Playing at Love (10 page)

Chapter Eleven

Tess stared through the window, her lazy gaze caught somewhere between the bleachers and the playing field. Her focus was finally pulled when the football players took the field for another Friday night game. While scanning the sideline, she fingered the charm on her necklace, her mind a million miles away from where it should be.

What had possessed her to go to the pool Tuesday night? She could’ve simply called Jack’s office phone or even sent an e-mail to apologize and thank him for helping her at the park. But no, she’d had to traipse over to the gym, get half naked in the water in the middle of the night, and then… She sighed. And then she’d had more fun with Jack Marshall than she’d had in a very long time.

But it wasn’t the fun she was thinking about as her eyes zeroed in on one figure pacing the sideline. Tess finally understood why Jack hadn’t shown up that night all those years ago. The memory still stung, but she wasn’t hurt anymore—because she’d seen the look in Jack’s eyes when he’d told her about Lisa and about his fears. The sixteen-year-old Jack had had his whole life in front of him; he was right to be cautious back then.

But they weren’t sixteen anymore.

Tess jumped when she heard the crowd erupt. Had someone scored already? She glanced at the scoreboard. Yes, there had just been a touchdown, but not for Franklin. They were losing by six now; seven, after the extra point. Tess stared at the boys in blue down on the field, an odd, nervous lump in her stomach for them. Yes, she needed the music program to be saved more than anything. But a part of her didn’t want Jack’s team to lose.

Tess smiled politely and waved to Rick Duffy, who was a few seats down the row from her in the press box. After consulting the play clock, she went in search of Penny, finally finding her standing outside the restroom.

“Penny?”

The girl whipped around. The startled look on her face made Tess smile. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” Penny nodded, tucking and re-tucking hair behind her ears a bit maniacally. “Fine.”

“Nervous?” Tess asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“No! Well, maybe just a little. Tonight’s song is a lot harder.”

Tess nodded in understanding. Just two days ago, she’d not only given her a new song, but arranged a double-mixed quartet to back up Penny instead of the whole choir. It would make a much more intimate sound and would be authentic to the song. Plus, it would sound so completely amazing. The group involved had practiced it about fifty times, but it didn’t really come together until the last five or six run-throughs. When it did, though, it sounded incredible.

“I know,” Tess said, leading Penny down the stairs to meet up with the other performers. “Remember what I told you about picturing your audience in their underwear.”

Penny giggled. “If I start laughing and can’t stop, it’ll be your fault.”

“Don’t laugh when you’re out there, Penny. Nothing’s worse than that.”

But Tess couldn’t have been more wrong.

…

Jack knew something wasn’t right probably before anyone else on the field. His blocking back, Reynolds, wasn’t lined up correctly. The kid was relatively new at punting, and since he was inexperienced, Jack knew it was causing him unnecessary nervousness and keeping him from thinking on his feet. If the kids weren’t lined up perfectly, Reynolds didn’t know how to adjust.

It was a disaster waiting to happen…and then it happened.

The sight of the pile of bodies that lunged for the punter could almost be called comical, if not for the fact that Reynolds had just muffed the ball on their own forty-five yard line. Franklin was now faced with digging themselves out of a thirteen-point hole with three minutes on the clock. When Jack turned to look at the stands, they were half empty. The fans were packing it in already. Then he saw Tess, sitting on the bleachers next to Mackenzie. He was surprised that she was still there. He’d heard about what had happened at the halftime show and wondered why she wasn’t off consoling her choir. She must have seen him notice her because she lifted a hand and extended her fingers. Not an actual wave, but still, it made Jack feel better.

“Williams, line up,” Jack said after the final buzzer solidified their defeat.

“Nah,” the QB said, taking off his helmet. “Don’t wanna.”

Jack put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “You’re this team’s captain,” he said in a low voice. “Now line up and show ’em how it’s done.” After a moment, Williams nodded begrudgingly, then led the line of blue jerseys to the middle of the field to slap hands with the team that had just beat them. Of course Jack hated to lose—and he would never voice this aloud—but he was proud of his boys. Citrus Heights was a pretty great team, but Franklin had tried. They’d even gotten an interception. But it wasn’t enough.

Jack wished he could brush himself off and tell himself,
Well, ya win some, ya lose some
, but his situation wouldn’t allow for that. After three games, his team was now 2-and-1. Not where he wanted to be.

