by Mj Fields
Our doesn’t sit well with me. Then again, I’m feeling some sort of way, and I’m not sure it’s a good sort of way, but I shake her hand. “Thank you for the explanation.”
“Did you get lost, baby?” Lucas wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses the top of my head.
“No, just met a few people. Lucas, this is Jenny, Miles’s girlfriend. Jenny, this is Lucas, hottie new quarterback.”
Lucas looks confused. Jenny and I laugh.
“Things are good here?” he whispers in my ear.
I turn to give him my eyes and nod once. “I think so.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “You sure, baby?”
“Go have fun. I’ll be fine.”
He stares at my mouth and traces my lower lips with his thumb. “We can leave.”
Laughing, I push him lightly. “I’m good.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Within an hour, Jenny has told me her and Miles’ story. It’s sweet, and I no longer hate her. I actually like her a lot. They’re from a small town in Ohio and both at SU on full scholarships. She and Miles both grew up together and are, in her words, on this crazy ride until the end.
Then she pulls me to a group of girls dancing. “Show them why he’s yours. That’s what I do.” She laughs as she starts to dance, and yes, I join in.
Having fun but missing Lucas, I ask Jenny, “Can he dance?”
“Who? Miles?” She laughs. “He’s more of a watcher.”
“Let’s go grab our guys and make them.”
“I gave up asking that after senior prom.” Jenny pouts. “He just won’t.”
“You go get Lucas, and I’ll get him.”
“Good luck with that.” She laughs as she heads toward Lucas.
Knowing if his girlfriend gets a no, I’ll have to work pretty damn hard at convincing him, when I get to him, I simply shake my head. “Need a favor.”
He looks at the dance floor then at me. “I don’t think—”
I grab his hand and pull him behind me. “Not asking you to think, big guy; asking you to dance.”
Lucas looks less comfortable with this situation than even Miles, who is basically just stepping from side to side, and I hear him tell her, “I don’t dance.”
I laugh and nod at Lucas. “Show the new guy some moves, would ya?”
“Your girlfriend seems to think you can.” Jenny nods to us and smiles at Miles, who rolls his eyes at her, caves, and twirls me in a circle. “Miles doesn’t, either.”
“Looks like he can,” Lucas says as I look up at him, because Miles has just dipped me, to the beginning of Collective Soul’s “Shine.”
“I guess he can.” She laughs. “Do you mind if I go cut in?”
“Not even a little,” Lucas says, and Miles twirls me once, and I do with hands raised in the air once more to my man.
His hands go to my hips, and he pulls me in close. “Sing to me, baby?”
So, I do.
“Lay me on the ground,
And fly me in the sky.
Show me where to look,
Tell me, what I’ll find?
What will I find?”
He grinds against me. “All yours, baby.”
“Sing with me, Lucas.” I grin, and then he and I sing the chorus together.
The song ends and some old-school Run DMC “Tricky” begins, and I see it in his eyes.
Laughing, I grab his hands. “You know this one.”
“Baby.” He shakes his head, but his smirk grows into a grin as I grab his hips and start singing along. Doesn’t take long before he’s singing, too, and dancing.
José joins us, and then a few more guys eventually trickle on. When the “Humpty” starts, even more join. Then, when “Cotton Eye Joe” begins, the guys leave and most of the girls.
“Baby, not my thing.” Lucas laughs as we begin to walk off.
Jenny grabs me. “I requested this. Do not leave me up here alone, because I can’t do this dance alone.”
“I don’t know it,” I only half-lie.
“She’s a quick learn.” Lucas smirks at her then winks at me. “Get your country on, baby.”
“Traitor,” I quip from over my shoulder as she drags me back out there.
Me, Jenny, and maybe three other girls do the “Cotton Eye Joe,” and I feel like I’m doing it for him. I need to remind him that I didn’t cheer because I don’t love dance and shit. I didn’t cheer because I like to play rough and not be something to be gawked at in a short skirt.
However, the play and the fact that we wear skirts in field hockey would more than likely be his defense, and the fact that he’s staring at me as his teammates are chatting him up while also looking at me gives him an obvious sense of pride. I see it in the square of his shoulders. And Lord knows I love confident Lucas Links.
Fine, I grumble to myself and make it through “Cotton Eye Joe,” a smile on my face, like a cheerleader, smiling while her team is getting their asses handed to them. I do it for him, and I’ll do it again, and again, and again.
When the next song begins, it’s much newer, and I don’t know it at all, not even a little, so I start toward him.
“Girl”—Jenny jacks me back—“QB girlfriends need to stick together. Have my back; I’ll always have yours.”
So, I “Tootsie Roll,” and I do it better than her. This is not me being cocky—it is her words—and even though I give the obligatory no, she isn’t wrong.
Finally off the dance floor, Lucas pulls me in and whispers. “Can’t take much more of watching you dance for me and not being in you.”
“Well, shit.” José, who obviously heard him say that, laughs and announces, “This shit’s for real.”
“Bet your ass it is,” Lucas announces then looks at me. “Let’s say our goodbyes and go back to my place.”
