They both watched as Benjy pushed back from the dinner table and made his way to the stairs. He looked like he was going to hit his massive head on the ceiling, but he ducked at exactly the right time. He rubbed his elbow as though trying to work out a muscle kink.
“Nice guy,” Charlie murmured.
“Who?” Jake asked, although he, too, had been staring at him.
“Benjy. You were talking to him during dinner?”
“Oh. Yes.”
“He seems okay. I don’t know what on earth he sees in her. He doesn’t seem as dumb as he could be, being a football player and all.”
Jake’s eyes squinted and his lower jaw jutted out. “She’s a vile human being. And she certainly doesn’t deserve him,” he said heatedly.
“I’ve been telling you she’s awful for the last ten years. You’re just getting it now?”
Jake shook his head. “Dad said he told you about Eileen.”
“Uh-huh.”
“They seem really happy together.”
“How long have you known?” Charlie twisted her fingers in her lap. She had apologized and told her father that she was happy for him, and that of course she’d support any decision he made. But things were still strained when she left.
“A while now, I guess.”
“Really.”
“Don’t be mad, C. He specifically asked me not to tell you because he didn’t want to distract you.”
“Distract me?”
“It was just never a good time. You were always right in the middle of, or right about to start, or en route to a major tournament. It’s been a big year for you, with the injury and the surgery, the new coach, the image overhaul, and well, I just think he—”
“You’ve known for a year?” Charlie knew she sounded angry, but more than anything, she felt so detached. Her own father was in a serious relationship—now ready to get married—and she hadn’t known a thing. He hadn’t told her, but she hadn’t noticed either.
Jake sighed. “He kept it from you for your sake, Charlie. Because he knew you’d be upset.”
“Well, this feels worse than if he’d just treated me like an adult in the first place.”
It was Jake’s turn to say nothing. He didn’t have to: Charlie knew exactly what he was thinking.
She stood up. “I’m beat. Still not used to the time change. I’m going to turn in.”
Jake held out a hand and Charlie helped pull him up. “Sure you are,” he said with a wicked grin.
“What? You think there’s room in Marco’s bed tonight? You don’t have to worry about that. Judging from dinner, his cabin is going to look like a deli counter: take a number and get in line.”
“Lovely,” Jake said, laughing. “You taking a number?”
“Good night, Jake . . .”
“You’re seriously missing the jam session? It’s U2, Charlie.”
“I’m on probation, remember? Todd probably has the yacht on a live feed. Besides, they’re doing a real concert for everyone tomorrow night. And I’m tired. I’ll be asleep when you come in, so be quiet, okay?” She kissed his cheek and waved to Dan on her way to the staircase that would lead to her cabin. As she walked by, she thought she could sense Marco watching her, but when she glanced back he was smiling at a woman draped on his shoulder. As she changed into a nightshirt and brushed her teeth and washed her face, she must have checked her phone a hundred times, but there was nothing. Radio silence from the hot Spaniard. She was more surprised at the depth of her disappointment than anything else.
Charlie didn’t remember falling asleep, but when she awakened, the cabin was pitch-black. The yacht’s motor hummed from somewhere below deck as the boat rocked gently. Her phone read 4:58 a.m. She knew from the printed card next to her bed that sunrise would occur around 5:30 a.m. and that they were due to anchor in Capri a half hour later. It was immediately obvious she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, so she stretched for a bit and made her way to the bathroom. It was only then she noticed that Jake’s bed was still untouched.
Charlie pulled on a T-shirt and workout leggings and threw her hair into a messy bun. She tied a Nike hoodie around her waist in case it was windy and, as an afterthought, some headphones. Grabbing a bottle of Evian from the basket on her desk and the backpack with the DVD player Todd had given her, she headed for the stairs. It was perfect: she’d be able to find Jake and save him the embarrassment of getting caught passed out on a couch somewhere, and after she’d sent him back to the cabin, she could enjoy the peace and quiet of watching the sun rise over the Mediterranean. Afterward she could fit in a workout with the onboard trainer, watch some tape, and still have time for a quick breakfast before she was expected on the helipad tennis court for her scheduled hit-around.
The uppermost deck was like a perch, with a sunken hot tub overlooking the boat’s bow. It was dark and deserted, as was the area just below it. The captain and one of his mates stuck their heads out from the lit cockpit to inquire if she needed anything, but she merely waved and walked back toward the stern. The aft deck that held the tennis court was empty, and so was the one below it. Was it possible everyone was still partying? It seemed unlikely, but who could predict what a jam session with U2 aboard a luxury yacht looked like? For all she knew, the entire lot could be engaged in some drug-fueled orgy, far away from the paparazzi. She picked up the pace. She berated herself for being such a loser, but at least Todd would be happy.
