First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) (38 page)

T
he hell that is my abdomen finally pulls me from one of the best dreams I’ve had in nearly a year. Shivers overtake me while trying to stave off a fresh wave of nausea. I reach for my phone to see if Rob texted me with any news on his injury. Nope. Either that means he’s fine, or he was busy texting Dream Girl the rest of the night. I roll out of bed after an intense round of self-deprecation, guilt, and denial. Just another day.

I move around at a snail’s pace as I get ready for work. The will to be awake just isn’t strong enough today. Thank God I’m not working until close tonight. When I finally mosey into the kitchen to grab some coffee, Tini is waiting to pounce on me. I can feel it. Her blue eyes follow me as I move about. She watches in silence as I pour in the usual amount of flavored creamer into my travel mug. She’s as bad as Jess.

“Well?” she questions.

I turn to face her, leaning against the counter, and sucking down my drug of choice. “Well, what?”

“How bad is it?”

“How bad is what?”

Papou pops his head up from the paper he’s reading at the table and rolls his eyes. “She wants to know if your star quarterback is going to be able to play for the rest of the season.”

I choke on my coffee. “
My
star quarterback?”

Christina gives me a sly, knowing smirk. “Oh, please. It’s going around all over the school. I told you he wanted you.”

“That’s just a rumor because of bio. We’re friends now, yes, but that’s all. And I have no idea how badly he’s injured.”

“You were at the game last night, weren’t you?” YiaYia pipes up from her spot beside Papou.

“Yeah…”

Mama saves my ass from the inquisition when she enters the kitchen. “How’s Rob?”

Or not. “How am I supposed to know?”

“Don’t bite my head off,” she chastises. “It was just a question. I thought you might know since you were there, is all.”

“I thought you might know since he’s your boyfriend.” Tini gives me a look that suggests she knows more about this than simple school rumors. I’ll have to investigate later. If she’s actually home on a Saturday night like me. More likely it’ll have to wait until tomorrow night.

I roll my eyes for good measure. “You’re all insane.”

“You admitted you’re friends now.” Tini retorts.

How quickly can I get out of this and escape to the safety of my car? “Yeah, so?”

Mama eyes me over with an appraising look. “You didn’t mention anything about this to me.”

“I’m sorry,” I say sarcastically. “Mama, Rob and I are friends now. Better?”

She snorts. “Then why are there rumors going around school that you two are more than friends?”

I shrug, not sure why she wouldn’t understand the way things roll at school. “Because we’re partners for biology. And probably for the same reason that there were rumors going around about him before school even started this year.”

“Oh, because other girls are jealous of you?” Mama grins.

Dammit, I am getting pigeonholed at every turn today. This is so much worse than last night with my friends.

Christina bursts out laughing. “Yeah, they are!”

“I have to get to work. Sorry, Papou. I don’t know the future of the team’s best player because we’re
just friends
,” I emphasize, turning my head in all directions to look at every one of them. “He didn’t exactly call me after he got his x-rays at the hospital last night.”

“How do you know he went to the hospital last night?” YiaYia asks. I think she really does have me married off to him already in her mind.

I shrug, trying to feign a completely cool, casual expression. “I assume that’s where they took him after the game. He couldn’t walk off the field on his own, and he’s the best player on the team. I don’t think they’d chance it.”

That sounds like a very rational explanation. Yes.

“You should stop on your way to work to see how he is,” Mama suggests, reaching around me to get a mug for herself. Her tone sounds innocent enough. “That would be a nice thing for a
friend
to do.”

Ah, there’s the punch.

“Whatever,” I sigh.

I quickly escape out the back door before anyone else can get on my case.

My intentions are to go straight to work, but I end up pulling into Rob’s driveway instead. I sit in the car for a few minutes, trying to remember how I got here. It’s not like I drove on autopilot or anything. I’ve never been to this particular house before. On the other hand, I’m also apparently the crazy person who knows Rob lives here though I’ve never been invited to this particular neighborhood. I’m not invited today.

What the hell am I thinking? I should just drive away, unnoticed.

The front door opens, and his mother smiles and waves, beckoning me inside.

Busted.

I guess I’m checking on the star quarterback after all. My mental state is seriously questionable these days. Especially in light of the dream I woke up from this morning. I’ve got no business being here.

Mrs. Falls beams at me brightly as she stands in the open doorway, waiting for me to make a move. I’m suddenly very aware of my appearance in my diner uniform with my hair piled on top of my head in an unruly mass of curls. Hoping against hope that she doesn’t judge too harshly the trashy-looking girl on her property, I climb the porch steps with legs that feel too heavy. Plenty of other girls have surely stood where I now stand. They were probably dressed to kill. Perfect hair, makeup, and nails must be a requirement to pay a house call to the Falls residence. Mrs. Falls’ standards are undoubtedly pretty high for her remarkable son.

“Evie, honey! What a nice surprise! Here to check on Rob?”

Wow. She seems…happy? And she knows my name.

“Um, yes.” My whole body feels aflame, my cheeks too hot and likely as red as the roses that line the railing around the porch. “He texted me last night and said he was waiting on x-rays, so I just wondered how that went.”

I stuff my hands in my back pockets to stop the sudden trembling. God, why am I so nervous? What am I even doing here? “And my Papou is very concerned about the team’s ability to make the playoffs without Rob. I promised him I would check on that.”

