Ty smiled and didn’t argue with the woman about whose fault the situation boiled down to. “Okay,” he capitulated, with no intention of telling Harper any such thing. He could have insisted they wait. He could have stayed away from her for the next couple of months, but he didn’t. He should have been stronger than that.
They both turned when the Uber driver pulled up and honked. Ty saw LaTanya wince at the sound and hoped it hadn’t woken Harper.
LaTanya opened the door, taking a step outside before turning to him. “And Ty?”
He held the weight of the wrought iron security door for her, holding it open wider. “Yes?”
She placed a hand on his shoulder, leaned in, and whispered, “You hurt her, and you better know I got a chipper shredder in my garage that’s got your name on it, and I start balls first.”
Ty blanched at the mental picture her statement made. “Uhhh, yes, ma’am.”
With a quick nod, she turned and headed to the car. Ty watched as the little compact Nissan pulled away, LaTanya practically lying down across the backseat as the driver backed out of the drive and headed east.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, the sun was starting its descent, and the trees, just beginning to change color, cast shadows on the driveway. Ty thought maybe it was time for him to head home. He had practice in the morning before the last game of the season, needed to work out tonight, and could use a good soak in the tub before heading to bed. But he didn’t want to leave Harper alone. He wanted to be there when she woke to hand her pain relievers, to help her shower, to fix her breakfast.
Ty realized he wanted to be there for everything. Every day. Which was stupid, because he’d only known her for, what, six or eight weeks? He couldn’t possibly be in love that fast, but…somehow, he was. The way she wasn’t afraid of his fame and would still give him a hard time when he deserved it. The fact she was passionate about old movies, even though he hadn’t seen most of them and had no clue what she was talking about when she excitedly described them. The way she cried out when she came, as if he’d done something spectacular for her, to her. Instead of that monumental realization freaking him out, it made him feel settled. Like he’d found his spot. He wouldn’t just be a professional baseball player anymore when he was with her. He’d be…her boyfriend? Lover? Husband? Okay, maybe that last one freaked him out just a little, that he was even thinking in those terms, but it didn’t scare him enough to make him want to leave her here alone.
After checking on her one more time to make sure she was still breathing, he settled for a simple workout of crunches, burpees, plank jumping jacks, and ended with a series of squats. His knee was screaming by the time he finished. He’d need a hot bath and an ice pack. But first, he needed food.
He made himself at home in her kitchen. After a quick check of her pantry and fridge, he boiled some penne and tossed a few sausages with peppers and onions into a pan to sauté. He made a note to stock her fridge next time he came over. If she ever allowed him to come over again. If she didn’t kill him for staying over at her house when she was out-of-it drunk and defenseless after having lost her job because he was such an idiot. Didn’t matter what her friend said, if he’d just left her alone until the semester was over… If he hadn’t taken her to that park… If, if, if…
The urge to talk to his brother had never been stronger, so after he ate, he grabbed his phone and went out the back door. The backyard was full of trees, and there was even a treehouse perched on the wide branches of one of them. Looked like it’d been there forever. Ty resisted the urge to check it out, instead opting for one of the three Adirondack chairs Harper had arranged on the wooden deck. Settling down and elevating his bad knee, he called J.T.
After a few rings, the former QB picked up. “Hey, little brother.”
He sounded out of breath. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Nah, nah. I was just outside and left my phone in the house.” Ty wasn’t sure if that was the truth, but he wasn’t about to call J.T. a liar. The guy could still pound him into the ground next time he saw him. “You hardly ever call me. What’s up?”
Ty explained the entire situation to him, and J.T. had the audacity to laugh. “No offense, but you’re in a pickle, as Granny would say.”
“Thanks. Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious.”
His brother let out another guffaw, then: “I think you’re both at fault here. You for letting your little head rule over what you knew was right, and her for insisting everything would be fine. That was a gamble, and you guys lost. Sucks to be you, man.”
“I know it sucks, dumb ass. I just need to figure out how to fix everything.”
“You can’t.”
“But—”
“You can’t make it up to her,” his brother replied. “You most likely can’t get her job back either, but what you can do is be there for her. If she wants to pound your ass, let her. If she wants to cuss you out and scream at you, you stand there and you take it. Something I’ve still not figured out how to do. But you’re a better man than me, Ty. Always have been.”
“That’s not true.” Ty thought his big brother was the best man, which was why he’d tried his whole life to keep up with him.
“Yeah, it is.”
Something about the tone of his brother’s voice made Ty ask, “What’s up? You sound like maybe you have something you need to talk about.”
J.T. hesitated, then gave a grunt. “Nothing you can help with, bro. So be good to Harper, let her know you support her in any way she needs, and things may just work out.”
Ty still wasn’t sure if that was true, but he had to try. “Thanks, brother.”
“Hey, someone’s at the door.” J.T. cleared his throat. “You go fix your mess. Oh, and Ty?”
“Yeah?”
“That job is still open when you’re ready.”
“I know.” Ty was thinking it just might be time to take it. “Thanks again.”
