Homecoming King

by Jami Albright

  “I told you.”

  “You said you kissed Cash, but you didn’t say how it happened. I want details, woman.”

  I lean against a pecan tree and glance toward the house. “Well, it seemed the thing to do since I almost blinded him.”

  “Sounds reasonable.”

  “I thought so.”

  “Tiger, I swear to Santa that if you don’t tell me what happened I’m going to gut you.” Her growl rolls through the speaker.

  I laugh. “Fine. We’re at Elva’s—”

  “Why?”

  “Brad told me that he convinced Elva to sell the land to him, so I jumped in my car and sped over here to try and plead my case, but when I got here, Cash was in an apron—”

  “Anything else?”

  “I’ll finish the story if you’ll stop interrupting.”

  “No, that’s not what I mean. Was he wearing anything else but the apron?”

  “What?”

  “Nothing, I was just entertaining a small fantasy. Continue.”

  “Great, now all I can think about is Cash in nothing but that checkered apron.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Anyway … He’d been at the rec center and heard the same thing that I did, so he gathered his troops and walked to Elva’s to change her mind.”

  “Gathered his troops?”

  “He brought a few of the kids. Turns out, Elva’s lonely, and Cash figured that out before any of the rest of us. So, he gets here, gets the kids to play with Elva, starts cooking dinner, and convinces her to let him buy the land. By the time we got here, it was a done deal.”

  “How did he get the realtor and lawyers over there so fast?”

  I push my hair behind my ear. Goosebumps prickle my skin when I remember the feel of his fingers doing the same thing earlier. “He probably just made a few phone calls. That’s how the hundred-million-dollar man rolls.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How did you nearly blind him?”

  The heat rushes back to my face. “I was trying to flirt with him and bit into a cherry tomato and shot him in the eye.”

  A snort shoots through the phone speaker. “You what?”

  “I know. Pitiful.” I cover one side of my face with my hand. “I’ve never been good at that kind of stuff, but I’ve never caused a potential medical incident before.”

  Maggie laughs. “So, the kiss came while you were playing doctor?”

  “Pretty much,” I chuckle.

  “So?”

  I sigh and lean against the tree again. “It was everything I thought it would be and more.” I swear I sound like I’m back in high school calling Maggie to talk about boys. “It was like …”

  “Like what? Stop starting and stopping. I’m dying over here.”

  “It was like he was making up for lost time. Like he’d been waiting years to kiss me too.” I shake my head. “But that’s ridiculous. He’s dated supermodels and debutantes.”

  “You’re a debutante.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Yes, but that was your choice, so it doesn’t count.”

  “Whatever.” I hear the back door slam shut. “The point is, he hasn’t been thinking about me all these years.”

  “You never know, Tiger. He could’ve been carrying the same torch you have for the last twelve years.”

  “I can’t think about that right now. I have to get through dinner with him, Elva, and five kids.” I peek around to make sure no one is nearby and lower my voice. “Can you get away tonight? My new supplies came in today.”

  “Yes, stop acting like James Bond. You know Donny knows, and he can’t hear you. It’s a good thing he’s back in town so I can do this with you. You need help. Your last effort was pitiful.”

  “I beg your pardon. The vandal in me is totally offended.” I pick up a couple of pecans from the ground. “I thought the horns were inspired.”

  “Oh, please. My kids can be more destructive than that. Do you want that billboard down or not?”

  “Lord, yes.”

  “Then it’s time to take it up a notch.”

  A niggle of trepidation squirms under my breastbone. Mostly, Maggie’s reasonable, but once she tips over the line, she goes all the way. “Take it up a notch?”

  “Never you mind. You’ll see.” Her daughter squeals in the background. “Gotta go.”

  “See ya later tonight. You’re sure you don’t mind going with me?”

  “No, I don’t mind.”

  Warm fuzzies fill the space around my heart. Maggie is a ride or die friend. “Alright, see you at one a.m.”

  “Ugh, why does it have to be that time?”

  I glance around again. “I told you that’s when Glen Winston and J.T. Pettigrew take their break.”

