Touchdown: (Love for the Game Book 4) Read online

  “Um, no, I’m sorry it’s just--” I began than paused once we both got to the main entrance. My phone quieted. “I…” It started up as soon as it had stopped. “I’m sorry, I have to get this.” I picked up the phone. “Hello?” I said. “I’ll be home in twenty minutes to tuck you in, okay? I love you, baby. Bye.” I shut it off feeling the stillness settle over us then looked up to face him. “I have to get home. I had a good night, but obviously I’m not expecting too much to come from this.” I turned away from him and pulled open the door.

  “Wait, Nicki,” he tried to say. I glanced back at him. “Don’t go like this. I’ll have my driver take you home since it’s so late.” I paused and then nodded my head. As I got into the car a few minutes later, I could see the sadness in his eyes but the fear of heartache stopped me from feeling too sorry.

  Chapter 3

  Maddox

  “What’s got you so sad?” Miranda asked me at dinner after the game. That afternoon, I didn’t see Nicki in the crowd. I was ecstatic to run the ball over to my mom but a small part of me wanted to see Nicki looking out toward the field, the same smile playing on her lips. “You guys won.”

  Miranda passed the salad to me. “I’m fine,” I said. “Feeling amazing actually.” I hoped my statement came off convincing.

  “Does this have anything to do with that girl? What was her name?

  Nicki?” she asked me. Immediately feeling in shock that she even knew this much, I made a face.

  “Yeah.”

  “Or was it Nikita? Nicole? Naomi?” Miranda questioned lightly. “I could smell her perfume in here earlier.”

  My mom made a face. “Miranda, please leave your brother alone.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I furrowed my eyebrows, focusing on Miranda’s sly comment.

  “Listen, I love you, bro, but how do I say this nicely...you’re kind of a hoe.” Miranda shrugged and reached for a bread roll.

  “What makes you say that?” I questioned knowing full well why she thought it. I just wanted to hear it from her.

  “All these names. ‘Nough said. Last week, I think you did M names. There was Monica,

  Malori, and, get this, Missouri!”

  “Her name was most definitely Minnesota--Minnie for short.”

  “Yeah whatever,” she said rolling her eyes and biting into the bread. “Next week you’ll be crying over an Olive. Am I right, mom?” Miranda gave a smug grin before turning to her left. Mom was unimpressed.

  “Sweetheart, do you like this Nicki?” she asked.

  “I…” I started thinking about the way her eyes brightened up when she smiled and the way she held me when we kissed. “I really do.”

  “Then what’s the problem? Go for it!”

  “Don’t get me wrong, Maddy,” Miranda interjected. “I’m not purposely trying to discourage you. I just think that before you go for anything, you should rethink why you’re doing it. Is it because you like her or is it because you want a new challenge? Two hearts are at risk when you play games. Just my two cents.”

  “I like her, Miranda. I swear I do. It just seems like she wants nothing to do with me. I mean, last night we--” I paused when I realized who I was talking to. “Had fun. And then she just left.”

  “You know, sometimes women do that to protect our own hearts. I don’t blame her. Too many times you guys get left off the hook and we’re left with the baggage.” I nodded at my sister’s statement. She wasn’t wrong. I had been left off the hook countless of times. “Listen, you’ve gotta show her you’re different. Be different. Then, maybe she’ll give you a chance.”

  “I agree, Maddox!” mom chirped.

  **********

  The next day, I knocked on her apartment door. When she opened it, her hair was flowing around her shoulders, frizzing up in some parts. Wrinkled sweats and an oversized T-shirt made up her outfit. She rushed to brush down her fly-aways with her hand, as if feeling the pressure to put herself together, but to me, she still looked beautiful.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, stepping out of the threshold and pulling the door so only a small slit was visible. “How the hell did you get here?”

  “I’m sorry for showing up randomly and for asking my driver where he dropped you off,” I rubbed my neck awkwardly, aware at how unconventional this all was.

  “I have a phone,” she said flatly.

  “And I have a car.”

  You could tell she didn’t want to be amused but her lips pulled into a soft smile. She quickly wiped it off and adjusted her tone again. “Please don’t come over here unannounced again. Last night was...amazing, okay? But that’s all it was. A night. Isn’t that what you football players basically want from us?”

  “Whoa, Nicki,” I said with my hands up. “Who said all I wanted was a night from you? Last I checked, you couldn’t get my clothes off fast enough.” I chuckled at the memory, but she wasn’t having it this time.

  “Girls need love, too,” she said with a shrug.

  I furrowed my eyebrows. “And you suggested we go back to my place. Pillow talk was you saying you had to leave...I’m confused as to how I could’ve given off the impression that all I wanted was sex.”

  She pulled the door in so it was practically shut, looking around to see if anyone had heard what I said. “You don’t have to say or do anything, Maddox. Frankly, it doesn’t even matter. I already told you I’m not expecting much from this. You should be jumping for joy.”

