The Baller: A Down and Dirty Football Novel(24)

“Coach needs to talk to me. I have to jump on a call for a while. Why don’t you two make yourselves at home? I’ll order some snacks from room service before I get started.”

“No problem. Thanks, Brody,” Nick said.

Then he was gone.

For almost two full hours.

Eventually, I ventured into the back to look for him. It was quiet, no indication that he was still on the phone. I knocked lightly on the bedroom door, but there was no response. So I knocked again. When there was still nothing but silence, I creaked the bedroom door open. Brody was lying in the middle of his king-size bed. Sound asleep.

“Brody?”

His eyes opened with a flutter. “It’s the woman from my dreams.”

My hands went to my hips. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I guess I fell asleep.”

“Before or after your fake coach’s phone call?”

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Running his hands through his hair, he said, “You ready to get started?”

“I’ve been ready for more than two hours.”

“Sorry. I guess you’ll have to cancel your date for tonight.”

Brody was grinning, and I smiled back. But mine wasn’t a friendly smile. It was more like a Bend over, I’m about to stick my foot right up your ass smile. “That’s okay. We can just skip dinner and go straight to whatever he has planned for after.”

Brody’s smile fell. Mine grew bigger.

Ten minutes later, we were finally sitting and ready to begin the interview.

The first few questions were stiff. My annoyance was bleeding through, and his responses were curt. Things started to change around the fourth question, when we got into a heated debate about statistics. More than an hour and a half of tape rolled, even though we only had to fill a twenty-two-minute segment, after factoring in commercials, for the half-hour feature.

We were up to the last question: “Available or taken?” His answer had been “neither” during the pre-interview, which I thought was a pretty interesting and accurate description of his dating life. He wasn’t taken, but he also wasn’t available.

Only this time, when I asked the question, his response caught me off guard.

“Taken.”

He could see the confusion on my face, but I quickly jumped back into reporter mode. “Really? Is this new?”

“It is.”

“How new?”

“So new, she doesn’t even know about it yet.”

“Pardon?”

“I plan to tell her about our new relationship right after this interview.”

“Tell her? Not ask her?”

“Yep. We’ve been playing cat-and-mouse for a while. There’s been something going on for weeks. But I’ve been avoiding it because I’m not the best at relationships.”

“And now that’s changed?”

“It has. She makes me nuts. But I also can’t stop thinking about her. So it’s time to make it official and take myself off the market to see how things go.”

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I wrapped things up. Turning to the camera, I delivered my closing. “You heard it here first, ladies. Brody Easton has taken himself off the market. I’m sure there are legions of women devastated by the news. But WMBC wishes the Super Bowl MVP good luck in the game tomorrow and with his new relationship. This reporter guesses one might be easier for him to manage than the other.”

Nick turned off the camera. While he packed up the lighting, he said, “Great interview. Edit is going to have a hard time finding things to cut to get the final twenty-two in the can.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

Brody and I helped pack up the rest of the equipment. It was after nine by the time we were done. Nick glanced at his phone. “Want me to drop you at your date? You’re already late.”

“Thanks, but I sent him a text earlier and postponed.”

Nick nodded. “Drop you at home?”

“I’ll drop her,” Brody said. “Let me help you lug this shit to the van.”

I picked up a bag. Brody took it from my hand. “Stay. I got it. I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, I rearranged the living room furniture back to how it had been before the interview. Brody came in just as I was finishing setting the throw pillows back on the couch.

“You should get some monogrammed throw pillows for the couch,” I said. “Make it seem less like a hotel and more homey.”

“When did you postpone the date?”

I held one pillow against my chest. “After I came out of the closet.”

“Not after I made you late?”

I shook my head. The way I’d felt when I walked out of that closet, I knew going on a date with Michael would have been wrong. Whether I was acting upon them or not, I had feelings for another man. It was wrong to begin a relationship with someone when my thoughts were really with someone else.

“You’re postponing it indefinitely.”

“Am I?”

He nodded and walked around the couch. Reaching for my hand, he looked into my eyes. “I can do exclusive. Hell, the thought of you with anyone else makes me f*cking insane. I insist on exclusive. And dating. I’m game for whatever you want to do. The relationship part, I’m probably going to need you to bear with me on. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one. I’ll probably f*ck up and piss you off a lot, but I’d like to try.”