  “You’d think the Ryder police department would stagger the breaks of their patrolmen, since they only have two on the night shift.”

  I snort. “Lucky for me, they don’t.”

  “Miss Tiger,” Misty yells from the back porch.

  “See ya tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  “Oh, and Maggie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Wear black.”

  “Ten four.”

  I disconnect the call and turn to face Misty. “What is it, honey?”

  “Coach Cash said, ‘Come and get it.’ Then he told me to do this.” She winks. “I don’t know why.” The back door slams as she disappears into the house.

  I laugh and make my way back to the porch. When I enter the kitchen, everyone is seated at the table. The only empty chair is next to Cash. I sit and place my napkin in my lap.

  The kids pick up their forks, but before they take a bite, Elva says, “Let’s pray.” She extends her hands to Kayla on her right and Jared on her left.

  Jared and Cam eye the girls’ hands but take them reluctantly. I take Misty’s hand and then Cash’s. Heat zigzags up my arm when my palm presses against the quarterback’s. Elva blesses the food, and the thoughts and feelings winging their way through my body are decidedly not prayer-worthy.

  As soon as Elva ends the blessing, the kids dig into their food.

  “Coach Cash, this is the best spaghetti I’ve ever tasted.” Cam slurps a noodle into his mouth.

  “Thanks, bud.” Cash grins, then picks up his napkin and places it over his lips while holding Cam’s gaze.

  “Oh.” The kid grabs his own napkin and rubs it over his mouth. “Sorry.”

  “No problem. It’s easy to forget.”

  “Where did you learn to cook?” Kayla asks.

  “Yeah, that’s a girl job,” Jared adds.

  “A girl job?” I don’t try to hide the indignation in my voice.

  Cash chuckles and shakes his head. “Dude, you might want to rethink that opinion or scoot out of the strike zone.”

  The kid looks around, genuinely confused. “Why?”

  Kayla growls. “That’s not true. Tell him, Coach Cash.”

  “What’s he gonna say?” Jared challenges Kayla. “He’s a guy, he knows it’s true. Working on cars and football are man jobs and cooking and cleaning are girl jobs.” He shovels another forkful of food into his mouth and talks around it. “Or like Miss Tiger, she’s a beauty queen. You wouldn’t see a guy being a beauty queen.”

  “I want to be a Miss Texas just like you, Miss Tiger.” Marci props her chin in her hand.

  “Me too,” Misty chimes in. “You’re soooo pretty. I want to be pretty like you.”

  “My brother says you’re hot,” Cam adds.

  Jared, the chauvinist in training, nods. “My uncle says that too. He’s the one who told me about girl jobs and guy jobs.”

  I try to keep the corners of my mouth in some semblance of a smile. They’re kids—they don’t know that what they’re saying is hitting every hot button I have. It’s not their problem, it’s mine. “Thank you, girls.”

  “Jared, darlin’, I hate to tell you this, but your uncle is a knuc
klehead.” Elva dabs at her lips with her napkin.

  “Nu-uh. Tell ’em, Coach Cash.”

  The professional athlete shakes his head. “Yeah, you’re on your own in this one, kid. Women are capable of anything they want to do.”

  “Woohoo!” Kayla raises her hands over her head.

  Elva pats Kayla’s arm. “We don’t woohoo at the table, darlin’. Besides, it’s never good to be a sore winner.”

  Kayla grins at the older woman. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Cash places his hand on my shoulder. “And girls, I can see why’d you’d like to be like Miss Tiger. She’s pretty great.”

  What’s he up to?

  “But if you really want to be like her, it shouldn’t just be because she was a beauty queen. Because while she is beautiful, she’s also smart, capable, and one of the most caring people I’ve ever met. And you’ll love this, she’s the boss of a bunch of men.”

  “Really?” Kayla asks.

  “Really.” He turns his attention to Jared and Cam. “And you two should know that she’s the sole reason the rec center will still be open and available for you and your friends to hang out at.”

  I open my mouth to correct him. It wasn’t just me. A lot of people want the rec center to stay open.

