Backfield in Motion (23 page)

“And anyone who’s applied for the same
scholarship.”

“There you go; I always knew you were more
than a pretty face.”

Bruiser almost growled, but Veronica threw
back her head and laughed, or more accurately cackled like the
wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.

“So, pretty boy, you understand the
problem?” Veronica rarely called him that. She knew how much he
hated it, which said a lot, and none of it good.

“There is no problem. Mac and I are just
friends. I took her to a few charity events so she could get close
to you, that’s all.”

“Yeah, and you salivated over her like a dog
over US prime beef. Bruce, you’re naïve if you think anyone with
eyes hasn’t picked up on the sexual electricity arcing between the
two of you.”

“Arcing? Seriously?” He laughed.

“Deadly serious. Think about it.” Veronica
patted him on the shoulder as if he were a pet. Maybe that’s all he
was to her, a pet who performed tricks for a well-paying
audience.

He understood Veronica—usually. Veronica
breathed every breath for the team; her entire existence revolved
around the team. Team members and staff alike despised Veronica.
While Bruiser didn’t exactly approve of her methods at times, he
understood her dedication to the Jacks. He felt that same
dedication to his cause.

People never guessed that underneath
Bruiser’s polished exterior lurked the sharp mind of a savvy
businessman, Veronica knew. She also knew he had an M.B.A. in
finance.

People accused him of being greedy and
money-hungry, but Bruiser knew his good looks wouldn’t last forever
so he had to milk every penny possible out of them while he was
still marketable. Of course, no one suspected all those pennies
didn’t go in Bruiser’s private bank account but to his secret
charity. A charity he started and supported as atonement for his
tragic childhood mistake.

Lots of people assumed he’d had a
long-standing affair with Veronica, yet they’d actually never slept
together. Bruiser just didn’t feel it with her any more than she
felt it with him.

Nothing like Mac and him.

Mac
. What the hell was he going to do
about her?

His head said break it off. His dick said no
fucking way. And his heart? Bruiser had stopped factoring that
piece into a relationship since CeCe stomped all over him and left
him bleeding and broken in the aftermath of her affair and their
divorce.

He knew better than to get involved again,
especially with a woman who couldn’t do anything to forward his
cause. He couldn’t get more donations or publicity by hanging out
with Mac, not like he could with a Grammy Award-winning performer
or an A-list female actor.

If it were only about Veronica’s threats,
he’d flip Veronica the bird and go on about his fucking
business.

But it wasn’t. There was another huge
complication. Mac was married to finding her brother. She didn’t
have room in her life for anything else other than a hookup now and
then. Bruiser was married to football and paying his debt because
he’d survived and his brother hadn’t.

Two damaged hearts with serious baggage
didn’t bode well for the success of a relationship, if that’s what
they even had.

* * * * *

Something was wrong. Sure, Mac’s interview
with Veronica had sucked, but she didn’t think that was it. Maybe
her radar was working overtime tonight, or maybe she was just
paranoid.

Bruiser had showed up late at night, long
after she’d given up and gone to bed.

They made love like two people who knew the
world could end tomorrow. Afterward, he didn’t stick around and
cuddle, which he’d done for the past week. Instead he got dressed
and came back to sit on the side of the bed. “We really need to be
more careful. Veronica’s suspicious.”

She didn’t think this was really about
Veronica. More likely his nightmare had revealed too much and he
was using the excuse to do damage control.

She decided to play along and see where it
went. “Tell me about it. I had a horrible interview with her
today.”

“Ah, Mac, I’m sorry about that. Really. You
denied our relationship, didn’t you?”

Mac flipped on the nightstand light and
studied him. “What if I didn’t?”

Panic crossed his face, which pissed Mac
off.

“What if I shout it to the entire world,
sell the story of our torrid love affair to a gossip mag or tweet
it all over hell and back?”

Bruiser coughed nervously. “You wouldn’t do
that.”

“If I did, would you care if we were out in
the open?”

“There’s no reason for that. It’s not
beneficial to either of us.”

