The Rookie: Book 2 The Last Play Series (15 page)

F
inding Katrina’s
mango lips against his, took Legend by surprise. After they’d sung together, between the words of the song and her puppy eyes smiling up at him, he admitted he’d gotten lost in the kiss. Lost in what had been between them. But the sound of cheering had jerked him back to reality.

He’d seen Charity running through the crowd to the front door. He’d seen Paul following her. Self-hate and regret ran through him.

Katrina’s friends had swarmed the stage and all of them pressed him into Katrina. They were laughing and cheering.

He looked at Katrina’s face and felt nauseous. What had he just done?

Her eyes were on his face, and she stopped smiling. Her brows tugged together. “I found you.”

“What are you talking about?” He tried to back up, but he couldn’t.

Tears glistened her eyes. “I wanted to see you before you signed with the Destroyers. I called Brad, and he told me you were in Park City with her. I googled her and found the Bed and Breakfast.” She shrugged. “I took a chance that you’d be there, and…it looks like fate intervened to give us a second chance.”

This disgusted him. . How she’d pretended she’d just run into him. It angered him. It reminded him of what she’d done all those years ago. The lies. The conniving. And the truth of it settled in his heart. “You wanted that abortion.”

“What?” Fear flashed in her eyes. She glanced around at the group and gave him a “not here” look.

“You didn’t want to make it work between us.”

Tears filled her eyes. “You were a nobody, Legend. How could I have ruined my future?” She shook her head.

Everything became clear. Katrina had never been the person he’d thought she was. “That was my future. You took away my future without even discussing it with me. Then you sent your father to tell me.”

She frowned. “But we have a chance now. I knew you’d make it. Now we can be together. With your new contract, Daddy won’t say a thing.”

Sickened, he pushed back with super human strength. “Let me out!” he demanded.

The crowd instantly dispersed.

He ran down the stage and out the front door, letting himself go into pouring every ounce of power into his legs. He was three blocks from her house, when he saw them.

Paul’s arms were wrapped around her. Her head was lying on his chest.

That wouldn’t have mattered except he saw her look up, and Paul’s lips meet hers.

“Charity!” he called out in strangled pain.

Pulling away from Paul, she dashed towards him.

Then, before he could stop her, her hand slapped his face.

“What?” Legend put his hand over the place where she’d hit him.

Angry tears streaked down her face. “I saw you. I saw you with her.”

“But it wasn’t like that.”

“Whatever.”

He hesitated. “I saw you with him.”

Backing away, she wiped her eyes. “Goodbye, Legend.”

D
raft Day

“Dude, you should be way happier than you are right now,” Brad insisted.

Jason picked over the eggs on his plate. “I agree. C’mon, this chick couldn’t have put you in that bad of mood. I mean, hey, I know she was gorgeous, but you’ve acted like we’ve just lost to the Philadelphia Panthers since we got to Chicago yesterday.”

“Shut up.” Legend felt like he’d just lost to BYU, the U’s biggest rival. The problem was…he’d felt that way ever since the night Charity slapped his face.

His poor aunt had commented that she would have rather had him not come home to spend time with her if he was going to sulk around like a spoiled child all day.

He pushed his food away. He was sure the Destroyer’s trainer would be all up in his business about the fact that he’d dropped ten pounds in the past week. But he couldn’t eat. He’d forced himself to push protein shakes down, but food held no appeal.

And he’d ran. And ran. And ran. He’d tried to blare music into his brain and force her out of his mind.

His agent had told him that
The
New York Times
had given her the job. He’d also asked him if he wanted to read the finished article, saying it was really good.

He’d refused, and he hated that it had made him happy she’d gotten the job back.

He just couldn’t quit thinking of her and Paul in New York together.

He was miserable.

He fingered the ring inside his pocket. It was the one he’d bought one day in Park City from a local jewelry shop. The ring was a princess cut diamond with blue turquoise, the same color of her eyes, in four princess cuts around it. He’d shown it to her grandpa when Charity had gone to get lunch. Her grandpa had approved. He didn’t know why he still carried it with him. It was over. It had been a dream. A figment of his imagination. Like he could have fallen in love in less than a week.

Pshaa. It was insane.

“Man, you have it bad.” Brad spit a straw wrapper at his face.

Legend slammed his fist into Brad’s shoulder.

“Dude!” Brad and Jason both yelled at the same time.

Glaring at Brad, he frowned. “Sorry.” Then he pushed back from the table. “I gotta go for a run.”

