The Debt 11 (Club Alpha) (6 page)

And
they hate the man I love.

That was the part that really got to
her.
 
Did they even give him a
chance?
 
Did they even know a thing
about him?

Chase pointed out certain dishes that he
said he’d eaten previously, and then used the tongs to give her some of what
she indicated interest in.
 
He was
acting so kind, so chivalrous and romantic.

Tomorrow was one of the biggest games of
his life and he was focused on her.

After they’d both gotten food (Chase of
course had taken about ten times as much onto his plate as she had), they stood
awkwardly near the buffet table and looked out at the restaurant for a place to
sit.

His fellow teammates were all sitting
together, some with wives, girlfriends and young children.
 

There weren’t any free tables left, but
there was one table with some open seats and just three players eating.
 
They had no wives or girlfriends sitting
with them.

“Let’s go sit there,” Chase said, leading
the way towards that table.

Faith felt distinctly nervous in a way
that reminded her of junior high or high school when the pressures of being
accepted and fitting in had been at their highest levels.

She hadn’t felt that feeling in a long
time, but here it was again.
 

The three players looked up with
expressions of disgust and derision plain on their faces as Chase and Faith
approached.

Chase pulled out a seat for Faith and
then he sat down, dropping his tray on the table with a clang.

Faith sat down next to him and smiled at
the men sitting across from them.

The three men didn’t react.

Chase picked up his fork.
 
“How’s the food, boys?” he asked, and
then dug in without waiting for an answer.

Two of the men stood up without a word,
grabbed their trays, and walked away from the table.

“Nice seeing you guys,” Chase called
after them, waving.

The third man who’d stayed behind was
stone-faced.
 
He was so big that he
was fat, with a double chin, an unkempt beard and stringy hair that went to his
shoulders.
 
“I know you think it’s
all a big joke,
Winters
,” the man said, his eyes
almost like slits.
 
“But some of us
take this shit seriously.
 
We didn’t
all get fuck you money, we need to actually play and win games.”

Chase shrugged and shoveled a large mass
of chicken and rice into his mouth, chewing.

Faith’s throat was tight.
 
She looked around and saw that pretty
much everyone was watching
their
table now.

The entire restaurant seemed enveloped by
silence and Chase seemed completely oblivious or uncaring about it.
 
He shoveled another large helping of
food into his mouth and chewed.

“Look around,” the huge, fat man said,
leaning forward.
 
“Every one of
these dudes hates you,” he said.
 
“And that’s not a good thing when you depend on us to protect you.
 
Maybe tomorrow I’ll forget to throw a
block and let someone from Miami take your fucking head off.”

Chase kept chewing, but Faith saw his
neck was bright red and a vein was pulsating in his temple.
 
 

“Is that all you got to say,
Winters
?
 
Nothing, huh?”
 
The man shook
his head.
 
“You got nothing, just
like you had nothing against Green Bay.”

Chase stopped chewing and froze.

Faith felt her stomach do a slow, sick
roll.
 
“Hey,” she said softly to
Chase.
 
“Don’t listen to him.”

Chase was staring straight ahead.

“That’s right,” the man across from him
smirked.
 
“Let your little lady
fight your battles.
 
She seems like
she’s got bigger balls than you do,” the fat man continued.

Suddenly Chase smacked his water glass
across the table, and water splashed the fat man’s face and body, as the cup
smacked into his chest.
 

“Watch your fucking mouth,” Chase said,
standing up.

The fat man rose to his feet,
surprisingly fast for his size. “Do you have a death wish, asshole?” he shouted
at the top of his lungs.

“You talk about her again and I’ll break
your neck,” Chase muttered, his voice coming from his throat in a deep
growl.
 

Faith could hardly breathe.

They were going to fight right here in
the hotel restaurant.
 
That much was
clear.

And nobody was going to stop it, because all
the jerks watching
them
, wanted it to happen.
 
They hated Chase for some reason, and
nobody would help him.

But just when it seemed like they were
going to come to blows, a smaller African American man came over and stepped in
between them.
 
He put his hand on
the fat man’s shoulder looked at him.
 
“Chill, Little Man,” he said.

“Did you see what he did?
 
He threw water on me,” the fat guy said,
like a child complaining to a teacher.

 
Chase laughed at the fat player.
 
“I was just trying to wash your
hair—shit looks gnarly.”

The fat man lunged at Chase but his
teammate somehow held him back.

“Just chill,” the smaller guy said.
 
“Let me handle it.”

It was clear from their body language
that the big fat guy respected the smaller man, and he dropped his gaze and
nodded sullenly.
 
Then he turned,
picked up his tray and looked at
Winters
.
 
“Everyone knows you’re going to fail,”
the fat man said, then turned and stalked off.
 
 

The smaller man turned towards Chase and
Faith with a bright grin.
 
“You two
sure know how to make an entrance,” he said, shaking his head and chuckling
good-naturedly.
 
Then he made eye
contact directly with Faith.
 
“My
name’s Steve but everyone just calls me Velcro.
 
Or Jones.”

“I know who you are,” Faith said,
realizing that Steve “Velcro”
Jones,
was actually
talking to her.
 
