Today was about tradition. Team bonding. Pride of membership.
Today was about bringing in a group of fifty-three men and turning them into a unit.
Today was the day we took our annual trip to Walmart.
I know. I sounded like a lunatic. But there was truth in each and every one of my words, no matter how mismatched they seemed together.
Three years ago, when Sean had been drafted to the Mavericks and become a staple in my life, we’d invented this ritual. Every year, as the structure of the National Football League rarely changed with any real significance, the order of our schedule became more and more predictable. We had an idea of when we’d have practices, when we’d be expected to do endorsement deals, when we’d have team photos and film to shoot, and when we’d be traveling and confined to team rules. But every year, in the week before the first preseason game of the year, there was always one day that managed to prevail, one day that saved itself for tomfoolery and hijinks—one day that had birthed an institution.
The Twenty-Five Dollar Challenge.
Fifty-three men. One Walmart. Twenty-five dollars. And ten minutes to make the best fucking outfit you could manage. The crazier, the better, everyone ran around like a bunch of kids, trying to find the unicorn among the mundane. I’d managed a Minion onesie last year with a pair of sparkling pink flip-flops, but I’d still tasted defeat.
Sean, the fucker, had won the game the last two years running, so I’d spent the off-season contemplating a new judging system. AKA, creating one, since before, one didn’t exist. Usually, the team just fell into pandemonium until someone declared themselves the winner and the team accepted it or not.
Of course, I’d come up with nothing but shit, because there was no one to choose who could be an impartial authority, but when I’d woken up with Catharine this morning, the answer had come sweeping in.
Get ready, boys. There’s a new judge in town.
Luckily, after we’d caused a near-riot last year, the Edison Walmart had finally learned to plan for our arrival, coordinating it with my assistant and shutting down the store. No one got in while we were in the heat of battle, and the security was tight as Catharine and I slipped seamlessly in the back door.
It made the process much more enjoyable, not worrying about who was watching or what might get posted to some tabloid site, but after all was said and done, we did a three-hour meet-and-greet with the fans. Unlike on game day, everybody won.
“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?” Cat asked apprehensively. I’d explained the game in the car on the way over, and once she knew it was an actual “official” team activity, she’d started to question having a role in the whole thing.
“I told you, baby. I have a job for you. No one will mind that you’re there, I promise.”
She nodded as I pulled her along the back hallway toward the aisles in the rear of the store where I knew the guys would be gathered. Starting in the automotive section, we’d decided last year, made sure no one had an unfair timing advantage.
It was a weird sight, finding so many giant humans among car oil, air filters, and batteries, but it definitely wasn’t a bad one. I loved when we were all together—especially doing stupid shit like this. It gave me an excuse to act a little bit like an overgrown kid.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted with a smile as we came to a stop just outside of their grouping. Catharine’s body melded to the back of mine, trying to stay out of sight.
Honestly, it worked pretty well for her, she was so much smaller than I was, until a peek of her feminine hand crept around the side of my body to clench the material of my shirt.
Cam Mitchell, one of the most observant of the group, noticed first, his eyebrows popping to his hairline. “You got a stowaway you want to tell us about, QB?”
Catharine’s squeak was chipmunk-worthy as I pulled her out from behind me with one swift hand.
“Guys, this is Cat. Cat, these are the guys.” With wide eyes and a circular wave, Catharine almost peed her pants when fifty-three guys said hello all at once.
“Holy shit,” she whispered quietly, but those of us closest to her heard her almost perfectly. We smiled.
“Wow,” she murmured then, and I nudged her gently with my body.
“Don’t swoon, baby,” I said with a laugh. “You’re already taken.”
She looked at me then, mischief in her eyes. “Yeah, but they’re pretty.”
I bit my lip, my eyebrows pulling down to my nose, and challenged, “So am I.”
If struggling dancers couldn’t find jobs doing backup for the newest music act, I was certain they’d be able to find work in her eyes.
“Yeah,” she agreed finally. “You are.”
Cam’s throat rattled loudly as he cleared it to get our attention. “Easy on the romance, QB. Unless you brought us companions and you’re hiding them in the back.”
Sean’s ears perked up like a fucking puppy. “You have women?”
“No,” I denied, dashing his dreams instantly. His face fell, and Catharine let out a giggle beside me. “Sorry, buddy,” I apologized. “But I brought an impartial judge.”
Sean’s and Cam’s eyes jumped to Cat and narrowed. Cam was the first to burst out laughing. “Impartial, my ass.”
“Don’t worry,” I assured. “Cat’s got an evil spot really deep inside her. She’ll probably blackball me from the win just for the hell of it.”
Cat nodded beside me gleefully.
God, I’d never seen her smile that big, her eyes that uninhibited. My heart dropped in my chest, falling a little farther into a pit with walls it wouldn’t be able to scale.
