Page 12

CHAPTER 12

Theo

I wrapped a towel around my freshly showered self and smiled at the mayhem happening in our locker room. That win was huge and one we needed badly, but even better than the final result and the two touchdowns I scored, Mallie was here. In my suite. With my parents. And my friends. She’d done it. We were not just official in our own minds, but the world now knew. Mallie may be concerned about the circus, but all I could think of was just how ecstatic I was that I could publicly declare her as mine.

I knew the media circus had started. I didn’t need to look at my phone to know. The buzz was all over, so much that it even infiltrated the field. At halftime, even Coach Reynolds had asked me if it was true that Allie Witt was really in my box watching me play. I knew for a fact I hadn’t hidden my elation at her being here, but I didn’t really try to. Yes, Allie fucking Witt was in my box. Watching me play.

“Lacey texted me a picture of them,” Spencer said, holding his phone. He was in a towel as well. He held the phone out to me, and I couldn’t stop the grin from overtaking my face at the sight of them. And holy motherfucking shit did she look hot . That was my girl . “She said she freaked the fuck out but then realized that Allie was cool as hell and the nicest person she’s ever met. They’re having a great time up there. I can’t believe you really did it. You got her to come to a game.”

“She decided to come. I didn’t make her,” I said. “I just want her to be comfortable.”

“NOLAN!” Briggs Callahan, one of our rookies, shouted at me. Multiple people stopped to look as he crossed the room. He looked like an excited kid on Christmas morning.

“Callahan,” I responded. I liked the kid, and I’d taken him under my wing this year to help his transition to the professional leagues. He’d been a hotshot in college, but many times, that didn’t always translate once they got to a professional team. He had a big personality and often commanded a lot of attention. I was working with him on tamping himself down some since he was in the public eye now, but he had a good heart.

“Dude, is it true?” His eyes were wide. “Are you really dating Allie Witt?” His voice carried, and the locker room instantly fell quiet.

“I mean, wouldn’t you?” one of the other young guys, Brock Woods, shouted out. “She’s hot as fuck, and I hear she’s a freak in the sheets.”

“Oh fuck,” I heard Spencer say as I crossed the room and shoved the fucker down to the ground. The guys reacted immediately, crowding around us. They knew that if I got physical with someone, it was for a damn good reason, so they didn’t intervene.

“Get your pansy ass up and say that again,” I said through my teeth. I clenched my fists, ready and willing to show him just how serious I was. Woods scrambled to his feet and backed up, his hands in the air. “I will put you through the fucking wall if you ever talk about her like that again. Do you understand?”

Woods nodded. “I’m sorry, man. That was a stupid thing to say. I’m an idiot. If you want to punch me, I deserve it.”

“You do deserve it,” I said, “but I’m not going to punch you because I need my hand intact. However, if you ever disrespect her or any other woman like that again, I will teach you a lesson. You got it?”

“Got it.”

Briggs blew out a breath next to me. “Fuck, Woods. You really have a death wish. Jesus.”

“Sometimes I’m stupid as fuck still,” he said. “I’m sorry, man. No disrespect.”

I crossed my arms. “That was disrespectful as hell. Don’t ever talk like that again.”

Callahan stepped into the middle of the group. “The entire world is talking about Allie Witt and her best friend Bailey Lee in your suite, T. She was seen talking to and hugging your parents. Something you want to tell us?”

“See, how hard was that?” I asked, my eyes still trained on Woods. “But, yes, Allie Witt is here, and yes, I am dating her. She will also be at my house later for our Thanksgiving feast, as will Bailey Lee.”

Briggs stared at me, processing my words. “Damn, dude. You’re the luckiest bastard in the world.”

I smiled this time. “I sure as shit am.”

“Did you say Bailey Lee is coming too?”

“I did.”

Briggs grinned. “I think I may be the second luckiest bastard in the world.”

