Turn Over:A Secret Baby Sports Romance(5)

I shook my head. "Not right now," I shouted over the music.

The Austin Symphony played on the second level of the hospital. The loud  sounds of the cello and violins fell over the balcony, dropping on the  guests like rain. This wasn't my kind of scene. I was much happier in a  pair of broken-in jeans, T-shirt, and holding a beer in my hand.

If things played out the way I thought they would, Mrs. Crawford would  give me the fix I needed tonight. She had the potential to make me  forget the stuffy band. The pretentious crowd. The disappointed looks on  the donors' faces as I walked by.

I returned to the couple and handed Vienna her drink. She ran her teeth over her bottom lip. "Thank you, Luke."

"Sure thing." I wasn't known for being a gentleman, but I did know what  women liked. I doubted tonight was going to change that reputation.  Especially when I fucked Bob Crawford's wife.

She placed a hand on my forearm. "You know I watch every single game. Bob and I have a box at the stadium."

"That's right," Bob added. "It was my daddy's. We're there every home game. Hoping for some playoff games this season, son."

I hated when people called me son. It was one of those cocky Texas  phrases that seemed like it was endearing, but I knew it was damn  condescending.

"That's the plan, sir." I stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"It's been a while since we've had any luck in the playoffs," he reminded me.

I didn't like where this conversation was headed. "New season. New team." It was my standard answer.         

     



 

"And the game against the Wranglers?" he prodded.

"You know sir, we don't get sucked into that rivalry BS." It was a lie I  told repeatedly. We hated that team. The in-state league rivalry fueled  hatred between the San Antonio Wranglers and us every season.  Conversations like this didn't help.

Bob slapped me on the back again. The bastard was staring to annoy the  piss out of me. I saw the signs for the silent auction, pointing down  the hall and away from the Crawfords. I'd have to make my way back to  Vienna later in the night.

"If you'll excuse me. I've got to make some bids. Want to make my  contributions for the kids. Nice meeting you folks." I nodded at them  and strolled away toward the room with the auction items.

I started at one end of the long room and pretended to scan over the  donated items. Each one started with a minimum bid of a thousand  dollars. There were golf packages. Trips to Maui. I saw a signed print  of the Warriors and walked past it. It was more up-to-date than the one  in Applewhite's office.

I scribbled my name on a set of golf clubs. I looked around for  something else. Coach said I needed to win some of the higher dollar  pieces to draw attention to my generosity. The whole thing was bullshit.  Tomorrow morning I'd have to tell that dick Charlie how much I paid  out.

I moved to the next table. There was a diamond ring. Too small for the  Crawfords, I thought. There were fur coats. I saw a trip for two to  Greece. I sure as hell wasn't bidding on that.

"Oh, are you bidding on the horses?" a smooth voice spoke next to me.

I turned to see who was watching me. She was cute, but dangerous. I  could tell from the deep V-cut of her dress. It dipped all the way to  her navel, revealing creamy white skin.

"Just looking," I answered. My eyes locked on her stomach.

"I love to ride." She picked up the pamphlet on the stables. "Really ride." She grinned.

Fuck. Did Coach know this was going to happen? Was this some kind of  personal hell he had put me in to test me? The bartender. The hot as  shit wife. And now this little sex kitten talking about riding. My cock  twitched.

I took a deep breath. "I'm from Texas. We all know how to ride horses." I  bent down to add my name to the list. I didn't know what I would do  with a pair of pedigree horses, but I wasn't going to walk away. The  woman was basically purring on me, coaxing me to place a bid.

"So, if you win the horses, you'll take me for a riding lesson?" Her red lips curled in a smile.

"I thought you already knew how to ride." I straightened my shoulders. She was making this hard.

She picked up the pen from the auction clipboard, tore off a corner of  the list, and scribbled her phone number on the scrap of paper.

"If you win, call me. You might teach me something new." She handed me  her number and sashayed away, showing me how deliciously curvy her ass  was.

I held my spot in front of the horse display, willing myself not to  chase after her. Women were falling from the sky tonight. Coach thought  he was sending me somewhere safe, but he might as well have sent me  straight to a strip club.