Ty wondered sometimes how J.T. had lived his life so well, known what he wanted to do, been willing to stop when he was at the top of his game and do something as unselfish as plan a foundation for teaching football to underprivileged kids, as well as a new and thriving business. He’d always been the big brother in every way, and Ty wished he had half that intelligence and instinct himself. Sometimes Ty selfishly wished J.T. would screw up. Just once.
Harper woke to the sound of water running in her shower. She sat up, but the pounding in her skull like a million tiny jackhammers was enough to make her lie back down and squeeze her head between her hands for just a little relief from the pain. Man, she and LaTanya must have really gotten pickled last night. She couldn’t remember drinking that much herself, knew she’d never gotten to the tequila, but then she was a lightweight. Two glasses of wine made her tipsy.
From the darkness in the room, she assumed it was very late afternoon, and LaTanya was probably taking a shower before her evening class. Harper squinted, grabbed her cell phone, and confirm it was 7:03. She slid out of bed and stood upright, keeping her head pointed toward the carpet for a few minutes before slowly bringing it upright. It didn’t matter how gingerly she tried to move, though, because her brain still pounded on top and between her eyes, and she felt sick. She scrambled to her en suite before hurling into the toilet. What a pretty sight she must make.
The guest shower stopped—funny how you could hear every pipe in these old houses—and a few seconds later, the bathroom door squeaked open. Harper washed her face and toweled it dry. She hoped she had bath soap out for her friend. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d needed the guest bathroom and only cleaned it once a week out of habit…and in case her mother made a surprise visit.
Stumbling from her room, she headed down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen for a glass of water just as a nearly naked man emerged from the bathroom. Harper jumped and shrieked, increasing the thousand tiny needles that were currently piercing her frontal lobe. A damp, half-naked Ty stepped into the
hall and glanced her way. Harper caught herself staring at the water droplets pebbled on his six-pack abs and pulled her eyes back up to his face. His scruffy, tanned face, and his wild, wet hair in disarray. Her gaze wandered down to where the towel wrapped around his waist, and even though she was hungover and still upset about losing her job, it wouldn’t take much to reach out and—
“Hey, you look…better,” he said, and she knew it was a lie. She’d seen herself in the mirror. If this was better, she shuddered to think what she must have looked like before.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Tylenol? Coffee?”
“You can get some clothes on, for one thing,” she muttered, then continued past him down the hallway toward the kitchen. She stopped, turned back to him, and added, “You’re dripping on my hardwood floors.”
“Yeah, um, right.”
He tiptoed toward the sofa, where he began digging through a duffel with one hand, clutching the beige bath towel with the other to hold it in place. Harper passed on by and flipped the kitchen wall switch, quickly realizing fluorescent light wasn’t the best idea for her pounding hangover. She shaded her eyes and pulled a glass from the cabinet and the pain reliever caplets from her pocket. The glass full of icy-cold water from the fridge door dispenser helped her feel just the tiniest bit more human, and maybe the pain relievers would go an extra step once they kicked in.
What the hell Ty was doing here was the next problem to be solved. She remembered someone carrying her to bed, but she couldn’t remember him arriving at her door, much less why he’d come or why he was still here, taking a shower in her bathroom, changing clothes in her living room, and more or less parking himself in her home.
Returning to the living room and a fully clothed but still-damp Ty, she said, her voice as authoritative as she could make it with a brain that wanted to drill its way out of her skull, “Mind telling me why you’re here?”
13
“I came by this afternoon as soon as I got notification about—”
“Me being fired? Canned? Let go?” She turned around, still a bit bleary-eyed, but seeing Ty Johansen pretty darn clearly. He was here because he cared. “You came by, but why are you still here? And where is LaTanya?”
“Said she had to go home a couple hours ago and sober up enough to teach a class tonight.” He zipped the duffel and grinned, shaking his head. “I’m not sure she’ll make it. She was pretty wasted. You were worse, though.”
“Oh, she’ll make it.” Her friend would never let someone else teach her class, any more than she’d cancel one. Or do something stupid enough to get fired.
“You paint an attractive picture of me.” She had to laugh out loud at that, even though it made her temples feel like there were going to implode. “You must want to run for the hills now.”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?” Ty approached her but stopped a few feet away, as if he were afraid she’d bite him if he got too close. “I didn’t want you to be alone, Harper. You were passed out cold. I called Uber, and your friend can pick up her car tomorrow. She was in no shape to drive home.”
“I wasn’t that drunk. I only had a couple of glasses of wine.” Seriously, had she gotten so plastered she didn’t even remember Ty arriving or her friend leaving? “Or maybe a bottle.”
“You were hammered like a box of nails.” Ty attempted a grin that looked more like a grimace of pain. “How’s your head? The one and only time I got plastered in high school, I remember it feeling like someone was jackhammering my skull wide open.”
“I’d say that’s pretty accurate.” Harper wanted to still be mad at the guy, but as LaTanya had so eloquently pointed out, she really should bear the brunt of the blame for what happened. “I owe you an apology, though.”
Ty shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything. It’s my fault, what happened. I just don’t know how to make it up to you, Harper. I’ve ruined your life.”
