The Rookie: Book 2 The Last Play Series (4 page)

L
egend couldn’t really say
what had made him stay the night in Park City. The drive to Salt Lake was only forty-five minutes, so he could have gone back to his apartment, but he hadn’t wanted to. Good thing he always kept a gym bag with a change of clothes handy.

Admittedly, he hadn’t known what he would do back at his apartment. With Brad and Jason gone for the week, he felt slightly lost. He realized that was kind of pathetic. He was the number one draft pick in the nation, and he only had, what he would consider, two real friends. The kind he would want to actually hang out with. He knew if he went back, he’d hit the gym, run training drills, and drink protein shakes.

So instead he’d taken the ski lift up the mountain and then hiked down, and it’d actually been an awesome day. He kept thinking how much fun he would have had with Brad and Jason. Especially Brad. Brad would have hit on every woman, even if it meant yelling down out of the chair lift. Imagining it made him smile. He appreciated those guys hadn’t changed toward him even after he’d become more famous. Yeah, Brad did try to use it to his advantage but not in a bad way. They all had a blast together.

Unwillingly, his mind flitted to Charity. It had all day long. No matter what he’d done to keep her out of his mind, it always went back to her. He wished he could say it was only because he was worried about her grandpa. He
was
worried for him. But it was also the way her red hair hung in loose curls down her back and the way she smelled like sun tan lotion on the beach. The coconut smell had filled every part of him when he was with her, and he definitely hated himself for being attracted to her. He sighed. All that anger. She certainly had the fiery temper to match the red hair. He flexed one hand in and out as he waited to be seated at Rosie’s Mexican Restaurant on Park City Main Street. Some part of him couldn’t get enough of her. The restaurant didn’t have that many customers, but it was eight at night, so he assumed the dinner rush was over. He’d gone back to the hotel and showered before walking up, and now he was starving. He promised himself this would be the last night he would stay here. Then he would go back to Salt Lake and find something else to completely occupy his time to get Charity Saint off of his mind.

The restaurant was typical fiesta style—bright reds and oranges with lanterns that swung gently above each white-candled table. The seating was airy with lots of open windows, and the weather had cooled down to make it a perfect night out. The Spanish music had a fast tempo, and he immediately liked the place. He was seated and quickly given water, chips, and salsa.

Legend heard, what he assumed was, some kind of party in a back room. There was louder music and the sound of people talking and laughing. Most of the restaurant where he was seated was empty. He dove into the chips and guzzled back some water. After he ordered, he sat back and people watched on Main Street.

He decided he liked Park City. Very much in fact. He liked the outdoor activities and the way Main Street had a hundred little shops and places to eat. People were sitting out in front of cafés or bars, talking and laughing. It felt…homey. Maybe he would get a house here one day. An excited stir went through him. The money. He tried not to think of all the money he would have after next Saturday. The signing bonus alone would keep him comfortable for the rest of his life if he lived a modest life like he’d grown up with. Growing up the way he had, he knew he didn’t want to be all showy and ‘ballerish.’ He knew what it was like not to have much, and he wouldn’t squander away what he did have.

The polite server put his food down and refilled his water. “Good evening, my name is Victor. Can I do anything else for you, sir?”

“No, thank you.” He took a steaming bite and reveled in the deliciousness of good Mexican.

“Pardon me, sir, but are you Legend James?”

It wasn’t that Legend minded being recognized. He didn’t. Most people he found were just excited for him. For the team. They’d been big supporters, but lately, after the increasing media hype, it felt more taxing on him than anything else. Still, he smiled graciously and stuck out his hand. “I am. It’s nice to meet you, Victor.”

Victor pumped his hand whole-heartedly and let out a whisper of a laugh. “Oh goodness, I have to get mama. She loves you.” His grin widened. “She has watched you religiously the whole time you have taken our Utes to glory.

Pulling back his hand, Legend gave him an amicable smile. “Of course, I would be happy to meet your mama.”

The server scurried off to the loud back room.

Legend watched him for a minute, but before he could go back to his food, he thought he saw Charity.

Holding his fork mid-air, he sucked in a breath. It had to be her. He would recognize that hair anywhere. He tried to position himself to get a better look at her. But Victor and his mother bustling toward him quickly blocked any view.

“Mr. James! Mr. James!” Victor’s mother took him into a big hug, jumping a little as she did so.

Legend focused on this tiny woman, probably no more than five foot two inches with the happiest brown eyes and a flower in her long brown hair. She was slender, but not skinny.

She softly kissed his cheek. “I am so glad you are here, and I am so happy that it looks like you will go to the Destroyers. They need you after the year they’ve had. That Sam Dumont.” She grunted. “I want his head on a platter.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Thank you.” Legend couldn’t help but feel invigorated by her energy.

“Call me Rosie, please. All my friends call me Rosie.” She tightened her grip on his hand. “Did you know that Roman and Katie Young are friends of ours, too? They come here at least once a month, wouldn’t you say, Victor?” Her eyes flashed to her son.

He nodded agreeably. “At least, mama.”

