Broken Play (11 page)

Marian looked up from her desk and Beau could tell she was annoyed. “Why are you two in my office? Shouldn't you be out on the field?”

Beau was lying on the couch, his ankles crossed, his head on the arm, flipping through a magazine. Cass was pacing by the door. They were all on edge. The sex had been amazing this morning, but the afterglow had lasted mere minutes before Marian got cold feet again and bolted. Beau had practically been forced to pin Cass to the floor to keep him from stopping her. But nothing Beau said could stop Cass from keeping watch for Danny Smith. Cass didn't trust Smith. Marian did. Beau was undecided. So they waited, and paced, and sniped at each other.

“We'll go,” Cass said absently, stopping to lift the edge of the closed blinds and peer out into the hallway.

“And when might I expect this ‘going' to occur?” she asked. “Seeing as how we're paying you a rather large sum of money to play football, not to pace my office.” She glanced at Beau. “Or lounge on my sofa.”

“Don't we get any perks now that we're your boyfriends?” Beau asked. He deliberately used the b-word. He was curious to see how Marian would react. His stomach was clenched in knots, which was ridiculous. He was a big, badass NFL player. He didn't get nervous about whether or not a girl liked him. Then again, Marian was a woman. One helluva woman, as Cass would say.

“Boyfriends?” Marian said in high-pitched voice, shoving her chair back from her desk. “Wait a minute. We had sex, yes, I'll grant you that. But don't you think ‘boyfriends' is rushing it a little? Friends with benefits. Maybe we can describe it like that. We all got benefits.” Marian was standing behind her desk now, waving a pen around as she talked very fast. “After all, friends have sex all the time, don't they? And it doesn't actually change anything. They just go about their business the next day.” She made a shooing motion with her hands toward the door. “So, you know, go about your business.”

Cass had stopped pacing and was staring at her like she'd grown two heads. “Friends with benefits? What is this, a sitcom? We had mind-blowing, kinky, fucking hot sex. I don't think that's friend sex.” He turned to Beau. “Was that friend sex? That didn't feel like friend sex.”

“I don't know,” Beau said honestly. “I've never had friend sex. What's it like?”

“Lame,” Cass said. “Extremely lame.” He spun on Marian as if he were playing a prosecuting attorney on
Law & Order
. “Was the sex lame, Marian? Is that what you're telling us?”

“What?” she said. “No, of course not. The sex was not lame. But I gotta tell ya, after six years dry, any sex would have been pretty exciting.”

Cass's mouth dropped open and Beau stared at her. “You haven't had sex in six years?” Beau asked slowly.

“Yes, I have,” Marian said calmly, although she was nervously twirling a pen between both hands. “This morning I had sex.”

“Why?” Cass demanded.

“Because I wanted to have sex,” Marian said. “Duh. I asked for it, didn't I?”

“Don't be a smart-ass,” Cass told her. “You know what I meant.”

“Don't, Cass,” Beau warned him. “Don't interrogate her. If she wanted us to know, she'd tell us.”

“Thank you,” Marian said, glaring at Cass. “At least one of you is a gentleman.”

“This morning you didn't want a gentleman,” Cass told her in a voice that reeked of sex. “You wanted to be nasty and kinky and suck dick and fuck.” Beau's dick got a little excited, and he didn't feel the need to hide it. He liked that kind of freedom. The last couple of days had given him that. He wasn't about to lose it to Cass's big mouth, no matter how much his dirty talk turned him on.

“Cass, man, don't push her,” Beau said, covering his face with his hands. “Don't ruin it.”

“Look what you've done,” Marian accused Cass. “Beau is upset.”

“Me?” Cass asked in an incredulous tone. “That's on you. Beau doesn't want a new friend, even with benefits.” Beau peeked out from between his fingers and saw Cass using air quotes again.

“How do you know what Beau wants?” Marian fired back. “Have you ever bothered to ask?” She turned to Beau. “What do you want, Beau?”

He hadn't meant to have this turned on him. Silently, he shook his head. He couldn't answer her. Not yet. She wasn't ready to hear what he wanted. That he wanted her in his life forever, her and Cass. He wanted to be able to love Cass openly with her, wanted the three of them to be a team. But she was too skittish to hear that right now.

“I know what he wants, what he needs,” Cass said in that sex voice again. Damn if Beau didn't get even more excited. Fighting usually fired Cass up. They always had the best sex with women when Cass was pissed off at someone.

