“He invited me to Thanksgiving with his family,” I fumed as I stomped back and forth across the rug in Callahan’s bedroom. “Since the cat’s out of the bag now, Dad wants me to meet his other kids. He said I’d be a great ‘role model’ for them.” Sarcasm dripped from the phrase. “Is he going to tell his other kids he’ll take care of their college expenses and then abandon them before they graduate too? I don’t think so. Which means I’m not a role model whatsoever for his legitimate children.”
Hotshot leaned against the pillows on his bed, his ankles casually crossed, his expression sympathetic while I paced and paced.
“If not for Tory Miller outing Dr. Dair’s relationship to me, I doubt I would have seen John Blackwood ever again. Now he shows up out of the blue and wants to have a relationship with me? He’s ridiculous.”
“He’s a businessman. You spoke his language when you blew his mind with your mad presentation skills, babe.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Whatever. My mom gave up her family and her chance at achieving her dreams when she chose to have me. She’s remained faithful to that man for over twenty years. How does he repay her? Asks me to abandon her on a holiday. Not. Gonna. Happen.”
Callahan patted the mattress beside him. “Come here.”
Shooting him a narrow-eyed stare, I said, “I’m too worked up for shenanigans right now, Hotshot.”
“I can see that.” He patted the mattress again. “Come here anyway.”
Gingerly, I climbed onto the bed beside him. Sliding his arm around me, he tugged me in to rest on his broad chest. With his other hand he drew my hand across his waist and covered my arm with his own, cuddling me close.
“I’m proud of you.”
Lifting my head, I stared hard into his eyes. “Why?”
“You’re one of the most self-sufficient people I’ve ever met, yet when someone backed you into a corner, you didn’t come out swinging. Instead, you reached out for help.” He tangled his fingers in my curls. “Thank you for letting me back in. For letting me help you.”
I settled down onto his chest.
“You also could have blown your dad off, skipped meeting him today, but you faced him head-on. No matter how angry”—he tipped his head up to catch my eye—“and hurt he made you, you gave him a chance to have his say. That makes you the bigger person.” Tightening his hold on me, he whispered, “I’d do anything for you, Jamaica. You’re the whole package.” A chuckle escaped him. “Plus, you’re fucking brilliant in the sack.”
I smacked his flat stomach. “For a minute there you were doing so well.” But I was laughing.
What began as a tease ended up with our clothes scattered on the floor. By the time Callahan had finished with me, I’d let go of all the negativity and fear of the past several days. Afterward, for the first time in weeks, I slept like a stone and woke up happy.
In the fork in the sidewalk between the gym and Huffine, we kissed each other goodbye for a couple of days. He’d still be in film when I finished with my last class before Axel picked me up and drove me home for the holiday. Since the team would be playing their first playoff game on Saturday, they’d be enjoying a team dinner for Thanksgiving courtesy of several football alums. When I asked if Buzz Miller would be among those involved, Hotshot said he doubted it. He met my follow-up why with an enigmatic smile and an admonition to be patient.
“You’ll be at the game, right?” he asked after he finally let me up for air.
“After someone gifted Axel with prime seats, I imagine we’ll be in the stands before you even suit up in the locker room.” I added a massive eye roll for emphasis.
Without even a hint of apology he pecked a kiss on my mouth. “Whatever it takes.” Then he sobered. “Call me when you get home, please.”
I brushed a kiss over his lips. “I miss you already.”
“Hey, that was my line.” He kissed me again.
“O’Reilly! Get your ass in here!”
At the sound of Coach Ellis’s voice, we broke apart. A quick check of my phone told me both of us were late.
The surprise of my life awaited me when I arrived home. Mom let me settle in, the two of us spending more than a minute catching up, mainly on my relationship with Callahan. She’d figured out there was someone special in my life almost before I did. The fact that she approved—and wanted to meet him—gave me more confidence than she could have imagined.
Then she dropped her bomb.
“Jamaica, I’ve been seeing someone too.” Her lips stretched into a coy smile.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Wow. Tell me about him.” What I meant was Please don’t let him be another over-the-road guy.
