Third and Long: A Sports Romance

by Caitlyn Maxwell

  “I intend to,” Tamber says. It’s amazing how easily she leans into the lie. We don’t have to pretend to my sisters, yet Tamber treats the conversation like nothing is out of the ordinary. I kind of love that.

  “Au revoir bro,” my sisters say goodbye as they go to take another hit from the bong.

  “They seem fun,” Tamber says. She sits awkwardly on the couch, afraid to put her legs back up on my lap. She’s even adorable when she’s spooked by the possibility of big brother watching us.

  The absence of my sisters, makes me realize that Tamber and I are all alone down here. This is the kind of situation we’ve been in twice, and twice before we’ve struggled with the whole friends angle. Out in the stable, we promised not to let that happen again. It’s not a promise, I want to keep.

  I put my hand on her smooth bare leg and she doesn’t flinch. Instead, she’s looking at me with those chocolate eyes. She smiles at me and looks away.

  “Your sisters seem fun,” she says.

  “Sure. Big pain in my ass, but sure,” I say.

  She lets the thought linger, thinking about what to say next. Then she springs it on me.

  “Why are you doing all this?” she asks.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The whole fake fiancé bit?”

  “Because I really do not want to marry some socialite from New York that I’ve never met,” I say.

  She shrugs. “Why me then?”

  “Look I realize this whole plan is kind of stupid, but all I need is a little time. I need to get my parents off my back and you—you’re…” I hesitate, the words stuck in my throat.

  “You can’t answer can you?”

  “It seemed right at the time. I had like half a day to figure something out. I felt bad about the Dirty dragging you through the mud. I thought you could use a nice weekend away,” I say.

  “That’s really it?”

  “That’s really it,” I say, not even remotely believing it myself.

  We’re being good; we’re behaving. I wonder if we’d be behaving if my sisters hadn’t so rudely interrupted us. This time we won’t fall victim to our obvious attraction to each other. I owe her that much.

  I understand her so much better now: her drive, her determination, her insistence on not falling in love. I’m realizing that we have so much in common. I’m not as anxious about relationships, but I’m nothing if not determined. Dad wants me to give up football at the end fo the season, marry Katerina, become an oil man. Tamber’s making me realize that I can never do this. Just like her, my goals matter more than anything else in the world.

  In that moment, I realize why I’m falling so hard for Tamber. In a world of yes men that will do whatever my dad wants or agree with me just because I’m a star, Tamber is the one person that will legitimately tell me from the bottom of her heart to give my parents the finger and declare for the draft.

  “You should marry Katerina,” she says.

  “What?” I practically scream. I feel likes she’s reading my mind and fucking with me, but the look on her face tells me that she’s totally serious.

  “I think…” she stutters. “I think that sometimes parents know best.”

  “Like your mom.”

  “Like my mom.”

  “Is that what you would do? Go into the family business, give up what I like?” I ask.

  “Take the safe path. What could happen if you piss off your dad too much?”

  “He’d cut off my trust fund. Make the Roman numeral on the end of my name worth three cents.”

  She smiles. “Think about it cowboy. Sometimes it’s okay to take what your parents give you.”

  How could she possibly tell me to do what my parents want when her entire life has been about rebelling against her own parents way of life? Right when I start to think I understand Tamber, she throws me a curve ball. The room gets tense. I’m annoyed. At least I won’t be crossing any boundaries any time soon.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Tamber

  Logan did not like that I told him to marry Katerina. The expression on his face afterward looked like I stabbed him in the back. I can’t believe that I told him to marry Katerina. What the fuck was I thinking?

  Before I even knew what I was doing, the sentiment came out of my mouth. Jillian and Carolyn are so cool, and I realized that I was lying to them the entire time. This whole thing has been one big lie, and his parents don’t deserve that.

  After that Logan took me over to the pool house. There’s an indoor sauna, but even though a hot steam sounds awesome cold weather like this, it was obvious that neither of us were in the mood anymore.