  “Is that true?” Cam asks.

  “It is. If it hadn’t been for her hard work, then the city would’ve torn it down and built a resort where it stands.” Cash sits back and looks at Jared. “I think you owe the women at the table an apology.”

  The kid presses his lips together, and he crosses his arms.

  “I’m sorry I said that my brother thinks you’re hot, Miss Tiger.” Cam’s puppy dog eyes make it hard not to forgive him.

  “Thank you, Cam.”

  No one says anything, and it’s clear that everyone is waiting for Jared to speak. After several long seconds, he nods his head. “I’ve thought about it, and I see your point, Coach. I’m not a hundred percent convinced that girls can play football as good as boys, but I know my mom can do any dam—um, darn thing she sets her mind to.” He turns to me, and his eyes are not the puppy dog cute of Cam’s, but there is a hint of respect that wasn’t there before. “I’m sorry I said what I said, Miss Tiger. Thank you for saving the rec center.”

  I make my face as open and pleasant as possible, because he is just a kid and doesn’t really know how backward what he’s been taught is. “I accept your apology, Jared.”

  Our hostess claps her hands. “Who wants a popsicle?”

  The kids all raise their hands and yell, “Me.”

  “After we help with the dishes, we’ll have one,” Elva says.

  “I’ll do the dishes,” I volunteer. “You guys go ahead.”

  Elva rises. “Alright then, Jared and Cam, help me get the treats. The rest of you, wait on the porch.”

  “So the boys are serving the girls?” Kayla asks.

  “Remember, don’t be a sore winner, Kayla?” It’s hardly a reprimand since the older woman winks at the kid.

  The girls laugh and all file out of the kitchen.

  “You do know you nearly melted Jared in his seat, right?” Cash laughs.

  I stand and begin gathering the dishes. “What are you talking about?”

  He circles his finger in the vicinity of my face. “I thought he was going to expire when you turned up the voltage on that thing you do with your lips. Grown men can barely handle it, let alone a kid. The thing should be registered as a lethal weapon.” He grins, and Lord help me, I want to lick him like one of those popsicles Elva is serving the kids.

  I place the dishes into the sink and turn on the water. “I assume you’re man enough to not let it affect you?”

  “Not even almost.” His lips are at my ear. “You’ve always gotten to me, Kitty Cat.”

  I turn to see if he’s serious, but he’s already headed out the door.

  Back at cha, stud. Right back at cha.

  Thirty-Seven

  Cash

  “You’re pretty sweet on that girl.”

  “Which girl?” I know exactly who Elva’s talking about, and she’s not wrong. Not that I’ll let her know that.

  Her bony elbow pokes into my side. “You know good and well who I’m talking about, Cash King. Any fool could see how much you’re stuck on her.”

  We’re sitting on her back porch while the kids play in the waning daylight. “She’s alright.”

  The older woman’s laughter cackles through the air. “Just alright? That’s why my bank account just got a healthy infusion of your cash, because she’s just alright.”

  I can’t deny it. My feelings for Tiger get bigger and deeper the longer I spend with her, which is a big problem, considering my life is not in this small town and hers is.

  The screen door creaks open, and the woman in questions saunters out onto the porch and leans against the railing. “We should probably be getting these kids home pretty soon.”

  Jared spins the football off his fingers in a toss to himself, then catches it easily. “Aww, I was hoping we could play a little two-below.”

  “Yeah!” Cam and Kayla yell at once.

  Misty scrunches up her face and looks at her twin. “We don’t want to play football, but we’ll be the cheerleaders.”

  Marci jumps into the air and punches her fist above her head. “Yes!”

  Misty performs a perfect cartwheel and shouts, “Go Lions,” when she stands upright.

  “But that’s only three of us,” Kayla says.

  “Hey, Coach, how ’bout it?” Jared asks.

  “Sorry, kid. I have a clause in my contract that says I won’t play any recreational sports during season.” Geez, did that really sound as douchey to them as it did to me? Judging by their expressions, it did.

