The Rookie (Calling the Signals Book 1)

by Ann Jacobs

  Their lovemaking had been hot, almost desperate, after Marly’s parents stern disapproval of their plans to live together. Now Bobby was gone, off for a game in Los Angeles.

  She still was moving in with him, just as soon as he got home. She loved him, damn it, and she’d rather have what time she could with him, even if it meant angering Mom and Dad and risking hurt she knew would be much worse if he dumped her than it was when her college romance had ground to a bruising end.

  She’d stay home, watch the game on TV and count the days until Bobby got back Monday morning.

  Today’s practice at the Rangers’ complex following a red-eye flight from Memphis had been a bitch, with Coach Lyle snapping at everybody and swearing under his breath because the team’s two bad boys hadn’t shown up. Every muscle in Bobby’s body ached as he bent to grab his dirty workout clothes and stuff them in a laundry bag. But that was the least of his worries. The talk he’d had last night with Marly’s dad hadn’t gone well. Not that he’d expected it would. He’d realized even before bringing up the idea of Marly moving in with him how conventional and old-fashioned Marly’s parents were.

  His own mom hadn’t been too happy when he’d told her he was thinking about asking Marly to move in with him, either, although she’d wished him well. Like Dom Ragusa, Mom had pointed out that in her day most couples waited to live together until after they got married. She’d also mentioned Tina, whom she loved like a daughter now that Bobby’s former girlfriend had come to stay in his old room after her mom’s death.

  Damn it, he should have known his mom was hoping Tina and he would get together. And he hated disappointing her. After all, she’d sacrificed a lot to see him get as far as he’d come. But Tina wasn’t happening for him. Not now or ever. Yeah, he loved her, but as a good friend. He had no desire to fuck her again, couldn’t imagine enjoying the staid life she’d insist upon. He doubted Tina was still remembering those few nights under the Hedgecock County High bleachers with anything resembling longing, either. He’d been damn green—a virgin, even—when they’d laid a blanket under the bleachers and had their first sexual experience. When he looked back on it, he wondered why Tina had agreed to keep on doing it. Amazing what a guy could learn about sex in six years.

  Bobby liked living the life of a successful jock with Marly beside him. He loved the way she set his libido on fire, and that she enthusiastically embraced everything about him, bruises and unruly testosterone and all. He especially liked the way they clicked, not only in bed but whenever they spent time together.

  He’d never felt that way about anybody else he’d ever dated, especially Tina. If they hadn’t been curious kids, Bobby was pretty sure she wouldn’t have let him fuck her at all. And he was almost as sure the hots he’d had for her were purely the result of teenage boy hormones. He sure as hell had never wanted her the way he wanted Marly now.

  If he were certain Marly loved him and would even if he weren’t a successful pro athlete at least for now, he’d marry her tomorrow. But he wasn’t, and he sensed she wasn’t quite sure of his commitment, either. Still he wanted to go to sleep feeling her soft, warm skin against him, and wake up every morning sharing sleepy sex and the great companionship they’d shared from their first date.

  He wished he’d had time to move Marly into his apartment before coming out here, so she’d be waiting in his bed when he got back. The last thing Bobby wanted was for her to slip through his fingers. She was everything he wanted in a woman, and not just because she was the best fuck he’d ever had. Yeah, she’d agreed to move in with him, but she was fretting about her parents’ disapproval and he worried she might change her mind.

  “I don’t blame her dad for not wanting her to move in with me,” he told Ellis, who had the visitors’ locker next to his.

  “Times have changed,” Ellis responded. “But I don’t blame you, either, wanting to go slow on the marriage thing. Maybe it would smooth things out with her folks if you got engaged.”

  To Bobby, that meant as much of a commitment as standing in front of a preacher and saying the words. Still… “Maybe I will.” He loved Marly, all right, he just wasn’t sure she’d love him as much when Keith came back to practice next week and he was standing on the sidelines with a clipboard. More important, he doubted that she’d be willing to leave her close-knit family and go with him when he was traded away from Memphis. His agent was positive a trade would happen, maybe almost as soon as Connors took over the reins again. That shouldn’t be long now. Maybe in the next week or two, certainly before Thanksgiving.

