Chapter Nine

“That’s...a lot of people.” Mia gaped at the crowd of fans and alumni pushing past the entrance gates at Rebel Field as soon as they opened.

“Crazy, isn’t it? It’s always nuts like this when we play Cameron. Hometown rivals and all that jazz.” Ally leaned on the concession stand counter with her chin propped on her hands. Her long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, reminiscent of the ones she’d always worn with her cheerleading uniform. “If I recall correctly, football wasn’t really your thing, was it? I don’t remember seeing you at games.”

Would she have, even if Mia had gone? Probably not. As timid and as uncomfortable as Mia had been during those years of her life, no one saw her, even when she stood right in front of them.

“Actually, I’ve always loved football.” Probably because Reed had played and, well, once upon a time, she’d loved everything about him.

Ally tipped her face toward Mia and smiled. “Did you follow his almost NFL career?”

She hesitated for a moment but figured the truth was only a small concession, considering the more recent developments between her and Reed. “I did. Felt a little like I’d lived vicariously through him.”

“Ah, I think we all did.” Ally glanced back to the field where the refs and a few of the team managers milled out. The players and coaching staff were still in the locker rooms, getting themselves pumped up for the game. “I know it killed him not to be able to live that dream out in its entirety, but he seems to be okay with how everything turned out. I think coaching helps.”

Reed had told Mia as much in Omaha, and she agreed—if he was holding on to any disappointment or resentment about the way his football career had ended, he hid it well.

“Anyway, how’s your dad doing today? Gladys said she wanted to visit, but wasn’t sure if he’d be up for company yet.”

Mia shrugged. “He’s holding his own. Impatient as always, which I suppose is a good thing.”

Ally nodded. “Can I ask you something personal, Mia? It’s been bothering me since you came back to River Bend and maybe it’s not any of my business, but—”

“Just ask. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t.” She gave a small smile even though her stomach clenched with curiosity. And nerves. Please don’t ask if I’ve slept with Reed.

“You’ve avoided River Bend for a really long time. I’m curious why.”

Oh, that. Well...

“I’d like to think you were off doing really amazing shit, but I have a feeling the truth isn’t as glitzy or glamorous.”

Definitely not. “Honestly?”

Ally wet her lips and gave a quick nod. “I can handle it.”

But could Mia?

She glanced away from the pretty redhead and, once again, took in the scene before her. The stands beginning to fill with fans, the opposing football team now stretching out on the field...the memories that weren’t actually memories of this place and nights like this, because she’d done her best to avoid them at all costs. What she did remember was locking herself in her bedroom so she could daydream about what it would feel like to be part of the ‘in’ crowd. The one that Reed ran so naturally in, that Ally and her friends seemed to rule.

“I let a lot of stuff get to me when we were kids. It was hard to forget,” she admitted quietly. “Even when I grew up and knew better.”

“I’m so sorry.” Soft emotion laced Ally’s voice as she reached for Mia’s hand. “You didn’t deserve any of the shit we put you through.”

“I know.” She tried a small, albeit shaky, smile. “But what’s that quote? No one can make you feel shitty without your permission? Yeah. That was pretty much me. I’d like to say I outgrew it completely, but...” Then Ben happened.

“Go on. Say it.” Ally tugged gently at Mia’s hand.

“I got into a bad relationship.”

“Oh, God.” Ally’s brow creased as she bit her bottom lip between her teeth. “Was he abusive?”

Mia shook her head. “Not physically. But he was a master manipulator. And a cheater.” And it had taken her far too long to do what she knew was right and cut him loose. She hated that she’d been so weak and unsure of herself. That she’d let him make her feel that way...

“Men like that deserve erectile dysfunction,” Ally said with such conviction that Mia laughed.

“That would absolutely serve Ben Montgomery right.” And all of his cute little side chicks, too. “Looks like we’re about to get really busy.” She nodded toward the group of teenagers headed toward the concession stand.

“And once it begins, it doesn’t end. I hope you’re ready.” Ally grinned while Mia pulled her hair back.

“Let’s do this.”

* * *

“Re-bels, Re-bels, Re-bels!”

Led by the cheerleading squad, the hometown crowd chanted the team name over and over again as everyone piled onto the field to congratulate the boys on their hard-fought, 28-26 win.

