The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (93 page)

“Thanks, man,” Xander shakes Evan’s hand.  “You let me know if pretty boy here ever gives you a hard time and I’ll straighten his ass out,” he tells me.  Xander speaks slowly and deliberately which could be taken as menacing, but if he’s a friend of Adam and Evan, then I know he must be a good guy.

“Hey, Mac, you wanna come watch the MLB All Star Game at my place next week?” Xander asks Evan.  The three of them start discussing baseball stats, and I know right away that it’s best for me to leave the conversation.  I have enough trouble trying to keep up with football jargon.  I don’t need to add learning baseball lingo to my to-do list.

Marcus joins the conversation, and I see a glazed look in Camilla’s eyes.  She hasn’t left Marcus’ side yet, so I grab her by the elbow and lead her away.  “Thanks, Jette,” Camilla smiles.  “I can hold my own with the best of them when it comes to football.  But baseball?  They’re just going to sit around and see who can out match the other with stats and scores.  I never understood how men could memorize every player’s batting average, but can’t remember to take out the garbage once a week.” 

“I know what you mean,” I commiserate with Camilla.  “The day I moved in, Evan forgot how to do laundry.  When I met him, he had clean clothes, so he definitely knows how to operate a washing machine.”  It’s funny now that I think about it, how easily we both fell into typical male-female roles.  Although Evan loves to grill, he leaves most of the cooking and cleaning to me.  He prefers to do the repair and general maintenance jobs around the house.

I lead Camilla to the ladies’ table where we pull up chairs to join the small group.  After introductions are made, I try to get to know a little more about some of the women I’ll be spending time with.  The girls ask why I wasn’t at the ESPYs, and I explain to them about Auggie’s accident and recovery.  They tell me about all the behind-the-scenes things that I missed like celebrity sightings and the gift bags.

I listen raptly as they itemize the treats in this year’s goodie bags.  Gift cards for airline tickets, gym memberships, cameras, sunglasses and other expensive trinkets top the list.  I know Evan gave all those things to Callie and I cannot blame him.  He can afford to buy those things if he wants them and besides, we were broken up at the time, so there was no real reason for him to give them to me.  I probably wouldn’t have accepted them anyway.

“So Callie,” one of the girlfriends asks, “When are you using your Hawaii tickets?  Don’t go during the Fall, it’s the rainy season.”

One of the wives adds, “And definitely don’t go during the winter.  Everything costs more because people are leaving the cold and snow to find warm weather.  Spring’s the best.”

I had no idea Callie had plans for Hawaii.  “I didn’t know you were planning a trip.  That’s so great,” I tell her.

“The tickets were in the gift bag, Juliette.  I’m surprised Evan didn’t tell you.  I tried to give them back to him, but he wouldn’t take them,” she explains.

“No way.  They’re yours.  You two deserve to go away on a romantic vacation.  Don’t you have a big anniversary coming up?” I ask.

Callie nods, “This February will be our ten year anniversary.  Maybe we’ll go then.  Football season will be over, maybe you and Evan can come, too.”

“Yeah, maybe.”  I turn to Camilla, “Speaking of wedding anniversaries, where are you going on your honeymoon?”

Her entire face lights up when she talks about her upcoming wedding.  The big day is in two months and the countdown has officially begun.  Anthony and his fianceé Brianna are planning a wedding, too.  The girls exchange ideas and phone numbers.  While they discuss caterers and bands, I lean in closely for a private conversation with Carlo’s wife, Willow.

“So Willow, I wondering about something.  Does the trainer give Carlo any kind of special vitamins and minerals?”  Maybe I can do a little digging for information.

“Yeah, he does.  Carlo takes B-Vitamins, Antioxidants, Calcium, Zinc and Iron.  The trainer takes care of all of that.  He tried to get me to take some, too, but I don’t think it’s necessary,” she explains.

“Do all the guys take supplements?”  I hate to whittle information from a friend, but I don’t know any other way to get the information I need.  I still want to know who is responsible for feeding Evan steroids.

“Oh, yeah.  It’s pretty common.  Carlo’s been taking them for as long as I’ve known him.”  Willow is very open with her answers.  I don’t think she suspects anything out of the ordinary.

“Can’t some B-Vitamins cause a false positive on drug screening?  Evan is so cautious about taking anything that could affect his drug tests.  He won’t even eat a bagel or a roll if it has poppy seeds.  He heard it can show up as an opiate, so now he avoids anything with poppy seeds in it at all.” 

