Team Lucas (The Saints Team #1) (24 page)

“Just some physio work.” I expanded the truth. The minder part was supposed to be confidential even though everyone in the club and the WAGs knew.

“Lucky bitch.” Cassie hit my arm. “I saw the stuff about you two online.”

“It’s all crap,” I told her. “Wish it wasn’t.”

Cassie smiled and looked over at him. “I get that.”

A waiter came over and interrupted us.

“Ah, Lucas said you’d want some drinks?” he asked.

“I’m thinking cocktails all round?” I asked and the girls whooped.

“I love your new job,” Caleb said to me and then turned to the waiter. “Thanks pal, I’ll have a rum and coke.”

I glanced towards Lucas and he was being Mr.-Charming-and-Benevolent. He could turn it on when he wanted to. And the women around him were lapping it up. There were easily three or four women for every player and I could see why the WAGs made sure they came along. Lucas looked my way and I locked eyes with him. I smiled and turned away. I couldn’t watch him flirting and being flirted with—it was too heart and soul destroying. The highs and lows were killing me; I’m sure that kind of treatment on your heart would lead to an early death.

My cocktail arrived and I raised my glass for a toast.

“To our last semester,” Cassie said, “may we all pass with honors and get a job like Mia’s and be surrounded by gorgeous men.”

“Or women,” Caleb responded, and raised his glass.

We clinked and I sipped my first delicious mouthful of a creamy cocktail. I saw Caleb’s eyes widen and I looked behind me to see Lucas making his way towards us. Don’t know when he started coming over but he had to stop every few moments to chat or shake someone’s hand. Ah the perils of being so gorgeous and successful.

“Going to introduce me to your friends?” he asked, arriving at last.

“Sure.” I licked the cocktail cream from my lips. “Lucas meet Caleb, Cassie and Melissa.”

He shook their hands. “Come and join us over here,” he said to them.

“Sure, thanks,” Cassie said super-enthusiastically.

“I wish I’d worn my black dress,” I heard Melissa mutter.

“The cheer squad just arrived,” Lucas told Caleb.

“You had me at hello,” Caleb said, following him as we slowly made our way back through the wall-to-wall people to the other side of the bar.

“What’s that?” Lucas asked, pointing to my cocktail.

“Orgasm. Want one?” I asked.

“Are you asking me do I want an orgasm?” Lucas said loudly and leaned away from me.

I’m sure I went three shades of red. “No, the drink is an orgasm. Do you want... never mind,” I said.

He smiled at me and I punched his arm.

“Anyone else would have taken up the offer. You disappoint me, Mia.” He feigned hurt.

“Yet again,” I sighed. “Luckily, you won’t have to go home alone.” I indicated the women around the room.

“Mm,” he said in a low growl which I couldn’t read.

We arrived in the thick of the team and Lucas introduced my friends to some of the nearby group. I was impressed he remembered their names—I had trouble remembering the team’s names but I recognized their muscles as any good physio would, okay as any red-blooded female would.

After a few more drinks, the music got louder, the girls got clingier, the players celebrated louder and the party heated up. I missed Alice but headed to the dance floor or the area that was dancing—the floor had long been swallowed up—with Cassie. We had a run of great songs and Pez and Harry joined us followed by some of the cheer squad who followed them. Yep, such was the cycle. You had to be prepared to share if you were a WAG or a WRAG even if you didn’t want to.

Chapter 36

It was close to nine p.m. and I was feeling sapped. I know that’s normally the time we’d be heading out, but Lucas and I had been up since dawn and probably all the players had too, and I had been at the club since ten a.m. With the highs of the day as well, I was wiped. I was thinking about sneaking out and heading home—Lucas looked like he was still in the party way—when there was an almighty crash at the entrance.

I looked around at just how packed the bar was and felt a bit anxious; getting to the door if anything went wrong was not going to be easy and I noticed players and fans from the other side had crowded in as well. I don’t know who started what, but two guys were at it while security was trying to break it up. Our Saints’ team manager and staff on hand were trying to herd our lot out—they wouldn’t want the bad press of having the Saints in a bar brawl. I couldn’t see Lucas and then I saw him looking around, maybe looking for me.

