Miss Congeniality

by Marie Garner

  The promotional event for Maggie Beach was blessedly quiet and uneventful. After all the shit that had happened the last couple of months, it was nice to just be able to wine and dine with some big wigs and go home. Clare and Raquel were there with their dates, which made it easier for Brea to endure the boring evening with Lance. Everyone enjoyed the party, but for Brea, it was all about the football game the next day. She was thankful she was able to talk Lance into staying three extra days. He wasn’t much of a football fan, saying he preferred basketball or baseball, but Brea was enough of a fan for both of them. Every Sunday growing up, she could be found enjoying the football game with Derrick, while watching his beloved Washington Wildcats. That’s how she found herself sitting three rows from the front on Sunday, watching them compete for a preseason win against the Dallas Greenbacks. Derrick always told her they could finish their season 2 and 14 as long as the two games they won were against Dallas. She and Lance could afford a box, and it would afford them more privacy, but nothing beat sitting among a sea of fans cheering for the same team.

  Lance was skeptical when she told him she was a hardcore fan, but when she came out the bathroom in her jersey, he started to believe her. When the game started, it became clear she was not a weak and timid fan. She yelled, she cursed, and she cheered with everyone else, but when she started questioning the parentage of one of the refs, he was surprised.

  “You’re a bloodthirsty one, aren’t you?”

  She bit into the hot dog and moaned. “Football is like a religion in the South, and we take our games very seriously.”

  “I can see that. Should I be worried?” he screamed in her ear to be heard over the noise of the crowd.

  “Only if we lose or you keep talking so I miss the game.”

  “Are you serious?” He couldn’t believe it—all this over a football game.

  “How about you shut the hell up?” He leaned over, making sure she could hear him after her last statement to him.

  “I’m spanking you later.”

  She winked. “Why do you think I said it?” He reached underneath her, pinching her ass as a promise of more to come later.

  They won, thankfully, but it was a nail-biter with the score ending up 30-27, a last-minute field goal sealing the deal. Brea looked at her phone on the way out, noting the missed call from Derrick.

  She held up her phone for Lance to see. “I need to call Derrick back; he probably has something to tell me about the trial.”

  “Did he tell you he was going to call you?” Lance asked, helping her into the car.

  “He said he would call with news, and there isn’t anything else going on with him and Silvia.”

  “Well, call him.” He started the car, listening to her end of the conversation while they rode to the hotel. He followed her into the elevator, rubbing her back as she got more agitated, knowing she would explain the phone call when she was done. He didn’t try to pressure her, only let her know he was there for her, something she was extremely grateful for. She hung up when the elevator started moving. She could read the questions in his eyes, but she didn’t want to talk about it. She lifted her lips, loving that he knew exactly what she needed. The kiss was sweet without a lot of heat behind it, and she hugged him hard, putting her face in his neck to breathe him in, as was becoming her habit.

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  “No, I just want to be with you for a bit. Is that okay?”

  “Definitely.” He grabbed her and lifted, helping her wrap her legs around his waist. He patted her ass a couple times. “I’m supposed to spank you, aren’t I?”

  “I love you!” Brea couldn’t hold it in any longer, she just had to blurt it out, even if it wasn’t the best time.

  He pulled back, searching her face. “You do?”

  Green eyes stared intently, and Brea found herself softening. “Yeah, babe. I really do.” He kissed her quickly, grinning like a loon. “I knew it!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Now take me to bed and fuck me!” She smacked a kiss loudly on his cheek

  when the elevator doors opened, holding tightly as he walked her to the room. Wanting to have some fun and torture him in the process, she licked the shell of his ear, loving the way he shivered. She took his lips, lifting up simultaneously while he carried her so she created friction against his jeans, making him stumble against the wall. He held her against the hotel hallway while she wiggled against him, practically dry-humping him in a very public spot. It only made them hotter for each other, knowing they could be caught at any moment.

  “Hurry,” she begged when he slid his finger against the waistband of her jeans.

  “You want this?” He dipped his finger in her panties, rubbing against her slit, propping his knee against the wall to hold her up. “You want me to fuck you in this hallway? Where anyone can see?”

  She whimpered, so turned on she thought she was going to explode into a million pieces, trying to push off the wall so she could dig his finger deeper.

  “Uh-uh,” he whispered, taking his finger out of her panties, and helped her get off the wall, the lust blazing in her blue eyes telling him she would gladly have sex in the middle of the hallway. They practically ran to the room, and she rubbed her hands up and down his chest while he opened the door, before finally tiring of that and reaching down, grabbing his dick through his pants. He jumped from the unexpected action, dragging her into the room and slamming her against the wall before he fucked her until she couldn’t see straight.

  “We really need to make it to a bed next time,” she said after they managed to drag themselves to the couch.

  “Sex in a bed is boring,” he pointed out.

  “Well, sex in public is illegal.”

  “Spoilsport.” He kissed her loudly and sat up, taking her with him. “I know you don’t want to, but why don’t you go ahead and tell me what happened with Derrick.” She scrubbed her hands over her face, pushing her hair behind her ears.