  Sometime later Jeffrey finds us and informs us that dinner will be served shortly. He escorts me back to my room, and I’m temporarily grateful to have some space from Logan because deep down, I start to think marrying Katerina is the right move.

  It’s not like he’s going to marry me for real. I get that he wants to play football, and he doesn’t want to get engaged to a girl he barely knows, but Katerina’s beautiful. All his dad wants to do is pass off a billion dollar business to him. Things could be worse.

  Meanwhile, I’m hanging on, hoping I can figure out a product to market for Professor Castle’s class. And maybe I get an internship after New Year’s, and maybe I can then get a real job some day. In all honesty, it’s no surprise that I’m starting to think the safe route is right for Logan. What if tears his ACL before the draft, and that’s it?

  After Jeffrey leaves me alone, I start to freak out at the idea of a formal dinner because I have no idea what to wear. In fact I have no idea how to approach a formal dinner at a billionaire’s mansion at all!

  Fortunately Gwen thought well enough to pack me an evening gown, amongst 8 different pairs of slutty lingerie that she felt I needed. As I’m dressing for dinner, I start to have a mild panic attack.

  Grabbing my cell phone off the charger, I’m silently praying that I have service. There’s no rain this evening, so I have five bars. Now all Gwen has to do is pick up. The phone rings five times.

  “Hey babe. You fuck him yet?” she says, answering the phone.

  “No. And I’m not going to.”

  There’s probably a full minute of silence on the phone because I’m afraid to tell her what I did. I’m afraid to tell her how all of my anxiety came over me at once, and I told him to take the path of least resistance.

  After telling Logan the story about learning from my mom’s mistakes, I couldn’t very well tell him to deny his parents right?

  “What did you do?” Gwen asks.

  “I told him he should marry Katerina Prescott.”

  “Oh you dumb slut. You’re supposed to suck his cock not his dad’s.”

  “Jesus, Gwen.”

  “No I’m serious. How are you going to tell the guaranteed number one draft pick that he should give up football and marry some idiot from New York? I mean have you seen this girl?” she asks, her voice getting all loud and serious.

  “I don’t know anything about her.”

  “You should get educated!”

  “Babe I don’t know what to do!” I moan, falling back on the bed.

  “Do you like him or not?” she asks.

  “I don’t know! I feel like I barely know him.”

  “For fuck’s sake, you were drooling over his ass. You’ve kissed him and shit,” she says.

  “Yeah,” I mutter.

  “But you haven’t fucked him yet?”

  “We got pretty close today,” I say.

  “Oh shit do tell.”

  “He was fingering me in the stable, and…”

  “Don’t tell me you stopped him. I will be so mad.”

  I don’t even respond.

  “You are a hopeless fucking case you know that?” Gwen asks.

  “So what do I do?”

  “I don’t know! You’re the one in the weird ass fake engagement. Who’s idea was it to go along with that disaster?”

  �
�Yours.”

  “Oh shit never listen to me,” she says.

  “You’re some fucking help.”

  There’s a knock on the door. It’s Jeffery. He’s calling me for dinner.

  “Shit I have to go. What do I do?”

  “Number one don’t tell him to marry Katerina, you idiot. Tell him you were drunk or something. Number two, stop being a fucking idiot.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “It’s obvious you like him. Stop playing games and see where he’s willing to go with you. Who knows? You might like it.”

  “You mean fuck him?”

  “Remember what I said about athletes and sex?”

  “That it’ll change my life?”

  “You could use a life-changing event right now.”

  With that she hangs up. She’s not wrong. I feel like I’m stuck in a rut, and I need help in a big way. I’ve got one major project to finish before graduation, but here I am pretending to be married to a boy way out of my league.

  Then it hits me. I realize why I’m doing this. I’m avoiding work. I’m out here because I’m so fucking scared of failing Professor Castle’s class, that I ran away to the Oliver mansion.