Reed extended a sticky, Gatorade drenched to Ty, who’d scored two touchdowns and had run his ass off, moving the ball down the field. “Damn near perfect out there tonight, man.”

Ty’s red, perspiration slicked face split into a wide grin beneath a mess of damp, blond hair. “Thanks, Coach.”

“Not sure if you noticed, but there are two gentlemen in red jackets talking to your parents.” Reed tipped his head toward the couple standing, arm in arm, a few feet away. “They’re from the University of Nebraska.”

The kid’s jaw slacked open and his eyes went wide. “You didn’t tell us there’d be scouts here tonight.”

“Nope. Wanted your head in the game, not the stands.” He reached up and clapped Ty on the shoulder. “Get over there and see what they have to say.”

Ty hurried off toward his parents and the scouts, and Reed swung a glance back to the rest of the team. Donnie stood on the outskirts of the crowd, his head hung while his father loomed above him with a red face and impassioned hands.   

Hell, the kid had played a great game. What was the judge’s problem?

Reed sauntered over and slung an arm around the quarterback’s shoulders, pulling him away from his father’s apparent frustration. “One hell of a game tonight, Don.”

Donnie’s heavy gaze remained stuck to his grass-stained cleats, even as Judge Parker cleared his throat and seemed to, at least momentarily, change his tune.

“Damn right, it was. Best one so far this year.” The man’s scowl transformed into a too-easy grin that didn’t sit well in Reed’s gut. What the hell was going on with these two?

“That pass to Ty in the third quarter...” He ruffled Donnie’s sweaty head. “That was something else.”

Donnie cast a pair of narrowed eyes toward Ty and the scouts and mumbled, “Turned out better for him than it did me.”

Ah, so the scouts—or lack thereof—were the source of the Parker family tension tonight?

“Don’t let them get you down. Besides, last we talked, you wanted to trade shades of orange and go to Clemson.”

Judge Parker’s smile tightened. “Nebraska would be a hell of a lot cheaper.”

“Won’t matter when our boy here is recruited and lands a full scholarship.” Reed jostled Donnie again, but the kid quickly dodged the gesture, a strange, almost panicked look in his eyes.

“I, uh, need to hit the shower,” he blurted out, taking big, rushed steps backward, his helmet dangling from his fingers.

Wait, what?

Reed watched his star player take off at a jog for the locker room while the rest of the team still celebrated on the field with their families and friends.

“What am I missing here?” he asked Judge Parker, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

“Nothing we can’t figure out at home, Coach.”

“If what you’re dealing with isn’t related to football, yeah, but I don’t think that’s the case, is it?” He pinned the man with a hard stare. “What aren’t either of you telling me?”

“I already told you, Reed—I’ve got this.” The judge’s jaw clenched tight, his obstinance pissing Reed right the fuck off.

His players were like family. Little brothers, though as an only child, Reed could only assume how those kinds of relationships actually went.

He opened his mouth to tell the man he was full of shit despite his title and the gavel he swung, but Zach’s massive shoulder plowed into Reed’s side before he could a word out.

A word other than fuck, anyway.

“The hell, dude!” He laughed as his senior linebacker lifted him off the ground with a lively roar. “The Gatorade bath wasn’t enough?

The big kid gave him a hearty shake before he dropped him back down to his feet. “We owned that ball tonight. Freaking owned it!”

“Of course, we did. We’re Rebels, Z-man!” Reed clapped the linebacker on the back and quickly found himself pulled into a celebratory conversation with Zack’s folks and a hoard of other parents and fans, who bragged the team up one side of the field and down the other. By the time Reed had a moment to remember that he’d been about to demand the truth from Judge Parker, the man was long gone. And Donnie never returned to the field.

Damn it, he needed to get to the bottom of this. Maybe it truly wasn’t his business, but his gut told him otherwise and his instincts were usually laser-sharp.

“Free food at the concession stand!” one of the players hollered above the remaining crowd, and Reed’s stomach immediately growled.

A burger topped with Jose’s special jalapeno relish sounded amazing, but seeing Mia? Even better.

* * *

“Come out with me tonight.”

Mia glanced down when Reed’s fingers slid around her wrist, tugging gently. He took a step closer as if touching her hadn’t made it difficult enough to breathe. “I can’t. I open the diner tomorrow morning.”