Marian backed away a little, her eyes wide. She recognized that voice, too. “What?” she asked in a barely there voice.

“Pussy,” Cass said with an evil little grin. “A nice, pretty pussy just like yours.”

“You did not just say that,” Marian said. “We're fighting. In my office.”

“I just said it,” Cass told her, taking a step forward.

“Maybe what he really wants is a nice, big dick,” Marian countered. “Just like yours.”

That froze Cass in his tracks, but Beau's heart was tripping as his dick swelled more. Marian was staring at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. Cass's head slowly turned toward him and he felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Cass looked down at Beau's crotch, his hard cock obvious behind the fly of his faded jeans.

“Is that right?” Cass asked quietly. He reminded Beau of a cat on the prowl. “Is that what Beau wants?”

Beau didn't answer. He wasn't going to lie, but he wasn't going to ask for it, either. The wanting made him feel weak and stupid. Cass had to know by now. He had to. Marian had figured it out from day one. And she'd still wanted him, still trusted him. He looked at her now and she had a little grin popping up one corner of her mouth. “He certainly wasn't trying to get away from it this morning,” she told Cass, her eyes locked with Beau's.

“That's true.” Cass changed course and came over to the sofa. He didn't stop next to it, but climbed up, straddling Beau's lap. He fell forward, his hands on either side of Beau's head on the armrest. “Well?” he asked, like he was issuing a challenge. He scooted his knees up until his crotch was almost right over Beau's face. Beau couldn't miss the fact that Cass was as hard as he was.

Beau wasn't going to be the coward. He leaned forward and gently bit down on Cass's dick through his jeans. Cass sucked in a deep breath, and his hips jerked. Beau let go, but Cass caught the back of his head in his right hand. “Don't stop now,” Cass told him.

Was it a challenge? A dare? Or was it genuine desire? Beau let Cass gently pull his head back until his mouth was pressed to his dick again. He looked up and met Cass's gaze, then opened his mouth and sucked on the side of his dick through his jeans. He slid his hands up Cass's thighs and cupped his ass, holding Cass against his mouth.

“Be sure,” Cass warned him. “No going back.”

“You've never done this before?” Marian asked in a hushed whisper. “And you decide to start today, in my office?” The last was said in an outraged stage whisper. “You both make me crazy!”

“You started it,” Cass said with a smile for Beau. Beau wanted to smile back, but he wasn't willing to let go of the prize he'd been dreaming of for so long.

“If you guys wanted each other, you didn't have to use me to get here,” she said a little sadly. “But I'm glad I helped.”

Oh, hell, no. He wasn't going to let her believe that. He pulled back and Cass let him go.

“You did more than help,” Beau told her. “Without you, we wouldn't be here like this.”

Marian started to turn away, waving her hand at them. “Yeah, yeah. Get a room that isn't mine.”

Cass reached out and tried to grab her hand, but just brushed her fingertips. It was enough to stop her. “He doesn't mean just today, or the sex, or whatever dumb thing it is you're thinking,” Cass told her. “He means we've been together for years and never got to this place, and we probably wouldn't have if we hadn't met you.”

“Why?” she asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

“I guess I couldn't get past having to save Beau from himself,” Cass said honestly. Beau started and turned back to him. Cass sighed as he sat back, still on his knees, and ran his hands through his hair. “We just had these roles, right? I had to save him. I had to help him not make bad decisions anymore. You know?”

“And you thought you were a bad decision?” Marian asked quietly.

“Cass,” he said. “That's crazy.”

“Crazier than this?” Cass asked, gesturing between them. “Come on, Beau. You didn't make a move, either. Why?”

“Why do you think you're not a bad decision anymore?” Marian asked Cass, saving Beau from answering.

“Because
you
don't,” Cass said simply. Marian looked shocked.

“I was bad news,” Beau said suddenly, pulling Marian's attention away from Cass. He knew Cass hated this part, the talking part.

“Bad news how?” Marian asked, and her genuine confusion made Beau laugh bitterly.

“You have got to be the only person in the NFL who doesn't know the answer to that question,” Beau told her.

“That's just bullshit,” Marian said angrily. “You're not that guy anymore.”

“You told me yesterday I was the one sane thing in a world going crazy,” Beau said. “What did you mean?”

“You're a rock, Beau,” she said, staring at him. “No matter what's going on around you, you are the calm at the center of the storm.”

