Jacked Up

by Samantha Kane

  “Sure, man,” he gushed. He leaned over and pressed a button on his phone. “Do you want to write something?” He turned and waved across the bar. “King Ulupoka is posting on my Snapchat,” he called across the room.

  King began to read aloud as he typed. “Called a nice girl a bitch at bar,” he read. “King Ulupoka says I’m an ass. Post.”

  “Wait, what?” the jerk asked, grabbing for his phone. King gave it up without a fight. After reading the post with a shocked look on his face, he glared at King. He made sure to take several steps away before he yelled, “You’re the ass. I’m cheering for the Steelers. The Rebels are a bunch of gay losers, anyway.” He hurried away and the crowd swallowed him up immediately.

  “And that’s how we keep the Rebels’ fan-base gene pool asshole-free,” King said, dusting off his hands as he turned back to Jane.

  “So, Rebels?” she asked. “As in the Birmingham Rebels?” Even though they were her hometown team, she didn’t know that much about them. These guys definitely looked like football players, though.

  “Yes, ma’am,” King said, smiling. She got the impression he usually did most of the talking. “I’m King Ulupoka, and this is Sam Taylor. We play for the Rebels.” He shook her hand and Sam did the same.

  “Jane Foster,” she said. “Well, thanks,” she said in the awkward silence that followed. “I appreciate your stepping in. But I could’ve handled him.”

  “You know martial arts or something?” King asked, clearing a space at the bar for the three of them.

  “Just self-defense moves,” she admitted with a shrug. “But I used to beat my older brother up when we were kids.”

  Sam smiled slightly, not looking at her, and she felt an unwarranted thrill of victory. His smile made her think of other things she’d like him to do with that mouth, starting with kissing her. She’d bet he was a good kisser.

  “As an older brother, I hate to tell you that he probably just let you beat him up and took the fall,” King said sadly. “It’s in the big-brother handbook.”

  She smiled and laughed. “Yeah, I always figured,” she said. “Let me buy you guys a drink. As a thank you.” Both men looked down skeptically at what was left of her tropical punch. “Not one of these,” she assured them, putting the drink on the counter. She grabbed a few bar napkins and tried to wipe down her arm. “This stuff is lethal. And most of mine ended up on the floor. How about a round of shots?” She really needed a good stiff drink. This night had gone from bad to worse.

  “What kind?” King asked, surprising her. For some reason she thought they’d object to a woman buying them a round.

  “Whatever you like,” she said, meaning it. She could drink just about anything in small doses. She didn’t care that much for alcohol one way or the other, which was probably a good thing.

  “Ice-cold vodka,” Sam said, surprising her again. He hadn’t spoken for several minutes.

  “All right.” She called a bartender over. “Three vodka shots.”

  King stopped him with a raised hand. “Ice cold. The good stuff.” The bartender grinned.

  “You got it, King,” he said. Clearly he was a fan.

  Another awkward silence descended. “So,” Sam said nervously, wiping his palms on his jeans. King was giving him an odd look. There was clearly some sort of silent communication going on between them. “Are you cold?” he asked her suddenly. She looked back at him in surprise and saw his eyes glued to her forehead.

  “No,” she said casually. “Why?” She was overplaying the innocent act, but Sam was getting flustered, clearly trying not to stare at her boobs, and it was pretty funny. Normally she wasn’t such a tease, but these two seemed pretty sweet and nobody knew her here.

  “No, I just, I mean, it’s cold, cool…in here. Cool in here,” he said. Jane was thoroughly enjoying his complete lack of finesse.

  “Oh, are you cold?” she asked in mock concern. She almost brushed her chest against his arm as she reached around him as if she were grabbing the jacket off the nearest chair. She honestly had no idea who it belonged to. “It’s not much, but if you need it…”

  “No!” he said loudly, holding up his hand as if to stop her, but then yanked it back, looking horrified that he’d almost touched her boob. She couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore and Sam looked chagrined. “I guess I deserved that,” he admitted, blushing.

