OffsideChanceFormat2 (3 page)

Jude
sat at the table eating a bowl of oatmeal. He hadn’t had time just yet to get
real food in the house or the time to cook anything. He didn’t care that the
box might belong to his fellow inmate. He tried not to think too long about the
man. The image of his hard body spewing cum seemed to want to stay imprinted on
the back of Jude’s eye lids. The asshole had purple fucking eyes. He shouldn’t
know what color his eyes were. He’d looked up at him just as he blew his load
and Jude couldn’t look away.

He
was out of his goddamned mind. Stabbing at the oatmeal with his spoon, Jude
tried to read the morning news on his tablet. He was tired after not having
fallen asleep until almost dawn. Living in a city this size again was going to
take some getting used to. But he had no choice but to be up early, he had
meetings all morning.

If
brunch with his old boss at the law firm he’d clerked at right out of law
school could be called a meeting. And a late afternoon meeting with Jasmine
Claiborne, an old friend from law school, who pointedly told him this was not a
date just a business lunch to discuss old times and possibly new times.

He’d
kept in touch with Jasmine over the years partly due to their history together.
The fact that she’d made partner at one of the more prestigious firms in the
city was just a happy coincidence. Of course, the firm was her father’s, but
that’s what relatives were for. Not that Jude would know anything about that,
having only Levi as a point of reference.

 
Sometimes he wondered what his life would be
like if he’d stayed here instead of going back to Alabama. But with the Levi
Brody hero worship that would have eventually tainted his life, leaving was the
best thing for him.

The
plumbing rumbled overhead while his “roommate” showered and prepared, Jude
presumed, to deal with the coming game. He hadn’t spent much time with Levi
since high school but he knew there was more involved than just showing up half
an hour before kickoff.

He
went back to reading the papers he subscribed too and spooning his oatmeal as
if this situation was normal and not completely fucked up from the beginning.
The
New York Times
dragged his
attention away from his problems to the point that Jude didn’t hear the
plumbing shut off or hear anyone on the stairs. Or hear one big ass knuckle-dragger
walk down a narrow hallway until he was so close he could have thumped Jude on
the ear. “Hey,” Slater said then laughed as Jude jumped at the deep voice and
dropped his spoon.

“Fuck.”
Jude dabbed at the oatmeal that splattered his tie. “Don’t sneak up on me like
that.”

“Stop
stealing my shit and acting so guilty.” Slater draped a leather jacket over the
bar stool and laid a gleaming black and gold helmet in the seat.

“I’ll
replace the shit when I do a grocery shop later today. My god, it’s not like
it’s gold or something.” Jude pushed the now cold cereal away and drank the
rest of his orange juice.

Slater
moved with a quiet grace around the room, getting a glass from the cupboard he
poured himself a glass of the juice. He didn’t turn to meet Jude’s gaze. “So
you’re not going to the game?”

“Not
everyone likes football.” Somehow disappointed at the turn in the conversation,

Jude
slid his finger over the screen to the next page of his newspaper. “Besides I
don’t have tickets.”

“How
are you and Levi even related?” Slater finally turned to lean against the
counter. He wasn’t huge, but he was…huge. Probably wouldn’t be as tall as Jude
but definitely would make him look like a fence pole. He had dark brows and
lashes surrounding eyes so blue they appeared purple. The word
thug
popped into Jude’s mind more than
once since Slater had held the gun on him.

“I
don’t have time to explain genetics to you.”

“
Har
,
har
, not.”

“Such
a stimulating comeback.” And just like that the mental image he’d successfully
avoided all morning came rushing back full tilt. The big hard body, the dick
head spurting cum onto his well-defined abs. Yeah. Not something Jude ever
wanted to see again. “I have a meeting. In fact, I’m late.”

He
scraped his bowl into the sink and rinsed it, placing it in the dishwasher. He
swallowed the last of his orange juice and followed suit with the glass.
Grabbing his tablet from the table he made his way out of the kitchen, he
needed to brush his teeth again and grab a coat before his cab arrived. He
didn’t make it to the stairs before the thug in his kitchen called his name.