“No one has ever said anything like that to me before,” Beau told her, emotion choking him up.

Marian came over and kneeled on the floor next to him. She looked deep into his eyes. “But it's true,” she whispered. “I've seen you keep Cass from losing his shit more times than I can count.”

Cass laughed. “True.” He was looking at Beau oddly. “I guess he is my anchor.”

“You don't need saving anymore, Beau. I'm not sure you ever did,” Marian told him quietly.

He nodded his head. “Oh, yeah, I did. I was a mess. Trust me. I know you've seen the stories, heard them. But what I don't understand is, how come you never treated me like that? From the minute you got here you treated me like…like I was someone.”

“You've always been someone to me,” she said, brushing some hair off his forehead with a delicate touch.

“I know,” he said. “And I guess that made me realize I could be someone for Cass, too. He's right. For too long we got locked in those roles, saint and sinner, winner and loser, savior and pathetic victim.”

Cass leaned back down, one hand on the armrest again. “You were never any of those things to me,” he said fiercely. “Not ever.”

“What was I, then?” Beau asked, needing to hear the answer. Cass hesitated. “Really, Cass,” he said. “I need to understand this. I'm not one to throw away unexpected gifts, but why now?” He turned to Marian. “Is it Marian? If Marian leaves, then what have we got?”

Cass frowned, but before he could answer there was a commotion in the hall and Marian's office door flew open to bang against the wall. Danny Smith stood there glaring at them all. Beau had a flash of what they must look like, Marian kneeling there, her head bent next to his, Cass straddling him and leaning over him.

“Get the fuck off her right now,” Smith growled as he came right at Cass.

Cass came off the couch with a curse, ready to put a fist in Smith's big, fat mouth, but Beau grabbed his arm to hold him back. Then he saw Tom and Tyler come flying in and grab Smith's arms.

“Who the fuck do you think you are to come busting in here like that?” Cass snarled.

“He was not on top of me,” Marian said in a shaky voice at the same time. “I'm fine.”

“Get the fuck out,” Smith growled again, trying to shake Tom and Tyler off.

“Danny,” Marian said, rushing toward Smith, who was thrashing around. She was going to get hurt, and Cass would have to kill him then. Smith was six feet and at least 235 pounds; Marian was no match for that. But she put both hands on Smith's chest and he instantly went still, staring down at her, checking her out as if afraid they'd hurt her.

“You all right?” he asked.

“I'm fine,” she insisted. “Please. Just calm down.” Now she sounded annoyed. “Cass is right. You cannot come busting in here like that.”

“Because I might be busting up some kinky-ass shit?” he asked incredulously. “There was a time you were mighty glad for me to bust it up.” He sounded angry, and he was glaring at Marian. “I told you to stay out of it. This is no place for you.”

“You don't get to make those decisions, asshole,” Cass said, shaking Beau's hand off. Beau let go. He knew Cass well enough to know he wasn't going to do anything now.

“Neither do you, asshole,” Smith shot back. “The fuck, man,” he said to Tom, and then turned to glare at Tyler. “Let me go.”

“We need to talk,” she said to the room in general. She met each man's eyes, but then focused on Smith. Cass didn't like it, not one bit. “Everyone else out. Danny, sit.” She pointed to the couch, now empty. Cass had an irrational hatred of the thought of Danny Smith sitting on their couch. It was theirs. They'd just claimed it, nearly had sex on it. Theirs.

“I'm not leaving you alone with this guy,” he said. “No fucking way. I don't trust him.”

“Well, I do,” Marian said. She brushed first Tom's and then Tyler's hands off Smith, who immediately straightened the lapels of his jacket with a huff and a glare. “Now sit,” she told him, pushing him toward the nearest chair instead of the couch. Damn good thing, because if his ass had hit the couch, Cass was going to have to kick that ass.

“I ain't no fucking Labrador retriever,” Smith grumbled. But he sat.

“You watch your mouth around the lady,” Cass told him through clenched teeth. The irony wasn't lost on him that he'd said worse to her during sex, but that was completely different.

“You watch your mouth,” Smith said, standing up again and getting all in his grill. Marian came between them, her back to Cass, hands on Smith's chest.

“I said sit,” she barked, pushing again. She turned to Cass. “Out.”

“I am not leaving you alone with him,” he repeated.