  “You’ll have to excuse him,” King said, shaking his head. “He’s out of practice with women.” The smile he gave her made arousal zip up her spine, raising the hairs on the nape of her neck. He was clearly not out of practice with women. And what the hell was wrong with her? Normally she’d never even consider it, but here were two walking advertisements for casual sex, and boy was she buying.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jane said, feeling like an idiot for several reasons. “Bad breakup? Divorce?” She’d talked a lot of her friends through both of those.

  “No, nothing like that,” Sam said, not looking at her. “I was overseas, you know, Army. And since I got back, I just haven’t had time.”

  Her gut clenched. “What unit?” she asked with a sense of dread.

  “Are you military?” Sam asked, alarm in his voice.

  “No,” she said, wondering why the idea bothered him. “My brother.”

  “Tenth Mountain Division,” Sam said. “Your brother?”

  “He was with the Rangers,” she said, smiling.

  “Where is he now?” Sam asked. He’d moved up to the bar, relaxing against it.

  “He’s in Arlington,” she said, with a wobbly smile.

  She saw Sam’s hand clench into a fist on the bar. “I’m sorry,” he said stiffly.

  “Three shots,” the bartender said, lining them up in front of them.

  “Perfect timing,” she told him with relief as she picked hers up. “What are we drinking to?” Sam and King picked up their glasses.

  “Your brother,” King said. “For teaching you to fight.”

  “To David,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. Before she became a blubbering mess, she tipped the glass and swallowed the shot. It felt cold and thick in her mouth and went down smoothly. “Another,” she called to the bartender. He walked back over with the bottle and filled all their glasses again.

  “What are we drinking to this round?” King asked seriously.

  “To nice guys,” she said, raising her glass to each of them. King’s look was enigmatic, but Sam looked a little angry and a lot lost.

  “To nice guys,” King said and they all tipped back the shots.

  “Another?” the bartender asked. She covered her glass.

  “None for me,” she said. “I’m not much of a drinker, and between the little bit of punch I had and these two shots, I’m at my limit, thanks.” Understatement of the night. Lately her limit had been zero. “I was about to leave, anyway, when that jerk started hassling me.”

  “No more for me,” Sam said. He pushed away from the bar. “It was nice meeting you.” He started to turn away but King stopped him with a hand on his arm.

  “Can we walk you to your car?” King asked politely. There was some of that silent communication between him and Sam again, and she could almost feel Sam’s discomfort radiating in the air. She tried not to be disappointed. He was obviously not into her, while she felt a zing every time he got close enough for her to feel his body heat.

  She pondered King’s question as she regarded them both. She thought maybe King liked her, but they were together and that made it awkward. They must not have planned on hooking up with anyone tonight. Then again, she hadn’t either. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she actually wouldn’t mind the company walking back to the hotel, not after what had already happened. The odds of being accosted by another drunk fisherman tonight were pretty good. She pulled out her phone. “Driver’s licenses,” she said.

  “What?” Sam asked, looking adorably confused. King was already pulling his out.

  “She’s going to take a pictu
re of them and send it to someone,” King explained. “It’s what I told Talia to do if she ever leaves a place with a strange guy.”

  “Yep,” Jane said. She snapped a picture of King’s Alabama license. Sam slowly pulled out his wallet and took his license out.

  “I feel like I’m registering to vote,” he said. Jane laughed as she took a picture of his license. “Now get together,” she said. “I want a live shot.”

  Sam shook his head as King put an arm around him and hauled him close, smiling for the camera. As Jane snapped their picture she saw several other flashes go off around them. “I guess there will be lots of witnesses,” she said with a shrug. “Give me a sec.” She quickly texted Margo and sent her the pictures.

  These guys are walking me back to the hotel. Some jerk got handsy and they rescued me. They play football for the Rebels. Recognize them?

  “Okay,” she said, slipping the phone into her back pocket again. “Let’s go. Only I didn’t drive. I’m staying at the Marriott, about two blocks over. Is that okay? I’d appreciate the escort after what happened a little while ago.”