  My gaze slides to Tiger. Maybe I can make her understand. “I’m sorry, I just can’t. You understand.”

  Her only response is to bound down the steps and steal the ball from Jared. “I’ll play.” She hip-checks Kayla. “Girls against boys.”

  Jared takes the ball away from Tiger. “Alright, but we get first possession. Don’t think we’ll go easy on you.”

  Tiger widens her stance and makes a come here motion with her hands. “Bring it on, big talker.”

  He laughs like he thinks she’s full of shit, but the flush across his cheeks gives him away. The kid has a crush on my crush.

  “You ladies ready?”

  “Quit talking and play ball,” Kayla yells.

  “You got it.” The mouthy kid tosses the ball into the air and catches it just as Cam explodes from the line of scrimmage.

  Jared jerks his arm back and propels the ball toward Cam, who’s being covered pretty tightly by Kayla. Even though the girl has him by a couple of inches, he’s fast and gets open just in time for the ball to fall into his waiting hands.

  “First down,” Jared crows and runs downfield to slap Cam a high five.

  “Whatever. That was a lucky throw, QB.” Kayla raises both her hands and Tiger smacks them, then they do this mini routine that includes a lot of hip shaking and hand slapping, like they’ve rehearsed it.

  I pull my phone out and begin to record.

  “Yeah, QB, is that all you’ve got?” Tiger shit talks the kid in the most PG way possible and it’s adorable.

  Longing pulls at me. And not just longing for this woman but longing to play a backyard game of two-below and laugh with these kids. Coach and the owners would kill me, though, if they found out that their hundred-million-dollar man was playing a pick-up game of football in Elva Clayton’s backyard.

  A shriek and the twins cheering draws my attention to the homecoming queen streaking toward her goal line. Ball tucked close to her body, her long legs eating up the ground, she looks like a warrior goddess intent on her target. Kayla’s a short distance behind her blocking like a pro.

  Tiger charges into the end zone, drops the ball, and proceeds to do the worst touchdown dance I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some doozies
.

  “Touchdown!” Clap. Clap. “Touchdown.” Clap. Clap. “Touchdown,” the twins chant in unison.

  “Woohoo!” Kayla joins in with the dance.

  Jared and Cam look a little shell-shocked. I’m still recording, and I can’t help but laugh.

  “She’s not very good at that,” Elva whispers next to me.

  “No, she’s not, but what she lacks in technique, she makes up for in terrible choreography.”

  Tiger brushes an imaginary piece of lint from her shoulder while looking at me. “What do you say about that, King?”

  It’s a direct challenge, and I cannot resist.

  I unfold my too-big body from the too-small lawn chair and bound down the steps. “Excuse me, Miss Elva, I have a beauty queen to show up.”

  The older lady laughs until she wheezes from lack of air. “Careful of that shoulder.”

  I give her a thumbs up as I make my way to the group. “Okay, I’m in,” I announce.

  Three heads jerk in my direction. When Tiger smirks, I know I’ve been played. Doesn’t matter. I want in on this stupid game of two-below more than I wanted to play in last year’s championship game.

  “Really?” Jared and Cam shout.

  At the same time, Kayla yells, “Not fair.”

  I hold up my hands. “I’m not on anyone’s team, I’m the quarterback.” I look at the boys. “But, dude, you guys need some help.”

  Kayla laughs and slaps Tiger’s outstretched hand.

  “You two aren’t any better.”

  Tiger’s blonde brows shoot up her forehead. “Um, you did just see that touchdown and awesome celebration dance, right?”

  “That was luck. Jared isn’t a quarterback.”

  The kid runs to stand in front of me. “Yes, I am.”

  “No, you’re not. With your speed and size, you should be playing middle linebacker.”

  “My dad says—really?”

  I hold my hands up for Tiger to pitch me the ball. But instead of throwing it, she sashays by and jabs it into my stomach. “Heads up.” Her soft whisper blows across my ear and straight to my dick.

  “Thanks,” I say on a grunt.

  All the kids laugh, except Jared. He’s still waiting for an answer.