C
harity sat
on her grandfather’s porch, grateful that her grandpa had made such a remarkable recovery. She’d brought him home that morning. The doctor had said there may be more repercussions than they knew. Right now he had scheduled help every day and a therapist coming to work with him twice a week.

Her grandpa came out, the screen pounding behind him. “Why are you looking so glum, punkin?” He sat next to her and took in a long breath. “It’s a great day to be alive, don’t you think?”

Charity stood, moving to the deck and trying to not think of
him
. The fact that he would be celebrating tonight. She tried not to think of that stupid ticket that she hadn’t been able to rip up. She should have. But it was still in her purse. It had plagued her all week.

“No word from Legend, huh?” her grandpa asked.

Swerving back, she frowned. “I told you he was kissing her.”

Grandpa snorted. “No, you told me she kissed him. Then he ran after you and found you kissing that idiot Paul.”

“Grandpa…” She turned away, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“And you told me he gave you that ticket.”

She shrugged. “It’s not meant to be. It’s fine.”

“Right. You’re going to New York.”

“Yep, they want me now.” It had happened fast. She felt slightly guilty for leaving before her mother was back, but they wanted her now. Part of her felt good knowing that. As for the other part, she had to put the past in the past. “I’m sorry, Grandpa.”

He stood and moved next to her, putting his arm around her. “I’m proud of you.” He kissed her forehead. He grinned. “But I thought Victor would cry when he and Rosie stopped by the hospital yesterday.”

She shook her head. “He’s a good guy. I hope he finds someone to love.”

Grandpa hesitated. “He will. Just like you have.”

“What?” She stared back at him, confused.

He hesitated then winked at her. “I read that article. You love him.”

“I think he’s basically a good person. That doesn’t mean I love him.”

“You want to look at the stars with him. You love him.”

“No.”

“It’s like the witch said. Fate is trying to take you to love, but you have to take a chance.” He shook his head. “Punkin, chances are hard to take.”

“I took a chance,” she shot back, “and he kissed her.”

Grandpa’s cheeks burned. “And you slapped him.”

“True.”

“And he saw you kissing Paul.”

“That was ten years of confusion.”

“You don’t think he could have had a moment of confusion, too?”

She hesitated. How would she have felt if she were in Legend’s shoes? Things were hard enough to let go of where Paul was concerned. She couldn’t imagine if there had been a baby mixed up in all of that. A possible family that had been ripped away.

“Plus, I doubt he asked her grandpa for her hand.”

“What?” She was stupefied.

He let out a low growl. “I don’t like getting in your business.” That was completely untrue. He lived for it. “But Legend might have spoken to me about permission to ask you to marry him before you guys left the hospital.”

Placing her hand on her heart, lightning shot through her. “Wh-what?”

Tears bubbled into Grandpa’s eyes. “Go to him, baby. He loves you. Get on that plane and go to him. You’ll hate yourself if you never take a chance!”

T
he time clock
was counting down to the official start of the NFL draft. He and Brad and Jason had been wined and dined and been taken around the room and put in front of the cameras a hundred different times.

Legend was excited. In less than five minutes, the rest of his life would officially start. He’d sign on as starting quarterback for the Dallas Destroyers.

Even though her face went through his mind causing him pain, he was comforted by the mantra he’d told himself the past two years…at least he had football.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw her.

There was no mistaking that red hair.

His heart rate kicked up a notch. She was at the other end of the room, clearly looking for him. Why else would she be there? Dressed in a tight, satin blue dress with white heels and desperately scanning the room.

The big timer ticked off to ten seconds. The whole crowd started counting down like it was New Year’s Eve in New York.

Even though he was ticked at her, the fact that she was here gave him some type of hope. He had to see her.

Before he could go to her, his agent shoved him towards the ESPN camera. They wanted an interview right when it happened.

The reporter with a wide mustache and black, clearly dyed, hair shook his hand. “Are you ready for this?”

“Sorry, can we do this in a minute?” Legend was sure his heart was beating at heart attack speed.

The reporter gave him a half smile. “Sorry, son. Here we go.” He pointed to the camera. “And, folks, we are here with Legend James. Number one draft pick in the nation. Legend, what are you feeling right now?”

“I’m excited.” He forced a smile into the camera. All he wanted to do was find Charity, but he couldn’t leave now.

“An exciting new chapter in your life, son?”

“Yep.” Nervous jitters pulsed into him.

“I’m sure it’s not gonna hurt your feelings to see this number put into your bank account tomorrow.”

Legend let out a light chuckle and tried to see over the reporter’s shoulder in an attempt to find Charity. “Nope, can’t say it will.”

The reporter laughed, too. Then he got serious. “What do you think about the recent article in
The
New York Times
?”

