Straddling the Line

TWENTY-NINE

IT HAD BEEN A BUSY DAY, AND EVEN THOUGH HAVEN hadn’t gone to practice with Trevor, she’d been occupied preparing for the scavenger hunt tonight. All the items had been sufficiently hidden. She’d noted all of their whereabouts and updated her master list. Now all that was left was the party tonight, which she hoped was as fun as she thought it was going to be.

It was almost a shame she was going to be in charge of the scavenger hunt, and unable to take part in it, because she would have loved to play side by side with Trevor. But she still intended to have a great time managing the festivities.

The caterers were setting up in the expansive dining room, as well as the breakfast bar in the kitchen. An extremely competent staff of four people who clearly knew what they were doing put up tables and covered Trevor’s dining room table to serve the food. Trevor also informed her he was going to have bar service.

Bar service. Sure . . . why not?

This was so far outside the realm of her life, but hey, at least it made for interesting observations about his.

He threw impromptu parties for his teammates. And, he’d explained to her, because the rookie tight end had some kind of attitude issue.

She couldn’t quite make the connection between the rookie’s problem and inviting him to a party.

Maybe that was a guy thing. If it were her and one of her coworkers was copping ’tude, she’d ignore them. Or tell them to fuck off.

But that was her, and in her world, things were obviously different.

Men were certainly different. She’d showered after her day of running around, curled her hair and done her makeup, then put on a sundress and sandals. Though why she was primping she had no idea. Especially since she came downstairs and saw Trevor in a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt, which showcased his awesome arms. Once again, his body took center stage.

The guy was ripped. She was going to have to quit ogling all the photos she’d taken of him. It was kind of obsessive, in a weird stalker-girlfriend kind of way.

She laughed at herself.

“You’re all dressed up,” he said as he looked up and smiled at her. “You look beautiful.”

Okay, worth the compliment, though it shouldn’t matter to her. “Thank you. Obviously, considering how you’re dressed, this is very low-key.”

“Very. The guys know not to dress up, but you’ll see some of the women dressed like you.”

“Is that right.”

“Yeah.”

“And there will be actual women here?” She’d gone over the list of attendees with him, and he’d given her names of couples, so she hoped he wasn’t wrong about that.

“Promise. Most of the guys will bring wives or girlfriends. Unless they’re not seeing anyone.”

“Okay.” Not that she cared. In the sportscasting world, she’d have to get used to being around athletes, and a lot of those athletes were going to be men.

“Which, I guess, makes you my date for the night.”

She felt a little flutter in the vicinity of her stomach. “I’m not your date. I’m a sports reporter, remember?”

He leaned in, and she caught his just-showered scent. Resisting the urge to breathe deeply, she took a step back. She had to act like a professional tonight. Not Trevor’s girlfriend.

“Can’t you be both?”

She wanted to be. “I don’t know, Trevor. I think we have to maintain a separation.”

“We’ll be co-hosts of the party tonight. I’ll introduce you to the guys on the team. I’ve already told them about the story you’re doing. You can grill them about me.”

She couldn’t really object to that. “That works.”

When the guests started to arrive, Trevor was right. Guys brought women with them. And the offensive coach came, too—a guy in his forties named George, if Haven recalled her research correctly. He’d brought his wife, Amanda, a slim brunette with a great smile.

“And who is this, Trevor?” Amanda asked, smiling at Haven.

“This is Haven Briscoe. She’s a sports reporter, and she’s doing some work with me.”

Amanda turned to Haven and shook her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Haven. Just what our Trevor here needs—more attention.”

Haven laughed. “Well, you might be right about that, but I do what my bosses tell me.”

“And here I thought you might be Trevor’s girlfriend, that someone finally tamed the wild animal.”

“Sorry. That wouldn’t be me.” She wondered why Amanda referred to Trevor as a wild animal.

And there went her thoughts again, that visual of his hips moving up and down while he stroked his cock. The way he thrust when he was inside her. The room grew warmer.

Focus, Haven. And not on your very vivid imagination.

“Oh, well. Surely some woman someday will get you to settle down and decide that football is the one sport you should be playing.”

Trevor laughed and put his arm around Amanda. “Has George been feeding you those lines, Amanda?”

“Not at all. I’ve got a perfectly good mind of my own. And you should know by now that all of us here in Tampa want you here permanently.”

Trevor kissed her cheek. “Thanks for that. It means a lot to me.”

Haven stood next to Trevor as a few other coaches and several players started filing in. Trevor introduced her to Warrell Timmons, the tight end rookie. He’d come by himself and looked rather uncomfortable.

He was a very attractive young man. Super tall, like Trevor, but a little bit leaner, not as much muscle. He had beautiful dark skin, gorgeous light brown eyes, and a nice smile that he didn’t use but once, and that was when he politely flashed it after he’d been introduced to her. After that he made his way into the living area, where Trevor told her a lot of the rookies were huddled.