  As I finish zipping up the dress, Gwen left for me, I start feeling like I need to get back to Rome. I’ve been out here playing pretend, so I don’t have to be there stressing about my real life. One more night then I’m going home to face the music. That’s why I told Logan to marry Katerina. We all have to face the music eventually.

  Gwen’s dress is different than the little black number that I wore on my first date with Logan. This one is quite a bit more slinky. Gwen does not do elegant. I hope his parents don’t mind.

  Down the long hallways of the Oliver mansion, I feel like I’m walking on death row to my last meal. There is no doubt in my mind that his parents are going to grill me at dinner. A no-name girl wants to marry their blessed son? They’ll be asking questions for sure.

  It wouldn’t have been fair to come after me so early in the morning at breakfast. Dinner and drinks is a whole new ball game, or football game in this case. As we near the dinner hall, business me comes out to play. Game face time. Like Logan under center, I can be fierce.

  They’ll have no idea that I told their son to marry the woman they prefer anyway. Logan won’t have told them. He’s not the kind of guy to ever show his hand. When we get back to civilization tomorrow, I assume he’ll thank me for playing along and then make the call to his parents.

  All I’m getting out of this weekend is distraction. Avoidance from my obligations, an avoidance that comes from fear of failure and an utter dislike of The Party Girls. One of those idiots had better have come up with a product to sell.

  Then again there’s a lot of ways to avoid school work. Gwen would recommend beer, Logan’s sisters would tell me to get high. So why am I playing along with this stupid plan of Logan’s, subjecting myself to his parents?

  When Jeffrey opens the doors to the hall, and I see Logan sitting there in an excellently cut suit. I realize why.

  I love him.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Logan

  As usual she’s absolutely stunning when she enters the room. Both my parents and I are all dressed up in formal wear and for my money Tamber fits the bill perfectly. Or so I think until I realize my mom absolutely disapproves.

  Tamber’s wearing this blue dress that, admittedly, is very short, but it hugs her body so perfectly. To me she’s drop dead gorgeous. I guess my parents were expecting a more formal evening gown. Fuck them. On the other hand, Tamber told me to marry Katerina so I don’t know what the fuck to think anymore.

  Jeffrey sits Tamber directly across from me at the dinner table. Normally the damn thing stretches across the room. For once Jeffery took out a few leaves to make it a bit more intimate. Now my parents on either end are a bit too close for comfort. Jeffrey pours each of us a glass of wine before brings out the appetizers.

  He’s prepared those tiny little things that you can eat in one mouthful. It’s a wonder I was ever able to gain enough weight to play football with the kinds of things my parents fed me growing up.

  Mom and dad are obviously judging Tamber’s dress, and she knows it. I’m sure after dinner they’ll tell me that it was inappropriate. Too short, too tight, too blue. Whatever. It’s perfect to me.

  Before the salad is even out my mom starts grilling her.

  “So Tamber tell us about your family,” my mom asks.

  Tamber looks right at me. I’m thankful that she told me everything earlier, otherwise, I’d be sitting here twisting in the wind. My fake fiancée takes a nice long sip of red before she even thinks about answering my mom’s question.

  “Well there’s not much to tell Jessica, I—”

  “My wife would like to know how frequently your parents have been in jail,” my dad asks.

  I drop my fork. When it hits the plate everyone looks at me. I’m actually stunned. My parents turned from welcoming to cutthroat in a matter of eight hours. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t a mix of complete embarrassment and utter anger right now. I’m looking at Tamber with the look of deepest regret that I can muster.

  “It sounds like you already know,” Tamber says, the words catching in her throat.

  In my mind I’m screaming out to stop this, yet no words come out of my mouth.

  “Indeed,” my dad says.

  While they are both cutthroat, my mom is capable of at least some semblance of humanity. My dad? He didn’t make billions playing nice.

  “My dad has done time for several alcohol related offenses. All before I was born.”

  “And yet your mother is currently incarcerated,” my dad says.

