An American Cinderella: A Royal Love Story

by Krista Lakes

  I could hear the British sounding U in the way he said colours and it made me smile. His accent was amazing.

  “Oh, that is a much simpler answer than I was expecting. When were the early days?” I asked, thinking he probably meant the 1930s.

  “Late 1800s,” Henry replied. He laughed when my eyes went big. “The sport’s been around for a long time. These international games have been happening for well over one hundred years.”

  His grip stayed tight on me as we walked toward the entrance. I kept close to him, not because of the crowd, but more because I wanted to be near him.

  A group of men wearing black face paint and black jerseys cheered as they walked into the stadium in front of us. They called out to another group wearing similar jerseys. All around me I could hear excited calls and the sounds of a big sporting event.

  “Are we cheering for them or Ireland?” I asked as we joined the line to get in behind the All Black fans. I was glad I had opted not to bring a purse, instead just carrying what I needed in my pockets. It would make getting through security that much easier.

  “You can cheer for whomever you’d like,” Henry assured me. He put his hand around my waist, keeping me close as we waited to get through security. I loved the way his hand felt on me. “We’re here for a good time.”

  I chuckled. “But who are we rooting for?” I bumped my shoulder against his. The other team, Ireland, seemed to be wearing green and white, so Henry’s dark blue shirt declared him for neither side. “Sports games are so much more fun if you pick a side. You must have one you like better.”

  Henry grinned. “The All Blacks,” he said. The group in front of us in the security line turned and cheered. They held up their hands for a round of high-fives which we both willingly gave as security called them through the metal detectors one by one.

  Henry and I made it through the gates without issue and stood in the main entrance of the stadium. The All Black fans waved to us as they headed up a set of escalators. I thought I saw Andre, but before I could say anything, Henry grabbed my hand and pulled me in a different direction.

  He led me to another gate entrance. It was quieter here with many of the fans already in their seats. It was almost private here. Instead of going into the stadium, he pushed me up against the wall and kissed me. His hips pressed into me, his lips tasted mine and I couldn’t help but whimper with sudden desire.

  The crowd vanished from my mind and only Henry and his kiss existed. I’m sure we had a few people stop and look at the two of us, but I didn’t care. He was kissing me. I didn’t have to wait until the end of the night and I couldn’t have been happier.

  “I didn’t want to wait any longer,” Henry whispered, pulling back only slightly. “I’ve wanted to do that all week.”

  “Okay,” I murmured, dizzy on the after effects of his kiss. I looked up into his ocean eyes and my heart fluttered with the warm way he looked at me. “I’m glad you didn’t wait then.”

  He grinned and gave me a short peck on the lips. I wanted more, but we were in a public place. Besides, I could hear the chant of the crowd growing louder in the stadium. I wanted to kiss him all night, but I also wanted to see the game. Rugby was obviously an important part of who he was, so I wanted to learn more about it and him.

  “There you are,” a deep voice said from behind Henry. Henry scowled slightly and rolled his eyes. He managed a smile on his face as he turned to look at Andre.

  Andre stood just as giant as before. He wore jeans and a dark purple shirt. A woman that looked like she lived in the gym stood next to him. I assumed that had to be Valentina. She looked far too intense with jeans and a gray tank top. Her brown eyes never stopped scanning the sports fans walking past us to get into the seating area.

  Either way, Valentina and Andre looked to be a pair. Jaqui would be so disappointed.

  “I thought you were going to head inside before us,” Henry said, turning to face his friend, but looping his arm around my waist. “We’ll be right in.”

  “Just making sure you find your seats,” Andre told him. The two men had a conversation with their eyes. I wondered what was going on between the two of them. It didn’t feel quite as friendly as it did the other day.

  “Come on, Aria,” Henry finally said, breaking his eye discussion with Andre. “Let’s go to our seats. Do you want anything to drink?”

  “I’m good,” I said. Beer here would cost an arm and a leg. Besides, I wanted to focus on Henry and the game, not on my drink.

  Henry took my hand and walked past Andre and Valentina as if they didn’t exist. I gave them both a polite smile and followed my date into the stands.

  Our seats were pretty good. I’d never been to this stadium before, but we were high enough to see the complete play of the field, but yet still close enough to make out all the players. Henry pulled his cap down over his hair and we headed to our better than average seats.

  We’d missed the national anthem, and both teams now huddled up on the field. The men were all muscular with strong legs. I was surprised to see that no one wore protective gear. The field was a converted football field, but it was bigger than what I was used to.

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Andre and Valentina take their seats behind us. They were one row back and more on Henry’s side than mine. Henry seemed intent on ignoring them.

  The All Blacks were easy to spot in their black uniforms. The Irish wore Green tops with white shorts. The stands were filled with either black or green and everyone seemed happy to cheer. I was amazed at the number of people filling the stands.

  The All Blacks took the center of the field and faced their opponents. The crowd quieted as the team began to chant. I didn’t understand the language, but the intent was clear. Intimidation. They hit their elbows and stomped their feet in unison. Goosebumps popped out on my arms.

  “What are they doing?” I whispered to Henry.

