Page 16 of Filthy Player
I rested against his shoulder, nodded my head and waited until I could inhale deeply.
“Thank you,” I said. I looked at all the guys. Most were trying not to make it obvious they had observed me fall apart. All except Beaux. He looked at me with knowing and understanding eyes so intently, my knees buckled. I grabbed onto Mike and faked a smile. “This is really nice of you. Too nice. It’s too much.”
“Nonsense.” Dad patted the envelope on his lap proudly. “I’ve always said when someone gives you a gift, you let them have the joy of giving it to you. No such gift is too much if it’s given selflessly.”
“We’re honored if you accept them. Any fan of ours we meet we try to do right by,” Rudolph said. “We have the means to be generous and we like doing it. Beaux here, though, more than most.”
“I would have got you your own box but Kolby said his ma likes company. There are tickets for four for you so you can bring anyone you want.”
Dad squeezed my hand. “Know who I’ll invite. Thanks.”
“Me?” Mike said.
“Not on your life.” My dad glared at him. “You still like those damn Patriots.”
The players groaned but I rolled my eyes. This was an argument that grew old years ago.
“Aww, come on, Sam.”
“We’ll see.” He nodded, head trembling a little bit and turned back to Beaux. “Can’t thank you enough for this, honest, son. You’ve made an old and sick man thrilled today. But I also hear we got your truck in the back? What’s wrong with it?”
“According to your daughter, my Betsy needs to be sent to the Ford graveyard.”
“Yeah,” Mike said. It was back to work talk in a flash. “She’s not really wrong about that either. Your truck is worth more for parts than it is to fix. I mean, you can swing it obviously, but to be honest, you’re looking on the downward slope of it lasting much longer unless you want to invest in a complete overhaul.”
“Was afraid you’d say that. We’ve had a good run.” His eyes slid to me and his grin went feral. There was no other way to explain it. Full bottom lip, thinner top one pulled into a smirk that said his kindness was over, and now he was coming to collect. “Hopefully that means Paige’ll swing by the dealership with me tonight before we head to dinner, then.”
“Ah.” My dad shot me a look, eyebrows raised. Surprised and cautious at the same time. “So that’s what the gifts are about? You trying to impress my daughter? Or me?”
Good Lord. Heat traveled down my spine. I kicked my dad’s chair playfully. “Stop it, Dad.”
“No, sir.” Beaux shook his head. “We’d have done the same even if I didn’t think your daughter was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
Strangle him. I was going to wrap my hands around the quarterback’s throat and throttle him until he lost all the blood in his brain. Which couldn’t be much at the moment.
“Well, damn,” Dad said, laughing. “You got balls, son.” He took my hand. “You want to take her out, what are you waiting for?”
Beaux’s look was just as intense as it’d been earlier as he looked at me. Watchful. Hopeful. Confident. He showed more emotions in his eyes than anyone I’d met and I barely knew him. He held nothing back. “I’m waiting for Paige to say yes.”
CHAPTER SIX
BEAUX
If looks could kill, I’d have a knife sticking out of my chest from the heat flaring in Paige’s pretty eyes.
I was pushing it, totally putting her in a corner that could turn her into a rabid dog or have her take a step, take a chance toward me. As soon as I saw her dad next to her in his wheelchair, the purple rims beneath her eyes made sense.
I didn’t pity her. I couldn’t pity someone like Paige who clearly had a lot on their plate and their biggest item was taking care of a family member. Shannon and I had lived that for almost all of our lives, Shannon taking on most of the brunt of it. When our mom died, mostly from sheer exhaustion and a too-late diagnosis on an infection, Shannon also made sure I didn’t feel anything more than I had to.
She always had me focused on my dream, focused on making a better life for myself, getting out of our falling down home in Iowa and getting us out of there.
I loved her for it at the same time I’d always felt regret I hadn’t been able to do more. But I was still a high school kid, spending most of my time on the field or hitting the books. It was Shannon who paid the bills and took on more responsibility than either of us should have had.
Now, though, was a completely different story and Rudolph was right. I’d intentionally brought some of the most generous, most grateful men I knew on the team to deliver the goods to Paige’s dad. We’d all come from simple upbringings, worked our asses off and all of us gave as much as we could whenever we had the opportunity, especially toward our fans.
The suite Kolby gave them was nothing considering he’d already paid for it. I made a mental note to go buy a disabled parking pass for the underground, connected garage.
“So what do you say?” I asked Paige as she stood there glaring at me. Next to her, Mike, who was still holding her, shook her a little bit. “Want to help me pick up a new ride tonight?”