  Bobby wasn’t used to being indecisive about anything. But then he’d never wanted anything the way he wanted Marly with him day and night. He even wanted her more than he’d wanted to play pro football before last spring’s draft. Damn it, he’d follow Ellis’ suggestion. It wouldn’t be deceiving Marly or her folks to put a ring on her finger, because he did want to marry her someday if things worked out.

  He turned to Ellis. “You know, I think you’re right. Want to go help me pick something out before we have to go back to the hotel for dinner?”

  “Sure. Where shall we go?”

  Bobby grinned. “How about Beverly Hills? I’ve always wanted to go shopping on Rodeo Drive.”

  “It’s your money, bonus baby.” Ellis sat on a bench and tied his cross-trainers.

  Though Bobby wasn’t into wasting money needlessly, he wanted to get something Marly would always treasure, the way his mom still occasionally teared up when she glanced down at the modest diamond wedding band she’d still been wearing last time he was home. Recalling her mentioning that she was spending time with Mr. Tate when they’d talked on the phone this morning, Bobby wondered if she’d finally taken off that ring.

  “I’m not gonna go crazy, but I want Marly to know how much she means to me. Thanks to the media, everybody knows I got that signing bonus.”

  “That makes sense. Come on, we only have a couple of hours until we’ve got a team meeting at the hotel.”

  Tiffany’s on Rodeo Drive was a hell of a lot fancier than the only other jewelry store Bobby had ever been inside. Dazzling diamonds practically blinded him as he let the saleswoman point out details on an array of pre-made rings. He finally chose a two and a half carat round stone set in the jeweler’s signature platinum setting and escaped without being talked into adding an obscenely expensive tennis bracelet to go with the ring. The distinctive looking ring box now rested inside his jeans pocket. He figured he’d stash it inside his equipment bag once they got back to the hotel for the team meeting.

  When he and Ellis walked into Coach Grant’s suite five minutes late, Bobby thought everybody was awfully quiet. Even Coach seemed subdued as he preached about how the Gamblers defense would have to play their best to get a win against the Rangers. “You can never count Casey Weldon out. He may be old, but he’s still got an arm and the kind of football smarts you don’t often see.” Next to Dave Delaney, another of the Hedgecock, Texas quarterbacks, Casey had been one of Bobby’s childhood heroes. Getting the chance to see Weldon play was almost as exciting as it was going to be to go up against him. Bobby told himself he’d just have to see that he made no mistakes, that his throws would be on target whenever he got on the field.

  Coach Lyle moved away from the bar, paced among the players. Bobby watched his hands clench into fists, as if he wanted to lay into somebody. Bobby hoped it wasn’t him and Ellis for having arrived five minutes into the meeting.

  It seemed the coach’s ire was meant for the entire team, which was a relief. “Okay. You guys keep your noses clean. No partying tonight. It’s going to be bad enough, answering questions about what got Mort and Willis locked up last night without having anybody else run afoul of the law.” Coach scowled, and the collective silence could have deafened them all. “No doubt about it, no matter what it does to the lineup, I’ll suspend anybody that breaks curfew. And curfew is now.”

  “What’s that all about?” Bobby asked Dan Morales as they
waited for an elevator in the hotel lobby.

  “Your head must be up your ass, rookie, if you didn’t know our two resident idiots sneaked out of the hotel and went out to a club right after we arrived. They got drunk and roughed up a couple of strippers. They’re locked up, at least until court opens on Monday.”

  “No shit?” Bobby didn’t know either of the so-called idiots well, but it did register that one of them, Willis, was his number two wide receiver. Mort was a second-string safety who’d roughed his receivers up a couple of times during practice. “So we play without them tomorrow.” He let out a sigh. “Willis is pretty damn good.”

  “On the field. Off it he’s downright poison. So is Mort. Wouldn’t be surprised if Coach cut one or both of them this time. Those boys need a good whomping by their mamas.”