I forced myself to walk even though I wanted to sprint into the suite to get Allie. I ignored the shouts from fans. I usually would stop and talk or take pictures, but this time it was different. I knew what they wanted, and I wasn’t going to give it to them.

Rico walked next to me, keeping us from being stopped. We turned the corner, and I saw the mayhem outside the suite. People lined up, trying to see her. They held their phones, hoping to get a glimpse.

“Stadium security is taking care of it,” Rico told me, reading my mind. “They’ll be here in just a second and will clear it out. We will wait until they do to take her out.”

I nodded. We reached the door to the suite, and I tried to block out the noise of the fans yelling about Allie. Juan opened the door and I slid inside. My parents stood close to the door, as well as Bailey and Zoey, but they were the only ones in here besides Allie. Jamie had texted me that she’d left to go deal with the caterers at my house. Allie turned to look at me, and at that moment, nothing else mattered.

She closed the space between us, and I wrapped my arms around her. She tipped her head back, and there was no damn way I wasn’t going to give her what she wanted. I slid my lips over hers and breathed her in. “You’re here,” I said into her ear.

“I’m here,” she repeated.

“You look so fucking beautiful. It’s a good damn thing I didn’t see this outfit from the field. I would’ve had my tongue hanging out of my mouth.”

“Well, I did see you from here in those tight pants, and I did drool a little.”

I smirked. “A little?”

She smiled. “A lot. Watching you play is hot as fuck. You know our private bubble is all over now, right?”

I smoothed her hair back. “We knew that was going to happen. You’re okay, right?”

She smiled. “Guarantee this is being videoed right now as well.”

“Do you care?”

She looked at me, and we had a silent conversation with each other before she said, “I don’t. I really don’t.” I could not explain the relief that I felt at her words.

“Good. Let’s get out of here.” I took her hand and hugged my mom and dad with one arm. “Hey, you two. Thanks for coming.”

My mom had tears in her eyes, which was typical of her when anything happened to me. “She’s amazing,” she whispered in my ear. “We’re so happy for you.”

I looked down at Allie and then back at them. “She is amazing. Now let’s go eat some food.”

We pulled into my driveway and the gate opened, the vehicle brigade following us in. When I bought this house, I thought having the gate was excessive. Now, I was thankful for it because it was one more way to keep her safe while she was here.

Once we left the stadium, I turned my phone off due to the sheer volume of messages and social media tags I’d gotten since the start of the game. Everyone I cared about would be here within the hour for our Blaze Thanksgiving, and the rest wasn’t important.

Allie lifted her head from my shoulder and put her hands on the sides of my face. “Today was great. I know I was worried—still worry—about all of this, but I want to be clear about something. I wasn’t—and am not—worried about being around your family and friends. They made me feel the most normal that I have in a long time. If I ignored the cameras pointed at me and the people screaming my name, I could almost think I was a girl watching a football game. It was a lot of fun. I have missed out all this time not watching football.”

“It was great to have you there. The media frenzy will hopefully die down the more they get used to us.”

She laughed and patted my arm. “You’re so funny. It won’t die down. Not even a little bit. Right now, they are freaking out and speculating about the details. Zoey told me about some of it during the game. The more we are out there? The more stories will surface and lies will be spread about conversations we had with people and issues our families and friends had with each other. It will never be over. Not ever. But that was a nice thought.”

I kissed her lips. “I don’t care.”

She grinned against my mouth. “This right here is all I care about.”

The door opened, and I slid out and held my hand for her. She took it and I watched as her skirt slid up her sexy legs as she got out. God, she was hot as fuck, and I really was the luckiest man in the entire universe. I reached around her to shut the door and took her hand in mine as we walked up to my front door.

“Later, I’m going to lift that skirt and feast on you,” I said into her ear. “You’re so goddamn sexy, and it’s going to take every bit of my willpower for the next many hours to not pull you into the bathroom and fuck you on the counter.”