  This time when I look at Tamber, she looks away from me. Her face is bright red. This is a little detail that she didn’t mention. In her version, her mom was the hero of the story, giving up everything to raise her kids. Now she’s in jail?

  I’m expecting Tamber to flip me off and walk out. I totally deserve it. I should have known my dad would make a scene. Stupid me thought he would play nice for a weekend.

  Tamber looks right at my dad with a bit of anger in her own eyes, and I brace myself for impact.

  “Yes Mr. Oliver, I am not good enough for your son. My parents are a mess. They come from nothing. I come from nothing. I’ve worked hard every single day of my life despite what my parents are because I never want to be like them. I promised my mom that I would never end up like her. But you know what? Your son is special,” she says.

  She looks right at me when I say it, and now I’m the one who’s having trouble looking her in the eye. Yet at the same time I can tell that a million things are going on in that amazing brain of hers.

  “Your son is worth breaking promises for. He’s one of a kind. I get that you want him to marry someone from your class of people. And I’m sorry that I’m not one of them. I am all I can be,” she says.

  Jeffrey interrupts the incredible awkwardness to deliver the main course. No one is paying attention to the meal at this point. Everyone is reading the pure emotion on Tamber’s face. I don’t think anyone has talked to my parents like that in years. If this was a movie, my dad would stand up, shake her hand, and congratulate her on having the moxie to say something like that. Unfortunately, this is real life.

  Suddenly my phone goes off. My parents hate cell phones at the table. Mine is on full fucking volume too. The worst part is that Cam is the one texting me. I know it’s him because 2-Live Crew’s Hoochie Mama blares through the dining hall.

  Let me be clear. It doesn’t just blare, it absolutely echoes because of the ridiculous size of this room. You know the part that goes “big booty hoes!” Yeah. Imagine my face.

  For a very very brief moment, everyone forgets what Tamber said to my dad.

  “Well, that’s certainly something. Logan,” my mom says looking at my dad, “you’d think with all the time they spend on those phones, someone would develop
an etiquette app for them.”

  She stares me down until I put my phone away, and then she looks to Tamber. Etiquette. Who the fuck needs it?

  “Speaking of which, honey, we need to talk about your style of dress,” mom says.

  All of the sudden, Tamber’s gorgeously cute face lights up like the goddamn sun. Even as my mom berates her, she can’t stop smiling like an idiot. I’m kind of wondering if she’s having a stroke.

  “Is something amusing you?” my mom asks.

  “No I’m sorry. I just had a thought,” Tamber says.

  “Care to share with the table?” my dad says.

  Tamber launches into an explanation about her marketing class, her project and especially how The Party Girls are all useless lumps who she can never count on. My parents actually listen intently. They are quite interested in it all. My mom is especially pleased when Tamber starts to describe how the app for etiquette could be perfect.

  Jeffrey comes around and refills everyone’s wine. When he gets to me he leans over and says, “Good timing Master Logan.” Apparently I’m not the only one who felt the tension in the room.

  Tamber talks for about twenty minutes straight about what could be done with an app for people like her. She’s bringing in all kinds of street wisdom and alternate takes on stuff that my parents take for granted.

  In that span it seems like everyone except me forgot the fucking atomic bomb that my dad dropped about Tamber’s mom being in jail. Not like I’m going to bring it up.

  “So tell us Tamber. What first attracted you to Logan?” my dad says. Any brevity in the room is gone as we move right back into another question and answer section.

  “My muscles obviously,” I say trying to help her out of this one.

  Tamber tells the story of how we met and ended up going on a first date. The entire time I’m incredibly awed by the way she tells a story. Obviously she embellishes a bit here and there to make it sound like we actually fell in love and got engaged.

  Either way she’s so eloquent and interesting, and I find myself completely believing every word of it even though I know the parts that are fake. From the way her mocha hair bounces on her shoulders to the way her eyes light up when she talks about our first date, I find myself unable to look away from her.