Supernova

by Anne Leigh

  Rikko and Bridge got to talking and I’d say something once in a while, but mostly I just stayed quiet and savored her presence.

  “You think your brother would be okay if I asked something about imports and food production?” Rikko was asking, his hands tapping lazily on his phone.

  “I’m pretty sure he’d be happy to hear from you.” Bridge said, “Any talk that takes him away from rugby is also good for him. He’d thank you for making him feel like he graduated college for something.”

  Rikko, Bishop, and I all graduated from college, but Bridge had a point. We played sports in college and we all went on to play professionally. People often forgot that we didn’t just go to college to play ball. We actually had to go to classes, pass them, and play while doing all the coursework.

  My degree in business administration might have been a doozy for some to obtain, but to me it was hard work.

  I had to take exams early because of road games, and on days when my body couldn’t take another step, I had to go inside lecture halls where students were wide awake and alert while I was trying to catch up on sleep.

  “We’ve been texting back and forth. He’s making big waves in rugby, but Bishop’s bound to do that. He’s a great player. My sister can’t stop fawning over him –“ Rikko said and Bridge laughed.

  “I understand the feeling. Bishop can’t –“ Bridge’s voice was cut off by a voice on the makeshift karaoke stage on the west side of the bar.

  “Everybody. Everrrrybody…Listen.” His voice was still clear, but I could tell he’d been drinking. “I got something to say. I wanna sing a song.”

  Rikko’s eyes were filled with question marks, “What the hell? Is that Berger on stage?”

  The bar wasn’t that big, so from our vantage point we saw my back-up on the stage, wearing a light green shirt and jeans and he had a microphone in his hand.

  He was standing straight, a good sign that he wasn’t as intoxicated as he sounded.

  “He’s gonna end up on another YouTube video for this stunt,” Rikko sniggered as he shook his head. It was also a known fact that Dex had videos all over the web documenting his ridiculous stunts. He liked to party and the partygoers liked to see him dancing on tables, slurring his speech, or just talking smack about other NFL players. He lived for the drama and drama liked him back.

  Bridge didn’t say a word, and there was worry in her dazzling eyes.

  I caressed her arm, assuring her that nothing bad was going to happen. I eyed my teammates around the stage; they were going to make sure that he wasn’t going to get out of hand. We’d just won a game. The last thing we needed was bad publicity.

  “He’s allowed to sing. That’s why there’s karaoke,” I said, not thinking too much about Berger. My girl was here, and anything that the asshat did or said wasn’t going to rain on my parade.

  “This is dedicated to the girl who got away.” Berger’s voice was hard and I couldn’t help but switch my gaze from my girl to where he was standing. The guy garnered attention wherever he went, I would give him credit for that.

  He put his finger up in the air, as if signaling the DJ to start the song, and on cue, a song started to play.

  I hated Justin Bieber.

  The man-child who smuggled pet monkeys and slept with porn stars.

  I didn’t hate him for those things though.

  I didn’t like the guy because he could have one of the hottest chicks around, but he kept screwing around on her.

  Rikko was a die-hard Selena Gomez fan.

  And he was proud of it.

  We went to her concert in Texas a while back, and Justin the douche, was the surprise guest.

  Anyways, the main reason I didn’t like Justin was because he was such a poster child for child stars and because his songs were overplayed on the radio.

  Just like the song that Dex was singing now, where he was talking about apologies and second chances.

  I wasn’t a big fan of Justin and an even lesser fan of Dex, but for some reason, Dex could carry a tune.

  He sang the song, and my teammates were letting out whistles, egging him on.

  Rikko’s shoulders were shaking as he listened to Dex sing, “Who the hell is he apologizing to? Did he piss off another girl? Another reporter?”

  “Is it too late…” Dex was singing and dancing to his own voice, obviously having fun.