She blushed and bit that lip. “I have a secret,” she said, then stood on her tiptoes to talk into my ear. I leaned down to assist her. “I took my underwear off in the bathroom before we left the stadium. They’re in my purse.” She indicated the postage-stamp-sized purse she carried.

I groaned at her admission and looked down like I could see through her skirt. “You’re fucking kidding me. We rode all the way here and I didn’t know that? That’s it. I’m checking in with Jamie and making sure everything is set, and then it’s on.”

Mallie’s eyes widened. “You want me to sit around a table with all of your teammates, friends, and family after fucking you?”

“Even better than that,” I said, “I want you to be dripping while you’re sitting around the table with the people I care about the most. I’m going to find Jamie. You go to my bathroom and do not take one thing off.” I eyed the boots she wore. “Especially those.”

I held my hand over her mouth as she moaned. Her teeth grazed my skin as her eyes rolled back in her head. I pushed my cock harder into her and gritted my teeth to keep from shouting out.

This woman’s body was made for me, and it had been too long. She sat on the edge of the bathroom counter. As instructed, she was still fully clothed, minus the underwear she really wasn’t wearing. I still wore my suit from leaving the field, my pants undone just enough to let myself out.

“You feel so fucking good, angel,” I said, using my other hand to hold her hip still to get better friction. “I want that orgasm. Give it to me. Later, I’m going to give you so many you’ll beg me to stop. Right now, I need it hard and fast.”

She whimpered, and I felt her contract around me. I picked up the pace and hit right where I knew she loved it the most while working her clit with my thumb, and that was all it took. Her breathing accelerated, and she scratched her nails down my back. The sounds of our sex filled the room and I let go, stifling my own moan as my orgasm took over. When she stopped making noise, I took my hand from her mouth, and she immediately put her hands on my face and kissed me.

As our tongues slid together, I felt an overwhelming urge to say words I hadn’t said in a really long time. I forced them back, but just barely. The idea of the words should’ve scared the hell out of me.

They didn’t.

“So, Allie, tell us about yourself,” my mom started, passing rolls around the table. “I mean, everyone here knows who you are because you’re the most recognizable star in the world.”

I looked at Mallie’s face as my mom talked, my stomach churning with nerves, but she looked calm and unaffected. I put my hand on her leg, and she wrapped her fingers with mine and squeezed.

“Tell us who you are when you’re not Allie Witt, pop star.”

She grinned as if this was her favorite question to answer. “I’m from Florida, a few hours from here, born and raised, though I don’t get to spend as much time here as I’d like due to my schedule. Since I grew up here, the beach has always been my happy place. When I was a kid, we went on a cruise and I was enthralled with all the performers. After that, it was my plan to work on a cruise ship and travel the world until I ‘hit it big.’ My primary goal was to get a record deal, of course, but that happens so infrequently that I wanted to make sure to have a backup plan. I was raised by a single mom, and she’s my entire world. We lived next door to my aunt and uncle my entire life, and I grew up with my cousin Conor. Our grandparents lived on the other side of me, so we were all close. He’s currently my assistant, and my aunt and uncle run the Allie Witt Corporation. My grandparents both passed away in the last fifteen years. I have a dog, Charlie, and he usually goes everywhere with me. If I’m gone longer than a few days, he goes with me on my plane.”

“I love dogs,” my mom comments. “What kind is he?”

I stroked Allie’s leg with my thumb, encouraging her. Every person at this table hung on her every word, and it was a lot of people. Bailey sat on the other side of her and caught my eye as I looked down the table. She smiled and nodded, and I felt so much from that reassurance from Allie’s best friend. It wasn’t too much. She was okay.

“He’s a mini goldendoodle. I always wanted one. It wasn’t practical for me to get a dog as much as I travel, but I did it anyway, and he is the coolest dog. He has the chillest personality and is just happy curling up next to you. He doesn’t mind the planes or being in different places.” She laughed. “Wow, I really just went on about my dog like he’s my kid.”