“Good game,” Jack said, shaking hands with the opposing team’s coach. “I’ll be keeping an eye on that Mitchell of yours. Looking good.” Politeness under fire wasn’t Jack’s strong suit, so it was good practice for him to converse with the other coaches, especially the ones who clobbered him. With that chore done, he turned to head for the locker room, torn between cheering up his team or raking them over the coals just because they would be expecting it.

“Jack?” someone said from behind him.

When Jack turned to the voice and saw who was standing before him, he started laughing, instantly feeling sixteen years old again.

Chapter Twelve

After the disaster last night, Tess was going to need some major moral support. So she hopped in her car and zoomed down the road toward her parents’ house. Her newspaper hadn’t arrived yet, but her parents’ always landed at the crack of dawn. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to read it alone.

Last night’s program had started off fine, but when Penny forgot the lyrics and then dropped the mike, it all went downhill from there. Tess wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a couple of people actually booing from the stands. They were probably some of those diehard football fans, or maybe a pack of the students responsible for sewing the choir costumes together then stringing them up the flagpole after the football helmets turned up on the roof of the gym. This pranking business was getting out of hand. Tess needed to have a serious talk with her classes on Monday.

As she rounded the corner in front of her parents’ house, she noticed that Charlie’s broken-down Chevy Impala was pulled out, blocking her usual space in the driveway. “What an eyesore,” she grumbled as she was forced to park at the curb instead.

“Mom? Hello?” she called, opening the front door. “Anyone home?”

“In here.”

“Charlie?” Tess said, walking toward the voice coming from the kitchen. “What is your piece of crap car doing in the middle of the driveway? You need to put it out of its misery and sell it for parts.”

“Over my dead body.”

Tess nearly tripped over her own platform flip-flops when she saw Jack sitting alone at the breakfast bar in her mother’s kitchen, wearing faded jeans and a white T-shirt with
Grizzlies Football
printed across the front. His dark hair had a sexy weekend mussed look. Tess felt her toes curl.

“What are
you
doing here?” she asked.

“Eating pancakes,” Jack replied, displaying a fork. “Two helpings.”

“Why?”

Jack took a bite. “Your mother said I look too skinny.”

“No.” Tess moaned in frustration. “What are you doing
here
in my parents’ home?”

“I was invited.”

“By whom?”

Jack wiped his mouth with a napkin then pulled back a grin. “Your mother.”

“Jack.” Tess couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I’m about to kill you. Now tell me, why are you alone in this kitchen?”

“Because
I
was looking for the paper in Dad’s office.”

Tess whipped around. “Charlie.” She gulped in air, quite through with surprises for one morning. Her brother was wearing a khaki T-shirt and a pair of old combat pants. Typical Saturday wardrobe for the soldier on leave.

“Why do I feel like I’ve just been dropped in
The
Twilight Zone
?” Tess said, looking at Jack and then at Charlie. “Wait.” Tess felt her eyes go wide. “Did you say you got the paper? Did you read it? Let me see!”

When she went to grab for it, Charlie held it over his head, out of his sister’s reach. “Hang on now,” he said. “Be polite. We have a guest.”

“Charlie,” Tess warned, staring him in the eyes. “Give me the paper.”

“Nope,” he said. “Since we’re all here, I’ll read it aloud.”

Tess glanced at Jack, who put down his fork and stood up, looking just as anxious as she did. Well, at least they’d both sucked—even though that didn’t make Tess feel any better.

“Fine,” she finally said, folding her arms. She sensed more than saw when Jack moved to stand by her side. Maybe he felt like they were facing a firing squad together. When she took another glance his way, he nodded at her. That simple gesture shouldn’t have made her feel so calm.

Charlie rolled out the paper and quickly found the article. Tess’s stomach tightened when Charlie cleared his throat and began to read. Like the previous week, Rick Duffy reported on the first two quarters of the game before getting around to halftime. Something about the quarterback and the ball-holder…Tess didn’t really understand. When she heard some kind of low moan come from Jack, she sneaked a glance at him. She could see that he was clenching his jaw. By this, she guessed that whatever Rick had written was unexpectedly negative. Tess found it a bit strange that she felt no pleasure in seeing Jack like that.

“When Franklin High’s songbird Penny Armstrong took to the field…” Charlie read.