“Hey,
Jude,” Slater sang in that way that made Jude groan every damned time. He
turned to find the man grinning at him.

 
“Please don’t sing my name at me, it’s old and
been done to death,” Jude said to forestall the inevitable serenade.

“I
wasn’t, I was simply going to offer you a pass to the VIP box. Levi will be
there. He said you’d say no. Because you always said no when he tried to get
you to come to a game. He said he’d really like to see you.” Slater was able to
string together more than a few words in a row after all, amazing.

“I…”
He had no reason to say no. He could bow out of his meeting with Jasmine.

“There’ll
be two passes on the table if there’s someone you want to take. Last home game,
best seats in the Dome. I’m sure you won’t have a hard time scaring up a date.
Anyway, I’m going to leave them there, if you change your mind. And don’t worry
about the food.”

“Yeah,
okay,” Jude watched as Slater slid into the leather jacket and grabbed the
helmet. He didn’t seem as much like the asshole from yesterday now. “Maybe.”

“Whatever,
man. I’ll catch you later.” He secured the helmet over his head and was out the
back door before Jude could say another word. Two VIP passes lay on the table.
Jude locked the back door and triggered the alarm. He stopped to stare at the
tickets. He’d never once gone to see Levi play. And now it was too late. Before
he could talk himself out of going he snagged the tickets and pelted up the
stairs. Maybe Jasmine would want to go along. Maybe they could pick up where
they left off all those years ago.

He
probably had a better chance of bedding the Neanderthal that just left, which,
thinking back to the night before and the show he’d walked in on, would
probably be hotter than anything he’d ever had with Jasmine.

*
* * * *

Confetti
still floated on the air. Will stumbled off the field, trying to catch his
breath from the last play. It wasn’t Bo that had taken the ball across the goal
line, it had been the kid quarterback. And Will had to carve him a hole to get
through. Of course, he’d ended up on the bottom of pile of heavy ass men. But
damn it they’d done it. They’d started calling him “Angel,” the rookie QB not
Will. He was still Slayer. And would always be Slayer. Angel’s real name was

Raphael.
Will thought he’d make a better mutant turtle than a fucking angel but the
pretty kid looked like an angel, he had way of giving the ball wings…and fuck
Bo was the one who named him after some freaking artwork that didn’t make the
slightest bit of sense to Will.

Bo
trotted over to him and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good fucking game, man.
Good game.” He kept on trotting to the sideline where the rookie was glorying
in the thrill of victory.

Will
glanced up to the VIP box wondering if anyone had made it. He saw a couple of
women standing at the glass but none of his family or friends. Not that he
really expected anyone to come. They never did. The trip from Miami was just
too far.

“Hey
Levi, Levi, can we have your autograph. Please?” He could hear a group of young
kids shouting over the screaming in his ears. Will found his best friend
standing on the sidelines not that far from them ignoring them. Levi never
ignored anyone. Will brushed off the compliment from another teammate and
struggled through the press of bodies to get to the group just as a camera
found them.

“Levi.”
The reporter shouted but Levi continued to stand still. With a crowd gathering
around him Levi finally looked up the lights from the camera glinted off his
glasses…Levi didn’t wear glasses. The brother did. How in the hell was Will
confusing Levi with the nerd brother?

Dressed
almost identical in a pair of jeans, but tighter, and a New Orleans T-shirt,
the real Levi hooked his arm over his brother’s neck and turned on the charm
for the group of fans and reporters. “I see y’all just met my brother. This is
Jude. Jude say hi to the nice people.”
  

Will
had never seen Levi like this before, usually he was the very epitome of
composure in front of the media. At least he looked like the Levi Will knew,
except for the earrings. He wasn’t wearing makeup this time. That news story
from the summer with him in almost nothing but sex smeared makeup had left Will
stunned.