When Charlie reached the screening room, she saw that all twenty leather armchairs and ottomans had been stored in orderly rows and the band’s instrument cases were neatly stacked in a corner. She stood in the dark and silence and tried not to worry: Jake was a big boy, and besides, what really could have happened? For all she knew, he could have made his way back to the cabin at some point in the last twenty minutes she’d been roaming the boat. She’d decided that was the likeliest scenario and started back upstairs when she heard a noise. As she moved to the back of the screening room, it became a loud, steady snore.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness once she opened the door, to realize that she was in the projector room with a panel of electronics elaborate enough to rival an air traffic control tower. A classic director’s chair stood in front of the panel, and a three-seater leather couch sat against the back wall. The room was no more spacious than a small bedroom, but it featured a half-dozen framed movie posters on the wall (no doubt original) and a built-in cabinet that contained hundreds of DVDs. Charlie was so fascinated by the obsessive DVD filing system someone had employed that she almost forgot why she was there until a particularly loud snort brought back her attention. By then her eyes had fully adjusted, but she still didn’t believe what she saw when she squinted toward the couch: Jake, lying on his back with his mouth open, his steady breathing rattled by snores. Not alone. Curled up right alongside him, with his head tucked into Jake’s neck, was Benjy. Natalya’s Benjy. Both men were dressed from the waist down, but their shirtless embrace left little doubt of the extent of their familiarity.
Charlie froze. Should she turn and leave as quietly as possible and confront Jake about it later, in private? That left the distinct possibility that someone else would find them first. Shake them awake and tell them to go back to their rooms before the others awoke? Jake would be embarrassed, no doubt, but Benjy would be mortified. He was one of the most famous quarterbacks in the NFL, someone who practically earned a living capitalizing on his alpha-male straightness. He was portrayed as an aggressive, testosterone-fueled womanizer who moved from model to singer to actress with exactly the ease and frequency one might expect of a successful, good-looking athlete. Like Marco, she thought before she could stop herself.
“Charlie!” Jake’s voice was urgent.
He must have sensed someone else in the room and awakened, his face registering an expression Charlie didn’t recognize. Embarr
assment? Or was that relief?
“What are you doing?” she hissed, carefully calibrating her whisper so as not to wake Benjy.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Jake said. He hadn’t moved a muscle, but Benjy stirred.
They both stood motionless until Benjy settled again and his breathing became steady.
“We’re going to be docking soon, Jake. You have got to get out of here. Get him out of here.”
“What time is it?”
Charlie looked at her phone. “Almost five-thirty in the morning. I can’t even. Ohmigod. The irony of this is killing me!”
“Charlie, please.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Who’s the big scandalous slut now? Huh? Who is it?” she stage whispered.
Jake looked like he wanted to kill her but he couldn’t move an inch.
“I’m going now to the gym. I suggest you leave separately? The crew is definitely up by now. And don’t think you’ll get away without giving me every single solitary sordid detail. You owe me at least that for saving your ass right now. And his!”
Charlie turned to leave and quietly pulled the door closed behind her. She waited for just a moment until she heard Jake shaking Benjy awake and urging him to remain quiet. Making her way back to the upper deck, Charlie began to feel queasy. As excited as she was for Jake’s postgame recap, she knew nothing good could come of this.
En route to the gym—she needed a workout now more than ever—Charlie pressed her ear directly against Marco’s door. How low was the bar set when you were eavesdropping on your sometimes-hookup’s room? It was too pathetic for words. She was too pathetic for words. All of which was confirmed moments later when she had rounded the corner and nearly crashed into Dan, who was already dressed in shorts and sneakers, also clearly headed to the gym before he was due to warm her up on the deck-side court.
“I won’t tell Todd,” he had said, looking at his feet as though trying to save her from her unspeakably humiliating walk of shame.
“Tell Todd what?” she snapped, all of her surprise and hurt and anger pouring out.
His head popped up when he heard the nastiness of her tone, and his eyes widened in surprise. “He just, uh, he wanted to make sure—”
Charlie felt instantly guilty when she saw how miserable Dan looked. “Forget it. Just so you know, it’s not how it looks.” I didn’t even rank for a late-night sex call. For some inexplicable reason, she found herself wanting to tell Dan everything, but before she could say another word, he backed away.
“It’s none of my business,” he said, holding his hands up as though he was worried she might strike him.
Charlie kept her mouth shut. Dan was in a lousy position, wedged in between Todd, who had given him this opportunity, and Charlie, who paid his salary. And she was still reeling from what she’d just seen with Jake.
It wasn’t until almost eleven that she was able to corner Jake on a sundeck near the breakfast area.
“Sit down this second!” Charlie hissed, sidling up next to her brother as he helped himself to a plate of sliced fruit.
“Charlie . . .”
She held a coffee cup in one hand and gripped Jake’s arm with the other, but he refused to look at her. “Jake? Look at me! What happened?”
He looked at her and motioned for them to move toward two chaise longue chairs.
“Did you have sex with him?”
Jake’s silence said everything.
“Like, full-on penetration sex? The real deal?”
“Charlie.”
“It wasn’t just that you both had a few too many drinks and he may have been slightly bi-curious and you guys had a little make-out and then fell asleep? Maybe that’s what happened?”
This time Jake met her gaze. “I’m in love with him.”