Everyone laughed. “What do you think you would’ve done if you didn’t become a singer? That is, if you didn’t do the cruise thing,” Spencer asked. Everyone ate as Allie talked, and as much as I wanted them to leave her be, she seemed to enjoy talking to them, so I let it go for now.

“I love kids, so I thought maybe I’d be a teacher. English was always my strong suit, and playing piano and guitar. I really worked hard at my music as a young high schooler, though, thanks to the support from my family, so I put out my first album at sixteen. I have wanted to be a singer since I knew what singing was. My mom always loved music, so we didn’t watch TV when I was a kid. We listened to music. I knew as many musicians’ names and songs as other kids knew cartoons.”

“What’s it like?” Briggs asked, and I shot him yet another warning look. Briggs was a good guy, but still immature and dealing with the huge media spotlight of being a rookie on the Blaze and the attention he got from it. He’d already gotten quite a reputation for himself with the ladies, and he regretted it, hence my involvement in helping him to stop being stupid.

“What’s what like?” Allie took a bite of her food and chewed, waiting for his answer.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t eat, my gut in too many knots over this seemingly harmless conversation. I just wanted it to go perfectly tonight. This was the first time I got to see her with the people I loved, and I was beyond ecstatic at the way she fit right in.

“Being a globally famous pop star. Having a life no one else can even fathom. Having fans screaming your name everywhere you go and not being able to have a regular life? Touring the world and selling out stadiums?”

“Briggs,” I said, my tone expressing my warning. His attention snapped to me, but Allie shook her head at me and squeezed my fingers.

“There’s nothing wrong with those questions, Te—Theo,” she said, correcting my nickname. “It’s perfectly normal to wonder, and I don’t mind answering them.”

I saw the looks on a few faces when she almost called me Teddy, but they let it go to let her continue—for now.

“To be honest, I was so young when I started that I don’t know what ‘normal’ means. I mean, normal to me is paparazzi screaming my name outside my house at all hours of the day and night and fans wanting autographs and pictures everywhere I go. I don’t know what it’s like to graduate from high school with a group, go to parties that are not for awards shows or album releases, or just go to the grocery store unattended. But you know what I do know? I know that every single day when I open my eyes, I’m living my dream. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, and I get to do it. It has its fair share of frustrations, but I genuinely love what I do and the people that have helped me get to this level of success. I have a loyal fan base that has been with me for a long time, and they keep me going when it gets hard. I’ve been in this long enough that some of my first fans now have kids they bring to the shows. Touring is my absolute favorite, other than being in the studio recording. It may sound cliché, but I love seeing my fans face to face and singing with them. I also love meeting them, but that has gotten harder throughout the years. Without them, I’d still just be singing to my family.”

“Don’t they call themselves Allie-Cats?” my adorable mother asked, and laughter broke out across the table. Someone had been searching up my girl, and it wasn’t just me.

Allie laughed. “They do. They came up with that when I released my second album, and it just stuck. They are definitely loyal to me, and they keep me going on the hard days for sure.”

My dad looked lovingly at my mom, and a silent conversation happened between them. If there was a reason I believed in true love, it was the two of them. Married when they were just teenagers, after a month of dating. They still looked at each other like I wanted my spouse to look at me. Mom smiled and nodded, whatever communication they had understood.

A natural silence took over the table as people ate and stopped asking Allie questions. She looked over at me and smiled, and I swore my heart skipped a beat. I leaned over and kissed her temple, unable to stop myself. She leaned into me for a moment before we focused back on our plates of food.

I heard a small sigh from down the table. Lacey, the guilty party, laughed. “Sorry. You two are just so cute .”

“Agreed,” Bailey said. “I am both so happy for you guys and so damn jealous it isn’t funny.”

My eyes found Briggs across the table. He stared at her, his fork midair, as he processed how to respond to that. I shook my head at him, helping him with the awareness that this wasn’t the time to hit on Bailey Lee. If he wanted a shot with her, he had to do it away from the eyes of everyone here. He nodded and put his fork down but continued to watch her. I knew that look. As if she felt him looking, she met his gaze, and an interesting look passed between them before she turned away. Hmm.