  And as he was finishing the song, he lifted his head up and talked to the audience, “There’s this girl, now a woman, she’s got eyes the color of jade and burnt gold. I called her Tiny because she was small, but whenever she looked at me, she made me feel as if nothing else mattered.”

  I was still holding Bridge, so I felt her spine stiffen against my palm.

  Dex held a captive audience and everyone around the bar was staring at him.

  The women went “Awwww” and some of the guys went, “Boooo.”

  But Dex kept on, “I’m sorry for leaving you. For all the years I’ve let on without telling you how much you meant to me. I know you can hear me. I wish you could also feel my heart so you’d know just how sorry I am.”

  Rikko said, “Man, what is this? When did Berger turn into a sobbing pussy?”

  I clenched my jaw because even if Dex hadn’t said her name, I knew who he was referring to.

  Jade and burnt gold?

  What the fuck?

  Bridge whispered, “I think we should leave.”

  He was making a play for her when he knew exactly who she was with now.

  I would never disrespect another man’s woman like that.

  “No. We’re staying.” There was a cool chill to my voice that hadn’t been there minutes ago. “I want to hear what the shithead has to say.”

  “Scott, it’s not worth it. He’s goading you, trying to manipulate you.” Bridge’s voice was firm and I knew she wasn’t rising up to his bait. “Let’s go back to your hotel. I think we’ve had enough for tonight.”

  Rikko, finally catching on the situation, “Shit, he’s talking about you?” His eyes were asking Bridge for confirmation.

  Bridge nodded and Rikko sighed, “He knows you guys are together, right?”

  I nodded, “Yep. Obviously it doesn’t matter to him that she’s with me, he’s still hung up on Bridge and he’s letting everyone know about it.”

  “He’s not hung up on me. He’s just upset that you one-upped him again. You’re the quarterback and now you have me. Trust me, Dex Berger doesn’t think of anyone but himself. He just wants to make a scene. It’s his specialty,” Bridge explained as the server closed in on our table. Rikko and I threw down a couple of twenties to cover the food, drinks, and tip.

  I pulled Bridgette to my side, channeling her sensibility so I wouldn’t call out Berger who I could now see was trying to get a rise out of me.

  We were just about to leave our table when a voice magnified by the microphone he was holding said, “Bridgette Cordello, you asked me a long time ago, under the starlit skies of Manhattan to choose you…”

  If a stare could kill a person, Bridgette’s eyes would have butchered Dex to pieces. I’d seen my woman annoyed, frustrated, but not this angry.

  Never this angry.

  “I’m sorry. I’m five years too late, but I was wrong, Tiny. I should have chosen you. Please give me another chance. Come back to me…” To anyone who was thinking of who he referred to as Tiny, they now had the answer.

  Cameras clicked.

  Pictures were taken.

  Videos were looping.

  “Fucks” came out of my teammates’ mouth and before I could stop myself, my feet carried me to where the fucker was standing.

  I reached him in record time, my legs eating up the height of the stage.

  “She’s mine, asshole,” I roared at him. The adrenaline was coursing through all parts of my body. I’d learned a long time ago to only use my fists when I was making a point.

  And I wanted to make an exclamation point in the smug fucker’s face.
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  He’d been baiting me so that I would react to his mind games.

  I could swallow his assholery in the locker room, practice, and even in games because I was the best at it.

  But there was no way I was letting him get away with this.

  He was asking her to go back to him when she was with me.

  If that wasn’t disrespect then I was a priest trapped in a football player’s body.

  He wasn’t going to get away with this. Damn the consequences. I’ll take the fall for this, but I wouldn’t let anyone doubt how much I valued Bridge.

  My right fist swung in the air, but it was caught by someone.

  Rikko said, “Not worth your throwing arm, buddy.”

  Dillon, Jax, Dylan, and Cole formed a wall between me and Dex, trying to subdue the situation before it got out of hand.