“Scared?” She needled him, feeling a little
used by him and a lot disrespected by Veronica.

“Mac, it’ll jeopardize your scholarship.”
Bruiser folded and unfolded a corner of the bedspread, as if he
found it more fascinating that her.

That really ticked her off. “My scholarship
is beyond jeopardized. It’s dead and buried.”

“Aw, Mac, I’m sorry.” He reached out to hug
her, but she darted away to stand on the opposite side of the
bed.

When she caught him eyeing her naked body,
she yanked the damn quilt out of his hands and wrapped it around
her. “It was a long shot to begin with. I knew it was. I’ll just
try to save some money to attend night school.”

“I could loan you—”

“No, I won’t take charity. Not from you, not
from anyone.”

“I was just trying to help.”

“Why help me? It’s not like we have a real
relationship,” Mac hated the bitchiness in her voice but couldn’t
stop herself.

“There’s not time for one. You’re searching
for your brother and training camp is about to start, not to
mention my obligations to my endorsers.”

Something snapped inside Mac. “Your
endorsers. That’s what this is really about. You think word is
getting out about us. You don’t want to be seen with someone like
me. A woman who mows lawns for a living and has dirt under her
fingernails.”

Bruiser’s eyes narrowed, and he fisted his
hands. Mac could see the anger vibrating through his body. “Don’t
ever put yourself down like that. Ever. You don’t need to change
for me or anyone else. I liked you how you were before.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Now he
appeared good and mad.

“You’re acting like this is my fault, when
you’re the one having an issue with us.”

“I’m not having an issue. You are. I can’t
carry on a relationship with a woman whose dead brother is a huge
part of our relationship.”

“My brother deserves justice, and my family
deserves closure.” She was being a bitch, and she knew it, but
right now she wanted to make Bruiser disappear. She had a better
chance of winning the Powerball without ever buying a ticket than
she did of finding her brother alive, yet hearing Bruiser say it
with such certainty really didn’t work for her. Nor did all this
bullshit he was spewing. If he wanted out, he should just say so,
but he wasn’t going to have her cupcakes and eat them too. Not now.
Not at this point.

“I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I mean, I
don’t know what happened to him, but he’s not going to be found
alive.” He sounded oddly flustered.

“What about your brother? I told you my
story, and you don’t even trust me enough to tell me about your
twin. Why do you have nightmares? Why won’t you tell me what
happened?”

Bruiser rubbed the back of his neck and
refused to look at her. “I told you that subject was off
limits.”

Mac just shook her head. “If you want to end
this
not
relationship, spit it out.”

Bruiser stared at the floor, a muscle
jerking in his strong jaw. “I don’t know. I don’t think this will
end well, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Oh, the
I don’t want to hurt you
speech.” Mac’s bitter laugh rang through the room.

“Listen, Mac,” he met her gaze, “I’m screwed
up more than you’ll ever know, and you’re not far behind. You can’t
say no to your father and you spend every fucking free minute
searching for a brother you’ll never find. You don’t have time for
me or anyone else.”

Mac clutched the quilt to herself and glared
at him. “Are you telling me to give up on Will? Would you quit
looking if you’d lost your brother? Wouldn’t you have to know what
happened to him? Could you just walk away?”

Bruiser’s face fell as if she’d physically
hurt him. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

“Because you won’t share your life with me.
Well, you don’t know a damn thing about me either. We were nothing
but sex partners. So no regrets. Just get out.” Mac pointed toward
the door.

The cat stood in the doorway, twitching his
tail and regarding them both with equal disdain, as if they were
too stupid to see the truth. Maybe Bart knew more than they
did.

“Mac, I—” Bruiser held out his hands, palms
up.

Mac ignored him and stomped into the
bathroom, locking the door behind her. She sank down to the floor
and huddled in the corner until she heard him drive off.

Chapter 16

One week into training camp, Bruiser slumped
on a bench in the empty locker room and stared at nothing,
contemplating another lonely Friday night. The rookies scattered
like geese being chased by a retriever when he hit them up to join
him for a drink, while the cagey veterans left the locker room
before he could track them down. What the fuck? maybe he hadn’t
been good company lately.