“I mean to break up that party,” Trevor said, motioning to the rookies. “It’s good they’re bonding, but I want to get Warrell comfortable with me, and get the other rookies meshing with the veterans.”

“We’ll take care of that with the scavenger hunt after dinner.”

“You’re right about that,” Trevor said, resting his hand at the small of her back. “Come on. Let’s go get something to drink.”

She asked for a glass of wine from the bartender, and Trevor grabbed a beer. They made their way around the room, and Trevor talked to a few of the guys while Haven wandered off to visit with some of the other players. Trevor liked that Haven was independent, that she didn’t cling to his side like a lot of the women he’d dated always seemed to do.

When the catering manager found him and told him the food was ready, he announced it to the crowd, and they all made their way to the tables. There was barbecued beef and chicken, along with potato salad and coleslaw, fruit salad and beans. Everyone filled their plates.

He found Haven talking to Barrett Cassidy, the safety on the team, and Barrett’s brother Grant, who played quarterback for St. Louis.

“You’re on a bye this week, too?” he asked Grant as he took a seat next to them.

“Yeah. Thought I’d take a trip out here and enjoy the warm weather, see one of my brothers.”

“You came out here to see the bikini babes, not me,” Barrett said.

Grant grinned. “Maybe.”

“I’ve discovered Grant and his brother Barrett are part of a family dynasty of football players,” Haven said. “They have two more brothers.”

“Tucker doesn’t count. He plays baseball,” Barrett said.

Grant leaned back and shot his brother a look. “I’m going to tell him you said that.”

Barrett shrugged. “Like he hasn’t heard it before?” He took a long swallow of beer.

Trevor laughed. He knew all the Cassidy brothers. They were a tight-knit group, and they were all kick-ass athletes.

“Haven and I were doing a little trash-talking about the University of Oklahoma versus Texas, where I went to school,” Grant said. “It’s a hell of a rivalry, as you know.”

Trevor looked over at Haven, who cast a smile at him. “I have to defend the alma mater.”

He laughed. “I guess you do.”

“I hear there are games in store for us tonight, Trevor,” Barrett said. “Is that right?”

“Think of it as a team-building exercise.”

Grant nodded. “Sounds fun, seeing as how your team needs all that building.”

Barrett shoved an elbow in his brother’s ribs.

“Hey,” Grant said. “That hurt.”

“You quarterbacks,” Barrett said. “Such pussies.”

“I’m totally up for it,” Grant said. “And if you and I aren’t on the same team, Trevor, be prepared to have your ass kicked.”

Trevor knew these guys would be competitive. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

“Will you be playing, Haven?” Barrett asked. “Because the Cassidy brothers will kick your butt, too.”

Haven laughed. “Unfortunately, no. I’ll be ringleading this circus tonight.”

Barrett cast a glance over at Trevor. “How much did you have to pay her to get her to agree to that?”

After taking a sip of beer, Trevor said, “Surprisingly, she volunteered.”

“You poor thing,” Barrett said. “You have no idea what you’ve signed up for.”

Haven laughed. “I think I can handle this rowdy bunch. Besides, you’re all going to be way too busy to give me a hard time.”

Haven excused herself after dinner, and they let everyone socialize a bit while the caterers cleaned up dinner. Trevor noticed Haven was taking down everyone’s names, and she’d wandered off into the office. When she came back, she got everyone’s attention and herded them all into the living room.

“Trevor and I have cooked up something very special—and hopefully fun for you for tonight. Trevor, do you want to tell everyone about it?”

He didn’t. Too many details, and he didn’t want to screw it up and get things wrong. “You go ahead, Haven. You’re doing a fine job.”

“Okay. We’re going to have a scavenger hunt. And the best part is, there are prizes at the end. You’re all going to be paired up in teams. There are forty items in total that have been hidden. These items could be hidden somewhere on the property here, on the street, or in town. You’ll be given a list of these items, as well as clues where to find them. You have one hour and one hour only. At the end of the hour you’re to report back here. The team that has found the most items will be declared the winner.”

“What are the prizes?” one of the guys asked.

“The prize for the first-place team is a deep-sea fishing expedition.”

Lots of oohs, aahs, and applause on that one. Trevor loved to fish, and he knew several of the guys did, too.

“There are also prizes for second-and third-place teams, too, which is dinner at some of Tampa’s finest restaurants. So let’s get started.

“I’ll announce the names on each team,” Haven said. “Once everyone’s together with their teams, I’ll hand out your tote bags you’ll be using to accumulate the items, and your list of items and clues.”

She started calling names. True to what they discussed, Trevor and Warrell were on the same team, along with wide receiver Elvin Detteridge and Elvin’s girlfriend, Allison.

One rookie was paired with at least one veteran. Trevor made sure to have Haven mix it up that way, so the rookies weren’t paired up.

Haven had worked that out well.

Once all the teams were formed, Haven handed them their bag with clues and the list. “Good luck,” she said, offering him a smile. “Thanks.”

