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She’d been taught to fly under the radar, and she couldn’t do that if she was in the spotlight.
Soren lowered his voice. “If she’s as good as you say she is, you still have another whole season to convince her to try for the draft.”
He sauntered away, and Mac peeled off to meet him. Riley threw her arms around my neck with a grin.
“Now that I’ve proved my dominance, what do I win?”
I gave her a quick kiss, well aware that we were out in the parking lot where anyone could spot us and took her hand to lead her back to the privacy of the apartment. “Cheese. So much cheese. And whatever pie is left after Mac demolishes it.”
Soren’s words circled in my head, but now wasn’t the time to bring them up. Riley had been through enough emotional crap for the day. The long drive to my parents’ house would be soon enough.
23
“Are you still pouting over that catch?” Parker changed lanes around a slow-moving lumber truck, and I huddled deeper in my burrito blanket.
“The catch was solid, Shaw. I fucking tripped and dropped the ball.”
“You’ve never fumbled before?” He reached over to palm my thigh, and I didn’t have the heart to snap at him.
“Not since high school.” And certainly not in a conference championship game.
The trees whizzed by outside my window, lit by the crescent moon hanging low in the sky. We’d left campus after Parker finished his last final, scheduled for Thursday night. Coach had given us Friday through Sunday off, and Parker’s family planned to celebrate Christmas a couple of weeks early on Saturday.
Parker let me stew in my silence for the first part of our journey. We’d won our post-Thanksgiving game, going into the conference championships with a single loss. Luckily, my fumble hadn’t cost us the game, but it had garnered me some time on the news cycle.
I didn’t have a good explanation for the mistake either. One second, I was catching a short pass, the next, I was face-planting onto the grass and the ball was loose. My face got hot thinking about it.
Parker cast me a quick glance. “You can’t be perfect all the time, Lorelai.”
“Thanks. That’s very helpful,” I replied dryly.
He laughed quietly, a low, dangerous sound that sent goosebumps dancing across my skin. “If you want me to be helpful, I could pull over and distract you with something else.”
“We have…” I jabbed at the touchscreen in his car until the map appeared. “Almost six more hours until we get to your picturesque small town. Think un-sexy thoughts.”
“Impossible. Your blob-like form in that blanket is too much to resist.”
Eva had given me the blanket when I refused to get out of bed on Sunday after the Incident during the game. She’d planned to give it to me for Christmas, but she claimed I was too pathetic for her to wait any longer. Parker rubbed the nubby material over my leg, and I sighed. If he kept touching me, I might actually give in, despite our attempts to be less reckless the last few weeks.
Nothing like being caught naked with my team captain on a lonely stretch of highway a few weeks before the end of the season. Speaking of being naked with my team captain…
“Are we going to be sharing a twin bed in a teen boy’s room covered in posters of football legends and swimsuit models?”
Parker shook his head. “Nah, I never had a twin bed, and my mom remodeled my room after I left, though I can ask her to put the swimsuit models back if that’s what you’re hoping for.”
I snorted, glad that my less than stellar mood wasn’t dragging him down. It wasn’t just the fumble bothering me. Right before we’d left, I’d received a serious-looking letter from George’s lawyer in the mail.
He didn’t usually use his lawyer as an intermediary, preferring to harass me in person, despite orders from the court. Dad’s lawyer, like his former manager, had checked out as soon as the money was handled. Turned out a college kid from the middle of nowhere didn’t have a lot of options about lawyers, even with a multi-million-dollar estate backing her.
Without access to the money, I had to make do with what I could afford on my stipend, then that dried up too. Honestly, Dad kind of fucked me with his estate planning.
Coming on the heels of a fumble and the damn human sexuality final that I passed with a razor thin margin, I chose to wait on the letter. George’s harassment could resume after I’d had some down time.
Parker’s hand on my thigh reminded me I hadn’t told him yet. I planned to, when I opened it, but for now, I wanted to pretend the envelope sitting in my bag didn’t exist.
He ignored my lack of response to his joke and hummed along to the jaunty Christmas music playing softly over the speakers. I liked seeing Parker like this—relaxed and happy. We’d won our conference, but he had higher goals.
The College Football Championship.
