by Ella Jackson
Ricky cracked a smile. “Will obviously just moved here, Joe.” I clenched my jaw and turned away.
"Don't remind me."
His grin grew. “Oh, come on. Don’t be crazy. You’re the best player here, and everyone knows it. But it’s going to be different for you here, especially if you get involved with that cop."
“How did you know about that?” I asked.
Joe laughed. “It has to be Jessie. She knows everything that goes on with the players, already." I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. I don't know what we'd do with out her.
She chose her job, although I've no idea why. Now she was one of the most important people in the setup. It was a problem for me as captain.
“Why didn’t you tell us you had a girlfriend?” Ricky teased, and I fought back the urge to kick him. "Tell us about the lady cop, then."
“There’s nothing to tell.”
"Bullshit. She was seen leaving your apartment late on Monday night. You can't hide forever, Dempsey."
“Save your breath—we're just friends, and I haven’t seen her since then.” It seemed as though he was examining me, something that was annoyingly common with Ricky. It didn’t endear him to me, but to prevent further snooping, I decided to tell them enough to shut them up.
“I ran into her when I was coming back from meeting you guys. Her car had a flat battery, and it was cold out, so I took her upstairs to warm up. She didn’t bring a coat with her, so I lent her mine."
“And she didn’t sell it on eBay?” I picked up a barbell and moved to stand beside him.
“She doesn't want anything to do with me. The minute she could, she left my place." I wanted to make it clear to these jerks that I wasn't playing along with their schemes.
Ricky and Joe looked at each other and laughed. “So, what happened?”
“Nothing. When I looked around, she was gone.
“Wow.”
“Your conversation's that bad, eh?”
They laughed, but I stared down at the mat and thought of Tanya.
“It wasn’t like that.” I was a stranger in this town. After she left, I had eaten dinner, watched a movie, and then went to bed. I told her I was there to help, and that was all there was to it.
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea. She took a dislike to me from the moment she saw me."
“Yeah, she did.”
“She said like she was convinced I wasn’t going to help her.”
Joe chuckled. “Seems like a great girl.”
I shrugged. “Well, after she decided not to arrest me, I got to like her a lot more.”
Some of the other guys have come over and are listening with interest by this point.
“I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
Joe put his hands up in the air. "She comes to your place, you help her out, lend her your coat." Then he paused. “But you don’t like her.”
I stared at him as if he’d grown another head. "No, I was...I was just being helpful, okay?"
“I’ve heard the same thing from other guys. They were all there to score.”
Well, it wasn't terribly likely with that girl. Not considering she despised me on sight when she first met me. She dislikes pro athletes, and that's that.
I was out enjoying myself with my teammates, when I came across her, a damsel in distress. So I helped her. What else would a gentleman do?
“Did you fuck her?” Ricky swayed backwards, avoiding my hand heading toward his face.
"No, you idiot. She made it clear she wants nothing to do with me. Besides, she has a gun."
“Then why waste your time?” He looked bewildered.
Joe answered it before I could. “Dude, he's playing a long game. It’s not the most efficient way to get into a girl’s pants, but sometimes it's what you've got to do.”
I put up my hand. “Okay, okay, enough. Even if she acts like she doesn't give a damn, I know people here like her, and that counts for something. I'm just trying to be nice, okay?"
That bothered Ricky, but he couldn’t think of anything to get even. “I’m telling you, Joe, this guy doesn’t give up that easily.”
Now I was getting irritated. "Ricky, you’re pissing me off one too many times, and I’m your captain, so you’re going to get to the weights room and get on with your routine. Discussion of my personal life is adjourned for now. It’s the start of the season and we've got the personnel to be in with a chance."
He tossed me a mocking salute. "You’re officially a hardass, Dempsey." I waved him away. “Get on with it. But we’ll never get to know each other if we don’t give in a little and open up."
This time Joe smiled. “Oh, stop it.”
I glared at him. “You can talk. Just because you're happily married with baby. “How’s Laura doing?” I envied Joe and his wife sometimes.
He smiled easily. “She’s great.”
“And the baby?”
“Just getting bigger every day.” He looked too proud of it.
“What’s going to happen when we're training and playing every week?” He nodded. “She wants me to be able to travel, but even now I don't really want to leave her alone. He laughed and shook his head “I can’t believe I'm a dad now.”
He was being a good husband.
“How about you Ricky? What happened to the Instagram model?"
He made a face. “I know enough to stay far away from the groupies by now. They’re trouble."
Joe rolled his eyes. “You had a bad experience, man, that was all.”
He paused and tensed his jaw, as if refocusing himself. ”I’m not even kidding any more. I'm done with Instagram models as well. After the season's over, I'm going to...mediate in Kathmandu. Yeah."
I laughed. “You can’t hide there forever.”
He smirked. “I don’t plan on leaving. Once the first game is done and I know what's happening, I’ll have a better idea. No commitment. No trouble from groupies."
I shook my head and went back to my workout. Even though it might not be the right time, Ricky wasn't going to grow up any time soon.