  Dex spewed, “I was there before you, Strauss! I was her first. Does she still stutter when she –“

  He didn’t get to finish whatever he was going to say, a loud smack greeted Dex’s right cheek, and the owner of the hand that delivered it was fuming in anger, “It wasn’t enough that you made a mess out of me, Dex? You had to go and attack the man that I love, too? Get this straight, you liar, I’m never going back to you. Not if you were the last monkey alive on any planet. You were right to leave me because I found out how much I was worth. Scott’s better than you, in everything. Swallow that.”

  She stepped away from him and my arms felt full of her presence as she looked up at me, “Let’s get out of here. He’s not worth it.”

  I’d never had a woman fight my battles for me.

  I could handle everything on my own.

  But Bridge…she wasn’t just any other woman.

  She might be smaller in stature than any of us who towered over her.

  But she held her own like a regal queen.

  She defended me, us, in front of everyone tonight.

  She preferred being in the shadows, but when it came to me, to us, she came right out into the light.

  All because she loved me.

  She’d said it…she loved me.

  I lifted her in my arms, planting her legs around my waist and we walked out of the bar just like that.

  Her head cradled against the crook of my neck.

  Her tears wetting my skin.

  I waved my left hand at Rikko, letting him know that I got it from here, and that Bridge and I could handle it. He nodded his head and motioned with his phone to text him. I gave him a thumbs up.

  On our road games, Dillon had asked me twice why I didn’t want to sleep with other women.

  Bridge was out of sight and she’d never know.

  But the thing was – I would know.

  I would know that it would break her heart if I ever cheated on her.

  I was a guy, sure I’d get tempted, but there was something stronger than temptation.

  The way she stood up for me tonight.

  The way she surprised me tonight, flying here to see me.

  The way she was holding on to me, as if she didn’t ever want to let go.

  She was a force to be reckoned with.

  I’d loved before but this –

  With Bridge, what we had, it was on another level.

  She gave me faith.

  Faith that we’d be able to survive all the storms up ahead.

  I didn’t know if love was in the cards for me again, but being with her, she made it hard not to fall in love with her.

  “Babe, we’re here,” I said, as I pressed the digital key to the door of my hotel room.

  I had a roommate, but I knew that Dillon would give us privacy for tonight.

  I turned on the light by the door, and she slowly straightened her back to face me.

  “I love you.” Her beautiful eyes were alight with something that wasn’t there before or maybe it was, I just hadn’t recognized it. Her face was streaked with tears, but her beauty still managed to take my breath away. “I’m sorry about him. I should’ve told you. He has a mean streak.”

  Her words waved a red flag at me, “Did he ever hurt you?” If he did, the bastard would be lucky if he survived the morning.

  “No. Not like that…He’s just vengeful. He wants to be number one at everything, no matter the cost.” She clarified, “We were so young, he went to Bishop’s school and his family owned the bakeshop that Bishop and I liked to go to. We were together for a year and a half, but as soon as my brother moved to college, Dex dropped me like a sack of potatoes.”

  My fists clenched at my sides, typical asshole, he probably used Bridgette to get good with Bishop who was already a popular high school athlete.

  “He said he wasn’t ready for a commitment, but I’d heard him talking to one of his friends saying that I was becoming a baggage, that I was becoming too wrapped up in him. That now that Bishop was away, he was going to be the king of the school, and he was going to have a chance with prettier girls. He was with me because my brother was popular. The sad thing was that I never even told Bishop about us. He thought that Dex and I were just friends.”

  “You should have told him,” I said, massaging her back. I set her on the bathroom counter, “I’ve no doubt that Bishop would beat him up if he learned what he did to you.”

  “My brother has fought many battles for me; Dex was the least of his problems.” She murmured that last part, and as her soft hands rubbed my unshaven jaw, a blanket of calm wrapped around me.

  We’d had a rough night, but the important thing was that we were together.