  “Do we have to?” she whined, aware she sounded like a five-year-old but not caring.

  “Yes, we have to, so talk.” He shoved her playfully.

  “I can’t talk about this naked.” She covered herself with the blanket from the back of the couch. “Apparently, according to Derrick, tomorrow is a really big day because he is going to officially enter his plea.”

  “You hired the lawyer, right?” Brea hadn’t really talked about it with Lance because she was of the philosophy that out of sight was out of mind, so he was not fully caught up on all the details.

  “Yes, I hired the lawyer like I told you I was going to; apparently, he’s one of the best.”

  “What does he say?” Lance stood up, holding out his hand for hers and assisting her off the couch. He walked with her toward the bedroom while they continued to talk.

  “He thinks he can get Alex a deal, and potentially plead it down to a misdemeanor with the possibility of rehab, but he would have to pay restitution.”

  “That’s great.” He kissed her forehead as he helped her into the bed.

  “It would be if my brother wasn’t such a stubborn ass.”

  “What is your brother doing?” He pulled back the covers on his side, climbing in beside her.

  “We think he wants to fight the charges, like roll his chances with a jury. Apparently, Derrick talked to him and so did the lawyer, but Alex wants to go to trial.”

  “Well, did he ever say why he attacked the guy in the first place?”

  She snuggled in beside him, laying her head on his chest with her hand above his heart. “No, and that’s part of the problem. The lawyer told Derrick if Alex won’t tell him why he did it, then he won’t be able to raise a defense.”

  He rubbed his hand down her arm. “This is a mess.”

  “Tell me about it.” She kissed his chest. “I just keep remembering the good guy, the one who always protected me from my mother. But the same guy who protected me against her is the same one who couldn’t let her go. And now he’s in the mid
dle of some shit, and I would bet my last dollar my mother is nowhere to be found.”

  “You don’t think she cares?”

  She scoffed. “Are you kidding me? She is probably high or servicing some john. That’s what she knows; it’s her life. I used to hate her for it, but now I just pity her. Her addiction is a disease she’s never been able to overcome and, unfortunately, it will always prevent her from having a relationship with her children and any additional family we may have. As bad as it sounds, I washed my hands of her years ago. I had to; it became a matter of survival because if I continued to be sucked into her lifestyle, I was going to end up like her, which was the last thing I wanted out of life.”

  “I meant to ask you earlier, but do you not have any relatives to help you out?”

  “I didn’t know any of her relatives. She mentioned her mother was a religious person who always preached about God, but she thought God had abandoned her. I never really looked for my grandmother, figuring if she didn’t care enough to go see if her daughter was okay, then there wasn’t really any use for me to try to find her. She also mentioned her father was dead and she was an only child. How much of that is true? I have no idea. My mother tended to lie, whether she was high or sober, so all Alex and I had were Derrick and Silvia, who made up for all the potential family members we could have had. Now, tell me about your family, since you promised I’m going to get to meet them.”

  “So I did. Well, my mom and dad are old farmers. They live on four hundred acres of land which has been in our family for years. They make their money through oil and raise livestock like horses and chickens.”

  “I’m trying to picture you on a horse and I just can’t see it, city boy.”

  He slapped her ass. “I’ll have you know I jumped horses.”

  She sat up. “You did not.”

  “Did, too. I’ll even show you the ribbons when you come home with me.” Who would have thought LA’s resident bad boy was just a good ol’ country boy? She loved how every time she thought she figured him out he continued to show her these hidden layers. It was like peeling back an onion; you really had to work to get to its heart.

  “So, other than being a cowboy…”

  “My dad’s a cowboy, not me.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ. You are talking about the girl who lived in the rundown farmhouse the kids at school called white trash. You lived on a farm with animals; you are a cowboy.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you about this.”

  “Only because I’m right.”

  “No, only because you’re stubborn and won’t give up until I admit you’re right.”

  “Are you saying I don’t let stuff go?”

  “I’m saying I want to get laid within the next twenty-four hours, so I’m going to plead the fifth.”

  “Well, since you’re not going to talk about the issue at hand, tell me more about your family.”

  “So, there are my parents, who will love you, by the way.”

  “How do you know they’ll love me?”

  “My mom said she thinks you’re the nicest of all the girls. Plus, she wants more grandkids, so she’ll pretend.”

  She rubbed his chest, loving the way his heart beat under her hand. “Are you telling me your mother would pretend she likes me even if she doesn’t for selfish reasons?”

  “Not answering that one, either. But my mother, as I was saying, is one of the best women I know. I’ve never found anyone as good as my mama, which is a large part of the reason I am still single.”

  She tweaked his nipple. “Never took you for a mama’s boy.”

  “You can’t get between a boy and his mama.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I need to rethink this whole relationship.”

  “Shut up. I don’t even live near my mother, let alone have to worry about her butting into my relationship. The one you really need to worry about is my older sister, Lauren. She’s a pistol, and being three years older means she has always seen herself as the one who’s supposed to look out for me.”

