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Her eyes widened as he whipped off his headset. Before she could react, he leaned down and gave her a long, punishing kiss.
Strobes flashed and the crowd roared with laughter, hoots, and cheers. When Dan pulled away, Phoebe forced herself to smile. The crowd thought it was a joke, but she knew it wasn't. His kiss had been filled with anger and intended to hurt. He was letting her know that he hadn't forgiven her for insulting his honor.
He moved abruptly away and turned all his attention to the field as the ball soared through the air. The Sabers' return man caught it deep in the Stars' end zone.
Despite her own turbulent emotions, she was quickly wrapped up in the excitement of the game. She knew from Ron that part of Dan's strategy was to force Saber turnovers, and the defense's aggressive play did just that less than four minutes into the game, when Elvis Crenshaw knocked the ball loose from their tailback. The Stars quickly established control and by the end of the quarter, they had posted seven points and the Sabers were scoreless.
She made her way back up to the skybox, where the atmosphere was as tense as it had been on the field. The Stars were building momentum while the Sabers struggled to get into the game, but it was still far too early to relax. Ten minutes later, when the Stars intercepted a thirty-yard pass, Phoebe knew she couldn't stand the tension any longer. They were playing brilliantly, but what if they fell apart?
Muttering to Ron that she was going to take a walk, she slipped the chain of her purse over her shoulder and left the skybox. She nodded at the security officer outside, then began to pace in the otherwise deserted hallway. As another gale of cheers came from behind the closed doors, she rounded the bend at the end of the hall.
She wished Molly were with her instead of sitting outside with her friends. The last few days had been magic between the two of them as Molly had chattered away nonstop, determined to fill her older sister in on every detail of her life. Phoebe smiled. No matter what else she might regret about these past few months, she would never regret her decision to keep Molly with her.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she barely noticed how far she'd walked until the door of one of the nearby skyboxes flew open, amplifying another round of cheers. Her fingers tightened over her purse as Reed came out. The last thing she wanted at this moment was to meet up with him, but he had already spotted her, so she couldn't retreat.
The Stars' last victory had put an end to his pretended affability, and now there was nothing left but hostility. When he reached her, he lit a cigarette with a gold lighter and squinted against the smoke.
"Bored with the game already?"
She had no desire for another confrontation, and she gave a casual shrug. "No. Just nervous. What about you?"
"I came out for a cigarette, that's all."
The cloud of smoke that had wafted into the hallway when he'd opened the skybox door still hadn't entirely dissipated. "You couldn't stand to watch either."
She immediately wished she'd kept her mouth shut. Although sh
e hadn't meant her statement to be a challenge, that was how he took it.
"It's not even halftime. I wouldn't start celebrating yet."
"I'm not."
They heard another round of cheers, and he drew a quick, angry drag. "You've been lucky all your life. You're the only person I've ever met who could step into a pile of shit and have it turn into gold."
"I've always thought you were the lucky one."
He gave a snort.
She gripped the strap of her purse. "After all these years, you still hate me, don't you? When I was a kid, I could never figure out why. You had everything that I wanted."
"Sure I did," he scoffed. "I grew up in a run-down apartment with a neurotic mother and no father."
"You had a father. You had mine."
His lips drew tight in a sneer. "That's right, I did. Bert cared more about me than he ever cared about you, right up until the day he died. He just wanted to teach you a lesson. He kept saying that you were his only failure, and he thought you'd settle down if he could get you away from those faggots you were always running with." Reed jabbed his cigarette into one of the sand-filled ashtrays that stood against the wall. "Bert didn't mean for it to turn out like this. No one could have predicted all the flukes that happened this season. The Sabers lose Simpson and McGuire, the Chargers lose Wyzak, the Bills and the Dolphins fall apart. Christ, if he'd had any idea the Stars would make it to the playoffs, he never would have let you get near the team, not even for a day!"
"The Stars did make it to the playoffs. And from the sound of the cheers, they're winning."
His face darkened with rage. The successful businessman had disappeared, leaving the cruel bully of her childhood in his place. "Goddammit, you're gloating, aren't you?"
"I'm not—"
But her denial came too late because he jammed her against the wall with his body. She winced as her shoulders hit and her purse dropped to the ground.
"You ruined everything for me! You always have!"
Frightened, she pushed against his chest with the heels of her hands. "Let me go or I'll scream!"