  “I love you, Bridge.” The words came out of me, as natural as me cradling the football with my arm, waiting to throw it. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

  Twin dimples grazed those gorgeous cheeks and a sliver of lust pierced through me when she stuck her tongue out to wet her lips.

  I caught her tongue before she could pull it back in.

  Her hands roamed against my shirt and then I felt her palm reaching up under my shirt. I raised my arms so she could remove it from my body.

  “I’m all in, Scott.” Her gaze piercing me with so much emotion, “You want to tell the world I’m yours, go ahead. I know you’re tired of hiding us. I don’t know how it’s going to be, I’ve stayed away from the limelight for so long, but I want to try for you. I’m willing to try anything for you.”

  My heart was filled with so much love for her; I pulled her hands away from touching my chest and held onto them. One by one, I placed a kiss on each knuckle.

  “Even anal, babe?” I asked, watching as her eyes changed from looking so serious to giddy.

  “That’s….” She paused then her gaze flinging back at me in a challenge, “I’m not ruling it out.”

  I punched a fist in the air, bringing her hand along with it, “You’ve made my dreams come true.”

  “I thought your dream was to get a championship ring,” she remarked, her hazel eyes turning green under the lights.

  “Oh yeah. But anal’s my second.” It wasn’t, but we had a long night and anything to lighten up the situation was appreciated by my own nerves.

  “How about we save the anal after you win your second Super Bowl?” She was laughing with me, my smartass (pun intended) girl, deadpanned. Her fingers roamed around my chest and when she flicked my right nipple with her thumb, my cock wanted to jump out of my jeans.

  “Second Super Bowl?” I said, my mouth already descending to her neck. “What makes you so sure that I’d be playing for two?”

  “Aren’t you?” The certainty in her voice buoyed me. I was confident in my skills, but having a woman who didn’t make me question why I played, why I was away from her most of the time, why I couldn’t take her out on regular dates, was a gem in itself.

  My fingers were now massaging her thighs that were still covered in jeans, I asked, “What about the third one?”

  “What?” Her eyes were glazed in pleasure as I started to stroke her through her clothes, my other hand under her
left bra, rolling a nipple between my thumb and forefinger.

  “What do I get when I go for my third Super Bowl?” My voice trembled as she undid the button and zipper of my jeans and her hand snaked inside my boxers. Her grip tightened around my cock and all I wanted was to splay her out on the bed, but I was having so much fun with the foreplay.

  Her eyes started to close but she opened them when she answered, “That’s easy, Ice Man. On your third Super Bowl, I ask you to marry me.”

  Instead of ice infusing my veins at her words, it was like I was doused with the heat of a thousand suns. I grabbed her head and yanked her lips to mine and didn’t let go until we were both out of breath, “Third Super Bowl, huh?”

  Her hair was messed up from my hands, her face was lined with dried tears, but the expression on her face was indescribable, I’d never been so sure that she was made just to be with me.

  “Third,” she said, before she put her hands behind her back to undo the button of her top and as her blue lace bra came into my line of sight, I bit on her finger that I had inside my mouth.

  I would never forget how she looked right now.

  Her creamy breasts exposed for my taking, her eyes hazed in lust, her expression filled with so much desire and love.

  I urged my brain to remember everything that had happened today.

  There was a lot of good, a bit of messed-up stuff, but mostly greater things worthy of remembering.

  The night when she told me that she loved me,

  was also the night she dared me to marry her,

  on my third trip to the Super Bowl.

  Bridgette

  My parents weren’t great role models for love.

  My mother was self-indulgent, and my father had a hard time letting go of his glory days.

  My nannies were kind and they bestowed me with attention.

  But my biggest role model of love was my brother.

  He was the one who held me up when everything around me fell apart.

  He was the one who convinced my parents to put me in a special school that would cater to how my brain worked, even at his own expense.

  He was, and always would be, my biggest defender.

  So in a way, I expected this.

  “How could you hide that shit from me, Bridge?” Bishop was angry and he didn’t mask it.