Joe looked up from his notes. "Hey, are we going to this gala team opening thing? I can't think of anything I'd rather do less than dress up, but I suspect attendance isn't exactly optional."
I made a face. "Yeah, I'm afraid so, boys. All the sponsors are going to this event, so we’ll have to deal with it."
Ricky rolled his eyes. “You two are such lifesavers.”
“You’re the lucky one, Joe. You've got something that neither of us have, and you know it."
I couldn’t let myself even think about a relationship right now. Even if I slept with a bunch of groupies, it wouldn't change anything, especially not the fact that I'd still be thinking about Tanya.
All I could think of was that I was here to do a job and I was going to do it. Tomorrow, after the practice, I was going to talk to Tanya and straighten things out with her.
I added up the time in my head. “Practice is over at five tomorrow, but I'm putting in some extra time if you guys want to join me.” They all nodded with varying amounts of enthusiasm. This was the first time I’d be hanging out with the guys, as just me.
I didn’t want to bring any more attention to Tanya or myself, so I'm going to slip away before anyone else showed up. If she wanted to get together, all she had to do was ask.
“Who are you thinking about?” Jessie nudged the guys out of the way and sat next to me.
“No one.”
She smiled tremulously. “Sure.”
She turned her back to me, looking at her notes, and I went back to my workout before I could say or do anything stupid.
Ten
Tanya
I thought I was doing an exceptional job until last night. I gathered my things and left my desk, barely aware of where I was going and what I was doing. I was at work much earlier than usual, but when the time came that I had to leave to go to watch Will practice, I couldn
’t believe I was doing it. Luckily, there wasn't much I had to do to get ready.
Being a cop in a town like this meant that everyone knew your business, and I saw a number of people looking curiously at me as I pulled up outside the practice ground. I hated that I had to try and be covert about it; it really didn’t help.
And then I was walking through the facility doors to the field itself — I waved at the security guard as I stood watching the pitch.
“Good evening, ma'am - can I help you?”
"I'm, uh, here to watch the practice." I toyed with flashing my badge, but didn't. This time.
He turned to me doubtfully. "Are you here by invitation?"
“Yeeees....uh, Will Dempsey asked me to come.”
“Wait here.” He returned a few minutes later with a lanyard and a tag and handed it to me. "Here you go, ma'am, this should get you in and out easily."
I wasn’t the sort of girl to sit and wring her hands over a guy or complain about labels, but I kept telling myself Will and I were just friends. That's all, just friends. Here I am, watching my...friend's soccer practice. Perfectly normal.
The players jogged onto the pitch, Will at the head. Ricky - ugh - was just behind him, and a couple of the other guys I remember from the Saturday night.
"Hi there." A blonde girl was standing over me, and I shaded my eyes from the glare of the floodlights to look up at her. Holding a laptop in both hands and a pile of papers, she perched on the edge of the seat next to me. "Can I help you?"
“I'm fine. Thanks." I fought the urge to roll my eyes. She looked like she didn't approve of me being here, and like the only thing that she might want from me was an explanation.
"You're...Tanya, right? Officer Harrison?" Her voice wasn't terribly welcoming. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, I'm just here to watch. Nothing's wrong."
“Officer, if someone did something wrong you need to tell me,” she urged. She put her head on one side and looked at me. In the distance, Will was shouting instructions. I couldn’t hear him, but I could tell he was using his 'command' voice.
“I am telling you. Who are you, again?” I tried not to show irritation.
"Jessica Finlay. I'm the Thunderbirds' analyst, and, well, liaison officer. If something goes wrong, I need to know about it. And I understand you were responsible for picking up some of the team on Saturday night.”
"Look, I told you, I'm not--"
She leaned back in her seat. “So you can understand, Officer, why I'm concerned about your presence here. “They're not the guys you think they are.” Making some notes on a pad, she looked up again. “But if something happens and I find you're not being open, you'll be the one who loses, not me, not the Thunderbirds, and not Will.”
I didn't like her tone. "Is that a threat?"
"It's nothing of the sort. Get to know Will better, then you'll realise he is not the chauvinist you think he is. To be honest, you’d be lucky if you didn’t get censured for being here in the first place."
Taken aback, I didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. “Thanks, but I'll make my own decisions. I'm here in a private capacity, and that's the end of it. Now, if you don't have anything else, I'd like to be alone, please.”
I waved at her, and she scowled, turning away.
“Just remember what I said, Officer.” With a cold stare, she stood up and walked toward the stairs.
Great. Maybe she would get the idea that I wasn't here to make trouble, but I don't hold out much hope right now. I was here to watch my...friend, and talk to him about Amy and her feelings, that was all.
I hoped we’d be up and gone before that girl noticed anything amiss.
I focused on the watching the guys at practice, on their kicking soccer balls to each other, and tuned out every other thought. Will was juggling a soccer ball with his feet; I wasn't sure how many he did, because he quit counting at fifty and just kept going. He was pretty skilful, and I was impressed despite myself.