“His name is Royal Smith-Greene, and he’s the new principal at the high school.” A dreamy expression erased ten years from her face. “We met at the library, which I know is so high-school.” She giggled. “He makes me feel young again, like I have possibilities.”
I’m not sure she even registered that she’d covered my hand with hers, squeezing tight as if she were willing me to like the guy before I’d even met him.
“Not trying to harsh your buzz, Mom, but he’s single, right?”
“Divorced. A son in college.” Another squeeze. “That was the first thing I asked when he asked me out.”
“Just making sure after the fiasco that was John Blackwood.”
She tensed.
“I’m twenty-one, Mom. I have a right to my opinions.”
“You have, but you should know the whole story first.” With a sigh, she stood from the table to stare out the window above the sink into her postage-stamp-size back yard.
“Do you mean the part about where he was already married when he impregnated you with me? Or the part where he stayed married for personal gain and fathered my three half-siblings?”
Spinning on her heel, she faced me. “How do you know about that?”
“Long story, but the short version is his secrets nearly cost me my scholarship.” Her eyes saucered as I plowed on with my story. “After I had to prove myself in front of the faculty of the College of Letters and Science, some of the professors from the School of Business, and the head football coach on Monday morning, he met me for lunch. Wanted me to spend Thanksgiving with his family, get to know my ‘brothers and sister.’” The air quotes were not ironic. Shared DNA wasn’t enough to make us family.
“Anyway, now he wants to make good on his promise to help me with school.”
Her brows shot up.
“I passed.”
“What? Why?” Shock dropped her jaw.
“For the past two and a half years, I’ve taken care of my bills by myself. I imagine I can make it work for another year and a half.” Gesturing for her to sit again, I said, “I did ask him for something, though.” I held my hands out to her across the table. “I told him if he truly wanted to do something good for us, he’d pay your tuition for the online business school that’s bookmarked on your iPad.”
“You did what?” She tried to tug away from me, but I held on.
I shrugged. “Turns out, Dad’s brother-in-law is that jerk of a professor who’s made my life miserable since freshman year.”
I stopped as my brain processed something Mom had just said.
“Wait. You knew about Dad’s other family?”
She sighed. “When he didn’t show up for six months straight during your junior year, I called to make sure he was all right and hadn’t been in an accident or something. He’d said his father-in-law had passed away and left the trucking company to him.” Sad eyes met mine. “I think he stayed in that marriage because he wanted the company.”
“And you didn’t follow up when I asked about him helping me with college?” I was having trouble wrapping my head around Mom’s revelations.
“He said he had to come clean with his wife first. He promised he would.”
“Guess she wasn’t in favor of spending her dad’s money on her husband’s accident.”
Mom gasped. “You weren’t planned but you were always wanted.” She squeezed my hands so hard my bones rubbed together. “Things for your dad were…complicated.” Letting me go, she stood and refilled her coffee mug. I forgave your dad long ago. For your own sake, you need to forgive him too.”
“Even though his silence about his other family almost cost me everything?” No doubt my expression of incredulity bordered on nuts. “When the dean found out about my connection to Dad’s brother-in-law, everything went to hell. But the outcome is that I asked dear old Dad to help you out since it was because of his selfishness that you lost all your opportunities and had to work your ass off to make sure I had a roof over my head.”
“I don’t need his money,” she said quietly. “I won’t take it. Royal is helping me with scholarship applications and grants. I have options.”
A smile stretched over my lips. “I’m truly looking forward to meeting this guy.”
Smoothing her hands down her thighs, she said, “I was hoping you’d say that. I invited him and his son to dinner tomorrow.”
Though I worried about meeting Mom’s new man—and she worried about me meeting him too—we were both silly. Royal’s sarcastic sense of humor put me immediately at ease. His son Jamal was a sophomore at Wyoming, majoring in physics and football. He reminded me of Callahan’s friend Jeremiah Fitzgerald, maybe because like Fitz, he played nose-tackle. Or maybe because he had an intensity to him that gave me a sense of safety with him.
