Kelsie. The thought of her waiting for him at home this evening picked up his battered spirits. Sure, she’d been a little out of sorts about his Tuesday-night meanderings. He should just tell her the truth, but for some reason, he couldn’t. Working with homeless kids was so deeply personal to him, and so private, he couldn’t tell her, even though she’d spilled her guts about life with her ex.
He still didn’t completely trust her, but he was getting there. They made a good pair in an opposites-attract sort of way. For so long, he’d been a loner who hated parties and socializing and all those things she liked, yet parties weren’t so bad with her at his side. She handled the small talk while he listened with interest and nodded in all the right places. He followed her lead on which utensils to use in what situations and how to properly sip wine. Oh, yeah, he’d definitely become a wine aficionado.
He smiled at the thought of Kelsie spread out on the counter with wine dribbling down all her hills and valleys. Damn, he loved those hills and valleys. They sure as hell were compatible when it came to their physical relationship.
“You must be thinking about sex.”
Zach jerked his head in Tyler’s direction. “None of your damn business.”
“That’s what I thought. Sex.”
“Have you seen his girlfriend? I’d be thinking about sex, too,” Hoss Price, their big center, bellowed for all to hear. Several guys shouted their agreement and others chuckled. At least Harris’s comment broke some of the tension in the room.
Instead of being pissed, Zach grinned with pride. She was his, and he planned on keeping it that way. For once, he didn’t care as much about the taunting as he once would have. He just cared that Kelsie waited at home for him.
Damned to hell or not, he wanted her to stay.
How the hell did a guy who didn’t have a way with words romance a woman? Zach didn’t know the first damn thing about romance, but he bet Harris did. Or Mabel Fay. Hell, maybe there was a chapter in that book on romancing.
An hour later, Zach settled into a seat on the team plane and opened Mabel Fay’s book bent on gleaning some tips on romancing Kelsie. She worshipped Mabel Fay, so any advice the old bitty might impart had to work on his beauty queen. First, he took a picture of himself reading the book and texted it to Kelsie, scoring some big brownie points. She texted back a picture that inspired him to get this romance thing down.
Zach went to work. Mable Fay was dry reading, but he trudged through it. Four pages into the chapter, someone ripped the book out of his hands. Zach grabbed for it, but not before Harris read the heading at the top of the page.
“Chapter Twenty-Two—The Fine Art of Wooing Your Sweetheart.” Harris threw back his head and laughed like a fucking hyena. Then the dickwad dropped into the empty seat next to Zach. A second later, Derek leaned over the seat in front of them.
Zach said nothing, just gritted his teeth and felt the heat rush to his now-exposed ears, wishing he’d kept his hair long.
Harris wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. “Damn, I needed a good laugh after today’s game. Seriously, who calls it wooing anymore?”
“Beats me.” Derek shrugged. Even the nice guy couldn’t seem to stop the smile spreading across his face.
Zach yanked the book out of Harris’s oversized hand and tucked it under his seat.
“You got problems in the romance department, Murphy?” Harris tapped his own chest. “You’ve come to the right place.”
“I didn’t come to you. You invaded my space.”
“Whatever. I’m the king of romance. Aren’t I?” He glanced at his cousin.
Derek rolled his eyes. “More like king of bullshit.”
“Ladies love bullshit. For example, if they ask you if a dress makes them look fat, you don’t say, ‘Yeah, you look like a sow about to give birth to piglets.’ No. No. No. That’ll get you a night in the barn. Right, Dare?”
“That’s what happened to our uncle Arnold.” Derek’s smile grew wider.
Even Zach had to smile at Harris. Sometimes the guy was a pure nut.
Harris sat up straighter. “Uncle Arnold was lucky he survived with his dick intact. No guy wants to lose his dick. So, you say, ‘Honey, you’re as sexy as hell in that dress, and I’d love to do you right up against the door of the dressing room.’”
“You call that romantic?”
“He does,” Derek said. “Seriously, Zach, did you ever do the flowers, chocolates, and the sappy-words thing? Women love that crap.”
