Broken Play (13 page)

Marian was sitting on the couch, calmly sipping a glass of wine, when the knock on her door finally came. She'd been waiting for them. Quite frankly, she was surprised Beau had gotten Cass to wait as long as he had. But she'd been hoping they'd come. It was time to get it all out in the open. She owed it to them, after all. As soon as she had decided to go to bed with them, she'd made her choice. She opened the door and smiled at them, taking a sip of her wine.

“It took you long enough,” she said, turning and walking back to the living room without waiting to see if they'd follow.

They did, of course. “If you wanted us here sooner, you could have called,” Cass said. “Your phone broken?”

“Nope,” she said, sitting down and tucking her feet up beneath her. “It was a test. You passed.”

Beau stood just inside the arch that led from the entryway to the living room of her apartment. “Did we?” he asked. Wow, they were all playing it cool. She grinned at him. He smiled back. “What subject did we pass?”

“How to be good boyfriends and give your girlfriend time to cool off,” she said.

“I never even studied,” Cass said, throwing himself down to sprawl in the big chair next to the end of the couch. “It must be a natural-talent sort of thing.”

“Must be,” Beau muttered, strolling in to sit on the other end of the couch. He picked up one of the two empty glasses sitting on the table and raised an eyebrow. He emptied the rest of the bottle into it.

“Sorry,” Marian said, pointing at her glass. “It took you longer than I thought to get here, and I was thirsty.”

Beau passed the glass across the table to Cass. Most people would have had to get up to do it. Not these two. They just reached out and their hands met in the middle, without either ass losing contact with the seat. She laughed.

“That's okay,” Beau said. “I don't drink at all anymore.”

That sobered her up. “Oh, Beau, I'm sorry. I didn't think.”

“Don't worry about it,” he said with a shrug. “Just because I don't doesn't mean the rest of the world can't. Got a soda?”

She pointed behind her to the kitchen. “There's a Coke in the fridge.”

Beau laughed. “That means there's some sort of soda in there,” he said. “I've learned to interpret Southern speak. How come you guys call all soda Coke?”

She shrugged. “Don't know. We just do. But in this case it is a Coke. And not diet. That artificial shit will rot your brain.”

“I think I'm in love with you,” Cass said quietly. Just like that. She stared at him. He wasn't joking.

“It's just Coke,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts.

“Marian,” he said, and there it was, the impatience. It made her laugh again. Before he could say anything else, she held up her hand and silenced him.

“Please,” she said. “We have some things to talk about first. Don't we?” She looked toward the kitchen and saw Beau standing there, frozen in the doorway. With a wave of her hand, she motioned him over. “Come on,” she told him. “You, too.”

“Before this goes any further,” Beau said quietly, “you should know that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you, too.”

“Of course you are,” she said. “That's how this works, isn't it?” She waved between them.

“I don't love you just because Cass does,” Beau said angrily. “I can think for myself.”

“That's not what I meant at all. Don't be so defensive,” she scolded him. “We're going to have to work on that. But for now, just get over here, sit down, and let me talk.”

Beau sat down again, then picked up the empty wineglass and poured some Coke into it. He toasted them with a wry grin and took a sip. “So, talk,” he said, setting the glass down on the table.

“My father is Rufus Sedgeway.” She didn't explain who he was or give any more detail. She didn't have to.

“Holy shit,” Cass said. “And you didn't think to mention it?”

“So, that's how you met Danny Smith,” Beau said. “When he played college ball for your dad.”

She tapped her nose and pointed at Beau. “Ding, ding, ding. Correct answer. I met a lot of guys who played for my father.” She took a deep breath and then reached for the wine. She needed fortification for what was to come.

“Did he teach you to coach?” Cass asked. “That explains a lot.”