It was so loud—the music was blaring, security was calling orders out, people were yelling and screaming and I heard more glass break. A round bar table was picked up and thrown and one of the mirrors behind the bar was smashed. Cassie grabbed my arm and as I turned to her she ducked just in time as something flew over her head—a beer bottle crashed to the ground behind her.

Neither of us saw the glass that followed but Caleb reached up and tried to deflect it. Things were being hurtled everywhere and then I felt something hit me in the temple. Melissa, who was standing in front of me, screamed and I saw blood on her face. She began to fall and Caleb reached to pull us all down to the ground under the table.

I heard myself gasp and I pulled my hand from the side of my head and saw the blood. I thought it was Melissa’s blood. Hands grabbed me and, terrified, I struggled to get free.

“It’s me, Mia, it’s me,” Lucas said. I could feel myself falling and then he pulled me against him so hard that it hurt as I hit his chest. I lost my breath. My face was pressed against his shirt and he lifted me off the floor and pushed his way to the door. A rush of cold air hit us and I saw other players and partners standing around and being issued to the cars by management keen to get them away from the scene.

I heard sirens and saw a police car and an ambulance come into view. I felt as though I was walking through water—everything was thick and hazy.

“My friends…” I heard my own slurred words as I tried to see over Lucas’s shoulder back at the club.

“They’re okay,” he promised me. “They’re right behind us.”

We got clear and he carried me to his car and sat me on the bonnet. Lucas took my face in both hands and studied me. I felt a bit dizzy and I saw the blood I’d left on his shirt. I felt it running down my face and I realized it wasn’t Melissa’s blood, it was mine.

“Lucas,” I slurred his name as my eyes hazed over.

“Shh, you’re okay.” He was calling a number.

“Cam, Mia’s hurt, she’s bleeding, hit by a glass... the temple... I can’t tell. Thanks, thanks.”

I heard the car beep as he unlocked the doors. I tried to stand but I was in his arms again, with Lucas pulling the door open and placing me in the front seat. He slid it back, grabbed his player’s jacket from the back seat and wrapped it around me. Lucas closed the door, ran to the driver’s seat and took off.

“You’re okay,” he assured me. “Cam’s coming over. He’ll meet us at home.”

At home, I thought.
Our home
. I would have been happier hearing those words if I wasn’t groggy from the hit.

Lucas tore home, and it was all a blur. As we pulled in, Cam’s 4WD pulled up beside us. He took the house keys as Lucas followed, carrying me. I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep against Lucas’s chest, in his arms. Lucas told Cam the security number, and he entered it and turned off the alarm. Lucas ran up the stairs with me in his arms as if I was weightless. He laid me on the kitchen table at eye level for Cam.

“Get a wet and dry towel and a pillow,” Cam ordered Lucas.

He returned moments later with a wet facecloth, dry towel and a pillow that he slipped under my head.

“A blanket too, Luke,” Cam said.

Moments later I felt Lucas tucking a blanket around me. I was fine, just fine, a bit whacked but that’s all.

“What happened?” Cam asked, dabbing my forehead. He was studying me and I could just see him. Cam was wearing his glasses and looking very serious.

Lucas told him the story.

“She’s shaking,” Lucas said.

“It’s just a bit of shock, she’s all right, calm down,” he told Lucas.

“I’m fine,” I added in a slurred voice. “I had an orgasm.”

“The drink,” I heard Lucas explain.

“It was good,” I mumbled, “the best orgasm.”

“You need to get out more,” Cam said, with a smile.

“Lucas was a star today.” I kept raving on as though I had no control over my tongue.

I saw Lucas look at me and shake his head.

“It’s okay, she’s a bit whacked. She’s had a hit to the head,” Cam said.

“I should have been looking out for her better.” Lucas paced beside the table. “The place was so packed. I want to fucking kick someone’s ass. If I get my hands on...”

“Luke! The last thing we need is you kicking anyone’s ass. Calm down,” Cam ordered.

“I can look after myself,” I added. My head was clearing a bit.

I saw Cam smile and look up at Lucas. “Yeah, I’ve got one of these at home too.”

I saw Lucas pick up a soccer ball from the couch and he started bouncing it as he paced.

“I should have got her out of there when it got crowded,” he said.