“Uh…not really.” Zach hesitated. He’d never been much for that stuff, a waste of money, but it was money he’d gladly spend on Kelsie.
“Oh, man.” Derek slapped his forehead.
“He’s not talking a grocery store chocolate bar and a handful of daisies. You need expensive chocolates from that gourmet chocolate place in downtown Bellevue. And roses.”
“Red roses,” Derek agreed. “The more the better.”
“What do I say to her?” Zach couldn’t believe he was asking for romance tips from these two clowns.
“Tell her that her hair’s softer than silk, her smile lights up your life, and your world revolves around her,” Harris suggested.
All true. Zach might be able to say that because he felt that way.
“Make sure she knows you think about her night and day, and you’d rather die than live without her,” Derek added.
“You guys aren’t very original.” Bruiser, the worst womanizer on the team, swaggered over. “You gotta be more poetic.” Bruiser got down on one knee and clenched his hands to his heart. “Darlin’, you are my warm fire at the end of a long day, my sweet song when I need comfort, and my guiding light when all is lost.”
The guys started laughing. Pretty soon other players were pushing and shoving to offer their own advice. Zach filed some away in his brain as possibilities. Most of it was pure garbage, but it brought the team together, showed them that the two captains could get along. He shook his head, realizing he hadn’t thought of the game once since he’d boarded the plane. He’d been focused on how to romance Kelsie.
What had she done to him?
~ ~ ~ ~
On Tuesday evening just before five thirty p.m., Kelsie pulled into the practice facility’s parking lot. It was dark, but she located Zach’s big truck immediately, and she parked several spots away in an unlit corner, out of sight from anyone exiting the building.
She glanced around to make sure she wasn’t being followed, then realized it was the first she’d thought of her ex in a long time. Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe Mark was too busy with a new scam to track her down.
Popping a chocolate in her mouth, she chewed slowly. Zach had been behaving so strangely for the past few days, overwhelming her with roses and yummy chocolates, behaving like a doting boyfriend or, far worse, a cheating one. Guilt often drove a man to shower his woman with material gifts when all the woman wanted was his affection and undying devotion. Kelsie popped another chocolate in her mouth. Was that what she wanted? Really wanted? And why did he continue to hide where he went on Tuesday nights?
She had to know, and despite hating herself for reverting to past devious methods, she reverted anyway. Tamping down her guilt, Kelsie justified her actions every which way. After all, Zach had evaded her every attempt to quiz him on his Tuesday night activities, either because he didn’t want her to know or he wanted her to trust him and take his word for it.
Neither reason worked for a nosy woman.
Even though she did trust him. Deep in her heart, she knew he wasn’t seeing another woman, but her curiosity couldn’t let it go at that. When he came home on Tuesday nights, he seemed so different, even quieter than usual. His change in behavior concerned her. If he wouldn’t tell her what was going on, she’d find out for herself.
After an hour of hunching down in the car seat, her butt fell asleep, and she had a cramp in her calf. Maybe the joke was on her. Maybe he’d left hours ago in someone else’s car. She’d give it until seven. If he
didn’t show by then, she’d go home. A slice of light spilled into the parking lot and caught her attention.
The side door opened, and someone walked out. Even in the darkness, she recognized Zach’s distinctive, determined stride. He got in his truck and barreled out of the lot. Keeping her distance, Kelsie followed. She had an insurance policy if she lost him. She’d grabbed his phone earlier that morning and programmed it so she could “stalk” him using her new iPhone’s “Find Friends” feature. He’d be pissed as hell that she’d gone to such lengths, and there wasn’t one part of her not nursing some deep-seated guilt over her deception. She’d come so far from her mean-girl days, yet she’d reverted to the lying and manipulations when the going got tough.
She just needed to know. That was all. Once she found out, she’d head home, and he’d never be the wiser. Then, first chance she got, she’d remove her permissions from his stalker app.
She lost him on the wet city streets when he gunned it through a yellow light, and she had to stop. The light took forever to change. By the time she got to the intersection a few blocks down from where he’d turned, his truck was nowhere in sight.