“Gee, I don’t know.  Carlo never said anything about it.  He gets tested a lot, too.  As far as I know, he’s never had a false positive.  I’ll have to mention it to him.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s necessary.  Why give him one more thing to worry about?  Evan does enough worrying for all of them.”  I lean in a little closer and whisper, “I think he’s a little obsessive about his health, especially after his injury.  Don’t say anything.  Okay?”

Willow tilts her head to the side and nods sympathetically, “Oh, Juliette, Evan’s doing so well, sometimes I forget how bad his injury was.  Don’t worry, I won’t say a thing.”

Well, that was a mixed bag.  Now I know that the trainer routinely gives vitamins to all the players, so there is ample opportunity for him to slip in something that shouldn’t be there.  But on the other hand, the players all seem to trust him.

Troy’s wife, Delaney, moves her chair closer to us and joins the conversation.  “Listen, girls.  I don’t want to ruin the night, but I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch of photographers out there waiting on the sidewalk.  Do you think we should tell the guys?” she asks, tilting her chin towards the large picture window in the front of the restaurant.

“No, just ignore them.  It happens a lot when Evan goes out in public.  I’m starting to get used to it,” I tell them.

“Well, you’re stronger than me,” Delaney admits.  “Evan’s in the news a lot. I’m not even sure if the press knows how to spell Troy’s name,” she snorts.  “If that’s not bad enough, Evan also has women all over him, following him around.  I don’t know how you deal with it.”

“I have my moments, but basically it comes down to trust.  We’ve been through a lot together and I learned to have faith in him.”

I scan the room, looking for Evan, and of the corner of my eye, I notice Derek setting up a row of shots along the bar for Evan and his buddies.  The bar was supposed to stay open for paying guests, but that plan has long gone out the window.  “If they keep that up, they’re going to get wasted.” Callie notices the same thing I do.

I turn to Jocelyn, Xander’s girlfriend and ask, “I hope you two aren’t driving home tonight.”  I don’t know where they live, but I know it’s nowhere nearby.

“Oh, no.  We’re staying just around the corner at the Berkeley.  Our cars are there.  Adam arranged for car service back and forth from the hotel to here.”

“Wow.  Adam really does think of everything, doesn’t he?”

“He does.  We’ve had player’s liaisons before, but none as good as Adam.  He’s helped us find drivers, make dinner reservations, and even hook us up with doctors who make house calls.”

“House calls?  Really.  I didn’t think they did that anymore.” 

“Me either.  A few weeks ago, Xander got really sick, but he didn’t want the coach to know.  He was coughing so hard, I thought he was going to cough up a lung.  But he kept going to practice every day.  I told him if he didn’t slow down, he was going to get pneumonia.  Adam found someone to come to the house and prescribe something that would clear up his lungs in about three days.  And it worked, too.  Xander’s never missed a practice, yet.”

“That’s great.  Do you know what he prescribed?” I ask.

“Yeah, it was something like Prednocone or Rednizone or something like that.”

“Was it Prednisone?”  Jocelyn nods her head.  “That’s a steroid, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and Xander was worried about that.  Adam told him not to worry about the random blood testing.  Lucky for him, Adam was right, and he still hasn’t been tested.  But just to be safe, he keeps a copy of the prescription so he has documentation.  I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about it, so please don’t tell Evan.”

“Don’t worry, Jocelyn,” I tell her.  “Your secret is safe with me.”

I’m startled when a pair of strong arms wrap around my middle and a familiar voice whispers in my ear, “So, what kind of secrets are we discussing, may I ask.”

It’s Evan and he’s in a playful mood.  “Jocelyn and I were just talking about what a great job Adam’s doing.  I was just about to go check on the food.  It looks like you and your friends need something in your stomach besides alcohol.” 

Evan sweeps the hair off my neck and trails sweet kisses under my ear, giving me goose bumps.  “Don’t be long,” he hums in my ear, teasing my earlobe with a playful flick of his tongue.  I peel myself away from him and head straight for the kitchen, leaving Evan to entertain our female guests.

I take a deep breath before entering the kitchen.  Did Jocelyn just confess to me that Adam helped them acquire steroids and avoid drug testing or am I reading too much between the lines?  I do my best to brush the thoughts from my mind, at least for now. 