Small talk continued, and with most of the table consisting of my players and their girlfriends and wives, it went naturally to our upcoming games. After a few minutes, Lacey indicated that Allie and Bailey should follow the girls to the back porch for wine and “girl talk.” Allie stood, and my eyes went right to what I knew was—and wasn’t—under that skirt. She leaned down and pressed her lips against my ear. I intertwined my fingers with hers, my thumb caressing her palm. I needed to touch her. All the time.

“I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking about it, too. Have fun with the boys. I’ll be ready for you later.” With that, she kissed my lips quickly and walked away.

Silence followed the girls, and once they were out on the back deck, Spencer, Briggs, and the rest of my closest friends all turned their attention to me.

“Dude,” Marc, one of my closest childhood friends, started what I knew was about to be a serious razzing. “You’re in love with her.”

“It’s written all over your face,” Devin, my other childhood best friend, interjected. “I never saw you look at Beth the way you look at her.”

“And the way you two can’t stop touching each other and looking at each other?” Ty, one of my closest friends, added.

“What is this, Theo’s inquisition?” I laughed, but I didn’t mind. They weren’t wrong, and I wouldn’t discount what I felt by saying they were.

“Speaking of,” Spencer said. “What was she about to call you before she said Theo?”

I grinned. I knew that hadn’t slid by anyone. “Teddy.” The table of my best friends all simultaneously clutched their hearts like they’d rehearsed it, then laughed once they realized they all did it.

“Teddy like T-Bear, huh?” Isaiah, one of my favorite teammates, piped up. “She likes that you’re a big ol’ teddy bear.”

I shrugged, and I knew my face told exactly how much she liked it, but I wasn’t hiding. “Guess she does.”

“Notice he didn’t deny being in love with her,” Xavier, another of my close player friends, brought up.

I wouldn’t go there before talking about it with her, so I stepped carefully into my next words. “I have never felt this way about anyone before in my life. Ever. But it’s still early.” I looked at my dad, still in the room. He was a quiet man most of the time but one of the most emotionally stable people I’d ever known. A small smile played on his face as he listened. “My only goal in life other than making it in the professional football world was to find a love like my parents have.”

Everyone turned and looked at my dad. He dabbed his eyes with his napkin at my statement. “That makes this old man so happy to hear, Theo. Your mother is the best thing to ever happen to me. Other than you, of course.” He stood as my mom entered the room, having excused herself a few minutes before. “Speaking of the love of my life, we’re going to head out.”

I stood from the table and hugged him and then her.

My mom had tears in her eyes when she pulled back.

“Mom?” There was nothing I hated more than seeing her cry. “What’s wrong?”

My dad linked his hand with hers and smiled at her.

“She’s perfect for you,” she whispered, indicating the woman sitting outside with all my friend’s wives and girlfriends. “There’s nothing wrong at all. I just know that I spent the day with your soulmate, and that makes my mom heart so happy. I just can’t help that it makes me emotional.”

I opened and closed my mouth, feeling the heat in my face. My heart pounded against my sternum, and my chest heaved like I just ran sprints. “Mom,” I whispered, afraid to speak any of this out loud. My mom had never, not ever, uttered those words before, not even when I talked about getting engaged to Beth.

She wrapped her arm around my dad’s torso and leaned into him, nodding at me. “Ever since she walked into that suite today, I felt it. I couldn’t tell you why or how, but I just know.”

“I feel it, too,” I whispered back to her. “Is it too soon? We’ve both been so burned. It’s only been a few months.”

She looked up at my dad, and he spoke up this time. “I think you’re both ready because of what you’ve been through. You’re not young kids like we were, and even then we knew rather soon also. Too soon for most people who doubted us. I don’t think anyone can put a timeline on something like this. As the saying goes, when you know, you know.”