  Bobby nodded. “You’re right about that.” Just because somebody came from a dirt poor background didn’t excuse him for being a thug, but too damn many players kept proving you could take the boy out of the ‘hood but no amount of money was guaranteed to take the ‘hood out of the boy. “See you in the morning,” he said as he got out of the elevator on the eighteenth floor and stepped into the suite he and Ellis were sharing.

  Not for the first time, Bobby felt small-town. He guessed he’d been sheltered not only as a kid but at Tulane, where the Athletic Director didn’t put up with players doing stupid things and ending up on the wrong side of the law. He opened a bottle of Gatorade and took it over to the couch. When he was just about to take the first sip, his cell phone rang. “Hey, Mom,” he said after glancing at the caller ID. Taking the ring box out of his pocket and setting it on the table, he sat and stretched his legs out beside the box.

  “Son, I heard about your teammates getting in trouble. It was on the six o’clock news. I’m so sorry.”

  So was Bobby. Sorry he had to call some of his fellow players teammates. Sorry the bad ones always seemed to be the fastest, with the longest arms and highest vertical jump. And sorry the news had apparently made its way to the San Antonio stations that were the only ones available in Hedgecock unless you had satellite service. “Me, too. It’s not good for the sport. But you don’t need to worry about me hanging out with the two clowns who got arrested.”

  “I know. And that’s not why I called. Tina’s stepdad has been stalking her, even since she moved over here. Tonight he attacked her when she went back to the house to get some clothes. I’m afraid of what will happen to her if she doesn’t get out of his reach, so Cal and I decided the best thing would be for us to send her to you so she’ll be safe.”

  Shit. What was Bobby going to do with Tina while he was moving Marly into his place? Still, Tina was his friend and he wanted to help keep her safe. “I’m in Los Angeles, Mom. Won’t be home until Monday morning. Besides, weren’t you the one who told me just a few days ago that you didn’t think it was a good idea to move Marly in?”

  “Well, this is different. Getting Tina away from here could be a life-or-death matter. Having your girlfriend move in when she has a perfectly good place to live with her parents doesn’t seem anywhere near as urgent.” Mom had the good grace to sound a little apologetic.

  “You’re not trying to get Tina and me together, are you? It’s not going to do any good if you are, because I just bought Marly an engagement ring and I plan to propose to her when I get home.” Bobby tried to sound stern, strong—not like the little boy who usually tried to keep his mom’s approval.

  “Oh, no. I’m so sorry, son. Not about Marly, I’m sure she’s a wonderful girl and that you’ve made a good choice. It’s Tina I’m sorry about sending to you now, when you’re getting engaged and all.”

  “Can’t you send her someplace else?” A guy could always hope.

  “I wish I could. I gave her the extra key you sent me. Cal and I drove her over to San Antonio this afternoon. She’ll be flying to Memphis tomorrow morning. I gave her the extra key to your apartment, the one you sent to me, so she can settle in a bit while you’re away. Maybe you could get Marly to come over and make her feel at home. Tina’s a basket case, between burying her mama and dealing with that pervert, Edgar Garcia. The man belongs in the county jail as much as any of the drunk roughnecks who’re already there.”

  “Okay, Mom.” Bobby couldn’t say no. After all, he was the one who’d asked his mother to take care of Tina, only he’d never imagined her doing it this way. He should have. “But…”

  “No buts. Tina’s practically family, and she’s hurting. You need to take care of her, help her settle down and find something to pay her a little something and keep her mind off Edgar and her poor mom. Folks are saying Edgar may have done something to hurry along Linda Ray’s death, rest her soul.”

  Okay. Bobby’s mind spun. He hated surprises like this, almost as much as he hated opposing linebackers who got through his left guard and blindsided him. He rewound his mother’s conversation. What the fuck? “You and Mr. Tate from the bank took her all the way to San Antonio?”

  “We’ve been seeing each other. I mentioned it, I’m sure.” Mom sounded a little embarrassed, as if she thought she didn’t have the right to have a life other than taking care of him and going to work. “It’s getting pretty serious between us. Do you mind?”

  “Mind? No, you need somebody, now that I’m all grown up. I’m glad you’ve finally accepted that Dad is never coming back.”

