Sidelined: A Sports Romance Page 13

  Phil looked stunned. “That’s excellent news. I’ll call the sellers immediately and get everything ready for you.”

  “Great. Call me when it’s ready to sign.”

  I walked out of the apartment and jogged down the stairs to my own place. This was how I was going to do it. I’d build her a studio. I’d show her the life we could have together.

  I understood she wanted to make money and stand on her own. I respected that, but it was keeping us apart when we should be together. I didn’t want to pay her to be my girlfriend—I tried to explain to her it wasn’t like that. I’d pay the bills and the mortgage while she focused on ballet. It wasn’t a paid relationship.

  Sneaking around like this wasn’t going to work. If the Goddesses found out, they would fire her. I knew they had strange traditions, as did our dance team. The girls took some things more seriously than the players.

  And then it hit me. I scrolled through my phone and looked at the pictures we took together this morning on the lake before we left.

  It was shitty. But I knew exactly how to free Natalia so she could do what she really loved.

  Twenty-Eight

  Natalia

  Road trips were not my favorite thing. I threw my warm up outfits in a bag along with my makeup case. I also didn’t want to admit that flying out of state meant being far from Sam. It sounded silly, but I didn’t want to be farther away from him than I had to be.

  He promised me another trip to Canyon Lake when we both had a day off again.

  I hadn’t seen him in six days and I missed him. We talked every night, but it wasn’t the same. He texted throughout the day, but I wanted to kiss him. He sent me flowers in the middle of the week, and I wanted to jump in his arms to thank him.

  I hated to admit it, but maybe he was right. Maybe being in two different cities was too hard. I struggled with the decision, but I wanted to finish the season with the Goddesses. There was a part of me that knew I had taken someone else’s spot at try outs. There was a girl out there who dreamed of being a Goddess her entire life, and I made the cut and she didn’t.

  What did it say to her if I walked away? What did it say to the other girls on the team if I left before the playoffs? Part of being a dancer meant supporting the other dancers. It wasn’t only about me. I didn’t think I had made that clear to Sam. Ballet would be there when I was done with this commitment. I had to pray he would be too.

  I zipped up my bag and hauled it to the front door. We had several press events and a big part in the halftime show. There was more packing required than usual and the bag felt too heavy.

  Heather and Presley met me at the gates of the squad entrance.

  “Ready to fly?”

  “I’m all packed.” I held up my bags. I smiled brightly.

  “This is going to be amazing,” Heather helped me put my bag on the cart. “I love traveling.”

  I put my arm around her shoulder. “Is there anything about being a Goddess you don’t love?” I teased.

  “Not a thing,” she answered. “It’s the best job in the world.”

  Presley puckered her lips and applied a layer of lipgloss. “The best. Why would you want to do anything else? We dance. We travel. The men love us.” She laughed.

  I tried to keep a straight face. “That’s true.”

  She smacked her lips together. “We know you want to go back to the ballet. But could you least pretend you’re having some fun?”

  “You know what? I am having fun.” I giggled. “I appreciate what you all have done for me. I do.” I pulled them into a hug.

  “Whoa, what’s gotten into you, honey?” Heather asked.

  “Nothing. I just wanted you to know how much I love being a Goddess. Being a part of the team.”

  Presley eyed Heather. “Is she drunk? Did I just hear her say that?”

  “I’m not drunk.” My eyebrows rose.

  “Ahh, there it is. That admonishing tone we love so much. Okay, it’s her.” Presley winked.

  “I don’t admonish,” I argued.

  They folded their arms and stared at me.

  “Maybe a little bit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t do that. It’s a very bad ballet habit.”

  “You blame the ballet?” Heather wasn’t convinced. I actually felt a little hurt. I didn’t realize they thought of me that way.

  “Yes. No. I don’t know. Madame Collette was very opinionated. And she practically raised me, so maybe a little of the dance snobbery rubbed off on me. Okay?”

  They both smiled. “We’re just giving you a hard time, Natalia. We know it’s different being a Goddess. But we still love you.”

  I sighed. “Thank God. I was starting to think you weren’t going to let me travel this weekend.”

  “And mess up the halftime show? You’re crazy. Maybe she is drunk.” Presley still wasn’t convinced.

  We climbed onto the bus together. It was a quick ride to the airport and from there, we would fly to DC.

  For the first time I felt as if I had this all figured out.

  I sent Sam a quick text.

  Headed to the airport for DC. I’ll miss you.

  I waited until my phone buzzed.

  Don’t stay gone long.

  I started to giggle and covered my mouth.

  “Who are you texting over there?” Presley leaned over the seat.

  I turned my phone facedown. “Something funny I read.”

  Heather grinned. “I think you have a boyfriend and you aren’t telling us.”

  “No. No way.” I shook my head.

  “Something has you all giddy and mysterious. It’s been going on for weeks. I can tell.”

  “Nothing is going on.” My voice must have returned to ballerina status, because their eyes widened. “Sorry, I did it again, didn’t I?”

  They nodded.