Driving home, he holds my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles, jaw and features tight.
I squeeze his hand and smile. “I think you’re going to like it there.”
“I think I’m going to be too exhausted to like it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, turning toward him
“School and as much of you as I can get”—he kisses my hand—“I feel like I should be ecstatic that I’m playing here, but all I can think of is December.”
“We’re going to be busy, and we’re going to be fine.” I laugh. “God, I hope we are fine.”
He immediately drops my hand and cuts across two lanes to hit the exit.
“What the hell?” I ask, gripping the door. My heart just about jumps out of my chest.
He whips into a gas station, throws it in park, and looks at me, pissed. “Tessa, if you don’t want this, you need to tell me now.”
I look at him, shake my head, and give him my what-the-fuck-you-could-have-killed-us kind of pissed. “Where is this coming from?”
He grabs my face, eyes pleading. “I just need you to promise me, Tessa.”
“I promise, Lucas.” I nod. “I promise.”
When we pull into my driveway, I hop out, excited that no one is home. “Come in?”
“Yes. Who’s home?” he asks, getting out.
“Doesn’t look like anyone is.” I grab his hand and pull him behind me. “Come on, Lucas.”
Dragging him up the stairs, I tell him, “I have something for you.”
Twenty minutes later, his smile is lazy and relaxed.
“Double header. You are amazing.”
“Can you go downstairs? I’ll be there in a minute,” I ask, excited.
“And pushing me out of bed,” he grumbles, pushing his dick into his pants and standing.
I grab a bag from my closet then run down, sit beside him on the couch, and hand it to him. “For you. Open.”
“Don’t ever have to do anything but be with me.” He smiles as he looks inside then mumbles, “Fuck,” as he pulls out the quilt.
“While helping Kate move, I went through your closet and took all the tee-sh
irts you saved from all the sports teams you’ve been on over the past few years, added some more Syracuse ones, and had enough to make it queen sized.”
He holds it against him and smiles. He doesn’t even have to say it; I can see it in his eyes as he moves to kiss me sweetly. “I love it, baby.”
“There’s one more thing.” I grin against his mouth.
He looks in the bag then pulls out a black leather book, opening it.
“I threw out pictures of us at first, but Jade went behind me and saved every one of them. So, those first few pages are of us, all happy times. Because, even though”—I shrug—“it’s us, our love story.”
“Gonna have to get a bigger book to last a lifetime,” he says, and my heart melts.
“I’ll get a hundred more,” I assure him. “Flip the pages, Lucas.”
When he gets to the last few pages, his eyes widened, and then he closes them for a few seconds. Then he turns a page, each filled with pictures of me in varying “outfits” that I’ve worn for him.
“When did you do this?” he asks, voice thick.
“Jade and I worked on it a couple weeks ago.”
“You look incredible.”
“They’re in order from first to last one worn.”
“Oh, I remember every one of them.” He flips back through them. “No pictures of your face. Hardly any with even the back of your head.”
“If anyone saw this, I would die, Lucas.”
He pulls me into a tight hug, and we stay there, holding each other, knowing tomorrow … we won’t be doing a lot of this.
“You tired?” he asks.
Panicked, I say, “Please stay. We can sleep on the couch. I don’t want you to leave.”
“Okay, Tessa. Okay, baby.” He holds me tighter.
“Thank you.”
Chapter Fifty
The next day, I feel the full weight of what is happening hang heavily on my heart. We woke up before Dad returned from his delivery and met Landon at Lucas’s, packed the vehicle, and got in.
I sit in the back as Landon and Lucas talk about the upcoming season. I’m glad Landon is here, glad he’s excited and making Lucas seem that way, too.
We wait with him as he picks up his schedule, which takes zero time since he was already pre-registered by the coaching staff. I am treated to every female within eye distance checking him out, glad for Landon again, because was he not enjoying this day with Lucas, then Lucas may have noticed how miserable I am.
We hit lunch in the athlete’s dining hall, where he introduces his dad to some of his teammates that I’ve already met. We hit the bookstore to grab his already waiting book order, and then we finally pull up to unload his belongings at his “new home.”
“We’ve got this,” some students, who have been hired, say, pushing a cart to the back of Landon’s SUV.
“Let me grab one thing,” Lucas says.
Landon laughs. “They’re doing their job, son.”
“Yeah, cool, but I got this.” He grabs the tote that he packed this morning, the one with the albums and the blanket I gave him. He winks at me. “Precious cargo.” Then he kisses the top of my head. “Let’s go check out my new place.”
Walking into his building on south campus, I am immediately relieved that it is not co-ed and that most, if not all the residents, are from the football team. He has a private room that is not as small as I thought it would be.
The first thing he does is open the tote, pull out a set of sheets from under the blanket, and I help him make his bed. He then pulls out the quilt and smiles as he smooths it over the comforter that has the SU logo on it.
“That’s very interesting,” Landon comments.
“Tessa made it for me.” Lucas smiles proudly as he wraps an arm around me and hugs me tightly, and I hug him tighter.
“She make this, too?” Landon chuckles, and I look back as Lucas snatches the leather album from his hand.