Kelsie pulled out her phone and opened the stalker app. She located him several blocks away and found his truck parked on a side street in a not-too-desirable section of Seattle. On one side of the street was a rundown hotel, on the other a homeless shelter of some kind. Her gut said he wasn’t in the hotel having a liaison with a woman. Getting out, she stepped across the street to the shelter.
A man sat slumped on a bench near the door outside the entryway, a tattered blanket wrapped around his bony body. He wore a Vietnam veteran’s hat, and he gazed up at her, his eyes haunted by horrors she couldn’t come close to imagining and clouded with hopelessness. Her heart went out to him. Kelsie felt compassion for this man because she knew how desperate she’d felt not having a home. She dug in her purse and handed him a twenty. He took it in his scrawny hand, yellowed by some disease, and nodded at her. A hoarse croak sounded from his parched lips. “Thank you.”
“Sir, thank you. For your service.”
For a moment, he smiled a toothless smile. “You are welcome.”
Swallowing back the choking tears and swiping a hand across her face, Kelsie pushed open the heavy old door, its glass smudged with a million fingerprints. She wandered down a long, narrow hall, her heels clicking on the old tile floor. At the end of the hall were double doors with small windows. She crept closer and peered through one window.
At the end of decrepit gymnasium stood Zach in sweats, surrounded by kids of varying sizes, ages, and ethnicities. He held a basketball in one hand. The kids sat in a half-circle around him and listened with rapt attention, laughing at times and smiling at others. Quiet, intense Zach was animated and enthusiastic. He picked out several of the smallest kids and directed them to one basket, throwing a ball to them. Then he placed a hand on a tall boy’s shoulder, handed him another ball, and sent him and several others to the opposite basket.
The kids lined up, practicing jump shots and free throws, while Zach and the taller kid shouted encouragement and suggestions.
Kelsie sank away from the window. Why hadn’t he told her he worked with homeless kids? Why had he thought she wouldn’t want to know? Why didn’t he trust her enough to tell her about something obviously so important to him?
But he hadn’t told her. Just like he hadn’t told her about his brother’s ashes buried in the side yard. Why?
She knew the reason, and it trampled her like a mob of shoppers on Black Friday. He didn’t trust her. Despite her opening up and telling him about Mark. They’d spent hours getting to know each other’s bodies, but they didn’t know each other’s minds well at all.
Because they didn’t have a future, and Zach didn’t want one.
Even if Kelsie thought she did.
~ ~ ~ ~
Zach tossed the ball to Billy. The kid caught it with the ease and grace of a natural athlete. “Make sure the little ones don’t get run over by the big ones.”
Billy nodded, taking his position as a squad leader seriously. The only praise the kid got all week was from Zach. His mother vacillated between running from an abusive husband and going back to him, certain he’d changed. Her kids were constantly pulled in one direction or the other. The only constant in Billy’s life was this small band of kids Zach coached on Tuesdays.
Billy’s mom was with a new boyfriend, and the kids had a roof over their heads, for now. Tomorrow could be a different story, one Zach knew all too well. He suspected the new guy would be as abusive as the old one because the cycle of abuse kept spinning slowly, over and over until a tragedy interrupted it, like it had in Zach’s life.
He might play a violent sport for a living, but he avoided aggression off the field. He’d seen too much of it as a kid.
Catching movement, Zach glanced toward the doors. A face appeared in the window, then it was gone. His eyes narrowed, and he frowned. He didn’t like people snooping around here, and anyone who didn’t identify themselves was a problem in his book. He signaled to Billy that he’d be right back and sprinted for the door. Slamming it open, he saw the outer doors close behind the interloper. If it was a reporter, he’d shove the asshole’s camera down his throat. Zach didn’t want anyone publicizing or profiting from his charity work.
He ran down the long hall and onto the street but didn’t see anyone.
Zach turned to Danny huddled under a blanket near the doorway. “Dan, did you see someone just come out these doors?”