She hadn’t
recognized him out of uniform, but now she made the connection.
 

He was a certain shoe-in for the hall of
fame, having amassed three Super Bowl rings over the course of his long
career.
 
He’d become legendary in
New England and was beloved by the fans for his ability to catch balls from all
angles, often making even the toughest passes look easy to catch.

“And who might you be?” Velcro asked.

“This is my girl, Faith,” Chase told him.

“Pleasure to meet you, Faith.”
 
Velcro shot her a warm smile and then
waved over a tall, gorgeous woman with skin the color of coffee.
 
What was most impressive about
her—aside from her incredible figure—was her sharp green eyes that
were almost hypnotic to look into.

She had a smile that was even friendlier
than Velcro’s.
 
“I’m Monique,” she
said, holding out her hand.
 
As
Faith shook her hand, saying hello and smiling, she noticed a gigantic rock of
an engagement ring on it.

“Wow, your ring’s stunning,”
Faith
said.

Monique grinned and then turned to
Velcro, rubbing his chest.
 
“He just
proposed to me last month.
 
We’re
getting married once the season’s over.”

“Hopefully, I’ll have a new ring to add
to my collection before Monique and me get our wedding bands,” Velcro said,
winking, obviously hinting at another Super Bowl ring.

“That would be amazing,” Faith
replied.
 
“By the way, thanks for
stepping in like you did.
 
I really
appreciate that.”

“Yeah,” Chase agreed.
 
“Thanks, Vel.”

Velcro Jones shrugged.
 
“It ‘aint nothing, kids.
 
We need to try and keep this team from
blowing up.
 
We should be excited
because this could be our year to shine, but instead we got nothing but drama
and ridiculousness.”

Monique shook her head, looking at
Faith.
 
“They’re supposedly
professionals, you know?
 
But the
truth is, they’re just a bunch of little boys.”

Chase laughed.
 
“She speaks the truth.”

“That she does,” Velcro said.
 
“Mind if we sit with you guys for a
bit?”

“That would be lovely,” Faith said,
relieved to have someone be friendly for a change.

They all sat down together and continued
eating, and it seemed that all of the tension had left the restaurant.
 
The rest of the team was talking again,
laughing, engaged in their own worlds, and nobody seemed to be staring at them
anymore.

Faith found that she’d taken an instant
liking to Velcro Jones and his fiancé Monique.
 
Monique was bright, sweet and
beautiful—a very rare combination.

As the two of them talked, Faith found
herself having a rather surprising thought.

I
think I’d like us to be friends.

While Faith and Monique talked about
things like where each of them was from—Monique was originally from New
York but had lived in Atlanta for most of her adult life before meeting Velcro
and coming to New England with him—Chase and Velcro were talking only
about the Miami game the next day.

Towards the end of the meal, Coach Hugo
and a few of his staff entered the room and made the rounds, talking to players
and ruffling children’s hair, cracking jokes and basically sounding upbeat.

When Coach Hugo got to their table, he
gave Chase and Velcro an approving glance.
 
“Good to see you made it,” he said to Faith, but she knew he really
meant his comment for Chase.

“The food’s lovely.
 
As is the company,” she added, smiling
at Monique, who blushed.

“This girl is too sweet for her own good,
Coach,” Monique said.

“What’s she see in
Winters
,
is my question?” Coach Hugo retorted gruffly, but gave a sly wink to show he
meant it in fun.

“Love is truly blind,” Velcro said.

Chase grabbed Faith’s hand and shot her a
look that felt very much like appreciation.
 
Her heart was warmed, knowing that she’d
contributed in some small way to things getting better for him.

Coach Hugo gave Chase a big slap on his
back and then continued on, leaving the restaurant not long afterward.

As Monique and Velcro got up and started
to leave the table, Monique turned around.
 
“Hey,” she said, as if just getting an idea.
 
“Would you two like to have drinks with
us a little later?”

Chase sighed.
 
“I can’t really drink the night before a
game—“

“Come on,” Velcro snorted.
 
“Don’t give me that shit.”

Faith gave his hand a squeeze.
 
“That sounds lovely,” she said.
 

Chase looked at her as if trying to read
her mind.
 
She squeezed his hand
again.
 
This was an opportunity to
make an ally on his team, and she didn’t want him to reject the offer.

“I guess I’d be down to hang out,” Chase
said, finally giving in.
 
“Why don’t
you guys stop by our room?”
 
He told
them their room number and then Velcro said they’d be there in a little
while.
 

After Velcro and his fiancé had left the
restaurant, Chase turned to Faith.
 
“We can always give an excuse and cancel,” he told her.

“Cancel on them?
 
Why?” Faith asked.

“I don’t know,” Chase said, frowning a
little.

“You don’t like Velcro?” she asked.

“I like the guy, but I don’t trust him.”

“I don’t know if you trust anyone,” Faith
replied.

Chase caressed her cheek briefly.
 
“I trust you.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah.”
 
He stared at her, daring her to
contradict him.

She just grabbed his hand again and
rubbed his palm with her fingertips.
 
“I like them,” she said.
 
“And he was the only one who even tried to be friendly.
 
Don’t you think that’s worth something?”