Tess realized that she was wringing her hands, so she dropped them to her sides. The review was pretty harsh but it could’ve been worse. At least Rick hadn’t noticed that Penny was crying at the end of the performance and had bright-red lipstick on her teeth.

“‘So as far as this reporter can see, after two weeks, the arts and sports programs are still neck-and-neck.’” Charlie looked up. “And that, my friends, is all he wrote.” He dropped the paper on the table.

Tess made a mad dash, but Jack was there a split second before her. After a brief game of shoulder-shove, they reread the article in silence. Nothing new jumped out at Tess—although Rick didn’t have to rip on her song choice so savagely. When she read it a third time, she paid more attention to what he’d written about the game. She guessed he’d been plenty brutal.

“Well, at least we’re at a level playing field,” Tess observed. “We both pretty much blew it this week.”

“That’s an unfortunate truth,” Jack agreed. “I didn’t catch the halftime show, but surely this girl of yours wasn’t really a…” He glanced down at the paper, running a finger along the column. “‘An uncomfortable bundle of nerves who’s way out of her depth.’” He lifted his eyes. “And you had her sing Backstreet Boys?”

“It was meant to be ironic.”

“Apparently.” He grinned.

Tess planted her hands on his hips, fighting back her own grin. She was enjoying this sparring session a little too much. “And what was that he said about your defense? Something about how members of the Lollipop Guild could break through it?”

Jack cracked up. “Pretty clever writing, you have to admit.”

Tess covered her laugh with a cough. “Why exactly are you here, again?”

“I told you.” He leaned against the table. “I was invited.”

“The Chevy,” Charlie cut in, sticking two pieces of bacon in his mouth.

Tess closed her eyes and exhaled. “And how did that happen? I wasn’t aware that you two were friends now.”

“We go way back,” Jack said, still grinning.

This teasing had to stop. One brother was bad enough.

“I was at the game last night,” Charlie explained. “I went down to the field afterward to say hello.” He lifted a crooked smile that only Tess could see. “Small world, huh?”

Sure,
Tess thought, narrowing her eyes at her brother’s smirking face
. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my and Jack’s romantic history and your track record of torturing me.
Charlie had never grown out of teasing Tess, especially about guys. If there were no witnesses present, she might’ve attempted to give her soldier brother a wedgie.

Charlie took a drink of juice. “We got to talking about the Impala, and he offered to help.”

Jack turned to Tess. “Just being neighborly,” he said. Then he winked.

Tess didn’t like how Jack and Charlie were suddenly so buddy-buddy. And she especially didn’t like how Jack’s winking at her made her stomach feel all fluttery.

“Um, okay. “ She shook her head in wonder. “I’ll be out back.”

…

“How long is your leave?” Jack asked, passing Charlie a socket wrench.

“Another few weeks,” Charlie replied. Jack lowered the new car battery into place and Charlie began tightening the top bolts. “My unit is due back right before Christmas.”

Jack leaned an elbow on the front of the Impala, staring down into the beautiful V-8 engine. “That’s a bitch,” he said as he walked to the side of the black muscle car. “But you like it?”

“Yeah.” Charlie grunted as he tightened the final bolt. “We’re doing a lot of good over there, building schools and roads. So,” he said with a mischievous smile, “you and my sister?”

Jack froze at the sudden change of subject. “Me and your sister, what?” he asked, crouching down to slide out an oil drain pan.

Charlie tilted his head to shoot Jack a look over the side of the open hood.

“There’s nothing going on,” Jack said, wiping his hands on a rag. “We work together. If it wasn’t for the budget cut, we would probably never cross paths.”

“Hand me those pliers,” Charlie said.

Jack reached over to the toolbox. “Here,” he said, passing the pliers over.

“I saw you two in there earlier.” Charlie pointed in the general direction of the house. “You were
flirting
. And I’m not saying I’m against it.” He unscrewed a can of transmission fluid, then looked up at Jack. “I’m just saying I noticed.”

Jack frowned. “I don’t think we were flirting.”

“You were bantering.”

“Okay.” Jack couldn’t help smiling. “Maybe.”

Charlie left the open hood, walked around the side of the car, and leaned against the passenger door. After a beat, he picked up a grease gun and slapped the business end against his palm like it was a real weapon.