  “There you go again. Telling me how I should be feeling. Nicki, I actually have been feeling blown off, a little used.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been feeling like you won’t give me a chance because you’re scared and that hurts me.” She averted her eyes from mine. “It hurts me to know that someone else probably did to you what I’ve done to other women.” She threw a glance at me. “Yeah, I’m admitting it. I’m not going to gaslight. You’re not wrong to not trust me, but you’d be wrong to ignore everything that I know you feel between us.” She met my gaze, and I felt like drawing her into me and kissing her, but I knew I couldn’t.

  “Mom!” I heard a high-pitched voice call.

  Nicki jumped up and backed into her apartment. “I’ve gotta go.”

  “Nicki,” I started.

  “Maddox, seriously, I don’t have time for this right now.”

  “Mom!” the door swung open and revealed a little girl in a bright pink dress. “Mommy, can I have more cookies?” She paid little mind to me as she tugged on Nicki’s shirt. “Please, mommy, pleaseeeee?”

  “Okay, you can have one more,” Nicki said which prompted her to run off.

  We were left alone again.

  “So, now you’ve met my daughter,” she said, sighing. “Maddox, I apologize if I was the one who led you on. Neither me nor my daughter needs another man who’s just going to leave. Can you understand that?” I nodded.

  “Mommy!” I heard again.

  “I should really go. The sitter just canceled on me and I haven’t gotten ready yet.” She gestured to her clothing. “I have this meeting and I cannot miss it.” She spoke more to herself than to me.

  “I can watch her,” I suggested.

  “You’re gonna watch my three-year-old daughter?”

  “Just while you get ready. I can call my sister to watch her here if that makes you more comfortable.” It was a quarter past two and because my day was empty and because it was Nicki, it was my pleasure to help out.

  She hesitated then said, “From this moment forward you’re just a football player to her, okay? She loves football. And princesses. She’s a diverse diva. Good luck.”

  Chapter 4

  Nicki

  My best friend Olivia was out of town so she couldn’t cover for the babysitter. I ran around the living room with the phone over my ear. “Yes, tonight from, like, three to six max? I live in the city. You said that’s like forty-five minutes from you? Damn it. Well, can I just pay you a little extra for the commute?
I really need a sitter--”

  “Mama, look!” Amelia, my daughter, called out to me and was pointing at the television. “Look at them. They all look so silly!” She burst into fits of laughter.

  “Yeah, baby, I see,” I said to her before returning my attention to my phone. I moved to the kitchen to make lunch for Amelia. “Okay, so as I was saying--hello? Hello?” The line responded with a flat beeeeep .

  “Mommy, can I have a cookie?” I looked down to see Amelia with a box of treats.

  “Not right now. Mommy’s making you lunch,” I said spreading peanut butter on a slice of bread. “You can have one after.”

  “But I want one now,” she pouted. “Please, mommy, please.”

  “Mommy’s gonna hop in the shower after making you this sandwich and then you can have a cookie,” I said. Then more to myself than her, “Hopefully mommy makes it to this meeting in time.”

  “Mama, just one cookie,” Amelia begged.

  There was a knock on the door calling my attention away. “Yes, you can, love,” I said pulling out one for her and setting the rest on the bar. I moved to the front of the door and saw Maddox standing before me.

  When realizing how much of a mess I looked, I attempted to brush down my hair which was surely all over the place. “What the hell are you doing here?” I questioned him.

  **********

  As grateful as I was to make a break for the shower once Maddox was inside, I couldn’t help but not be at ease. He was in my house. With my child. How did a one night stand end up so far? I shut off the water and stepped out, landing in front of the mirror. He was in my house. I opened the door to the restroom and peeked out seeing Amelia jumping on him, giddy with joy. I couldn’t help but watch with a smile.

  “You’re telling me that you’re the one on TV!” she exclaimed.

  “Yeah!” Maddox said with a laugh.

  “You’re lying!”

  “I’m not. Doesn’t that look like me?” Maddox pointed to an image on the screen.

  “That’s not you, silly! That guy has a helmet on and his eyes look brown.”

  “They look like that because the cameras are so far away, Amelia .”

  “Whatever, Maddox.”

  “Whatever?”

  “Uh huh! My mom loves that guy so it can’t be you.”

  “Number twenty?”

  “Uh huh. She calls him handsome and all sorts of things! She says his body is--”

  “Okay, hi!” I said stepping out of the bathroom and interjecting myself into their conversation.

  “Is everything okay here?”

  “Yeah, me and Amelia were just talking sports.” Maddox threw me a grin.

  “Maddox says he’s a football player and that that’s him on TV!” Amelia exclaimed incredulously. “Mom, is that true?”