  “Sure,” King said in his big, expansive way. Everything he said sounded like it should be accompanied by a wide-armed gesture of welcome. She liked it. He was larger than life in everything he did. It was cute in a weird way. “We’re staying there, too,” he added. “So it all works out.” His smile was so genuine that Jane knew she wasn’t getting any tonight. No way a guy who smiled like that was planning to try to take advantage of her. She sighed with resignation. Just once she’d like to be the girl that guys like him wanted to take to bed. She might not go with them, but she wanted to be wanted.

  “Yeah, no problem,” Sam said tightly. “I’ve got to get out of here, anyway. Not a big fan of crowds these days.”

  Jane could tell. She wondered how long he’d been back from his tour, but she didn’t ask. They weren’t exchanging life stories or anything else. “Thanks,” she said simply. King moved off and she followed him. Sam trailed behind her and they made their way through the crowd with King clearing a path. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out to see a text from Margo.

  Holy shit! The big one is King something or other. I think he plays defense? Maybe? I don’t know the other one. Maybe he’s new? They’re cute! Are you really going to do them both?!

  Jane choked at Margo’s last question.

  No! They’re just walking me back to the hotel. You’ve got such a dirty mind. Will I see you back there tonight?

  Probably not. I’ve hooked a live one. Not as big as your Kingfish, but he’ll do. LOL Pictures to follow, I know the rules.

  Almost immediately a picture of a goofy-looking guy mugging for the camera came through, and then a driver’s license.

  Don’t do anything I’m not going to do. Or I will be totally jealous.

  Jane laughed at Margo’s final text.

  You know me. Chances are I won’t do anything our grandmother wouldn’t do.

  “Everything okay?” Sam asked from behind her, and she realized she’d slowed down to text with Margo.

  “Just letting my cousin know I’m leaving,” she told him. “Come on, let’s get out of this madhouse.”

  Chapter 3

  Sam resisted the urge to wipe his sweaty palms on his jeans again. She probably thought he had some kind of weird physical condition because his palms were sweating so much. She was really cute in a girl-next-door kind of way, with her long, brown hair, pug nose, and freckles. Just the kind of girl he used to go for. Trust King to pick the perfect one. Too bad Sam was so nervous there was no way in hell he was going to be able to perform tonight. Not with her or anyone else. He’d been giving King looks and shaking his head and everything else he could think of to let him know the deal was off, but King was ignoring him, chatting Jane up as if they were old friends. King had a knack for that. Sam was shit at small talk.

  “I’m a nurse,” she said in response to a question from King. “Trauma, like the emergency room, you know?”

  “Wow,” King said, clearly impressed. Sam was impressed, too. “How long?”

  “Are you trying to find out if I’m legal?” she said with a grin, teasing them. Damn if she didn’t have dimples. Of course.

  “No offense,” King said, putting his hands together as if he were praying, with a little bow in her direction, “but you don’t look that young.”

  “You got me,” she said with an unself-conscious laugh. She seemed pretty straightforward. Sam liked that about her, too. He wasn’t so great at figuring people out, with their secret signals and obscure body language. Just say it if you had something to say was his motto. “I’ve been nursing for about six years. What about you guys? How long have you been playing football? And this is the part where I confess that while I’ve heard of the Rebels, I know nothing about them. Or about football. Sorry.”

  Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been approached by groupies before and he didn’t like them. They were pushy and a lot of them wanted hard, rough sex. He didn’t want to go there, because he was afraid it would trigger something. He felt like a ticking time bomb around those women. Jane wasn’t giving off those vibes at all.

  “I’ve been playing since high school,” King told her. “I played college ball at Florida, and a few seasons on other NFL teams before I signed with the Rebels.”

  There was a long pause and Sam glanced over to see both Jane and King staring at him. “Oh, sorry,” he said, feeling stupid because he’d missed his cue again. “I played college ball for Army, West Point, then I went into the military.”

