using their program to actually make me the player Coach Anglin thought I was when he took me in at the beginning of the season.” That statement got a good round of laughs.

“How has she helped your game?” one of the reporters asked.

“She’s been helping me keep my nose clean. She’s why I’m not in the papers every other day getting myself into trouble like I used to do.” He winked at me.

“Miss Boles, we have some questions for you, too,” the same reporter said. She was pushing everyone else out of the way and trying to hog all of Lucky’s time.

“Actually, I have a question, first,” Lucky said.

I looked at him, and he had a strange look on his face. It was a smile I hadn’t seen before. There was a twinkle in his eye that had never been there as well.

“What would you like to ask?” the reporter asked him, holding her microphone out to him so she could pick up what he said.

“Actually, yeah, hold the mic right there for a moment. I want you to pick this up.”

I stepped back. What the hell was he about to do?
He reached under his shirt and pulled out a ring as he got down on one knee in front of me. The reporter kept her microphone in front of his face while he knelt down, looking up at me and holding the ring up to me. I couldn’t believe it. He was about to propose to me on national television and right in front of my parents.

I covered my face and held back a scream of joy while he cleared his throat. Once again, silence settled around us as all eyes were on Lucky’s move.

“Kendra Boles, you have been an inspiration to me since the day we met. You have saved my career. You have done the impossible and helped me salvage my reputation. You have taught me the importance of giving back to my community instead of always just taking for myself.”

I blinked back the tears of shock and joy as he continued talking.

“You believed in me when I had shaken everyone else’s faith. You are an amazing woman, and I love you more than I ever imagined possible. Kendra Boles, will you do me the honor of letting me take your hand in marriage?”

At the end of his speech, the reporter turned her microphone to me. The light from the camera shifted as well. I was on the spot. I had to choose my words carefully, because everyone at home was watching. My parents were watching. The other reporters, his teammates, and even some of the guys from the rival team were all watching and listening.

“How lucky are you feeling?” I asked him in return.

He smiled and took my hand as I lowered it from my face. I didn’t give him a straight answer, but he slid the ring on my finger nonetheless. I couldn’t help but stare at the large diamond shining at me with all the light coming from the cameras. It was almost blinding.

“I’m feeling
that
lucky,” he said, nodding.

“Then yes,” I said, and everyone around us cheered. He stood up and wrapped his arms around me.

The reporter pulled her microphone away from me and started reporting on Lucky’s proposal.

“It’s always been yes, and you’ve known that,” I told him. “At least I hope you have.”

“I have,” he said in my ear, kissing my cheek.

I pulled back from our embrace and introduced him to my parents formally. He put out a hand to shake my father’s, but my father pulled him in for a hug.

“I want to thank you for bringing our daughter back to us,” my father said.

“Yes, sir. I didn’t know where else to go for help, so I figured going to the last people she wanted to talk to
had
to be the answer,” Lucky joked. They laughed with him, and my mother cried when she hugged him.

“Well, welcome to the family, son,” my father said, taking his hand. “That was a good show.”

He nodded, trying to humbly accept my father’s compliment, but I knew deep down he was as overjoyed as I was. And I was glad to see that he hadn’t traded everything in just yet. He still had that Lucky’s Charm that he’d used to win me over in the first place.

I didn’t stand a chance as we moved forward with our life together.

THE END

Never Enough

NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF HER I CLAIM, IT'S NEVER ENOUGH.

She betrayed me, abandoned me, ran away.

The only thing I had left was a letter she wrote me, saying she had to go.

That, and my burning rage.

With Jess gone, I make myself an oath: no woman will ever be more than an object for me.

A tool for my pleasure. Nothing less and nothing more.

But fate is a fickle bitch, and when I rescue a damsel in distress seven years later,

It turns out to be none other than my ex-wife.

She's just as gorgeous as I remember her: all curves and dark brown hair.

Lips like sin and skin like a cloud.

The old urges are still there.

And time has only made them stronger.

But Jess has acquired some enemies since she left.

And before I know it, there's a target on both of our backs.

As much as I want to let her sink or swim on her own,

I know one thing and one thing only:

I've got her back.

And she's never leaving me again.