Page 54 of Necessary Roughness

Sloane

“I am so sorry for last week,” Knox’s mother, Darlene, told me at dinner. She leaned closer to me and put her hand on mine. “I can’t believe you were too scared to introduce yourself to us at the game! And you were sitting right behind us!”

“Meeting parents can be intimidating,” Robert, Knox’s father, said from the other side of her. “I was so scared to meet Darlene’s parents that I took a shot of vodka in the driveway before walking up to their door.”

Next to me, Knox perked up. “You never told me that story.”

“He was afraid of my father,” Darlene explained. “But it was really my mother he should have been worried about! She was always the one with strong opinions about who I dated.”

Robert leaned in close to kiss his wife on the cheek. “Your mom loved me.”

“That’s how I knew you were the one.”

Across the table, Logan said, “Aww.” Roman even smiled, before returning his focus to his plate. With his right hand still bandaged, he was struggling to keep the pasta on his fork with his left hand. I planned on teasing him about it later, when the two of us were alone.

Darlene turned back to me. “I am so sorry for what we said during that game. This is the most important year of Knox’s life, and we only want what’s best for him.”

“Which, at the time, meant no distractions,” Robert told me. “But you’re not a distraction, Sloane. Knox has made it very clear to us that you’re the opposite.”

“She’s my lucky charm,” Knox said, lightly touching my back. “I couldn’t have done so well this year without her.”

“Yes, well…” Robert lifted his wine glass. “I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe in having the support of a good woman behind you.”

“Cheers to that!” Darlene said, and we all toasted.

My phone buzzed with a text, which I discreetly tried reading under the table.

Logan: You’re sexy. I haven’t said that in a while.

I glanced up, and Logan quickly pretended to study the art on the walls of the Italian restaurant.

“Oh, dear,” Darlene said when she saw my phone. “I haven’t seen one of those in ages!”

“Heh, yeah,” I said. “It’s a good conversation starter.”

Her face scrunched with concern. “If you can’t afford a smartphone, honey, I have an old iPhone you can have…”

Laughing, I replied, “I actually use this by choice. Fewer distractions. Except when I get a text during dinner.” I shot a glare at Logan.

He ignored it and said, “It was one of the first things we noticed when we met Sloane. I told her she was either a time traveler from 1999, or a drug dealer.”

“Neither! Just a future teacher who knows how smartphones are destroying attention spans.”

Darlene grabbed my hand again. “I didn’t know you’re studying to become a teacher! Both of my sisters teach elementary school. I was going to do the same, but then we got married and Knox ruined those plans.”

“Ouch, Mom,” Knox muttered.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to us,” she replied, sounding like she’d told him that hundreds of times. “Teachers are the most important people in the world. They prepare our children for the future! You’re the one who should be making millions of dollars, not athletes and actors.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe society thinks throwing a ball is more important than educating our youth.”

Knox cleared his throat. “Can we spend a day celebrating our conference championship? You can go back to bashing my job tomorrow.”

“Technically,” Roman pointed out, “your job ended this afternoon. College season is over, and the NFL draft isn’t until April. At this very moment, you’re unemployed.”

“Hey! Me too!” Logan said, as if just now realizing it.

“I still have a lot of work to do.” Knox gestured with his wine glass. “I have to stay in shape before the NFL draft combine in March. That’s basically a big physical fitness test for draftees,” he added for my benefit. “And I still have finals next week, and then all my spring semester classes.”

“Being a student athlete is exceptionally difficult,” I graciously admitted. “We’re just teasing you.” I reached under the table and squeezed his thigh.

“I am looking forward to sleeping in,” Knox said with a smirk. “No more waking up at four in the morning for practice.”

“No more mandatory study hall,” Roman agreed.

“No more curfews,” I chimed in.

“And no more sneaking out during curfew.” Logan winked at me. “I had a close call earlier this year. If I had gotten caught, I would’ve been benched for the game against Gulf College. Which means I wouldn’t have caught three touchdown passes from our boy here.”

“That means I would’ve thrown three touchdown passes to another receiver,” Knox pointed out.

Logan shrugged and looked at Knox’s parents. “My superior receiving skills made Knox look good all year. He should probably Venmo me part of his signing bonus after he’s drafted.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Knox said. “A lot can happen between now and the draft…”

The unspoken part was that Troy’s lawsuit was still hanging over him. I wasn’t sure if he had even told his parents about that. Darlene had a curious expression on her face, but it turned out to have nothing to do with the lawsuit.

“So…” Darlene cleared her throat and dabbed her mouth with a cloth napkin. “Just to be clear about this situation.” She waved her palm in the direction of the four of us. “All three of you are… dating Sloane?”

I tried to keep my face calm, but I could tell I was tensing up. I hadn’t expected this subject to be broached tonight, but Logan had dropped too many hints about it, and Darlene and Robert had probably heard about the rumors.

“Um…” I should have rehearsed what I was going to say. I was usually better about planning for uncomfortable situations.

“Kind of,” Knox answered for me. “We didn’t start off in a relationship. Sloane was friends with us. And it kind of developed from there.”

“We’re one big happy group,” Logan said. Roman nodded emphatically, with an expression that challenged anyone to criticize our arrangement.

“I know it’s unconventional,” I finally said. “But I care deeply about your son, as well as Logan and Roman. What we have just sort of works.”

Knox’s parents had swung their heads from one speaker to the next, blank-faced. I waited for their reaction, however judgmental it might be.

“I read a book about polyamory in my book club last year!” Darlene said, grinning and blushing at the same time.

“Back in my day, a woman would be slut-shamed for keeping her options open. I’m so glad your generation is a lot more understanding.

In fact, I was teased for dating two boys at the same time my senior year of high school.

The three of us dated for the entire school year, from September to June!

I would’ve kept doing that, but then we all went off to different colleges. ”

I felt my jaw falling open in shock.

Robert reacted the same way. “Darlene, you never told me this.”

“It was long before I ever met you.”

“Not that long! We met at freshman orientation!”

Darlene gave me a look. “See what I mean? A generational difference in opinion.”

“Let me tell you, students aren’t that much more accepting these days,” I replied. “This past week around campus has been rough.”

“Hopefully the championship win helps soften your reputation,” Roman said.

“Maybe,” I said doubtfully.