  She sighed. “It’s taken a long time, but I think I’m there. Now, tell me I haven’t messed up your plans by sending Tina to you.”

  Mom had always been able to read between the lines, at least when it came to Bobby. “Some. I’d been hoping to do something private and romantic with Marly, and then give her the ring.”

  “Why not fly her out to see you play? You could take her out afterward and give it to her.”

  “No, I couldn’t. I’ve got to stay with the team.” Especially since Willis and Mort fucked up so royally. The situation had Coach breathing fire.

  “You couldn’t get special permission, bring her back with you on the team plane? Seems to me that if there’s a will, there’s got to be a way.”

  Bobby sighed. “If I were Brett Favre or maybe Keith Connors, there would be a way. But I’m not. I’m just a rookie backup, close to low man on the totem pole.“ He wouldn’t dare ask Coach, not in the mood the man was in. And no matter how he explained to Marly why they’d be having his old girlfriend staying in his spare bedroom, he had a sneaking feeling it wasn’t going to go over well. Not at all.

  “You could always ask.” When Mom got an idea in her head, she hated to let go.

  “Thanks, anyway, Mom, but I’ll have to do this my way. I just hope I don’t lose Marly in the process.”

  “If she loves you, you won’t lose her. Maybe she’ll even think better of you for not turning your back on an old friend.”

  If she loves me. She said she did, but he hadn’t tested her yet, and it seemed that test was coming a lot quicker than he’d thought. “I’d better call her now and let her know. Love you, Mom.” With that he ended the call and started to dial Marly’s number.

  No, he’d call Coach first. It was no crime to ask, and all he could do was get his ass chewed out six ways from Sunday. “It’s Bobby Anthony,” he said when Coach Lyle picked up the phone. “Would you mind if I flew my girlfriend out and proposed to her after the game?”

  “You can propose to the whole cheerleading squad if you win this game for us without Willis, that fucking moron. Monk’s no big loss on the field. We can even fly Marly back on the team plane if you think she’d like that, since we’ll have two extra empty seats.”

  Bobby couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d been casually given permission to skip two days of practice next week. Coach must have been more worried about the Gamblers defense stopping Weldon and his two all-pro receivers than he’d let on in the meeting earlier. “Thanks, coach. The whole cheerleading squad sounds interesting, but just Marly will do.”

  “Then get he
r out here if you can. You may be filling in for Keith the rest of the season if he can’t find a reliable live-in nanny for his kid. His mother had to go home this week, and he can’t keep on bringing the baby to work for the office women to take care of.”

  “Okay. I’ll get Marly a ticket out here and arrange for a limo to bring her to the stadium. Then I’ll call and let her know.” Bobby thought he might have an answer for Connors’ babysitter problem as well as a solution for his own dilemma, but he’d wait to mention it until after he ran the idea by Tina.

  Marly didn’t know quite what to think, other than that Bobby had to have lost his mind. Significant others didn’t join players on road trips very often, and when they did, the women were usually wives and the reason for their presence was compelling. Still, she was glad to be going, even if it meant being here at Memphis International Airport at six a.m. waiting for the first nonstop flight to LAX. Glancing at her boarding pass as the flight was called, she noticed Bobby had sprung for a first class seat.

  He’d been uncharacteristically quiet when they talked last night, not even mentioning the news that had been all over Memphis TV about Gamblers Willis Brown and Mort Lyle getting arrested out in LA for roughing up women in some club. All Bobby had said about that was that Willis wouldn’t be catching his passes tomorrow. Then, after telling her he had a surprise for her, he’d mentioned something about an old friend from his hometown coming to Memphis for a visit and hung up rather abruptly. She thought he hadn’t sounded any too pleased about this upcoming visit.

  Oh well, Marly told herself she’d find out soon enough about his surprises and his guest. Meanwhile she didn’t know how she was going to last through the four-hour flight, a cab ride to the Rangers’ stadium and two hours of football game without curiosity killing her. Flipping open a copy of Forbidden Fantasies that she’d found on a rack in the front of the airport bookstore, she tried to decide which of the erotic stories she wanted to read first.