In an effort not to spit her decaf coffee across the table, Charlie inhaled sharply, causing the coffee to go down her throat the wrong way. She began to cough violently.
“Charlie? Grow up.”
“No, I’m not making fun of—” She coughed a few more times and then finally managed to clear her throat as her eyes streamed. “I . . . I just don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Jake pushed his chair back.
“No, wait. Please don’t be mad at me. You can understand that this is a little surprising. I mean, he’s a quarterback.”
“So?”
“So it’s not like the NFL generally runs around wearing rainbow ribbons and shouting for LGBT equality, you know? Their mission is to hit each other as hard as possible.”
“Ben is different.”
“Ben?”
“He hates Benjy. It’s just how the public knows him.”
Charlie refrained from making a snarky comment. “Can you take me through the night?” She asked slowly. “How did it happen? Have you been getting a vibe from him for a while now or was it a complete surprise last night?”
Jake twisted his fingers. He seemed to be debating what to tell her.
“Tell me whatever it is you’re thinking right now.”
“Last night wasn’t the first time.”
Charlie’s hand flew to her mouth before she could stop it. She quickly pretended to pick something from her teeth. “It wasn’t?”
“We’ve been together for months.”
“Together?”
“Well, sleeping together. But it’s more than that.”
“For months?”
“Since Australia.”
“Oh. My. God.” Australia. Five months earlier. Charlie had been so consumed with her own triumphant return after surgery and her brand-new Todd-created image that she had no idea what Jake was doing at the time. “There was that night at the restaurant in Melbourne? The first night Dad met Todd. Weren’t Natalya and Benjy at the player party?”
Jake nodded. “Exactly. That was when we first met. But nothing happened until the night after the tournament was over. You and Natalya had both already left for Dubai, and we ran into each other in the hotel gym. One thing led to another.”
“Oh my god,” she said again. “Were you surprised? How could you not tell me! I can’t believe how long this has been going on! I won’t even comment on the fact that you gave me hell for keeping quiet about Marco.”
For the first time all morning, Jake relaxed visibly. He smiled enough that the cute crinkles appeared around his eyes. “I wasn’t surprised. I got a vibe, you know? As soon as all the tennis people had left and we were the only ones around, it was the most natural thing in the world.”
Suddenly, it started to make sense: the frisson she always felt when Benjy and Jake were in the same place; Benjy inquiring who might be traveling with Charlie on the private jet to the yacht; Jake’s naked hatred of Natalya. Now, she looked at her brother as he described all the different ways he and Benjy had carved time out for one another, all the places they’d secretly met and stories they’d shared, and she felt a surge of intense love for him.
“You’re so happy,” she said quietly.
“I’m so happy,” he agreed. “This is it, Charlie. He’s the one.”
“He is? You really think so?” The familiar knot appeared in Charlie’s throat before she could help herself.
“Don’t cry, C. This is a good thing. A really good thing, I swear.”
Charlie wiped her eyes. “No, I’m thrilled for you. For both of you. It’s just . . . it’s going to be really hard. You must know that.”
Jake nodded. “Yes. Really freaking hard. We agreed to keep it quiet and first see what happens, see if this is the real deal or not, before we did something stupid and blew up our lives unnecessarily. But we love each other. And we don’t want to hide anymore.”
Charlie ached for her brother. Why did everything have to be so complicated? The difficult part s
hould be meeting someone terrific, not wondering how the whole rest of the world was going to feel about it. But Benjy and Jake were so much bigger than just the two of them, and the road ahead was going to be difficult.
“So. Not just an NFL player, but a quarterback. And not just any NFL quarterback, but second only to Tom freaking Brady. How am I doing so far?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah. Keep going.”
“And this very straight athlete is also thought to be one-half of a very straight couple. Does Natalya know anything? She must suspect something.”
Jake shrugged. “I’m not so sure. She’s pretty self-obsessed. So long as Ben shows up for photo ops, she doesn’t seem all that concerned with what else he does.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“Charlie, I need your promise that you won’t say anything. Not to Natalya, no matter how much she pisses you off. Not to Marco. Not to Piper.”
“Please, Jake, you have my word. I promise.”
“Ben and I just need a little time to figure it all out. See what the best way of handling it is.”
“I promise.” Charlie put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Jake? I know this whole situation isn’t . . . ideal, but I’m really happy for you.”
An enormous smile spread on his face. “This is the real deal, C. He’s amazing.”
Charlie wrapped her arms around his and inhaled his familiar smell. She couldn’t remember seeing him so happy. Giddy, almost.
Charlie’s phone buzzed. They both looked at the screen when she pulled it from her bag. Let’s meet later.
“He loves you,” Jake said, reading over her shoulder. “Who would believe it? We both scored gorgeous guys.”
Her heart had raced a little faster when she saw Marco’s text, but she quickly remembered the humiliation of pressing her ear against Marco’s door, wondering where he was and what he was doing.
“Yep,” she quickly agreed, setting down her coffee. “Come on, I can’t be late.”
20
over it
WIMBLEDON VILLAGE
The Singles Game Page 30