  I hesitated for a beat. Agreeing to this would confirm that he was an athlete, sure, but it’d also put what Amelia said about me into perspective for him. I opened my mouth to say something when I notice Maddox’s eyes briefly moving away from my eyes and downward. The towel, I thought. After all that talk, here I was standing in front of him wet with my towel barely touching my mid-thigh. “I’m going to go get dressed. Please finish your lunch, Amelia.”

  “Okay, mommy!”

  **********

  “Thank you guys for coming together. I know things can be hard but the fact that both of you are here shows that you really care about Amelia.” The lawyer, Kathy, looked at both of us, me and Holden. Neither Amelia nor I had seen him in two years. The fact that he had the audacity to attempt to gain visitation rights was beyond me.

  “Last time we were here we discussed every other weekend,” Kathy said.

  “And to that I had said and I quote ‘hell, no,’” I replied with my arms crossed looking across the table at Holden. I could not believe that at one point I had loved him. The disservice I had done to my daughter by making him her father was done, so now I could only protect her by making sure he never had the chance to disappoint her again.

  “Nicki, I want to see my daughter,” he pleaded.

  “You didn’t want to when she was eleven months old calling for dada, Holden,” I spat.

  “Okay,” Kathy said acting as a barrier.

  “You haven’t had a stable job since, like, high school; you think bars are a Monday through Sunday sort of thing; and you missed our daughter’s birthday twice in a row. You barely made it to her actual birth. You remember that? Oh right, you were wasted!”

  “I am ten months sober,” he said to Kathy for the record. “And on top of that you have no right to judge me! Where was Amelia when you were sneaking around the city screwing some football player?”

  “Excuse me?” I questioned.

  “You heard me. You are so determined to prove me unfit, yet here you are slutting around in front of our daughter.”

  I jumped from my seat and had to be restrained by Kathy.

  “You are so out of line right now, Holden. You don’t do shit for your daughter.”

  “Settle down, you guys. Settle down!”

  “I’m fine, Kathy,” Holden said smugly. “Especially since I just got myself free weekends.”

  Chapter 5

  Maddox

  Nicki came back home in a mood but managed to hug and kiss her daughter before moving to the living room to greet me and Miranda. Mainly Miranda.

  “Hey, I am so sorry I barely got enough time to say ‘hi’ before springing this one on you,” she said chuckling. “How was she?”

  “Amazing,” Miranda replied beaming.

  Amelia jumped up next to her mom looking more like her than ever.

  “Thank you so much,” Nicki said to Miranda. “And thank you, Maddox.”

  I gave her a smile. We held each other’s gaze for a moment not wanting to pull away but being forced to with everything going on around us. “It was really nice to meet you, Nicki. I should probably get going though. We should get dinner one of these days. All of us.”

  “Oh,” Nicki exclaimed in astonishment. I turned to Miranda who was avoiding looking at me. I opened my mouth to excuse her comment when Nicki said, “I’d like that.”

  “Bring Amelia! We can all have some fun. Saturday night. What do you say?” Miranda added.

  “Mommy, please say yes,” Amelia pleaded.

  “Okay, Melly, I hear you,” Nicki said. Then, she turned to me, “I’ll see you Saturday.”

  **********

  I had wished that the first dinner we went on would just be me and Nicki, but I was content that she had agreed to this one at least. There was a certain pressure I felt to impress her. Everything had to be right, the food prepared, and absolutely no talk about my past. I wanted to be over it as much as I wanted Nicki to know I was all for her.

  “They’re here,” Miranda said from the table as the doorbell rung.

  “I’ll get it,” I said moving from my seat and toward the front door.

  When I opened it, there Nicki was with her daughter holding her hand. “Hi.” She greeted me with a smile.

  “Hi,” I said back taking in just how beautiful she looked in this light. “Come in. Hey, Amelia!”

  “Hi, Maddox!” she exclaimed.

  “Is that Amelia I hear?” Miranda said from the kitchen.

  “Miranda?” Amelia bolted for the kitchen leaving Nicki and I alone at the door.

  “I’m really glad you could make it,” I confessed.

  “Me too,” she said simply, a smile playing on her lips.

  We continued to the kitchen and found our seats. My mom greeted her and smiled. “This has to be Nicki,” she said, holding her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you formally.” Nicki beamed and then took her seat next to me.

  “Your daughter is precious,” my mom enlightened Nicki.

  “Thank you so much,” Nicki said with a smile from ear to ear.

  “She takes after her mother, so I wouldn’t expect anything less,” I added. She turned to me. I could se
e the light in her eyes as she admired me then turned away again.

  Dinner went by with Amelia being the star of the show. I could just sit there watching as Nicki spoke, eyes brightening as she went on about the topic at the table. She’d turn to me on occasion as she did so, her hair bouncing around her face, her lips plump and pink. I swear I fell in love with her right then.