“You gonna sit here all evening like some
pathetic pansy-ass?” Brett walked out of the showers, a towel
around his waist. He hadn’t spoken to Bruiser except for
one-syllable words since he’d learned about Bruiser and Mac.

Bruiser straightened and looked up at his
once best buddy. “Haven’t got anything better to do.” Damn, he
hated it when he felt sorry for himself.

“You look like you could use a friend.”
Brett walked to his locker, tossed his towel aside and started
dressing.

“I could. You know of anyone interested in
the job?”

Brett chuckled. “Being friends with you
is
a job, all right.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m a total ass.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Harris has that
title all sewn up.”

“I’m next in line then.” Bruiser had to
laugh. One thing they could always agree on was Tyler Harris was an
awesome quarterback and a master asshole.

“Harris teaches classes on the twelve steps
to being an unrepentant asshole.”

“I might have to sign up.”

Brett smiled at him. “I’m heading out in the
boat, doing a little fishing before dusk, you in?”

Despite his crappy mood, Bruiser couldn’t
say no to Brett and to fishing. “Hell, yeah.”

Within an hour, Bruiser and Brett were
sitting in Brett’s boat on Lake Washington, fishing lines dangling
in the water. They’d run through their usual talk about
football—the upcoming season, promising rookies, and how the first
week of training camp went.

Then they talked about Elliot and his
progress. He was adjusting pretty well to his foster home, going
out in public, managing to deal somewhat with the stares and
whispers. He’d made some new friends at a summer camp for young
burn victims, which Bruiser sponsored every year.

After exhausting those subjects, they sat in
a companionable silence for a while. Bruiser relaxed and enjoyed
the warm evening. He’d missed Brett. Maybe this day wasn’t a total
wash.

Finally, he cleared his throat and broke the
silence. “You’ll be happy to hear that I’m not seeing Mac
anymore.”

“No shit?” Brett grunted and stared at the
blue-black water lapping against the boat.

“No shit.” Bruiser tried to swallow the lump
in his throat. He felt like crap, couldn’t sleep, and had no
appetite. The only woman who’d ever made him feel this crappy had
been CeCe. He hated feeling like this, hated the regrets and the
heartache.

“Well, that makes sense now. You look like
shit. It’s our first week of training camp, and you haven’t been
worth a damn. I’ve seen Girl Scouts tougher than you are.”

“I’m a dumbass. A wimpy idiot.”

“And an asshole-in-training.”

“Damn right,” Bruiser laughed. Hell, it felt
good to laugh. It’d been a long week.

Brett angled his head and squinted into the
sun. “You miss her?”

Bruiser clutched the pole and stared at the
tip as if it were a Magic 8 Ball with all the answers to his
questions. Only it wasn’t. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“When did you split?”

“Last week.”

“What’d you do to screw that up?”

“I just didn’t want to hurt her.” It sounded
like the lamest excuse ever.

“Yeah, whatever. What really happened?”

“Fuck if I know. I guess I got scared. But
she never had enough time for me anyway. She spends all her spare
time looking for her brother. Besides, she doesn’t understand me.”
God, he sounded like a whiny ass to his own ears.

“Did you ever give her a chance to
understand you?”

Bruiser doubted that he had. “Probably not.
She keeps pushing to know about my brother. I don’t talk about my
brother. Not to family. Not to friends. No one.”

“Would you like to talk about him now?”

He opened his mouth to say hell no but shut
it again. “Yeah. Yeah, I would.” Bruiser’s response surprised
Bruiser more than it did Brett.

He took a deep breath and began to talk.

* * * * *

Training camp started and Mac worked long
hours keeping the grass practice field in perfect shape. One hidden
hole or too much water in one spot could make a slippery surface
and cause injury to a player and ruin his season, maybe even his
career. Mac and the rest of the grounds crew took great pride in
the field’s durability and appearance.