When Jamal found out I was dating Callahan, the smile on his face could have lit up the entire house. Turns out he’d enjoyed knocking heads and exchanging wits with Hotshot during a preseason exhibition game that I hadn’t paid attention to, having not met the love of my life before then.
Who would have guessed football would bring so many wonderful connections into my life? Me, who’d made a career of steering clear of athletes?
After Thanksgiving dinner went so well, Royal and Jamal joined us again for dinner on Friday night. Jamal and I bonded over tag-team teasing our parents over the moony eyes neither could stop making at each other. During dish detail, we mutually determined Royal would put a ring on Sunny at Christmas, and both of us were fine with that.
“Seriously? You think your mom’s gonna get married after all these years?” Axel asked as he drove us back to campus on Saturday morning.
“You should see them together. I swear they’re as sappy as Drake and you.”
My friend shot me a side-eye. “You mean they look at each other the way you and Callahan do?”
“We are not moony,” I huffed.
His eyes danced. “You haven’t seen yourself.” Returning his attention to the road, he asked, “How many times did you text each other the past two days?”
“How many times did you text Drake?”
“Not enough.”
I slumped into my seat. “Yeah, me too.”
We grinned at each other like a pair of monkeys.
As I predicted, we arrived at the field forty-five minutes before kickoff. Stomping my feet to keep warm, I wrapped my mittens around my hot coffee and burned my tongue on it more than once as I drank it too fast. I couldn’t wait to see Hotshot all suited up and looking menacing in his uniform and pads. When he exited the tunnel and ran out onto the field before the game, my heart actually fluttered like something I read once in one of Mom’s romance novels.
With one quick scan he found me in the stands. He winked and mouthed, “I love you.”
I blew him a kiss, and he grinned and returned his attention to the pep-up with his teammates.
The Spartans from the Southeast Division gave the Wildcats a game, going back and forth until the fourth quarter. Even though the game played on a holiday, it seemed the entire student body had shown up to cheer our guys to victory. The only touchdown Callahan scored came on a trick play on a faked punt with two minutes left in the game. We were down by three and had nothing to lose when the punter, who had played quarterback in high school, tossed a perfect spiral to my guy who caught it in stride, pushed off one defender, and raced to the end zone.
As always, he pointed the nose of the ball directly at me. I was jumping up and down in delight when Axel pointed at the scoreboard where my face filled the screen. Reflexively, I pulled my muffler over my mouth and nose, and the crowd went wild. That’s when I remembered I was wearing my Wildcats scarf.
Mercifully the team swarmed Callahan, and the camera panned back to the celebration going on in the field. Beside me Axel chuckled. “Looks like you’ve been outed, J.”
“Ugh!” But I couldn’t truly be upset. Being Callahan’s girlfriend was the best thing that had happened to me.
After the game Axel and I hustled to Stromboli’s where we grabbed the team’s booth in the back. Finn, Bax, Fitz, and Callahan walked into the bar together to a deafening cheer. Like magic pitchers of beer appeared on the table seconds before they made their way back to the booth.
While Axel congratulated the other guys, Callahan crowded me into the corner, leaned in, and kissed me stupid.
“Hello, Island Girl. Glad you could make the game,” he said with a smile when he let me up.
“Hello, Hotshot. Glad you did your job.” I smirked.
“We’re all glad he pulled his head out of his ass,” Bax said as he slid a full glass of beer across the table to my guy.
“Hey!” Callahan protested.
Finn said, “Yup. Your draft stock went way up with that teeder.” Lifting his glass in the air, he said, “Go! ’Cats! Go!”
We all lifted our glasses and echoed the cheer that the entire bar took up. A pair of extra-large pizzas materialized in front of us, and the server said, “We’ll keep these coming until you say when.”
At his pronouncement, my eyes rounded, and Fitzy laughed his deep baritone laugh. “Way better perks than some snooty restaurant downtown, eh, ’Han?”
Hugging me close with the arm he’d wrapped around me when he arrived, Callahan replied, “You have no idea.”