  “It’s called Haka,” he explained. “Many of the players on the team are of Maori descent. Haka is a traditional war dance. The whole team does it before a match. It’s something they’re famous for.”

  “I like it,” I said, watching the fierce faces and aggressive body language. “I wouldn’t want to mess with them.”

  The crowd roared their approval. The stands shook and the excitement for the start of the match filled the air like a living thing. And then the game began.

  The Irish kicked the ball toward the team in black. Both teams quickly formed a wall of bodies around the ball, each man fighting for position. It was aggressive and intense.

  “What are the rules?” I asked, leaning my head close to Henry. The crowd was loud and I didn’t want everyone knowing that I didn’t understand the game.

  “There are fifteen players for each team,” Henry explained. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, but his eyes were on the field. He watched the players running and throwing the ball with keen interest.

  “The objective of the game is to score more points than the other team. You can do that two main ways: a try or a drop goal,” he continued. One of the All Black players started to run down the field with the ball, sending up screams from the stands.

  “Okay,” I nodded. The All Black player was blocked by the team in green. The crowd died down, but the energy was still there as the man threw the ball to a teammate behind him.

  “A try is worth five points and you get it by putting the ball in the opponent’s try-zone,” Henry said. He frowned and threw up his hand. “Come on, Ref!”

  “So a try is like a touchdown in American football,” I said, brightening as I figured out part of the game.

  Henry thought for a moment. “Yes, it is. And a drop kick would be the equivalent of a field goal,” he said, nodding. “And it’s even worth three points as well.”

  “Okay,” I watched the game for a moment, noticing that no one threw the ball or kicked the ball in the direction they were trying to go. “Why not just throw the ball in?”

  “
The ball can only be thrown backward or sideways,” Henry explained. “You can kick a ball forward, but the next person who touches it has to have been behind you. The only way to move forward is to run. If you get stuck, you have to throw it to your team behind you.”

  The crowd let out a loud “ooh” sound and I looked around to see one of the Irish tackling an All Black. It looked brutal, but the player just got back up and kept going like he hadn’t just been slammed into the grass.

  Suddenly, an All Black player took off down the field. He was unstoppable. I rose to my feet, cheering with the crowd as the player sprinted to his try-zone. Now that I knew that he was going to score, I screamed along with everyone else.

  “Touchdown!” I shouted as the player touched the ball to the ground, scoring his point. I jumped into the air, excited. Henry paused, and shook his head. Two men in All Black gear sitting in font of us both turned and looked at me.

  “Oy, mate,” one of them said to Henry, his black face-paint making his expression hard to read. I was sure he was going to complain or tell me to shove off. I felt like a fool. Henry wrapped his arm around me a little tighter, making sure he was closer to the man than I was. Instead the man grinned. “I think she’s almost got it.”

  I grinned as the man gave me a thumbs up and went back to watching the game. I was getting it. I could see the appeal. The game was rough and violent. Men threw each other down and tackled hard, but without the benefit of pads. I wondered just how many bruises they went home with.

  Henry continued to explain the game in bits and pieces as it happened. Now that I knew the basic rules and scoring, the rest came easily enough. Before the end of the half, I was pretty confident in my ability to understand the game.

  The two teams ended the first forty minutes to cheers. We sat down in our seats and I realized we’d been standing the entire time. I’d been so enthralled in the game that I hadn’t noticed. A group of dancers came out to the field as the half-time entertainment.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” Henry asked. He pointed to a beer vendor walking the steps on my side of the aisle. A beer sounded good. My throat was a little hoarse from screaming.

  “Sure,” I said. I called out to the beer vendor. “Two, please!”

  Before Henry had a chance, I slipped the vendor the money. I grinned at Henry’s frustrated expression.

  “You bought lunch and the tickets,” I informed him, handing him his beer. “I should at least buy you a beer.”

  He rolled his eyes, but sipped good-naturedly at his drink. I took a sip of mine. It was cheap beer at stadium prices, but it felt good on my throat.

  “So what position do you play?” I asked Henry, taking another sip.

  “I play Number Eight,” he said, taking a long sip of his beer. I thought about what we’d seen of the game so far.

  “You play number eight or you wear number eight?” I asked.

  “Both. The position wears number eight and that’s the name of it. Sometimes they call me the eighthman,” Henry explained.

  “Creative,” I teased him. Now that we were sitting again, he had his knee pressed against mine. I liked the way it felt. “What other positions are there?”

  “Prop, hooker, lock, flanker, scrum half, fly, wing, and full back,” he listed off. With his accent they sounded like a list of silly made up words and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Hooker?” I repeated.

  “Yeah.” He frowned. “What’s wrong with that? It’s an important position.”

  “In America, it's a slang word for ‘prostitute’,” I informed him, snickering into my drink.

  Henry’s cheeks flushed. “Well, I just learned an new American word,” he said. He took a long sip of his drink.

  “Don’t worry, I’d still date you if you were the hooker,” I teased him. He glanced over at me, his blue eyes bright with a smile.

  “Yeah?”

  My heart fluttered when he looked at me like that. The crowd disappeared and everything melted away. He leaned over and kissed me.

