Full Coverage: Boys of Fall

by Erin Nicholas

  She grinned and launched into an explanation about the strategy of play-calling in the third quarter of a football game. Nolan was taking notes and she took a moment to appreciate talking to a man about football who didn’t feel the need to correct her and input his own opinions every other word.

  She didn’t mind opinions, when they were well-formed, but she did mind being corrected. She knew two things better than anyone in this town and no one corrected her on football or cars. Not without regretting it, anyway.

  “Why do you love this game so much?”

  She looked up. He was watching her with true interest. That wasn’t about football. That was about her.

  But she wanted to answer. “My grandpa.”

  “He taught you about the game?”

  She nodded and moved to the other side of the car so her back, or rather her butt, was to him. Maybe if she didn’t look at him while she told him personal things, she wouldn’t sound silly. “When I was little, he went to all of the Titan football games and he took me with him. I’d sit on his lap and eat popcorn and drink soda—the only time I got soda—and I’d just cheer along whenever he did. I also learned to cuss at refs from him.” She looked over her shoulder to shoot him a grin.

  He was grinning back. And not looking at her ass. She straightened in surprise. She hadn’t realized that she’d been expecting him to be looking at her ass. But guys always looked at her ass when they were in the shop and she was working.

  She appreciated that Nolan wasn’t, more than she would have thought.

  Ironic, considering he was one guy she wouldn’t mind looking his fill.

  Randi propped a hip against the car and wiped her hands on the rag she kept tucked in her back pocket. “As I got older, I started watching it with him on TV too. Part of it was that I was starting to understand more about the game. Part of it was that it was the only time I could get away with swearing. I could cuss and yell things that, any other time, would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap, but during a football game, Mom and Grandma just ignored it. Plus, I learned to love chicken wings and nachos and beer.”

  “You got to drink beer during football games as a kid?” Nolan interrupted.

  She laughed. “I got a sip of Grandpa’s beer at the start of each quarter. It probably ended up being a mouthful total. But I thought I was really getting away with something.”

  “You had a wild streak even then.”

  She shrugged. She wasn’t sure she’d been wild, but she definitely liked the thrill of breaking a rule here and there. “Anyway, I kept going to games with him until I was about ten. I even pulled his oxygen for him. But then he got really sick with the COPD and couldn’t walk that far or climb the bleachers, so I would go to the games and call him, and we’d stay on the phone for the whole game, with me giving him the play-by-play. He also wanted me to fill in the downtime during timeouts and halftime with a game analysis. So I had to know what I was talking about.”

  “How’d you do that while you were cheering?” Nolan asked.

  Randi felt her heart clench. “He died the summer before our sophomore year.”

  “I’m sorry, Randi.”

  For a split second, she wished that he’d called her Ladybug again. It was a silly little nickname that didn’t even fit her, but when he’d called her that, she’d almost melted into a puddle.

  She’d never almost melted into a puddle for a guy before. Ever.

  “I miss him like crazy,” she said with a nod. “Football became a way of feeling close to him after that. And by then, I was hooked. Hard.”

  Nolan looked like he wanted to say something else. Or maybe hug her. She really wanted him to hug her. But instead he asked, “So there’s more to your obsession than your grandpa?”

  “Oh, for sure.”

  “Explain that to me.”

  She pulled in a breath and turned back to the car. But she was able to move around to the other side, not feeling like she needed her back to him now.

  “I love how physically tough it is. To be a star, you have to be strong, flexible, have amazing reflexes. But there’s a ton of mental toughness needed too. You get banged up but you have to stay in there. And then there’s the trash talk.” She shot him another grin. “It’s just such a guy thing.”

  She watched as Nolan’s eyebrows went up and for a second she grimaced. Oops.

  “That’s not to say that a guy has to play football for me to like him.”

  Then she winced. That sounded just as bad.

  “I mean, I love football players, but that’s not the only way to be manly.”

  Nolan just kept watching her.

  “I like muscles and stuff, but I don’t need muscles.” She was aware that her mouth was running away with her again. “That’s not to say that you don’t have muscles.”

  She pressed her lips together. Shut up, Randi.

  He finally spoke. “Do you like me?”

  Randi took a breath. “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  He didn’t say anything else.

  “I like big muscles, but not just big muscles.” She needed to stop talking. She was aware of that. Still she went ahead and said, “I like brains too.”

  Nolan’s mouth curved. “Good.”

  “I like your muscles too,” she finished weakly. He wasn’t linebacker huge but he was in great shape and when he wore T-shirts and jeans, it really showed.

  “Thanks.”

  She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. And she knew she needed to stop saying things. She crossed her arms and watched him back.

  Nolan Winters could give any guy in Quinn a run for his money. The slacks and polo he wore today didn’t get her heart pounding the way worn denim did, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t look at him without remembering the surprisingly hot and awesome things he could do with his mouth on hers. And wonder what it would be like to have that mouth on other places.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally said.

  “For liking me and my brains and my muscles?” he asked, with clear amusement.

  “For not being better at having conversations with you and for insinuating that you’re not my type.”