His heart almost stopped. It felt like a million things and nothing at all went through his mind at the same time. “I haven’t seen it.”

“Really?” The reporter grinned. “It just came out today. Of course, it is draft day.”

A light sweat formed on Legend’s palms. Maybe she was here to rub it in his face. He felt his mouth go dry.

The reporter picked up a newspaper. “Let me read you a couple of lines, and you can tell me what you think.”

“Okay.” He tried to smile. What had she done?

The reporter cleared his throat. “Hang with me here. It’s kind of long, but I think it’s interesting to note that the reporter’s name is Charity Saint, and she wrote a scathing article about you a few weeks ago. Folks, you’re going to like this.”

He could barely breathe.

“She says, ‘I thought when I wrote my first article on Legend James that I could find out what kind of man he was by simply interviewing others and putting together a fact sheet, but I was wrong. The best part of Legend isn’t any stat or anything that will be recorded in the football hall of fame. The best thing about Legend James is he doesn’t reach out and help people as a publicity stunt. He doesn’t do things for others for show. He does them because he cares. The only real thing I can tell you about the week I spent with him was that it was one of the best weeks of my entire life. And one day, if he lets me sit with him on a porch swing again and watch the stars, I’ll count myself as blessed.’”

At that moment he couldn’t explain why every part of him trembled. Well, actually, he could explain it. It was because she loved him. She loved him! And she was here because of it. He shot to his feet, tears in his eyes.

“Whoa, hold on, Legend. We have more questions for you.”

“I’m sorry. I have to find her.”

“Who?”

As he scanned the crowd, he found her two rows back. The tears in her blue eyes mirroring his own. A smile filled her face.

He grinned, and it felt like the first time in a week that he’d smiled. “Hey, Rook.”

She let out a stifled laugh. “Hey.”

He reached out to her, but couldn’t quite connect. “Can you guys help her up here?”

Happy to accommodate, the crowd of reporters shifted.

The ESPN guy doing the report let out an exasperated sigh. “Is this…wait a sec…Legend, is this Charity Saint?”

Feeling the best he’d felt in what seemed like forever, Legend pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips. “It is.”

All of the reporters let out a cheer. He heard Brad going. “Woot! Woot! Woot!”

Pulling back, Charity looked around and then back at him, a smile on her face. “You asked my grandpa?”

It was like they were suddenly in their own world. The reporters faded away. The lights. The people wanting him to sign the contract. None of it mattered. All he saw, smelled, felt, was her. “Yep.” His heart was about to burst. “I guess he ruined the surprise.”

She let out another laugh.

“Legend! Legend…” everyone seemed to be calling out to him.

Their eyes stayed locked together. He thought he could die and go to heaven in this moment. “I love you.”

She laughed. “I love you, too.”

He searched her face. “Why did you come? I heard you got the job.”

She shrugged. “You have to take chances, and I got to choose…and I choose you.”

His heart felt like it was going to race out of his chest. He kissed her again. “So how to work the logistics out? Every other week we fly to see each other?”

She grinned. “Ya know, I don’t think being apart is a good idea.”

“You don’t?”

She shook her head. “I told
The New York Times
no.”

“You did?”

“I figured—aw, heck, what’s one more rookie mistake in my life?” She kissed him. “Plus, you’ve already promised to pay for all the travelling and use your connections to get me a job.”

He laughed and kissed her, again. Not caring they were under the microscope of the spotlight. He tugged her back and kept his hands on her shoulders. “You’ll come to Dallas?”

She couldn’t stop smiling. “Yes.”

Getting down on one knee caused the entire room to explode. “Charity,” he said, hesitating and looking at her with laughing eyes, “Charity no middle name Saint, will you marry me?”

All the cameras were fixed on her. All the microphones were held out, waiting.

Her face turned serious, and she reached down, softly putting her hand to his cheek. “Legend James, I will marry you.” She couldn’t hold back her smile.

Seconds after she answered, he picked her up and spun her in a circle.

When he put her down, the press was asking a million questions. Over the loud speaker came the announcement: “The Dallas Destroyers have chosen Legend James as their number one pick in the NFL draft.”

He kept his eyes on hers. “I’m about to be a millionaire.”

She kissed him. “I guess I’ll have to live with it.” She laughed.

He kissed her again, holding her close. “You’re the best, Rook.”

She grinned and held him back. “I guess we’re both really rookies right now.”

Gently placing her hand against her cheek, he grinned. “I’ll be the rookie if it means I get to be with you the rest of my life.”

She grinned and kissed him. “Sounds good.”