“You don't get to make that decision,” she said, and the
asshole
was implied. “Beau?” she said, turning to the other man.

“You sure?” Beau asked calmly. Cass turned on him with wide eyes. He could not be thinking of doing as she asked. Marian nodded and then so did Beau. “Okay. Call us.”

“What?” Cass said. Beau grabbed his arm as he headed for the office door.

“The lady says leave, we leave,” Beau told him. His look was pleading. “Come on, man. Don't do this.”

Cass took a couple of deep breaths. He turned to Marian, only marginally calmer. “Fine. But if he does anything—
anything,
” he added for Smith's benefit, “you yell and someone comes and rips his head off.”

“No head ripping will be necessary,” Marian said dryly. “He's one of my oldest and best friends. He's just a little excitable, like someone else I know.”

Cass didn't miss that she meant him. “I'm leaving,” he said, giving Smith a death glare.

“Good,” Smith said. “Run along.” He turned his back on Cass and Cass ground his teeth as he backed toward the door, Beau still dragging him by the arm. Marian strolled over to the door and held it. She rolled her eyes at him as he went by her.

“Really?” she whispered. “Way to help convince him to stay.”

“I don't want him to stay,” he whispered back. Okay, well maybe not whispered.

“Bye, Marian,” Tom said, crowding Cass from behind. Tyler waved and Marian shut the door in all their faces.

Marian took a deep breath and turned to Danny. “It's so good to see you,” she said, a little choked up. He looked different. He'd cut his long, braided hair off. She'd known it, of course, had seen him on TV and in the news. But face-to-face, it made him look harder. He kept his head shaved smooth, and his dark skin gleamed in the overhead lights. His face was still all sharp angles—harsh cheekbones and a long, flat nose that managed to look just as sharp. His lips were wide, with an almost exaggerated peak right under that impressive nose. He was still gorgeous, and still so angry.

“It's good to see you, too,” he said gruffly. “But not like that. It's happening again, isn't it?”

“Let's keep the dramatics for later,” she said. “Give me a hug.”

It only took two steps for him to reach her and pull her in to him. He wrapped her up in his arms and held on tight. “Why didn't you tell me you were here?”

“Because I knew you'd yell,” she told him. “And in my defense, I thought for sure you'd see or hear about me being here. Don't you pay any attention to the coaching announcements?”

“I let my agent pay attention,” he told her. “That's what I pay him for. Until I fire him.” He stepped back, cleared his throat and ran his hand over his mouth, as if he needed to regroup. “Birmingham? What the hell? What happened to college ball?”

“You know that's not where I wanted to be,” she scolded him. “For obvious reasons.”

“Are you the reason I'm here?” he asked baldly.

“Partly,” she said, hedging. “I had nothing to do with you leaving the Ravens. But when word got out, I convinced the Rebels to blow the bank on you.” She grinned at him. “I told them you were worth it.”

“So they know about you and me?” He crossed his arms and stared. He'd be good at interrogation.

She shook her head. “No. Just that we've been friends since college, and that I didn't tell you I was here because you wouldn't have been happy.”

“Woman, that is the understatement of the century,” he said, sounding every bit as unhappy as she'd imagined he'd be. He pointed at her office door. “And that is why.” He sat down in the office chair with a weary sigh. “Want to tell me what's going on with Dumb and Dumber?”

“Not really,” she answered, knowing very well he wouldn't be put off.

“Don't do it, sweetheart,” he said softly. “Don't go there again. Wasn't the last time enough?” He looked startled for a moment. “Have there been others since?”

“No,” she said sharply. “No others. But Cass and Beau are different.” She sat in the chair next to him and took his hand in hers. “I want them both, Danny. And they want me. I know it's a risk, but you have to let me take it. I'm ready to take it.”

“Are you?” he asked earnestly, studying her face. “Because I still remember the sound of your screams. I fucking dream about them.” He looked away and slid his hand out of hers. “You know what these guys are capable of, Marian. So do I.”

“I'm telling you they're different than Darren. They'd never hurt me like that.”

“They are fucking football players,” he said harshly, his voice rising. “I know these guys better than you. I've heard the bragging, I've seen the shit they do, the destruction they cause. Because they don't care about a damn thing but themselves and playing the game.”

“Maybe some of them are like that,” she agreed. “But not all. Those aren't the kind of guys on this team.”

“Are there more? Are you fucking more of them?” he asked incredulously.