  “Were you insinuating that?” he asked.

  “Not intentionally. I just didn’t want you to take that from what I said.”

  Nolan got up from the bucket and crossed to where she stood.

  Randi instinctively straightened and dropped her arms.

  He looked down at her. “You like me.”

  Definitely. He might intimidate her a little, and she might wish she was a little more worldly when he was around, but the answer was a definite, “Yes.”

  “That’s all I need to know,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He paused. “Come to New York with me.”

  “What?”

  “I have a big party in New York to attend in a couple of weeks. I need a date. I’d love to take you.”

  “Me?” Randi knew her eyes were wide. But a party in New York City? Randi had never been farther from home than San Antonio. And that had been to watch a football game. The traffic had boggled her mind.

  And he was talking about New York City.

  “Yes, you,” Nolan said with a smile.

  “I…don’t know anything about New York. Or big, fancy parties.”

  “I’d love to show you.”

  There was something in his voice that made her look up into his eyes. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but Nolan seemed very serious suddenly. But there was also a touch of something else…eagerness? Affection?

  “I don’t even know what to wear.”

  He nodded. “That’s okay. We’ll go a day early and I’ll take you shopping.”

  Shopping in New York City? Randi had to admit that sounded fun. She’d just been thinking that Quinn didn’t have much for excitement. This would be an adventure.

  “How much should I bring?” she asked, her thoughts spinning.

 
“Clothes? Very little.”

  Her eyes flew up to his. “What?” She felt a grin stretching.

  “You won’t need much. We’ll get what you need there.”

  But a smile teased his lips, and she knew the double meaning she’d assumed behind his answer was accurate.

  “I thought maybe you meant that, other than the party, we’d spend a lot of time in the hotel room so I wouldn’t need a lot of outfits.”

  “Well, I thought I wanted to show you the city.”

  “But now?”

  “Now I’m thinking about how fun hotel rooms can be.”

  So it might be that kind of trip. She had to admit that the Statue of Liberty didn’t sound like the biggest draw to New York City suddenly.

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” she said. “I haven’t ever been to New York and I haven’t spent that many nights in hotel rooms.”

  Her family hadn’t had the money to travel more than a road trip here and there in Texas. And, honestly, Randi had never been bitten by the travel bug. She knew there were some amazing places that she’d probably love seeing, but she also knew that there was very little in the world that could compare to the beauty of looking out at the view from her front porch. For her. She understood that wasn’t true for everyone. But she was content. Mostly. Her life was pretty much what she’d always expected it to be. And she counted her blessings. She had a good life. Quiet, simple, surrounded by people she loved, doing things she loved.

  If she wondered once in a while if there was more or if she was missing something, she figured that was normal.

  “New York is amazing. And hotel rooms can be amazing,” Nolan told her.

  “Can be?” she asked.

  “Depends on why you’re there.”

  “You mean like they’re fun when you’re there for a big, fancy party?” she teased.

  “With a gorgeous woman whose kisses have been keeping me up at night.”

  He didn’t smile when he said that. He was completely serious. Randi felt herself swallowing hard. “Oh.”

  He seemed to realize he was being a little intense, because he leaned back. “But I really just want to treat you to a fun weekend in the city. You’ll have your own room.”

  She felt a twinge of disappointment. But instead of commenting on it, she said, “Why do you want to treat me?”

  “I love New York and you’ve never been. I thought it would be fun to show someone the city for the first time. Everyone I’ve been there with has been before.”

  Randi bit her tongue on asking if “everyone” meant women. It did. It had to. She focused on how sweet it was that he wanted to show her the city. “That’s really nice. If you want me to go with you, I’d love to.”

  “I want you to go with me.”

  “Okay.”

  The smile he gave her made her heart thump in a way she hadn’t felt in a really long time. He looked like she’d just announced he’d been elected president. Wow, she hadn’t made someone else feel like that in a really, really long time.

  “I’m going to head home and work on this chapter,” he said. “Maybe later you could come over and read through it for me? I want to be sure I got the game right.”

  The chapter was about the district championship game that had put the Titans into the state playoffs. The playoffs that they’d ended up dominating. The crown jewel to their biggest and best season ever.

  “That would be great,” she agreed, realizing that she’d been expecting him to kiss her. And that she was disappointed that he hadn’t. “Or you could come to my place. I’ll make you dinner.”

  “Great plan,” he agreed easily.

  She wasn’t a fantastic cook, but she wouldn’t embarrass herself. At least, not with the food. Why did she keep agreeing to spend time with Nolan when she tripped over her words and ended up feeling like a jerk?

  Because he seemed to want to keep spending time with her. In spite of all of that.

  “How’s seven?” she asked.

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Great.”

  “Should I bring the tequila?”

  She tipped her head. She was still surprised by Nolan’s teasing side. “I have plenty of tequila.”

  He gave her a grin. “Right. It was the shot glasses you didn’t have.”

  Randi felt her stomach flip and she crossed her arms, trying to not show how easily he affected her. “Right.”

  “Have you gotten any since Coach’s party?” Nolan asked.