“Look, man.” Charlie slapped his palm again. “I’m just saying: she’s my sister, and you know I’ll kill you if you hurt her and whatnot. But really, don’t screw around with her. That problem at school isn’t just about her job. Okay?”

“What do you mean?”

Charlie hesitated, then kicked the hydraulic jack over to the grass. “Nothing,” he finally said. “It’s
her
information to disclose, not mine. If she wants to tell you about it, that’s up to her.” He walked back to the front of the car. “That stupid choir means the world to her, though. So, like I said…” He aimed the grease gun at Jack. “Don’t screw with her.”

“I won’t; I like her,” Jack said without thinking.

When Charlie tilted his head, Jack immediately regretted his comment.

“You
like
her? What the hell does that mean?” Charlie asked as he straightened out, one hand on the top of the open hood.

Jack stood up, dropping the bunch of spark plug wires he’d been untangling. “Nothing,” he said. “I don’t mean anything by that. She’s likable, that’s all. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t make me worry and I won’t.” Charlie flashed him a quick smile.

“Hypothetically, though,” Jack said a moment later, “if something
were
to happen, you’d be okay with it?”

Charlie looked up. “Has something already happened?”

“No, I’m just saying. Do you know, is she seeing anyone?”

Charlie leaned on the open hood. “Not that I know of. She was dating this lawyer a while ago, some guy who looked a little like Tom Brady. Before that, she was with a member of the Special Forces, then a doctor—no, a
surgeon
, a pediatric heart surgeon.”

Jack nodded. “I get it, man. You’re protective.”

Charlie slammed the hood shut then walked around to the side of the car, picking up a tire iron along the way, even though they weren’t about to work on the tires.

“She’s my little sister,” Charlie said, fingering the curved, heavy end of the tool. “And she deserves the very best. If she is not getting the best, and I happen to be around…” He paused and looked up. “Well, there might be some trouble.” As he breezed by Jack, he gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Time to hydrate, my friend.”

Jack hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until Charlie disappeared into the garage, walking toward the outside refrigerator, tire iron still in hand.

Jack thought Charlie probably made a very intimidating soldier.

…

Tess sat in a lounge chair next to her mother, who was digging in the garden. It was turning into a warm, sunny day. Except for her morning runs, lately she was hardly ever outside. She closed her eyes, tilted her chin, and soaked in the sun.

“You need a hat,” her mom said from her place down in the flower bed.

“I’m working on my tan,” Tess replied.

“How can you say that?” Tess heard her mom stand up. “Your great-aunt Lola just died of skin cancer.”

Tess opened her eyes a crack to look at her mom. “Aunt Lola was a hundred and one,” she pointed out. “And she didn’t
just
die; it was six years ago.”

“I’m going to get you a hat,” Mom said, peeling off her pink gardening gloves. “The beige one with the floppy brim and tie around the neck.”

Tess flew to her feet. “Mom! No need to threaten me with the monster hat. I’m going inside now, anyway.” She picked up her flip-flops and walked barefoot across the grass.

Back in the house, Tess leaned against the kitchen island and downed a bottle of water. After tossing the empty plastic in the recycle bin, she nearly knocked over the neatly stacked pile of dishes sitting on a towel next to the sink. Charlie knew where the clean dishes went, so Jack must have washed and dried these. Tess ran a finger over the top of one platter.

When she heard a burst of laughter, she looked out the window. Charlie and Jack were sitting on the driveway, engaged in some amusing, testosterone-infused, car-related conversation, it would seem.

Not for the first time in the past week, Tess contemplated how wretched their timing was. If she and Jack had reconnected under any other circumstances, things might be different. She bit her lip. What was most unfair was that she couldn’t stop her feelings. Her heart didn’t know it was impossible to get involved with Jack. Being in her parents’ house only reminded her of that. So, her head had to keep her eye on the prize—she couldn’t allow herself to become any more emotionally involved with her adversary.

When Jack tossed her brother some random tool, she noticed how graceful he was. She’d noticed that at the pool, too. His strokes had been powerful yet smooth, cutting through the water with ease. That same night, she’d also discovered how tender those powerful arms could be.

She shook her head and started putting away the dishes, trying to clear her mind of Jack and his arms.

“Let me help you with those.”

Tess knew it was Jack before she turned around. She knew his voice, yes, but she could also
feel
when he was near.

“Where’s Charlie?” she asked.

“Ran to AutoZone.”