What I needed was a fucking drink.

I added my name to a few more of the lists before the lights started to  flicker in the auction room. An announcer piped in over the loud  speakers, "Ladies and gentleman, if you'd please finalize your bids and  move to the main lobby. The concert will begin in five minutes."

I had forgotten about the concert. Lexi Wilde was performing tonight.  I'd listen to the first few songs and then call my driver. I didn't need  to stick around until the end of the show.

She wasn't my kind of music. All she sang about was falling in love,  family, and living out dreams. I knew who she was because she was on  every single Texas country station. She was interviewed every night. You  couldn't get away from the girl. Her bright blue eyes and innocent  smile were plastered on magazine covers and billboards.

I followed the crowd to the lobby where the mayor of Austin was prepared  to cut the ribbon for the opening of the hospital. At least the damn  symphony had stopped. I looked up to see long black curtains draped over  the side with LW interlaced in white.         

     



 

I listened to the mayor's speech, while the people around me bobbed  their heads in agreement. I posed for a few pictures with fans and then  skirted my way to the front. I stepped off to the side. I figured the  closer I was to the star, the less likely I was to be the center of  attention.

The lights dimmed and I rolled my eyes as the tuxedo and sequin-clad  audience clapped as if we were at a golf tournament. This party couldn't  be duller. I was sober. I had paid a fortune for crap I was never going  to use, and I'd lost sight of Vienna Crawford. She probably had to  leave early to get her husband tucked in bed.

I pulled my phone out to message the driver as the lights went out. I  looked up as the spotlight made a bright white circle at the back of the  stage.

It was all theatrics. Even in a small space like this, I could see the  way it was choreographed. How Lexi would emerge and the fans would fall  at her feet. Shit, there wasn't much difference between this and running  out of the tunnel on the Warriors' field. The lights. The smoke. The  intro music.

I saw this every week. The way the guys huddled together in the tunnel. The way the crowd roared before we took the field.

I felt my chest tighten for a second. I didn't want to be anybody's damn  circus clown. This entire production reminded me that was exactly what I  was. The Warriors were turning me into their own pop princess and I  wasn't going to play their game.

I turned to leave. I didn't give a shit if Coach was mad I didn't stay  until the end. I had done enough for one night. I shoved my phone in my  pocket just as the drums crescendoed and then there was silence, except  for one clear note. One piercing note that ricocheted off the walls, and  made everyone stare at the stage.

I stopped in my tracks and looked over my shoulder. The spotlight  blurred her into a blaze of white, but slowly the lights evaporated like  the smoke, and standing on stage was Lexi Wilde.

I didn't know when it happened, but I pivoted and pushed past the people  in front of me, taking my post on the side of the crowd again. I could  see over everyone. One of the advantages of being six five.

And what I saw was like white fire. I couldn't look away. I'd probably  heard this song before. I'd heard all her songs, but I always turned the  station. I didn't know what she was singing about, or what the lyrics  meant. But there was something in her voice. A pureness I heard without  the instruments drowning her out. Without all the electronic  manipulation.

And as stupid as it sounds, I thought I saw her look at me from the  stage. She smiled with big innocent eyes as she leaned down to touch the  hands of the kids they had lined up in the front row. But it was there.  A look. Maybe a wink. Her sapphire eyes were shining in my direction.

She held the mic, walking down the stairs and made her rounds through  the children. She stopped for hugs. She stopped to take selfies, the  entire time singing her song, not missing a single solid beat.

I watched as she took the steps again and stood at the front of the stage. "Hello, Austin." She waved.

The crowd clapped and I heard the kids making whooping sounds for her.

"Thank y'all for inviting me here tonight." She grinned at the front  row. "Because this is a special occasion. And I'm honored and blessed to  be here with you to open the children's wing of Austin's Westwood  Hospital." She knew when to pause for the applause. "So, tonight this is  a celebration. It's a night to feel good about what we've done for  these children, and for all of the children who are going to walk  through those doors." She pointed behind the crowd.