I look around and see and it’s fully staffed, running like a well-oiled machine.  Reese has line cooks at every station and it looks like our food is ready.  “Hey, Reese.  Can I give you a hand?”

“Yeah, can you go get the waitresses to bring out the food?  We’re serving buffet style.  Marcus set up a few tables in the back corner.  He said he couldn’t get anyone to sit down long enough to eat, so we improvised.  I hope you don’t mind.”  On one of the prep tables are serving dishes filled with Panini sandwiches, fried chicken sandwiches served on homemade waffles, and a variety of focaccia pizzas.  She’s really outdone herself.

“No, I don’t mind at all.  I’ll go get the wait staff to set this all up.  Meanwhile, you go clean yourself up and get your ass out here and join us.  The line cooks can handle the few customers we have left.”  Reese looks down at her filthy uniform and begins to shake her head.

“I can’t go out there like this, I’m a mess!” She grumbles.  “My hair is a disaster and just look at me.”

“Go in my office and get a clean staff shirt.  I have makeup in my purse that’s locked in my desk.  I’ll pull it all out for you.  Put your hair up in a bun, and shut up already.  I’m not arguing with you.  Got it?”

“Okay, once everything’s out of the kitchen, I’ll get ready.”  Reese is making the final checks on the food before it goes out.  “Thanks, Jette.  You’re a good friend.”

Marcus and I make quick work of getting the food out to our guests.  Evan and I walk around, making sure everyone has plenty of food and drink.  Once we’re satisfied that our guests are well taken care of, we fix ourselves a plate and find a small empty table away from the fray.

Evan sits right next to me and pulls my chair close to his.  “I told you all I wanted was a nice quiet dinner with just the two of us, and damn it, that’s what we’re going to have.”  He places one hand on my knee and begins to eat with the other.

“I give it five minutes before someone finds us.  You’re the man of the hour.  You don’t really expect everyone to leave you alone for that long?” I run my fingers up and down the hand he now has resting on my thigh.

With a smirk on his face he confesses, “I told them all to give me ten minutes alone with you.  We should have at least that long.”  Evan gives me a sweet kiss.  “Did I give you a proper thank you for all of this?  I still can’t believe you did it.”

“Yes, you did,” I tell him.  “Eat your dinner before it gets cold.  You can thank me again later when we get home.”

He stares at me with a serious look on his face.  “Oh, I’m going to thank you over and over again.”  Evan hasn’t taken his eyes off me.  I put down my fork, get up from my chair and sit on his lap, straddling him.  He puts his hands on my hips and I nuzzle up to him.  I close my eyes and inhale his manly scent.  “I love you, Juliette.  Every day, I love you more.”

“I love you, too.  And I’m so proud of you.”  I look at his beautiful, perfect mouth, and then press my lips against his. 

“Congratulations, Evan!”  Emmy shouts.  “I didn’t get to talk to you all night, but I wanted to come by and tell you how excited I am for you.”

Emmy has such a sweet look on her face.  She is genuinely happy for Evan.  I slide back onto my chair to give Evan a chance to talk to her.  Evan stands up and leans down to give her a hug.  “Thanks, Emmy.”  She looks so tiny in his arms, it’s almost comical.

“I’m sorry.  You two were . . . eating dinner.  I should leave you alone.  It’s just that you always have so many people around you, I didn’t know if I would get another chance to tell you.  That’s all.”  Emmy turns and walks away, waving her hand in the air as she hurries over to Adam. 

While Evan and I finish our dinner, we chat and talk about our night.  “So, Callie told me about the tickets to Hawaii.  Giving her all those gifts was pretty amazing.  She’s going to use the tickets to celebrate her tenth anniversary in February.”

“Just to be clear, I didn’t know at the time how things were going to turn out between the two of us and I didn’t want the tickets to go to waste.”  He looks at me with a touch of sadness and regret.  “When the season’s over, I’m taking you away.  So start thinking about where you want to go, Running Girl.”

“Someplace far away that no one will find us.” 

Evan smiles and nods his head, “Sounds great to me.”

He takes me by the hand and leads me back to the bar where we rejoin our friends.  By now, everyone is mingling together, laughing, and having fun.  Reese comes out from the back at the same time, looking amazing.  She picked a t-shirt that’s just a hint too small for her, so it shows off her cute little figure.  Her beautiful bronze hair is arranged in a messy knot at the base of her long neck.  She quickly gets the attention of all the men in the room.