“Plus, if she does, by some miracle, pick me as the winner, the team will have to vote to confirm, majority rule.”
Sean’s smile was indulgent. “I see you’ve thought this through, bro.”
“Your streak is coming to an end,” I taunted. Sean, embodying one of Missy Elliott’s best hits, took his jazz hands, flipped them, and reversed them, wiggling his fingers in a response of Come and get me.
Half an hour later, after going over the rules and regulations with all the new guys on the team, we took off into the store at the sound of the whistle.
Cat had abandoned me, claiming she’d be providing me with an unfair advantage if she tried to help at all, and headed off in another direction.
Tunnel vision in place, I’d scoured the children’s costume section, looking for a tiara, before heading to the long underwear.
If I had a prayer of getting Cat to choose me, I’d have to make sure my dick was visible through my pants.
At seven dollars a pop, I chose a pair in a dusty rose color, about twenty sizes too small, and did my best to hoist them up to my waist. A quick glance down told me everything I needed to know. The twig and berries were definitely on display.
Sean yelled as he ran by, a quick, “Suck it,” to keep the spirit of our rivalry alive, and then he was off to parts unknown.
“One minute!” Cat called over the bullhorn, making me realize I’d yet to grab a shirt.
Knowing I didn’t really have the time to scout one, I headed back for her without. I’d automatically be disqualified for failing to buy an entire ensemble, but if I were really sweet, maybe Cat would console me by sneaking away to have sex in the bathroom when all the judging was done.
“I can’t believe Sean won again!” I complained, dragging Cat in a very strategic direction as I did.
She came along without protest. “He had the best outfit! I’m sorry, but he looked just like fucking Katniss.”
“I’m going to have to invest in training for these guys if any of us ever has any chance of beating him.”
She shrugged. “Either that or get him kicked off the team.”
I barked a laugh, loud and riotous at her callousness. “Wow, kitten. That’s cold.”
She smiled unabashedly, and I pushed her against a shelf, well away from the guys, to put my lips to hers.
Her sigh, expelled directly into my mouth, tasted like contentment.
“Good day?” I asked her, nipping at her bottom lip while she smiled.
“Definitely.”
“You sure you want don’t want to come out to the meet-and-greet with me? I hate the idea of leaving you alone to do nothing.”
She shook her head. “I think seeing my face inside an US Weekly was enough attention for the day.”
My heart spasmed inside my chest. I still felt bad for how that went down. I should’ve answered my phone when Nathan had called this morning, but God, Nathan always called. Every fucking morning. His persistence wasn’t out of the ordinary.
I was just thankful Cat’s first dose of media attention—because let’s face it, there would be more now, she was my girlfriend—had been, if anything, a positive one.
Quinn Bailey’s New Lady Love, the headline had read, and inside were a few candid photos of Cat and me from when I’d last picked her up at the airport.
If nothing else, the pictures were fucking cute.
And, Cat? Well, she’d looked beautiful. But that was no surprise; she always looked beautiful.
But I didn’t underestimate how that probably felt for her, seeing herself in a gossip magazine. I knew it was a lot for anyone to process, and all I could do was give her the time she needed to do it. And most importantly, reassure her that she had nothing to worry about.
I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly to my chest. “The meet-and-greet shouldn’t take too long.”
“I’ll be fine, Quinn,” she said and leaned back to look into my eyes. “I’ll sketch. That’s why you brought me paper and pencils, isn’t it?” she asked. My chest tightened, overcome by how good the affection in her voice over that seriously simple task sounded.
I nodded. “Okay.”
She touched my lips with her thumbs, smoothing them from the center out to the sides. “You’re really something, Quinn Bailey.”
An irrational urge to keep her in my pocket all the time made me blurt out my next request. “Our first preseason game is this weekend in Pittsburgh. I know it’s sports…” I stuck out my tongue, and she laughed. “And I know they’re not your thing. But maybe, just maybe, you’d make an exception if it meant getting to watch me play?”
Her frown took over her entire face, even turning her eyes down at the corners, and disappointment bled out of me through an imaginary wound.
“I want to,” she assured me quickly. It was pretty clear I’d known what she was going to say. “It’s just, I have work. I’m still too new to take any official time off, and I don’t know anyone but Nikki and Casey to switch with. And they’re already working the flight with me.”
If I was disappointed, she seemed devastated. Perversely, that was enough to make me feel better. Wanting to be flesh-to-flesh, I joined our lips and ran my tongue along the seam with a barely there touch. An apology and acceptance all at once.
“It’s okay, kitten.” I brought her hand up between us, splaying it on my heart so she could feel the way she made it race. “You and me? We’re gonna last.”
I smirked, kissed the corner of her mouth, and fell a little deeper. “You’ll have plenty of chances to come watch something you have absolutely no interest in. I promise you that.”