  I had that nervous feeling in my stomach. The same one from the conversation when Heather admitted she knew about Sam and me. Although, this time, it wasn’t only about the money. I didn’t want to lose this. I was finally happy. Everything in my life was bliss. Sam. Dancing. I could wear my pointe shoes. It was perfect.

  “Tell him you’ll be home Sunday night and we’ll take care of you,” Heather instructed.

  I smiled. “Not necessary, but thank you.”

  I settled into my seat as the bus driver closed the doors. In a few minutes, we’d be on the tarmac and in the air.

  Twenty-Nine

  Sam

  We won our game Sunday, but after the first few snaps, I realized Wes wasn’t throwing to me. He was still pissed about last week. I tried to talk to him on the sideline, but he walked the other direction. I was going to have to prove myself again. Fuck.

  This was one time I wished I had the power to get Coach to call the plays. He wanted Wes to throw to me, but the quarterback called the shots once we stepped on the field. He didn’t trust me, and it showed.

  I sat in the locker room after the game and waited for the room to clear. Wes was dressed in his dark suit. He had to move over to the press room in a few minutes.

  “Hey, man. Can we talk?” I cornered him by the mirrors.

  “Yeah. I have a minute. I’m waiting on the golf cart.”

  “Look, I know I fucked up last week. But what happened out there today? I can catch the damn ball.”

  His hand landed on my shoulder. “You blocked today. That was your job. And you did a damn good job keeping the defenders off our asses. So thank you.” He paused, and his eyes hardened. “But if you ever drop another pass in the end zone again, I swear…”

  “Blakefield, they’re ready for you.”

  He looked at me. “Catch what I’m saying?”

  I glared at him. “Throw me the fucking ball next week.” I walked away from him.

  I had it today. I could feel it. Everything was together. I had closed on the new apartment. The construction started tomorrow. It was only a matter of a couple weeks before I could move Natalia in. If he had thrown the ball to
me at all, I could have given him twenty yards. But no, the bastard passed it off to Persons or threw it to Stubbs. He used me as a wall.

  I picked up my bag. I remembered what Natalia had told me at the cabin. She didn’t let one mistake define her life. She was back in her shoes, preparing for auditions. I couldn’t let one dropped pass be the end of my relationship with the quarterback. I needed him and he needed me.

  I lugged my Wranglers bag over my shoulder and stepped into the tunnel outside the locker room. The Fillies were grouped together, talking about going out.

  “Hey, Sam.” One of them turned around and waved.

  “Hey, Vanessa.” They reminded me of Natalia. I wondered how her halftime show went today. I wondered if she was in the air flying home.

  “Want to go get a drink with us?” she asked.

  “I think I’ll pass. I’m pretty worn out, girls.”

  She pouted. “You never come out with us anymore. Last year you were so much fun.”

  Last year I took advantage of every new opportunity. I had rookie fever—no doubt. But I had someone in my life and I wasn’t going to fuck it up.

  “Sorry.” I shrugged my shoulders and walked past them. “Maybe next time.” But there wouldn’t be a next time. I was done with the Fillies. I was done with other women. There was only one person meant for me.

  I walked into my apartment and grabbed a beer from the fridge. We had the early game today, so there was still plenty of football to watch. I stretched out on the couch and turned on the TV.

  I looked down and saw Natalia’s name light up my screen.

  “Hey, baby.” I smiled.

  “Hey, we’re stuck.”

  I sat forward. “What do you mean stuck?”

  “Our jet is down for maintenance or something. That said it’s going to be tomorrow before we can fly out.”

  “The Warriors aren’t getting you out of there?”

  “No,” she answered. “We have to wait until a part comes in. I don’t know. They aren’t handing out many details.”

  “I’ll get a ticket for you. I can fly you in here and then drive you back to Austin in the morning. I’m off tomorrow.”

  “I can’t let you do that. I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

  “You can let me do that. It’ll take five minutes for me to get you on a flight out of there. You can be here in three hours.”

  “Sam.” Her voice was firm. “What will everyone think if I fly out of here like that?”

  “They’ll think you have somewhere important to be. They don’t have to know that place happens to be my bed.”

  It made her laugh. “As much as I want to be in your bed tonight, I’m going to have to wait until all the Goddesses can fly out of here together.”

  “I don’t like it. I don’t want you on a jet with maintenance problems. This is ridiculous, Natalia. Let me get you out of there.”

  She was being stubborn and hard-headed. It was the French side coming out. Although, she said my stubbornness came from being Texan.

  “No. We’re going back to the hotel and I’ll call you when I find out more. Okay?”

  I took a swig of beer. It wasn’t okay. But she wasn’t playing along.

  “All right. But call me as soon as you find out. And if there’s something unsafe about that jet, you’re not getting on it. The Warriors are a bunch of cheap bastards. I don’t want them fixing the plane with duct tape.”

  “If I see any duct tape I promise to call immediately,” she answered sweetly, but I knew she was mocking me.

  “Should I fly up there?”

  “No. God, no,” she whispered. “And get me fired?”

  “All right, then take your safety more seriously.”

  She huffed. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Hey, wait.”

  “What is it?”

  “I miss you.”

  She whispered, “I miss you too.”