“Roman and Katie are good people.” They were. He’d been up to their home in Wolfe Creek a couple of times. Roman had been a big part of getting the Destroyers to notice him this year.

She winked. “The best. I have to say my children fight over who gets to serve them every time they come. He leaves the best tips.”

Legend nodded. “As he should, Rosie.”

“Well.” She sighed. “How do you like the food?”

A flash of red caught his eye from the open door to the back room. Charity? He tried to see if it was her. “Uh…it’s great.” Bending back, he strained to see the red hair again. “It’s delicious,” he said, trying to infuse his words with excitement, “Terrific.” Once more, he tried to look past Rosie.

This time Rosie noticed. “Ah, do you want to join our party?”

Before he could say yes or no, she was already tugging his hand to stand. “Victor, bring his food with us.”

He let himself be tugged.

She grinned up at him, conspiratorially. “It is a tradition to have our close friends come and eat with us every Sunday night in the summers. It is the off season, and we like to have fun.” She did a little salsa footwork next to him and laughed.

He found her happiness contagious, but there was an electric excitement that buzzed through him and shot straight into his heart when he found himself smack in front of Charity Saint.

S
omehow the Hernandez
family had discovered her grandfather was in the hospital and had come to visit him today. Rosie had sat by Charity and performed many Hail Marys. Her grandfather hadn’t woken up, hadn’t even showed any sign of waking up. To say that Charity was on the edge of her seat would be like saying that a volcano was calm before it erupted. Rosie had insisted that Charity come to the restaurant after she left the hospital and get some food in her and get her mind off of everything. When Charity had refused, Rosie had done the same thing Legend had. She had used the fact that her grandpa would want her to take care of herself as a trump card. Charity had known the Hernandez family her whole life. Visiting her grandfather as much as they did, going to Rosie’s had become a tradition. Victor was more like a brother to her than a friend. Granted, he’d made his dating intentions known to her last year. After Paul had left for Ghana, he’d told her that he’d always loved her and asked if they could give it a shot.

Turning Victor down had been hard, but the truth was that she’d never felt that way about him and couldn’t even imagine it. Luckily, they’d been able to remain friends. Good enough friends that she still stopped by most Sundays when she came to Park City to visit with the whole family and eat their delicious food. Victor had been careful not to mention her break up with Paul, but as Legend James stared down at her, she could swear she heard a curse word come out of Victor’s mouth.

“Senorita, have you met my new friend Legend James? Number one draft pick Legend James,” Rosie said like a proud mama bragging to her neighbors.

The look on Legend’s face, one of utter embarrassment, made her smile. “Why, yes, I’ve made his acquaintance.” She grinned up at him, reasoning that the flutters taking off like butterflies on crack in her stomach had nothing to do with him. She’d had to work today to get him out of her head. The kind things he’d done for her. How he’d insisted he take her to her grandfather’s place. None of it made sense in her head. In her journalistic mind,he definitely wasn’t the man she’d done the article on. Unexpectedly, Paula Abdul’s version of the song flitted into her mind. A light laugh came out. She quickly covered her mouth. “Hello, Legend.” Embarrassed, she could feel red heat working it’s way up her neck.

Cocking his head to the side, he narrowed his eyes, seemingly unsure of her. “Ms. Saint,” he said tentatively.

“Ms. Saint? I guess you’ve quit stealing nicknames then?”

Rosie began ushering them both back to the place Charity had been sitting.

Victor intervened. “Mama, let’s put Senor James by the mayor. They can talk.”

“No.” Rosie gave him a fierce look. “Victor, get another chair for our guest, Senor Legend. Charity needs a good distraction tonight.”

Before either of them could argue, Rosie had them sitting with their food in front of them. “Both of you eat, drink, talk. Enjoy being young.” She gave Charity a shake of her finger. “I know you are worried about your grandpa, but he will be fine. God told me so,” she said firmly before turning her back and bustling to the kitchen.

Charity shook her head. “The only person that can say that kind of stuff and get away with it is Rosie.” She was too aware of Legend’s fresh rain smell and how his white Destroyer’s t-shirt looked comfortably casual paired with dark blue jeans and flip-flops. It didn’t help that the shirt was taut across his shoulders and his blonde hair looked just washed and naturally tousled. Then there were his green eyes with the gold flecks that were wide and curious and so wonderful to look at. It all caused something inside of her to stir. Something disconcerting and purely physical. “So you’re still in Park City?” she asked. “How did you end up coming to the party?”

He shrugged, looking embarrassed. “Victor recognized me, and then he got Rosie, and she brought me back here.”

Charity couldn’t tell if he really didn’t like the attention or if he was just acting like it. The man in the article she wrote would have loved it. “Hmm, why don’t you just say you’re not you? You could say you get it all the time and you should be in a contest or something.”

He ate another bite and nodded. “Not a bad idea.”

“Why did you stay in Park City?” It bothered her that she cared why, but part of her did.

“I decided to jump out of a plane tomorrow.”

This took her aback. “You what?”

Grinning, he winked at her. “What, Rook, you don’t think I’ll do it?”