That sounds better. Much more casual than the reasons she’s likely used to getting for a girl showing up here.

“Come on in and see for yourself.” She wraps a slender arm around my shoulders to guide me into the house.

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t want to be a bother. I just wondered what the results were. I’m actually on my way to work. I don’t have much time.” I cannot believe the idiocy pouring out of my mouth this morning. I could have just texted him to ask. Why didn’t I do that?

She doesn’t respond, simply smiles at me warmly. Her eyes show that she’s genuinely pleased I’m here. She has the same sparkle in them that Rob has, the same blue-green color. But her hair is a much darker brown than Rob’s. She’s tall and slender, but with an hourglass figure. She’s wearing skinny jeans and a blue, gauzy blouse that brings out her eyes, with minimal jewelry that appears to be diamonds. In a word, she’s elegant.

She keeps her arm around my shoulders as she leads me down a hallway. I’m too stunned at her treating me like an old friend of Rob’s to really pay much attention to my surroundings.

“You are on your way to the diner then?”

I must stare back at her with a stupefied expression. Because really that’s what I’m feeling. Dumbfounded.

She tries again, still smiling at me. “You said you were on your way to work?”

I try to make myself focus and respond softly, “Oh, um, yes. I have to be there by one.”

How does she know where I work? I don’t think I remember her ever stepping foot inside the diner before.

“It’s so kind of you to stop and check on Rob on your way.” Her laugh is soft but sweet. It’s almost like she’s trying to break the ice with me which is bizarre. “He scared you last night too, did he?”

Wait, what? How would she know that? “Uh, yeah. I mean, he usually gets right up after a tackle. And he didn’t exactly walk off the field by himself, so that was, um…scary.”

God, I sound like such a moron.

That’s right, Mrs. Falls. I watch your son like a hawk at every game, just like all the other crazed groupies at school. The only difference is that I’m watching from the geek section of the bleachers.

We’re in the kitchen now. She turns to face me, pulling me into a gentle embrace. I can’t force myself to return it. This is way too much.

“It is so nice to finally meet you in person and have you here.” She steps back.

All I can manage is a strangled, “Um, thank you?”

She laughs her sweet laugh again and gestures to the doorway with a set of stairs leading down. “He’s down here. Rob,” she calls down. “There’s a young lady here to see you.”

She fixes me with an expectant smile. My head reels so hard from these few moments with her that I cannot even imagine the expression on my face currently. Probably deer in the headlights.

Rob groans from somewhere below. If I didn’t think this was a bad idea already, I have no doubts about it now.

“Oh, that’s okay. He doesn’t sound like he really wants company. I should just go.”

“Don’t be silly! He’ll be so happy to see you!” She gives me a gentle nudge towards the door.

My throat feels like it’s closing as I imagine what I might find down here. I take the steps one at a time. My legs move in slow, weighted motion until I hit the bottom of the staircase. A warm and inviting family room unfolds before my eyes, albeit much more grand than I’m used to.

There’s a large screen television mounted on the wall directly across from me, a stone fireplace a little to the right of it. A fur rug is spread on the floor by the hearth. Two brown leather couches are in the foreground. One sits perpendicular to the TV and one parallel. Rob’s sandy brown hair peeks out over the top of this couch. As I step out of the stairwell, to my right is a pool table with a wooden bar behind it. To my left, a wall is covered in various sports memorabilia. No surprise there.

The sounds of Rob’s mom moving about the kitchen drift down. There’s no way I’ll be able to sneak back up and out without being noticed. Maybe I could tell her that he’s sleeping. He won’t even know I’ve been here. Until his mom tells him.

If he notices that someone is in the room with him, he doesn’t seem to care. He doesn’t move from his position or say anything. He must be slouched down comfortably because I know he’s much taller than the back of the couch. Only the top of his head is visible. His left leg is propped on a pillow on the coffee table in front of him, his ankle wrapped in an ace bandage. And he’s watching…college football. No surprise there, either. But the sound is muted.

I approach slowly with my arms wrapped around my torso for comfort. I can’t cut and run now. Hesitating before the contents of the couch come into full view, my whole body feels like a strung wire. This is such a very, very bad idea.

When I finally force myself to round the arm of the couch opposite where Rob is seated, he looks over to me with a blank expression. It quickly morphs to something resembling shock.

He’s wearing an old, comfortable looking t-shirt and athletic shorts. His long torso is slouched down the couch. His right leg is spread out straight while the left is elevated as I’d seen when I entered the room. His left arm rests comfortably across his stomach, and the right is propped on the arm of the couch. He looks like he might’ve been sleeping just moments ago if the state of his hair is anything to go by. It’s sticking up in all directions. He looks like a blinking, sleepy little boy. A very muscular, very tall boy.

“Hey, Ma?” He calls out loudly, startling me.

“Yes, sweet boy?”

“How many of those pills did you give me?”

The sound of her amusement floats down the stairwell. “Why?”

“‘Cause I think I’m seeing things,” he yells back.

She simply laughs her lilting, elegant laughter in response.

“Come here.” He pleads so softly that I’m not sure I heard right. When I look at him with an unsure gaze, he gestures the same with his index finger. The dumbfounded expression never leaves his face.