  “So you came back from your tour and entered the draft?” she asked. “How does that work?”

  “No, I was drafted before I went, by the Cowboys. When I came back, they traded me to the Rebels. They thought I was too old and too banged up to play, but the Rebels needed bodies on the field, and so here I am.”

  “That’s bullshit, brah,” King said mildly. “You’re a good player. If you weren’t, they wouldn’t have signed you.”

  Sam laughed. “This is the Rebels, King,” he said. “You and I both know they’ve taken on the worst the NFL has to offer. With a few notable exceptions, including you. I still can’t believe you chose the Rebels. I know you had better offers.”

  “I wanted to come here,” King said in his straight-up way. “I thought it would be fun, a new team, a new place, starting from scratch. Right? Exciting, man.” He was nodding, agreeing with himself. “Haven’t looked back.”

  “Only you,” Sam said, laughing again. He looked at Jane. “He means it. I bet he turned down a half-dozen offers that were higher than Birmingham because he thought it would be fun.” He shook his head.

  “I like his attitude,” Jane said, linking her arm with King’s. “If you don’t love it, don’t do it. Life’s too short.”

  Just then a firework went off, surprising Sam. He slammed his back against the front of the building they were walking past, reaching for his weapon, searching for the source of an attack out of pure instinct. His heart was pounding. For just a second, Sam was transported back to Afghanistan, on that awful day, on that godforsaken mountain road, watching Richie die. He took a deep breath and held it for a second before letting it out, the way the therapist had told him to. “Orange Beach,” he said, trying to hold the panic at bay. Another firework went off and he flinched. “I’m in Orange Beach.”

  “Sam?” King was there, holding on to Sam’s upper arm. “You all right?” Another firework went off and Sam flinched again.

  “Yeah.” His head cleared. “Yeah,” he said. “Right.” His voice was shaky. Did they hear it? He couldn’t even remember what they’d been talking about.

  Suddenly Jane’s hand was holding his. “I guess you didn’t know about the fireworks,” she said softly. “It affects lots of veterans the same way.” She pulled him down the sidewalk and he let her, trying to block out the sound of the fireworks. “We’re here,” she said a few moments later. Sam looked up at the hotel
in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed it.

  “Let’s not say good night yet,” King said. “How about we grab something to drink at the bar?”

  Both Sam and Jane were shaking their heads before he’d even finished speaking. “No more bars,” Jane said with a shudder.

  “What she said,” Sam added. He knew he was shooting himself in the foot. God knows, if he was going to sleep with someone, he’d love it to be Jane. She was cute and sexy and funny. What his mom always called a “nice girl.” Sam had a soft spot for nice girls. But it just wasn’t meant to be. Especially now that she thought he was a basket case after those stupid-ass fireworks.

  “Okay,” King said. “How about we grab a drink and sit out by the pool?”

  “I think it’s closed,” Jane said, peering over his shoulder as if she could see the pool from the street.

  “I don’t mean to swim,” King said. “Just a quiet place to sit and talk. Yeah, Sam?”

  “Sure,” Sam said slowly, giving King the “It’s over” look again. “Just to sit and talk, yeah.”

  “Oh,” Jane said, looking surprised. “Well, okay. That sounds good.”

  King led the way to the bar and they all ordered a beer. Sam knew he could nurse one of those all night. They followed King again when he headed for the pool.

  “How about here?” King asked, stopping by a table in a secluded corner. They were facing away from the direction of the fireworks.

  “As long as they don’t start blowing things up again I’m good here,” Sam said, pulling out a chair for Jane. She looked at it in surprise before she sat down.

  “Thanks. I don’t remember the last time a man pulled out a chair for me. Well, a man who wasn’t my father,” she amended with a big smile.

  “You have seriously been hanging out with the wrong kind of men,” King told her.

  “Clearly,” she responded fervently. “Since you two seem to be the right kind, maybe you can tell me where your secret hideout is.”