Marian laughed, but sounded bitter instead of amused. “Are you kidding me? He didn't—doesn't—think women belong in football, at any level. I learned from observation. I was allowed to be a water girl, and then an assistant to the trainers. But only because my mom was dead, and we had no other family to take care of me. He was forced to let me attend his practices. At first I was left to my own devices, not even allowed on the sidelines. Then I got caught by an assistant coach smoking weed and making out with some random college guy up in the stands, when I was only fourteen. From that moment on I was sidelined, literally. But you don't get to just sit on Rufus Sedgeway's sideline. He puts you to work.”

“Who was this random guy?” Cass asked with a frown.

“I don't know,” she answered honestly. “I'd never seen him before and I never saw him again. That's pretty much what random means. I can't even remember his name, if I ever knew it. I was only doing it because I was pissed at my dad.”

They were silent for a moment or two. “This isn't the big secret you've been keeping, is it?” Beau asked. “It's one, but not the big one.”

“You're scoring all the points today,” she told him. “Right again.”

“I'm not going to like it, am I?” Cass asked, resignation in his voice.

“Knowing you, nope,” she told him. “But it is what it is, and it's too late to change it. And you know what? I'm okay with that. Seeing Danny today, I realized I've come to terms with it.” She glanced from Cass to Beau. “I think you guys have had a lot to do with that.”

“Tell us,” Cass said quietly. “I promise not to yell.”

“Oh, I'm not worried you'll be mad at me,” she told him. “But you'll be mad.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes. Back in college, when I was working with the trainer—I was twenty, a junior—I started dating this guy on the team. Not just a guy, but
the guy
, you know what I mean? Big man on campus. My dad was thrilled.”

“I bet he was,” Cass said drily. “He's not going to like us, is he?”

“As if I give two shits what my father thinks,” she said, curling her lip in distaste. “I haven't spoken directly to him in over six years, and if I'm lucky, I'll never have to again as long as I live.”

Cass blinked a few times, his mouth gaping. “Okay,” he said, dragging the word out. “And so our story continues. Go on.”

“Not just a story, my sordid life,” she said, bitterness seeping into her voice. “You see, I thought I was in love with…this guy.”

“No names?” Beau asked, his arm spread along the back of the couch as he watched her with those intense eyes of his. “I guess we know who we're going to be mad at.” He paused. “Was it Smith?”

“No.” She shook her head firmly. “He's the hero of the story.”

“This I've got to hear,” Cass said, smiling at her reassuringly. “Go on, sugar.”

The endearment warmed her on the inside, where she'd been going numb, forcing herself to relive the events of that night and tell the tale. She reached out and he took her hand, kissing her palm. When she gave a tug, he let it loose and sat back, waiting for her to finish.

“Thinking that we were on the same page, in love, all that starry-eyed crap, I told this guy what my sexual fantasies were.”

This time it was Cass who took a deep breath. She could tell he knew what was coming. Because he knew her fantasies, didn't he?

“The ones we made come true this morning?” Beau asked quietly.

“Those very same ones,” she confirmed. “I wanted to be with more than one guy. I've always wanted it. When I used to fantasize about being in love, I never picked one guy. There were always two, doing wicked, wonderful things to me while I did wicked wonderful things to them.”

“It was wickedly wonderful,” Cass agreed solemnly. “It was.”

She laughed and smiled at him. Beau scooted closer on the couch and took her hand, and she let him hold it. It was about to get hard, the storytelling, and she needed her rock.

“The thing is, he didn't want a girlfriend who wanted someone else. He didn't want to have to share on a regular basis. But he was just fine with a willing slut who'd do his friends anytime he wanted. He figured he'd be even more popular. ‘Look, I can get the coach's daughter to suck your dick and fuck your buddy.' ” She reached down and picked up her wine with a shaking hand. She was gripping Beau's hand pretty tightly, but he didn't object.

“What happened?” Cass was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his full attention on her. No condemnation on his face at all. She'd known there wouldn't be. Had known, maybe, long before she'd even met him. Knew it the first time she saw that sex tape. Their lives were meant to collide like this.