She blew out a breath. “Of course I think you would do it, but it’s crazy. I don’t think the Destroyers would like to hear their number one draft pick is on the verge of slamming against the ground.”

“You should do it with me.”

Confused by the fact he’d just asked her to jump out of a plane with him, she took a sip of water. “I’ve got plans.”

His face registered what she was talking about. “Right. Yeah. I know. Sorry, I just…it’s early…like eight. We’d be done by ten or ten thirty. Plus, I ended up buying this honeymoon package because it was cheaper than a single flight with the discount.”

The fact that Legend James appeared to be rambling about getting a deal on a package actually made her smile.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“Nothing, you’re just—I didn’t think you’d care about money.”

“Hey, I’ve always had to be careful.”

She wasn’t proud of it, but she’d seen his bank statements, and she knew he had quite a bit in savings. “You know you’re getting a pretty big bonus at the end of the week, right?”

He laughed. “Fine. I guess I’ve just never been one to take money for granted. That’s all.”

They both stared at each other, just as they had yesterday in the heat of battle only in this moment everything had changed. She liked that he was acting kind of cheap. Careful. That he didn’t take the money for granted.

The side of his lip went up. “Hey, you look good tonight, by the way. Really good.” He waited for a beat and then picked up his fork and took a bite. “And this food is amazing,” he said with his mouth full.

His compliment was definitely not what she expected to hear from him. She hated that it disarmed her. Granted, she had showered after she’d been at the hospital and put on one of the white, spaghetti-strapped dresses she kept in her room for outings just like this. She’d even put a little product in her hair and blown it to give it shape and make the curls behave better. Resignedly, she’d decided to add a little mascara and lip-gloss. She did all of it because she told herself that Rosie was right. Her grandpa would want her to go to the ‘family’ dinner and enjoy herself. It had literally done no good for her to sit at the hospital all day and be beside herself with worry. She’d talked to her mother a couple of times and still insisted her mother stay on the trip. Slowly, she picked up her fork and took a mouthful of food.

Legend was already engaged in conversation with some of the Hernandez brothers and Rosie’s husband Marco. They were laughing and hitting him on the back.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched him, and he looked like he was having a wonderful time. She’d never really thought of how he would act socially. Okay, truthfully, she’d just thought he would be arrogant and cocky. In reality, she noticed he was complimenting the food a hundred times. He asked about all the boys and the sports they liked to play, admitting good-naturedly that he was no good with a soccer ball.

Something warm went through her. He was actually nice. Well,sometimes. Tonight, she reasoned, when he wasn’t full of himself with his football cronies.

But no matter what she did or what story she tried to tell herself about Legend, the fact was she had been wrong. She was beginning to understand that, even after all the months of research she’d done on him, she might not really know Legend James at all.

Several people from town stopped next to her and asked about her grandfather or simply put their hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. She wasn’t as emotional today, which she was very grateful for. Crying was not her norm, and she hadn’t had a roller coaster day like yesterday in as long as she could remember.

Before too long the volume of the music increased, and it felt like all of the Hernandez family and their cousins were out on the small dance floor doing the cha cha and rumba.

Without warning, Victor’s younger sister, who had recently graduated from high school and was around five seven with gorgeous hair down to her waist and a smile a mile long, insisted Legend dance with her.

He tried to refuse, but she took his hand and led him out.

She noticed that Legend could dance quite well, Charity nursed her lemon water and was surprised by Victor pulling her up and insisting she dance with him.

Because she’d grown up with the Hernandez family, she and Victor had been dance partners a lot. As they reached the dance floor, a tango came on. She and Victor danced just like they had when they were both twelve and Rosie had entered them into a competition.

Whirling around the dance floor, she laughed and felt free for the first time in a long time. Victor added flair to their patterned moves and improvised some dips. By the time the song ended, both of them were laughing so hard they had to hold onto one of the tables for support.

Victor stared into her eyes, and Charity knew what he was thinking. Her mind flashed to Paul. To the fact that she’d recently lost so much. She knew Victor would willingly step in to fill that gap, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. Or her. She didn’t care about him that way. She didn’t think she would ever care for anyone that way again.

The music changed to a slow song, but before Victor could pull her back out, she gently took his hand off the lower part of her back. “I should get going.”

“No,” he insisted, resisting and pulling her tighter.

“Yes.” She quit resisting, but she didn’t dance. “Victor, that dance was amazing, but I don’t want to hurt you. I never meant—”

“Could I have the next dance?”

Charity knew who was standing behind her.

The wooden way Victor tensed and the stilted smile that formed on his mouth said he was not happy about Legend’s request. He lifted his eyebrows. “I think the senorita is tired and wants to go home.” He held his ground, dropping the hand on her back but still holding onto her other hand. “I’ll walk her home.”

At this moment, Charity was left with two options. She could dance with Legend, not her first choice, or she could go with Victor and break his heart again. She opted for the less lethal option for Victor, protecting him even though she knew he didn’t see it that way.

“It would be rude not to dance with the rookie.” Flashing Legend a smile, she gently tugged her hand free and, without looking back at Victor, turned to Legend.