A cheer went through the team, and I looked around the field to see two guys squaring off against each other. I didn't recognise either of them, but Will didn't hesitate, striding toward them and separating them.
By the time he got the two of them apart and smoothed things over, the rest of the team was standing around them in a circle, watching.
He was...well, pretty amazing, I hated to admit.
Even in the second week, I could tell from a distance how much the other guys respected him. He was a good player, as well as a good leader.
I thought about how he'd acted to help out his teammates the first night we met, as well as helping Amy, who he hardly knew. I'd thought about what it would be like to be with him, but pushed those feelings away. I'd thought about the trip I wanted to take, to Europe, to see all the things my parents told me about when I was a kid. And what it would be like if he was the one I went on that journey with.
It was a bad idea. He was just an athlete, despite his kindness. I knew athletes, and that’s who he still was to me. His love life was not my business.
But he wasn’t just any athlete; he was the team captain. So why was this such a problem for me?
Because I think I might like him.
Somewhere along the way, my distrust had turned to acceptance, and I'd seen what kind of guy he was. Maybe he had decided to try and win me over, and I hadn’t yet gotten used to the change of plan.
He invited me to his house. We weren’t even friends at that point.
Right? I thought it was completely platonic after what I had said to Amy, but inside it wasn’t quite that simple. I wanted to accept his kindness, but I wanted something else too.
Were we more than friends? I was physically attracted to him, sure. But was that all, or was there something more?
I paused for a moment to think while I watched the players run up and down the side the pitch.
"Hey, I'm back." That voice again. Jessie stood next to me. She wasn’t going to give up.
Without waiting, she sat down next to me. "Look, uh...Tanya, right?"
"Uh-huh." What did she want to harangue me about now?
"Sorry I was on your ass back there. I'm just...it's not easy for all of us, starting a new team, and I think a lot of people here seem either disinterested or actively hostile."
“You’re not from here, either?” She didn’t say anything for a minute.
“No, I'm from LA.” Her smile grew. “But my dream was always to move to a small town and deal with a whole lot of unruly athletes who were overgrown children."
I smiled back despite myself. "I bet."
"They're not bad, really. They just need a bit of...guidance, now and again." She shrugged. "Anyway, you know that I guess."
"Yeah. They're lucky they have you, I think." I didn't know her very well, but there was no harm in being friendly.
“From what they told me, they're lucky to have you too, Officer. You could have been much harder on them on Saturday and Sunday.”
"Maybe. But I've been around long enough to spot real trouble, and they weren't it." I looked out at the field, cold under the lights, cold enough that the players' breath was steaming now.
What was I doing here? Should I just go?
But Will told me to be here. I might have been able to say no to him as a pro athlete, but he wasn’t just that.
"I guess not. Except for Will, maybe. The papers want to believe he's trouble." She leaned past me to wave at some of the medical staff, walking past the stands.
"Yeah, so he tells me. He denies it though."
“Well maybe now they'll leave him alone for a bit. He’s very protective of the team, almost like it's his family.“
"I picked up on that.”
Jessie nodded. “He likes you, though. He tries not to make a deal about it, but somehow your name keeps coming up. I live near the practice ground, so I get here early,” she said, as though that explained it all. "I hear the boys coming in and leaving, and they haven't stopped asking h
im about you since Saturday night."
She watched me for another second before saying anything further. “I don't know much about him, but I think he's a decent guy. He needs someone to treat him kindly.”
Already taken care of, honey. Amy was perfect for him.
I nodded overenthusiastically. “It’s not like that with him, Jessie. We’re barely even friends."
Jessie smiled and shook her head. “You’re more than likely the first person he’s tried to be friends with since he got here, Tanya.”
“Really?”
She appeared to consider it before nodding. “He's a fantastic leader, but he keeps his personal life pretty quiet. He’s been through a lot and I think the thought of being with someone here in Cheyenne frightens him. But I've seen how his face gets when he talks about you."
I made a face. “That’s a first.”
She laughed. “I’ve never been involved with a professional athlete, but I see the stresses on them, and on their partners every day. I wouldn't blame anyone who didn't want to be involved. Will must really like you though.”
“What do you mean?”
Her smile fell. “He's had a lot of offers, believe me. I get to wade through the team social media account, so I know allll about it. He must be serious about you, if he's ignoring all of them.”
For the first time, I had to wonder just why I was so sure that nothing could work out between is when I had to admit that the guy was attractive. I knew what a good guy Will was.
"After you were at his place the other night, our Twitter feed went crazy."
I raised my eyebrows. How did she know that?
She smirked. “It's my job to know where the guys are, what they're doing, and who they're doing it with. I screwed up on Saturday night, which is why what happened, happened. She looked down at the folders in her lap. “I've made a commitment to this team, and getting it off the ground will be the biggest accomplishment of my life.”
Will had never mentioned any of this; how much the team relied on him, and how much everyone respected him. He’s obviously made a big difference already. “If I was already on the way home from Will's apartment when this happened, then there must have been people watching me.”