  “Is she married now?” She remembered him mentioning Lauren was engaged during the accident.

  He nodded. “Yep. She married Chris seven years ago and they have two kids, a little boy and a little girl.”

  “Is that why you were so good with the little boy a couple days ago?”

  His lips curved thinking of his niece and nephew. “That kid reminded me of my nephew, Grant. He’s the one running around, causing havoc, and giving my sister prematurely-gray hair.”

  “How old is he?”

  “He just turned four, two months ago. That’s where I was before the original press conference; I had gone home for a while to celebrate his birthday. One of the things I gave him was a stuffed ball like that kid had the other day, and all he wanted to do was play ball. It just took me back to Oklahoma in that airport.” He got his phone from the nightstand as he continued talking, thumbing through pictures so he could show her his family.

  “Your family’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed, because it was true. He stood beside his father, who looked just like him, but his mother was a looker, too. His father had his arm around his mother’s neck. They were clearly in love with each other. She looked like she was in her mid-forties although she knew she was older than that because she had a thirty-five-year-old daughter. She had shoulder-length, strawberry-blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, and his sister looked exactly like her mother. What had to be his brother-in-law was a cutie himself, with dark-brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. Chris was holding a dark-haired little boy by the shoulders, and the kid looked ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. His sister held a curly, blonde-haired baby who was smiling with a finger in her mouth, a couple of teeth sticking through.

  “Thanks, that was taken after Grant’s birthday party.” He flipped through a couple more pictures, letting her see, so she got a close-up of most of his family. That’s what a family should look like, she thought, unable to quell the feelings of jealousy which arose whenever she thought about people with loving families.

  “What about your niece?”

  “Helena will be one in about a month. She’s gorgeous, as you can see, and rules the household.”

  “At that age?”

  He chuckled when he thought about his cherubic niece. “You have no idea. Part of the problem is Chris absolutely worships my sister and because Helena looks just like her mother, he can’t help but worship her, too. He’s taught my nephew that his sister is a princess, too, so no one messes with his sister.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “You think it’s sweet, but not if you are on the receiving end of that protection. I took away her pacifier when we were playing and she started crying. All of a sudden, I had what looked to be a flying squirrel coming at me saying I needed to leave his sister alone.”

  “What did Lauren and Chris do?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing really. They tried to explain the difference between playing and hurting, but all Grant said was I made Helena cry. It’s their fault, but no one is going to blame him for sticking up for his sister.”

  “That’s so sweet.” It reminded her of how Alex always used to try to protect her when they were younger. Helena was a lucky little girl if her brother was already looking out for her, even if it was from her uncle.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty great.”

  “So, what do they think of your behavior?” She was starting to realize he wasn’t as evil as people tried to make him out to be. Lance just tended to get into a bunch of different scraps, which were reported to the media, but Brea was always curious to know what other people’s parents thought about the way their children acted because her mother never cared. Therefore, until Derrick and Silvia, she had no clue parents were worried about their children.

  “Nothing really. I’ve always been a little bit edgier; the only difference is now it’s plastered all over the newspaper. Every once in a while, if something really bad comes out, then my mom or si
ster will read me the riot act, but for the most part they just leave me alone. My father and Chris tell me I’m an adult, so unless I get arrested or release a sex tape, they aren’t worried about it.” She couldn’t stop giggling, remembering how close she was to saying ‘fuck it’ and having sex in the hallway. Now that would have been something to write home about.

  “I can’t wait to meet them. Thank you for this,” she told him.

  “For what, baby?”

  She lifted her head from his chest. “For making me forget all the shit going on with my brother.”

  “What’s the saying? Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will take care of itself and today has enough problems of its own.”

  Brea felt feather-light kisses peppered along her ribcage, waking her slowly. She felt ridiculously relaxed as she stretched like a cat. Lance’s head lifted as she moved, leaning back to take in her complete movement.

  “Baby, I sure do love the way you move.” He grinned wolfishly. She put her hand on the back of his head, leading him to her lips to sink into him, wanting to be closer to him, morning breath be damned. She would be content to lay here in his arms forever and shut the world away.

  “I love you,” she whispered seriously, rubbing where she had just kissed with her thumb, as though trying to imprint her lips to his.

  His eyes filled with a suspicious wetness which didn’t fall; he simply kissed her again before moving on to her ear. “Love you, too,” he whispered between kisses. He kissed her cheek and the corners of her mouth before he finally got to her lips. He brushed his lips against hers, once, twice, three times, teasing her softly without giving her what he knew she craved. She finally took matters into her own hands, holding his head in place so she could devour his lips. And devour she did. It was different, making love in the morning light with their declaration of love lingering in the air, and Brea wouldn’t trade this feeling for all the money in the world. Nothing compared to the feeling she got in knowing she belonged to someone, no questions asked, and he belonged to her, as well. Loving and being loved had a redemptive quality one would never truly experience, except with the one person you were meant to be with.