“Hi.”
Jude looked more like a deer caught in headlights. Jude really did look very
much like his brother, the mistake had been understandable. His hair was longer
than Levi’s and a little curly on the ends. They were the same height. Levi
would be more muscular but with clothes on they were almost the same body
shape. They were exactly the same in every way. Except age. The fascination
with the unknown Brody brother seemed to be universal. The fans, the media. It
was as if Levi never left the way they rushed him and his brother asking
questions and for autographs.

Will
didn’t have time to stand around contemplating his own personal fascination
with the unknown Brody when he got caught up in his own media ambush. He forgot
all about the Brody brothers and the last couple of days while he answered
questions and signed autographs and posed for pictures with kids and women,
until Levi jumped on his back and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Right
in front of the camera.

The
brother standing right beside him looking embarrassed as all get out. “Aw man,
Levi, not in front of the cameras.” He groaned when he realized how that
sounded. Like he and Levi had a thing. That big ass son of a bitch Levi was
currently shacked up with would tear him a new hole if the thought ever crossed
his mind and they both knew it, but the media didn’t and anything the media got
wind of was sure to end up as gossip for the rest of the world to discuss.

“You
didn’t mind the last time I jumped your ass.” And Will groaned again, because
this wasn’t the Levi he knew, this was the other Levi, the one he’d kept hidden
from Will. “But that was after the Super Bowl. So this is all a bit premature.”
Levi landed on his feet and draped his arm over Will’s shoulder pads and his
other arm over his brother. “Proud of you man. You did good.”

“We
did do good, I just wish it was you, 501.” He couldn’t help saying. The rookie
would never be Levi Brody. There was only one quarterback with that much talent
and God had thrown away the mold when he made Levi.

“I’m
okay that it wasn’t,” Levi whispered and kissed his cheek again. “I’m happy to
watch someone else get their ass kicked for a change.”

The
throng of people separated them, Levi and the brother disappeared in the crowd
and Will made his way back to the locker room, the win suddenly bittersweet for
him. When he retrieved his phone from his locker he pulled up the texts he knew
to expect.

One
from the set of twins he hoped to get with tonight. Another one from his dad
and yet another from a cousin who was only kissing his ass to get more money.
And Levi. He opened Levi’s message.

Marriot.
We have a suite. Bring someone.

He
didn’t have any interest in calling up the twins. As soon as he could get away
he took a taxi to the Marriot and rode the elevator up to the penthouse level.
Fuck, Levi had more than a suite, he had the whole fucking floor.

Chapter
Four

Jasmine
left Jude at the bar to attach herself to the very young quarterback. Hell, the
way the kid looked Jude didn’t blame her. Who knew she was a thirty year old
cougar in the making?

He
didn’t even bother to sigh. They’d picked up right where they’d left off five
years ago, which was exactly nowhere. Sex a couple of times did not make a
relationship. And now he knew she had a fetish for sports heroes. Just like
Tiffany. He asked for a jack and ginger. And then a second one.

“Your
girl just upgraded, I see.” His roommate joined him at the bar, beer in hand.

“She’s
not my girl. She’s an old friend from school. My last meeting was with her firm
this afternoon. So I asked if she’d like to come along.” He leaned over the end
of the bar trying to ignore the Neanderthal.

“Must
happen to you all the time. Getting pussy because you look like him.”

Jude
shrugged. Yeah, it happened. Too often. “Well, it’s not like he’s using it.”

This
got a snort from Levi’s friend. “True. Fuck, man. I’ve known him for nearly
sixteen years. How’d I miss it?”

“I’ve
known him for twenty-eight years. Join the club.” Levi, still dressed down in
jeans and a t-shirt, albeit a very tight fitting pair of jeans, and the shirt
really qualified as more of a layer of skin, moved to the music. All eyes were
drawn to him. His former teammates obviously had never seen him dance before.
He smiled. Laughed. Hugged. Hosted. And was himself. “He’s happy.”