She blew out an angry breath. “I'm going to give you a pass on that one because I know you're angry, confused, and generally an asshole. But watch it.”

“I haven't been here, Marian. I don't know. I don't know anything that's been going on. What if something had happened, something bad? I wouldn't have been here to save you again.”

“I don't need saving,” she tried to tell him.

“You need saving from yourself,” he told her. “I didn't prevent what happened before, but I can prevent it this time.”

“You couldn't have prevented it.” She shook her head, afraid there was no reasoning with him. “It wasn't your fault. And in the end you were there to stop it. You saved me. You already got to play the hero. But I don't need a hero anymore. I need a friend. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself now. You need to let go of it and move on. That's what I'm trying to do. You've got to let me.”

“I hate this game,” he said vehemently, and Marian was taken aback. He stood up and started to pace. “Hate myself for playing it, for not walking away. Not doing the right thing.” He pointed to her door again. “And I hate them. I hate every fucking one of them because I saw what they tried to do to you. What they did to me. I know what they're capable of. I don't trust them, and I never will. Surrounded by them day after day, taking hit after hit, forced to be on a team with some fucked-up dick who beats his wife or rapes his girlfriend or some stranger in a bar. They think they own the world, Marian. They think they can do whatever they want. And they're right. They are so fucking right.” He walked over and punched the wall.

She hadn't realized how bitter he was, how much anger he'd been holding inside. With shocking clarity, she understood then that Danny needed the Rebels more than they needed him. He was going to learn to love the game again here in Birmingham, and in the process he was going to learn to forgive himself.

“Danny,” she said, moved by his confession. “They're not all like that. They aren't. I know my father railroaded you. I know he threatened to keep you out of football forever if you went to the police about what happened.” She walked over to him and tentatively put her hand on his arm. “It was love of the game that made you stay. You loved it so much. I still do. I never left. He couldn't make me. I compromised, too. I went to my father and he helped me get this job.” He swore. “No, no, hear me out. I don't care. The past is the past. I don't blame you, I don't blame me. We did what we did, and look where we are.” She motioned around her office. “This is my dream, and I'm living it. Have there been rough times? Yes, but I'm getting over them. And Cass and Beau are helping.”

“They know what happened?” She could tell from his expression he already knew the answer.

“No, I haven't told them,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“Because I don't want them to see me as a victim,” she told him. “Like you do.”

“I don't—” he started to argue, but she cut him off.

“Yes, you do. The minute you came into this office today you thought I was being taken advantage of; that you had to save me. I need to save myself.” She grabbed his hands again. “But you can help. You can help me by staying, by playing the best football of your career, by making this team—my team—a winning team. Can you do that? Can you love football again, just for me? Just a little?”

“For you, I'll try,” he said softly, but she could see the doubt on his face. “But I can't love them, Marian. I can't forget what they're capable of.”

“You let me handle that part,” she told him with a small smile. A knock on the door interrupted them and Marian sighed.

“Can't that asshole leave you alone for a minute?” Danny snapped.

“Nope,” she said, resigned. Yet when she opened the door it wasn't Cass, but Tom who stood on the other side.

“It wasn't exactly a yell, but I heard a sound that was definitely a fist hitting the wall,” Tom said, peering over her shoulder with a frown. “Do you need any help?”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking up and down the hallway for Cass or Beau. No one else was around, which was conspicuous, to say the least.

“Cass made me swear to stay here until he left,” Tom said sheepishly, pointing at Danny. “Sorry. Captain's orders.”

Danny came up behind her. “Danny Smith, Tom Kelly, our other running back,” she said, introducing them. “Tom, Danny.”

“I know who he is,” Tom said, in the least friendly voice she'd ever heard the laid-back player use. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't super-effective, since he still looked like a commercial for toothpaste, or the Gap.

“And I know who he is,” Danny said from behind her in a very threatening voice.
More macho posturing.
Great
, she thought. “What do you want, rookie?” he asked.

“If she has a single hair out of place, I'm going to rip you a new asshole through your neck,” Tom said, and Marian gaped at him. Tom pointed to his neck. “Right here. Lots of blood.” Danny just laughed.

“I'd like to see you try, rookie,” he said. “It's worth staying just to embarrass you when I show you what a real running back looks like.”

“Well,” Marian said, drawing the word out. “Is this a good time to tell you that you two are going to be roommates?”