  Then there was silence.

  Thirty

  Natalia

  It took two days for us to make it back to Austin. The maintenance staff had to order a part that wasn’t easy to find and the Warriors refused to buy commercial tickets for us when they had to pay for the jet to be fixed. I sat in a hotel room two extra nights with Heather, missing my chance to meet Sam at Canyon Lake.

  I sat on one bed while Heather sat on the other, flipping through channels.

  “Do you think the Warriors would pay for us to watch Game of Love?” she asked.

  “They need to after leaving us to die in DC.”

  She hit the purchase button. “Done.”

  I laughed. “I’ve always wanted to watch this movie. It’s the one about the baseball player who falls for the reporter, right?”

  Heather eyed me. “You haven’t seen it?”

  “Umm, no, but I really want to.”

  The opening credits started. I had a new interest in sports romances, only I couldn’t tell my roommate about it.

  “Oh, we should order big desserts while we’re watching,” I suggested. I pulled out the room service menus.

  “I like how you think.”

  I picked up the phone to call the restaurant downstairs. I covered the receiver. “I’m getting a double brownie with ice cream. What do you want?”

  “Oh, I want that.” She smiled. “But we have to do double cardio tomorrow for the double brownie.”

  I glared at her. “You just took the fun out of it.”

  “Sorry.” She shrugged and threw herself on the pillows while I ordered our sinful dessert.

  I signed for the silver trays when the waiter brought our snack to the door. “Voila.”

  I presented one platter to Heather and placed mine on the end of my bed. Things were just starting to heat up in the movie. I couldn’t take my eyes off the pitcher. There was definitely something hot about athletes. Why hadn’t I noticed it before?

  “So,” Heather turned to me. “Who’s the guy?”

  “There is no guy. I told you and Pres that.”

  She scooped some ice cream on her fork with a bite of brownie. “Really? No guy? All the secret texts and phone calls? There’s no one?”

  I didn’t want to be interrogated and I didn’t want to miss the scene where the couple went on their first date. He was taking her to the ballpark for a candlelit picnic.

  “It’s my mom. That’s all. She’s in Dallas and she worries when I travel. She’s one of those hover mothers, you know? A dance mom.”

  Heather laughed. “I think we all have dance moms. I guess that makes sense. Sorry. We thought it was a guy.”

  “No, but what about you?” I wasn’t paying attention and dropped a dollop of ice cream on my leg.

  She rolled her eyes. “I wish. I tried online dating, but that was full of creepy weirdos who found out I was a Warrior and then lied about what they did for a living. Presley set me up with one of her brother’s friends, but that was a disaster. I’m not going to date a player.” She sighed. “I don’t know. It seems impossible right now to find someone. Do you feel like that?”

  I chewed on my bottom lip. What I should tell her was that it was completely possible. When she least expected it, some guy would show up out of nowhere and turn her world upside down and make everything else seem less important. He would be there for her. He would surprise her and romance her. Yes, it was worth waiting for. It was worth all the lonely nights that came before his existence.

  “Oh, I know what you mean. Dating is the worst.” I felt my stomach turn. I hated lying to her. She had done so much for me.

  “Oh, here’s the best part.” She turned up the movie with the remote.

  We both sighed as the pitcher kissed the reporter on third base. It was sweet and sappy. But he was clearly an amazing kisser. The girl was swooning.

  “See, that’s what I want.” Heather whispered. “All of that.”

  I watched and realized that was exactly what I had.

  By the time we flew back to Aust
in, Sam and I figured out there was no way to see each other any time soon. Our schedules were off the rest of the week and we both had away games the next weekend.

  I called him as soon as I walked through my apartment door. His voicemail picked up.

  “Hey, we made it back. I know you’re at practice, but I wanted to hear your voice, and maybe you want to hear mine. Call me.”

  I walked into my room, feeling the drudge of traveling clinging to my skin. I stripped down and stepped into the shower. The last three days were down the drain in seconds.

  Heather and I finally had our romcom marathon and I discovered that Presley was a lot more fun than I realized. She was an excellent shoe shopper and there were some great boutiques in DC she scouted for us. I came home with three new pairs of heels.

  Other than missing Sam like crazy, I had a great time. But I couldn’t believe that in a few days, I had to do it again. This time we were flying to San Francisco. I couldn’t think about that now. I stepped out of the shower and dried off.

  I didn’t have the energy for anything but crawling under my covers and going to sleep. I put the phone next to the bed in case Sam called.

  Thirty-One

  Sam

  “Hold on.” I called to whoever was knocking on the door. It was probably one of the guys from the construction crew. They had been tearing the place down and rebuilding it almost from the studs up. It was going to be incredible.

  I whipped open the door to find out what had gone wrong this time, when I stared into a pair of brown eyes I never thought I’d see again.

  “Maddie?”

  “Hey, Sam.”

  I looked behind her. This wasn’t right. “What are you doing here? How’d you find me? Who in the hell let you in here?”

  “I’m here to see you. Pretty much everyone in San Antonio knows this is your building, and I walked in with a really lovely older couple and told them I was your girlfriend.”