“He asked me to stay after practice one night,” she said. “Told me we were going to fulfill my kinky fantasies in the locker room. But I didn't see it, didn't see that he wasn't talking about my fantasies, but his. He'd told me the day before he was going to find someone for us, someone who'd do what we wanted. When I walked into what I thought would be a deserted locker room, I saw that he'd actually found four.”

“Jesus, Marian,” Beau said softly. “You were only twenty.”

“I didn't want it,” Marian said. “I didn't want that, some orgy with a leering defensive line. That wasn't it at all.”

“I know,” Beau said. He moved right up beside her and put his arm around her, hugging her to his side. “I know. You wanted what we have.”

She nodded, sniffing. She wiped her cheek with the palm of her hand, not even embarrassed she was crying a little. “I said no, and I tried to leave, but they wouldn't let me. Blocked me in and laughed while I tried to get away. But four was too many for me. I knew how to hit, to kick, and I got a few good ones in, which only pissed them off. They were mad at…at him, because he'd lied and told them I wanted it. And he was yelling at me, telling me he was only giving me what I'd asked for. Finally he punched me, knocked me dizzy, and they got hold of me. What a nightmare.”

“When does Smith come in?” Cass asked in a clipped, angry tone. She looked over at him. He was now gripping his hands together, his stare hard and intense.

“I was yelling, and then screaming for all I was worth,” she told him. “They didn't think anyone else was there. It was the middle of the night. They'd conned a key off a security guard, who disappeared. I think maybe they'd done it before.” She laid her head on Beau's shoulder. “But Danny was there. He'd been kicked out of his apartment because he couldn't pay his rent. He was sending every dime he got his hands on to his mom and his sister. They'd been homeless when he was recruited, and the school promised to take care of them if he signed. But once he was there, papers signed, the school didn't follow through. So Danny had to take care of them. He hadn't told a soul; he felt stupid for not getting their promises in writing and for signing the papers. Anyway, he'd been crashing in the lounge. When he heard me screaming he came running. I've never seen anyone so angry. He started busting heads and threatening to go to the cops. They ran.”

“Why didn't we hear about this?” Cass said, standing up and beginning to pace. “Shit, I can't believe the way I've treated him.” He turned and pinned her with narrowed eyes. “The attempted rape of Rufus Sedgeway's daughter by members of his team would have been front-page news.”

“Would have been,” she said, “if it had been reported.”

“You didn't report it?” Beau asked quietly. “Why?”

“My father wouldn't let us,” she said simply. “These were some of his star players. They were headed to a bowl game, ranked number one. He wasn't going to let his stupid slut of a daughter ruin it, or ruin those players' lives.”

“What?” Cass said, confusion, anger, and incredulity on his face and in his voice.

“He said he'd tell them I made it all up,” she told them, the ache of his betrayal nothing more than a sting now. “And he did worse to Danny. He threatened to take his scholarship and make sure no other school would take him. To ruin his name and rep so badly that the NFL wouldn't touch him, either. You know who my father is. He had the power to do it all.”

“He should have gone to the cops anyway,” Cass said, his voice cold.

“He was going to. I wouldn't let him.” She put her wineglass down, the worst over. “I wasn't going to let him ruin his life. He saved me. He was my hero. Heroes don't get the shaft. And I knew that if it was my father's word against Danny's and mine, he'd win. Hands down. In that town, hell, that state, he's a living legend. A god. He owns them. So we all went on as if nothing had happened.”

“And now? You and Smith?” Beau asked, lightly running his fingers through her hair. It felt nice, and she relaxed against him.

“We became pretty close after that night,” she said. “Danny closed himself off from the team, played ball and shut down. We were all we had.” She reached for Cass, and he came and sat down on the edge of the table in front of her, taking her hand. Being surrounded by the two of them felt so right. She'd never felt so safe, so loved.

“You have to understand where Danny is. I didn't know. I didn't know how much this affected him. He told me today that he hates football, hates the people he plays with, because he knows what they're capable of, and hates himself for not doing the right thing. In his head, he's somehow twisted it until he's taken the blame on himself.”