“So?” He tipped his head to the side and cast those dark, mischievous eyes down on her. “Homecoming only comes once a year.”

“Thank God for that!” She took a step back to put some space between them, but he held on tight.

“Come on, M. You’re too old for this nervous, schoolgirl act.”

Of course, she was, but knowing that didn’t change the uneasiness in her gut. All of her memories involving Homecoming in River Bend were emotional ones. Lonely ones. Humiliating ones.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said quietly, his thumb stroking back and forth across the fine bone on the side of her hand.

“I don’t think you do.”

“No? You’re not freaking out over seeing old classmates? Wondering if they’ll be the same assholes they were back then?”

Ugh.

“Look how different Ally is now,” he continued on. “I guarantee she’s not the only one who’s changed for the better.”

“It’s not that—”

“Yes, it is, M. I know you.”

She blew out a breath as a jacked up truck sped by, honking the horn. A couple of wet-haired boys in button downs and ball caps stuck their heads out the windows and waved eagerly at Reed. He gave them a ‘I’m watching you’ gesture before he turned a soft smile back on her.

“You’re letting old insecurities get in the way of having fun, and I can’t let that happen anymore. I was too selfish and stupid to do anything about it when we were kids, but I’m not that guy anymore.” He brought their entangled hands to his mouth for a sweet kiss. “You’re also not that girl. Let me prove that to you tonight.”

A silly, greedy, little part of Mia wanted to jump up and throw her arms around his neck. A more conservative, cautious part held her back. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to prove to me that you’re different?”

He tipped his head to the side and those dark eyes sparkled playfully beneath the moonlight. “You want me to answer that truthfully?”

Given his flirty expression, probably not. Her life was too complicated right now to get messed up with him again like she had in December. And what if he really was seeing someone out of town? No. Just...no.

“I can damn near hear the wheels turning,” he teased, sidling closer once again, this time until his free hand could settle comfortably on her hip. Too comfortably. Definitely too nice.

“We can’t do this,” she blurted out, though the memory of how good they’d been together was right there, almost palpable with him standing so close.

“We’re not doing anything more than we’ve ever done, M.” His full, sensuous lips curled into a feral grin and her toes literally curled into the bottom of her knee boots while she prayed for her knees to stay strong.

“Look,” she began, nervously scraping her teeth along her bottom lip. “I’m never going to say that what happened in December was a mistake, bu—”

“Damn straight it wasn’t a mistake.” His growl was sexy in that caveman sort of way. So was the possessive bump of his pelvis into hers.

A shaky smile twitched at her lips as she took a big step back. “But we can’t do it again. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Why not?” The frustrated crease between his eyebrows matched the growl and thrust. God, it wasn’t fair that he’d want her now, after all this time, when she’d spent so many years hoping for that very thing. But life was different then. She was different.

“We did what we did and we don’t hate each other. There’s no guarantee we’d be so lucky a second time, and, call me selfish, but I can’t afford to lose your friendship right now.” She didn’t have many friends to begin with and the ones she did have were back in Omaha, not in River Bend, where she’d spend the next few weeks, if not months.

Reed’s jaw tensed as his gaze swept over her face. “We can’t be both? Friends and lovers?”

The sound of his lips and tongue forming that one, deliberate word sent shivers zipping down her spine, and her body warmed in places that had no business in this conversation.

“Reed,” she breathed, one hand naturally lifting to rest against his chest. His heart beat slow and steady beneath her palm while his body heat seeped into her skin, making it impossible for her to pull back like she knew she should. He felt too good.

He dropped his chin and his eyes locked on her hand, splayed over the front of his River Bend Rebels jacket. His throat worked as he swallowed. “One drink.”

Don’t do it, her subconscious warned. Don’t give in because you won’t be able to stop. Not with one drink and not with one night, either.

“Fine. But nothing more.” The agreement seemed to come of its own accord, because even as the words left her mouth, Mia knew better. Reed had always held a certain enigmatic power over her, and no amount of time spent apart seemed to matter.

She still wanted him.

“Okay.” She gave a single nod and removed her hand from his chest, but he grabbed it before she could completely pull away.

His lips brushed softly over her knuckles as he lifted it to his mouth. “I’ll make it your best Homecoming yet.”