The guy nodded and pointed toward the end of the block, where a car pulled away from the curb. Zach could just make out the blond head of the driver, and he knew the car.
Kelsie had followed him here. Or found him another way.
He fished his phone out of his pocket and punched a few buttons. Disgust sliced through him when he saw it in full living color on his phone. She’d been stalking his every move via his phone.
She didn’t trust him. Without trust, they had nothing, no matter how hot the sex.
Zach tossed the old veteran enough cash for a warm meal and a room for the night, then trudged back into the building, devastated. He rested his forehead against the cool concrete-block wall of the deserted hallway and braced his hands on either side of his head. Breathing in and out in a slow rhythm, he attempted to gain a semblance of normalcy before he rejoined the kids—which was damn tough to do when a trap door opened beneath his feet and catapulted him downward toward an unknown fate.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kelsie lay in bed and waited for Zach to come home. Only he didn’t come home. Feeling like a conniving bitch, she checked her phone. It showed him back at HQ. At midnight? Well, they did have a big game on Thursday night. But he could’ve at least called or texted her to let her know. Her heart filled with righteous anger. She didn’t deserve this cold shoulder from him. She’d give him a piece of her mind when he got home. Mark used to pull this crap on her, and she’d let him.
No more.
Finally, around one thirty, she heard him come in the bedroom. He undressed and crawled into bed beside her. She kept her back to him, strung tight and ready to pummel her fists into the pillow in frustration. “You’re late. Where’ve you been?”
“You tell me.” The hint of anger and disappointment in his voice put her on alert. He knew something. A little of her anger fizzled, but only a little.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She picked her words carefully, not sure she wanted to hear his answer but needing to hear it, yet still pissed in her own right.
“Don’t play stupid, Kelsie. You haven’t really changed a bit, have you?”
“Yes. Yes, I have.” She sat and faced him, glaring at him. She went still inside, but the anger and disappointment simmered below the surface, even as she battled with her guilt. At least she was trying. What about him?
“Then tell me. Where was I tonight?” His cold voice chilled her and stalled her reaction.
> “You weren’t here with me. Seems you don’t think enough of me to share your life with me, especially the important things.” She tossed hurtful words back in his face and waited for his temper to detonate.
“Don’t lie to me. I hate it.” Zach switched on the light on the nightstand and sat on the side of the bed. He scrubbed his face with his hands and heaved a frustrated sigh.
“I hate it, too. Why didn’t you tell me about your work with homeless kids? Why? Why?” Her voice climbed higher and higher until she was screeching.
“Because it’s something private, something special, something I don’t share with anyone.”
“Not even me?”
“Especially not the Kelsie who uses my phone to stalk me, then follows me like I’m a cheating boyfriend.” He stood, hands on his hips, and glared at her. She glared back, equally pissed off.
“If you’d been honest with me, I wouldn’t have had any need to be dishonest with you.” Damn him, damn him for turning this back around on her. She’d done what she’d done because he kept a part of himself protected from her.
“I’ll sleep in the other room. At the rate this team’s going, you’ll only be stuck with me for a few more weeks. Once this gala is over, you can waltz into your world of wealthy men and upscale clients. You don’t need an uncouth guy like me to drag you down.”
“Do you think that’s what I really want?” Kelsie grabbed her stomach, feeling as if someone had sliced her open and gutted her insides.
“Isn’t it?” He looked so proud, yet she saw underneath his angry bluster a man who was lost and needing love. For a moment, she wanted to pull him into her arms and tell him she was sorry and beg him to forgive her, but the stiff set of his body kept her away, reminding her of why she’d done what she’d done in the first place.
“You’re so closemouthed about everything. I had to know. I trusted you, but I had to know.”
“Why did you have to know?”
“Your dad is in prison for killing your mom and beating your brother to death. I know your brother’s ashes are buried in the yard of this house. Why? Why of all the places you lived did you bury him here? Tell me, Zach, open to me. Be honest with me. I’ve been honest with you.” She clenched her hands into fists, digging her fingernails into her palms.
Offsides: The Originals (Seattle Steelheads Book 3) Page 23