“As much as I’d like to agree…” she began, sitting on the sofa and patting the spot next to her. He sidled up and slowly sat, turning to her. “I realize that you wanted to wait. You would’ve waited for me. If I hadn’t pushed, if I hadn’t insisted on trying to start a relationship and keep it secret, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry I blamed you. You were just trying to do something you thought I’d enjoy. You’re one of the good ones, Tyler Johansen. I knew that. I just needed to be reminded.”
Ty reached out and wrapped her hand in his. “LaTanya reminded you?”
She nodded. “She might have given me a talking to last night, prior to the drinking part of the evening.”
“Then I have to send her some flowers for that.” Ty did that grin, the one with the dimples, and Harper felt her girly parts tingle, despite the hangover. No way did she feel up to having sex with him right at the moment, but her body wanted him, wanted to feel that friction.
“You and your flowers,” she said with a grin. “She’d be impressed with flowers, but she’d love you forever if you bought her expensive chocolate.”
“Done.” He stood. “Save me from the chipper shredder.”
“Huh?” What in the heck had LaTanya said to him?
“Never mind.” Ty picked up his duffel and slung it over his shoulder and grabbed a set of keys from the end table. “I’m going to head home now, since it seems like you’re going to live.”
“Can’t you stay awhile longer? We can pretty much do what we want now that I don’t have a job to worry about.” Harper suddenly didn’t want him to go. The anger she’d felt after that meeting this morning had evaporated when she’d realized he came for her. As soon as he found out, his first thought was to get to her. He hadn’t said one angry thing about having to retake his class because of her bad choices. Having to delay his goal because she didn’t want to wait.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry you’re going to have to take that class again.”
“You heard?” He set the duffel down and pocketed the keys.
“They told me when they asked for my resignation,” she said. “They didn’t outright fire me, they let me take an easier way out so I could possibly teach again. Somewhere besides here, anyway.”
“Well, that’s good to hear, I suppose.” A line formed between his brows, and he tilted his head to consider her. “If that’s what you want.”
She nodded. “To be honest, I think I’m going to take some time off. Regroup.”
“That’s probably a smart idea.” He looked into her eyes. “Right?”
“Yeah, I think so.” She took a deep breath and asked for something she wasn’t sure he’d agree to after the way she’d behaved before. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
“What?”
“I mean, stay here tonight with me.” She stood and went to him, looking up at him with all the sincerity she had inside. “I know it’s a lot to ask after the way I’ve behaved the last few days, but I don’t want to be alone, and I don’t want to go to my mother’s, and I don’t want to ask LaTanya to come back for a sleepover, since she’ll be tired after teaching class. You’re here and, well…”
Ty looked stunned, and she couldn’t blame him; after all, she’d pretty much ignored him since the park debacle. “It’s okay to say no. I’ll understand.”
“Why would I say no? I came here for you. I stayed for you.” He shook his head as he walked toward her, a grin tilting one corner of his mouth, and wrapped his strong arms around her. “I have to go home and grab some clean clothes for practice tomorrow morning, but I’ll be back.”
He started to set her back, but Harper clung to him like he was a floating door and she’d just dived off the Titanic. Ty gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head before whispering, his warm breath tickling her ear, “I promise you. I’ll come back as quick as I can.”
Harper nodded and let him go. Ty stepped back and cupped her face, pressing his lips to hers once, twice, before touching his forehead to hers. “And, Harper, when I come back, we’re going to h
ave a long talk, okay?”
She nodded and then watched as he walked out and closed the door behind him.
Ty had promised Harper he’d be back soon, but soon wasn’t as quick as he’d hoped for. Once home, he got a call from Coach asking him to come in for a confab. He had no clue what that might be about this time of day, other than the coaching job offer, and he was frankly getting a little tired of everyone trying to tell him it was time to get out of the game. He would know when it was time.
He’d decide that for himself.
Grabbing a change of clothes and his workout gear for the morning, Ty headed to Coach’s house in South Bluffs. The tony neighborhood boasted gorgeous houses with incredible views of the Mississippi River from almost every room. Coach’s wife, Penny, had decorated every room herself, and her taste was like something out of Architectural Digest. In fact, the home had been featured in the magazine once a couple of years ago.
Ty parked on the gray cobblestone driveway and made his way to the front door. Coach opened the door just as he reached the porch, as if he’d been watching for his arrival. “Hey there, Johansen. Come on in.”
Ty stepped inside and was hit with the aroma of apples and cinnamon. “Penny baking again?”
“Apple pie just for you,” Penny shouted from the kitchen. “Hope you’re hungry. We’re having roasted chicken and root vegetables.”
Ty’s stomach growled at the prospect, but then he thought of Harper sitting home alone with a fridge that was now pretty much void of anything healthy. “Thanks, Penny. Didn’t know I was coming for dinner.”
She entered the living room, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “I guess Jim neglected to tell you. Again.” She rolled her eyes at her husband. “It’s okay if you can’t stay.”
“No, no. That’s fine.”
“You can take some leftovers too.” Penny’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She looked a bit sad. “Since the kids are in college, I don’t cook that much anymore. This was for fun.”
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