  “Nope. I just drink straight from the bottle.”

  He gave a nod. “That works. And I can use your belly button. So we should be good.”

  She was pretty sure he realized how that affected her because she blew out a quick breath and said, “Okay then, I’ll be sure to wear something we can pull up.”

  He gave her a hot look. “Yeah. You do that.”

  Then he turned and walked away. Without kissing her. And she was still disappointed by it.

  “Are you dating Miranda Doyle?”

  Nolan looked up from his computer screen as his mother came in the back door of the house into the kitchen.

  “Um.”

  “Are you dating Miranda Doyle?” Teresa Winters set her reusable grocery bag on the countertop, the canned goods making a loud thunk.

  Nolan saved his work and leaned back in his chair. “Do not tell your Bunko ladies or the beauty shop girls that Randi and I are dating,” he said. “That’s very premature.”

  Teresa crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. “So you want to.”

  “Where did you hear this?”

  “Nicole told Janice that Kristine took her car into the shop this morning and you were there. With Miranda.”

  Nolan nodded. “That’s true. She’s helping me with this chapter.”

  Teresa gave him a look that said “don’t bullshit me”. “And then, as we were talking, Sandra said that Chad told her that you were dancing with her at Pitchers.”

  Nolan sighed. One more thing he didn’t miss about Quinn. The freaking grapevine here was impressive—and scary.

  “I danced with her. And I talked to her about football today. How does that add up to dating?” he asked. Of course, he did want to date Randi, but he knew how this conversation was going to go. His mother was nothing if not predictable. She’d always been very consistent on three things—Nolan was amazing, Nolan was nothing like his father, and Nolan was too good for Quinn.

  No one was more Quinn than Miranda Doyle.

  “Nolan Phillip Winters, you stay away from that girl.”

  Yep, this was exactly how this was going to go. “You said yourself that you would never trust anyone else with your car.”

  “She’s a wonderful mechanic. She’s a sweet girl. But she’s not the right girl for you.”

  “Because she’s from here?”

  “Because she’s from here and she’s got no ambitions beyond here.”

  Exactly like Teresa. It was no deep dark secret to Nolan that his mother resented everything about Quinn because she was stuck here. Or thought she was. And she blamed his father for it. She’d wanted to leave, to see the world. But she’d fallen for Nolan’s father and gotten pregnant. She’d been happy. For a long time. She’d chosen love and she’d truly felt that was the right, ultimately rewarding thing to do.

  Then his father had left her. And not just for another woman. He’d gone and traveled and done all of the things Teresa had wanted to do. The things that getting married and tied down with two kids and two jobs had kept her from doing.

  Nolan had offered to bring her to San Antonio with him. But she couldn’t easily leave now. Nolan’s sister lived in Quinn and had two kids Teresa adored. Teresa had a job that she actually liked, but no degree, no real option for doing anything else. And she owned her house. Nolan’s father had sent her enough guilt money to pay off the mortgage. She couldn’t live anywhere else as cheaply, and she’d never leave her grandkids. No matter how much Teresa had t
ried to encourage both of her kids to leave, to do more, to want more, her daughter Carly had followed right in her footsteps.

  Carly getting pregnant with her first son at age sixteen had only increased Teresa’s pressure on Nolan to get the hell out of Quinn.

  “I like Randi, Mom,” Nolan said firmly. “If I want to see her while I’m here, I will.”

  “While you’re here,” Teresa said quickly, pointing her finger at him. “Fine. While you’re here, do whatever you want. Just be sure you leave again. And don’t knock her up.”

  Nolan blew out a breath. “Mom.”

  “Nolan.”

  “Mom.”

  “Nolan, you got out. You did something with yourself. I’m so proud of you.” Teresa crossed to his chair. She took his face in her hands. “You deserve everything you’ve got. Don’t backtrack now for a girl.”

  “Mom, I am not backtracking by dating Randi. She’s wonderful.”

  “And there are thousands of wonderful girls in San Antonio. Even more in New York.”

  Nolan decided that he needed to nip this in the bud.

  He hadn’t dated anyone seriously in high school, in part because his mother always started in on this shit after date three. And he hadn’t ever cared about anyone enough to really fight with her about it. He’d always planned to leave Quinn. Sure, it might have been in part because his mother had started the mantra about him being destined for greater things when he was about five. But he’d wanted to be a journalist since he was twelve, and he’d known he wanted to do more exciting stories than the winner of Tuesday night Bingo and the fender-benders on Main and the monthly anniversaries.

  The tiny paper in Quinn, the Quibbler, and the news it covered, was all very nice. Lost dogs and lawnmowers for sales, the menu for the senior center and the school, church service schedules, heartfelt obituaries and happy birth announcements. And, of course, the sports page. It was sweet. It was something he loved about Quinn. But it wasn’t what he wanted to do.

  So leaving Quinn hadn’t been a difficult decision at all. After his mother had pounded the use of abstinence and condoms and double condoms into his brain, not getting seriously involved with a woman in Quinn hadn’t been a difficult decision either. He’d been ready to see the world, have some fun, hang out with a sophisticated crowd.