“Oh my God.” I cringe.
“Not saying a word.” Landon chuckles.
“But you just did,” I shoot at him, and he busts up laughing.
Landon is an ass, a total ass, but him being that way lightens the mood and, for the first time today, I laugh.
When we finish with his room, we walk around campus, following his schedule.
When dusk approaches, a lump forms in my throat, and when we say goodbye, I want to cry, but I can’t, because I’m riding back … with Landon.
Before pulling in my driveway, Landon asks, “Tessa, how often do you plan to visit Lucas?”
“I’m not sure. I think he is going to be pretty busy with school and ball,” I say quietly.
“I think he’s going to want to see you whenever he can.”
“I feel the same way.” I nod.
He squeezes my hand. “Good. This is important for him. I hope you understand he’s going to need you.”
Inside the house, my phone rings, and I answer.
“Missing you already.”
“You home, baby?”
“Just walked in.”
“And you didn’t call me?” he asks.
“Like literally, just.”
He doesn’t say a thing.
“I hope you’re having fun. The place is amazing.”
“Actually, I’m a bit overwhelmed, and I want to see you. Can you come back, baby?”
“How about tomorrow after practice?”
“I have a thing,” he says shortly.
“Oh, okay. Well, why don’t we wait until, like, Thursday or Friday?”
“Why?” he asks.
“I have to coach practice every day and to help around here. I have slacked a bit this summer,” I joke.
He doesn’t seem to think that’s funny. “Whatever.”
“Please don’t be like this. This is hard for me, too, Lucas,” I whisper.
“Well … bend a bit.”
“Day one, and this has already started? Not cool, Lucas. I miss you and actually don’t enjoy this, either.”
“Fine, so why on Friday?”
“When I went to camp as a kid, they had a rule: five days, no contact at home. It helped us adjust.”
He says nothing.
So, I add, “And the situation would be rectified by then.”
“Okay, well, all right then.”
“All better now?” I ask quietly.
“Not really, but cool. Can we text? Or are there rules about that, too?”
“Texts are like letters. And nope, not that I can remember.”
Again, he doesn’t say anything.
“I love you, Lucas, and I don’t want to fight, please?”
“See you Friday, then.”
“Lucas,” I say quickly before he hangs up. “Call me before you go to bed?”
“Nope. See you Friday.”
And he hangs up.
I look down at Chewy, who is looking at me like, Here we go again.
“Not sad, Chewy. We’re good.” I scratch behind his ears. “You wanna go for a run?”
Kendall walks out from the living room. “Mind if I join you?”
“I would love that.” I smile. “Let me go change.”
I change and also plug in the cell phone to charge.
When we get back, I make dinner and help Kendall go through her school supply list and Jake’s. Then I shower.
I run upstairs to grab one of Lucas’s tees and my phone rings. By the time I get to it, the call is ended and I see the screen says three texts and four missed calls.
I immediately call him.
“Hello,” he answers quietly.
“Hi—sorry! I left the phone on my bed when I went running with Kendall and Chewy. Are we okay, Lucas?”
“Did you read the texts?”
“No, not yet. I was just excited you called.”
“Okay, don’t, and then delete the messages, too. I was being an ass. Sorry. I’m just not used to sitting on my ass, and I miss you.”
“Things will be
different when you’re overwhelmed with classwork, Lucas. I’m sorry you feel that way. I love you.”
“I love you, baby,” Lucas whispers. “Please delete the messages.”
“Hey, do you have any free time in the afternoon before practice?”
“I think I have from, like, two to four free; why?” he asks.
“I was just wondering. I love you. Call me before bed?”
“I am in bed.”
“Lucky bed,” I whisper
He laughs. “I love you, baby.”
“Talk to you later. Love you, anyway.”
“That’s good to hear,” he says softly.
As soon as we get off the phone, I totally check the messages.
- If this is how you’re going to be, then maybe we should rethink this … LL
- No reply? Silence speaks volumes, Tessa … LL
- Are you fucking kidding me right now? Tessa, grow up! … LL
Wow, that easy, huh?
Another message pops up.
- Did you delete the messages, baby? … LL
- Nope … LT
- Are we okay? … LL
- I am. I wish I knew where your head was when you texted … LT
- Sorry. Forgive me? … LL
- Of course. Goodnight, Lucas… LT
I shut the phone and drop it on the bed.
I made the decision that I wouldn’t surprise him tomorrow. It is impossible to think that he could get so angry on day one. I hope things are going to be all right. Only three months; what could possibly go wrong?
Over the next few weeks, I see Lucas on Wednesdays before coaching, attend all his home games, and watch him miserably sit the bench most of the time. When he has away games, I stay home and attend Alex’s games at Cornell. Sundays, Lucas comes home about twice a month. With the hunting crew showing up to shoot, hunting crew still shot, Lucas and I have lots of time to be alone. Him being gone makes each time that more intense.
My classes are a breeze, and my schedule clear. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at eight a.m. until eleven, making my afternoons totally free until three when I coach. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little busier with three classes; an eight a.m., nine thirty a.m. and a noon, which brings me home just in time to assistant coach.