“Luke, put the ball down and get some ice in a towel for me,” Cam growled.

I heard Lucas rattle some ice out of the freezer and then he was back leaning over me with it in a tea towel.

Cam continued, “Just put that on the injury for the swelling.”

Lucas pulled out a chair, sat beside the table at my eye level and applied the ice pack to my forehead. I winced at the cold and the sting. He frowned, and looked at me with eyes full of worry.

“Does it need stitches?” Lucas asked.

“No,” Cam assured him. “It’s just a cut. There’s a large blood supply to the scalp so that’s why it bleeds a hell of a lot but there’s no cause for panic, okay?”

“Right.” Lucas exhaled.

“I’ll clean it and put a bandage on. Mia has a mild concussion from whatever hit her or from hitting something in her fall. Did you hit something, Mia, that you remember?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said.

“What did you hit?” Cam pushed me.

I was a bit spaced out.

“Lucas’s chest,” I said.

Cam grinned. “Yeah that will do it every time.”

Lucas’s lips twitched in a smile. “I was trying to get her out of there.”

“She’ll be fine,” Cam assured him. “You’ll be fine, Mia. Sleep for a bit. Lucas will keep an eye on you.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “But who will watch Lucas?”

“I will,” Cam assured me.

I heard Cam say to Lucas, “Wake her up in two hours’ time and make sure her speech is normal and she’s lucid. Get her to walk. If she’s not responding properly call me again.”

He removed my icepack and put a bandage on my forehead.

I heard Lucas speaking with Cam. “Thanks, Cam, for coming right away.”

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll call you in the morning. I doubt you’ll need to call me tonight. Just get her to bed now.”

I saw Cam looking into my eyes before he left but I don’t remember anything else. I remember Lucas waking me a few hours later and I felt fine except for the stinging on my forehead.

I realized I was in his bed and he had been lying beside me, on top of the sheets.

“I’ll go back to my bed,” I said.

“No, stay here so I can keep an eye on you,” he said.

I closed my eyes again. “Sorry to ruin a win night.”

I felt him brush the hair from my face. “Sorry to not get to you in time,” he whispered.

“I think your timing is perfect,” I said. I didn’t wake again until first light.

*****

The next morning the front page of the newspaper featured a photo of Lucas carrying me through the crowds, furniture being hurdled and people rushing at the doors. I had a trickle of blood down my forehead in the photo and it certainly looked dramatic. He looked heroic and strong—his expression determined. I bet every heterosexual girl in town was looking at his bulging arms as he lifted me, cutting out my head and inserting their own.

I called Carrie, Melissa and Caleb to check on them and they were all okay. They told me their versions of the event—Lucas and Caleb had got us all out. Leading the way, Lucas had told Carrie and Melissa to grab his shirt, stay against his back and not to let go as he cleared the way and led them through the crowds holding me. Caleb took up the rear, covering their heads as best he could with his jacket. I could see them behind Lucas in the photo now that I knew that was them behind the coat jacket.

Of course Mom saw it and rang in a mad panic. I had to put Lucas on to speak with her and she gave him the third degree as though he was a potential husband. I paced around dying a thousand deaths, listening to the conversation as Lucas sat upright on the couch (as if she was watching) and spoke with Mom.

He was wonderfully respectful, calling her Mrs. Carter and assuring her of her daughter’s safety. He even had to answer questions about his future—so cringe-worthy, thanks Mom. I heard him saying, “I’ve put security bars on her wing of her house...

“Yes, I was with her at the bar, we all were, including some of her college friends but it just got a bit out of hand...

“No she’s only working part-time, she’s definitely going to finish her degree.”

I rolled my eyes and held out my hand for my phone. He held up his hand to tell me to calm down and sit down. I shook my head and kept pacing. I tried to take the phone back again but he held me off.

“Sure Mrs. Carter, but don’t forget most of the media make up stories to sell magazines.

“Well yes, that story was true... I did sneak into her building but that’s not because I was trying to sneak in on Mia, I was hiding from the media.”

I started to giggle at the sight of this international sports star with a team of people working for him, in command at work and at play, being levelled by my mom. Lucas smirked back at me and tried not to let me make him laugh.

“Um... after the sport ends, I will probably go into coaching or commentary,” he answered my mom.