  “Didn’t want to wait again?” I asked, breathless when he pulled back.

  “No,” he shook his head and grinned. “Just felt like kissing you.”

  I grinned back at him and then sipped my beer. I was happy. Happier than I’d felt in a long time. For the first time all week, I wasn’t worried about my job or my stepmother. I wasn’t thinking of documents or worrying about bus schedules.

  I was having fun. I was with a handsome man at a fun event drinking a beer and getting kissed. There was no where else in the world I wanted to be than right here with Henry. Except maybe curled up in my bed with Henry.

  That made my cheeks heat a little. I knew he’d look good naked. He was a rugby player with the body to match. The idea of him smiling at me, those blue eyes twinkling over naked muscles had me taking a bigger sip of my drink just to cool down.

  I glanced over at him to see him smile at me.

  “You’re thinking something,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

  I had to come up with something quick. There was no way I was going to tell him that I was imagining him naked in my bed.

  “I, uh...” I took a sip of my drink and luckily the players chose that moment to come back out onto the field. I was saved. “Oh, look. They’re back.”

  Henry watched me for a moment, the sparkle in his blue eyes telling me that he had an idea of what I was thinking about. The idea that he might have the same idea made my core heat.

  Henry continued to teach me about the game. His enthusiasm was infectious. He loved the sport and he loved explaining it to me. His arm stayed wrapped around me, heating me with his touch. I asked him question after question, each time making him smile.

  The crowd chanted as the match came to the end. The score was close, but the All Blacks managed to score one last try before time ran out. Henry and I screamed encouragement with the crowd as the final points lit up the score board.

  With the game over, the happy crowd started to head out of the stadium. Henry and I sat in our seats, letting the other attendees file out first. It was nice to just sit with him, our hands together and his knee once again pressed up against mine. I noticed that Andre and Valentina were still behind us, apparently waiting the crowd out as well.

  “This was really fun,” I said. “Thank you for bringing me.”

  “You are most welcome,” he replied with a smile. “I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”

  “I’m glad I got to see a peek of your world,” I replied. “Are the games like this in Paradisa?”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “This was a major match,” he explained. “Rugby is popular, but not ‘fill a fifty-thousand seat stadium’ popular.”

  “Do lots of people come to watch you play?” I asked. Two drunk spectators sang some sort of victory song as they passed us by.

  “I think that’s enough about me,” Henry replied. His blue eyes focused far out on the field, his thoughts going elsewhere. He shook himself and turned back to me. “How’s your work going?”

  I wondered why he wanted to change the subject, but I wasn’t going to press it. Maybe he didn’t have anyone come watch his games. If that were the case, I would fly out to Paradisa and watch them myself. I put my feet up on the back of the empty seat in front of me.

  “It’s good. Boring, but good,” I replied, answering his question. I left it at that. I didn’t want to think about my stepmother and her demands tonight. “What about you?”

  “Boring but good,” he repeated back to me. “This has been the highlight of my week.”

  “Me too.” I grinned, feeling that happy dizzy feeling in my stomach at being with him. “What are your plans for the rest of the night?”

  He shrugged. “I was kind of hoping you’d let me take you out to dinner.”

  I couldn’t stop the smile that lit up my face. I was going to have more time with him. “That sounds great. Anywhere in particular?”

  “Someplace not too crowded
,” he replied. “I think I’ve had my fill of crowds for the day.”

  He tugged his hat a little lower as a group of drunk sports fans surged by. A couple seemed to look a longer than necessary at him, but then shrugged and kept going. I figured they were probably just Paradisa Royals fans.

  “I actually know this amazing Thai restaurant not too far from here.”

  “Thai sounds fantastic,” Henry replied. “Let’s do it.”

  “There is a small catch.” I bit my lower lip. It had been a while since I’d been to this restaurant. “The seating is super limited. It’s a to-go kind of place. But, they have the best pad Thai I’ve ever had. Ever.”

  “To-go? As in take-out?” He looked thoughtful and then narrowed his eyes playfully. “Are you trying to get me to come back to your place?”

  I blushed a deep crimson as I realized that was what it definitely looked like I was doing.

  “No, I mean, yes. I mean....” I took a flustered breath. How did he manage to make me lose my head with just a smile? “I mean, if you’d like, we can get the food and go to my place. But, we don’t have to if you don’t want to. We can go someplace else if you want.”

  Henry leaned over and kissed my cheek, making my insides heat despite the simplicity of the kiss.

  “Take out sounds wonderful,” he said. “Much better than a crowded restaurant.”

  I grinned. I had cleaned up my room this morning just in case, so I was visitor ready. The image of Henry in my bed flashed through my mind again. He would look good in my sheets.

  It’s just noodles, I reminded myself. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

  Still, I couldn’t wait to get home and it wasn’t because of the food.

  Chapter 8

  The crowds thinned out and the stadium slowly became more quiet. Behind us, Andre and Valentina still sat in their seats. I had to wonder if they were really a couple. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to one another. They weren’t holding hands and I hadn’t seen them do more than simply nod in the other’s direction all night.