He turned to Warrell, Elvin, and Allison and pulled out the clues and items list. “You ready to kick some butt?”

Allison nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s see what we’ve got here.”

She took the list. “Oh, these are all football items. Awesome.”

“How about we let Allison be in charge of reading the clues,” Trevor suggested. “And who has a good sense of direction?”

“Well, this is your home,” Elvin said. “You should be able to tell from the clues where this stuff might be.”

“That’s true,” Allison said. “I think we ended up on the best team, having Trevor with us.”

Warrell had yet to say anything.

“I don’t know about that,” Trevor said. “Knowing Haven, she wouldn’t deliberately give anyone an advantage. Besides, she doesn’t live here, so she wouldn’t know to mark a spot that I would be familiar with.”

“Oh,” Allison said. “Good point.”

“Ready, everyone?” Haven had her phone out. “I’m starting the countdown. Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . .”

Trevor turned to Warrell. “Let’s win this, okay?”

Warrell gave a short nod. “Sure.”

When Haven gave the go signal, everyone scrambled. Some out the back door, some out the front.

“Let’s not start with the first clue,” Allison said. “Everyone will start with that. Let’s work our way up from the bottom.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Elvin said, then looked to Trevor and Warrell.

“Works for me,” Warrell said.

They made their way down to the marina based on one of the clues, and found a team keychain hanging on the bell at the entrance to the harbor.

“Score one for our team,” Allison said with a triumphant fist pump. She slid the keychain into the tote bag. “Okay, next clue.”

Thirty minutes later, they had three of the items, but were stumped on one of the clues.

“ ‘If it quacks like a duck . . .’? What the hell does that even mean?” Warrell asked.

“There aren’t any duck ponds around here,” Trevor said, trying to think.

“How do you know for sure? Do you hang out at all the ponds?” Warrell asked.

“Well . . . no.”

“Let’s head down to the lake over there. Maybe we’ll see some ducks,” Allison suggested.

“Okay.” But he didn’t think they’d find anything there.

They ran into a few of the other teams, but no one followed them. They all looked like they were hard at work doing their own thing. He didn’t want to be distracted, though.

They’d been working on the clues, but damn that Haven, these were hard.

When they got down to the lake, they all looked around, even splitting up to wander the area.

They came up with nothing.

“It’s not here,” Elvin said.

Then it hit him. “Duck’s Bar. Just up the street and around the corner.”

Hopefully no one else had come up with the clue. They ran, and Warrell asked the bartender, who pulled out the team football from behind the bar.

“Awesome,” Elvin said. “That’s four items for us.”

“How are we doing for time?” Allison asked.

Warrell pulled out his phone. “Fifteen minutes left.”

“Let’s check out the next clue.” Allison went over the list. “Or maybe we should split up. Elvin and I will do one, and you and Warrell can do another. It’ll double our chances to get more items.”

Trevor nodded. “That works.”

Allison read them their clue—“Find me at the bottom of the barrel.”

“We’ll meet up back at the house with five minutes left,” Allison said. Then they dashed off in another direction.

“Okay, what do you think that means,” Trevor asked.

“You got me.” Warrell looked around. “I don’t see any barrels around here.”

They started walking along the marina, both of them searching opposite sides of the road. “Keep your eyes open for a barrel. There has to be one—”

Of course. He didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to him right away. “We have to get back to the house. There’s a barrel at the end of my dock.”

They made a run for it. When they got back to the house, Trevor stopped Warrell. “Play it cool. We don’t want anyone to notice where we’re going.”

Warrell nodded. They grabbed a beer, then went out onto the deck. Trevor motioned with his head toward the barrel, and Warrell went over there, stuck his hand inside, and, grinning at Trevor, fished out a team bobblehead.

Yes.

By then Allison and Elvin had made their way back. “Find anything?”

Trevor produced the bobblehead.

“Awesome,” Allison said. “We had no luck at all with our clue.”

“But we have five,” Trevor said. “That’s pretty good.”

“But is it good enough? There are forty items in total.”

“And a lot of teams,” Trevor added. “So we’ll see.”

They hung out and waited, watching as the rest of the teams showed up. Trevor had no idea who would win.

“What do you think?” he asked as he and Warrell hung out, drinking beers.

“I dunno. No one looks like they have a bag stuffed full. I think we got a shot.”

“Me, too.”

“Okay, everyone,” Haven said. “Time’s up. Turn your bags in.”

Allison turned in their tote bag. Trevor watched as Haven gathered all the bags and started counting up items. He had to admit, he’d had fun. He went back to his group and finished his beer.

“We did good. No matter what happens, we did good. We’re a great team.”

“You’re right,” Elvin said. “We killed it. And from the looks of some of those bags Haven is emptying, we did better than a lot of the other teams.”

Trevor clinked his beer against theirs, then looked over at Warrell, who finally seemed relaxed. He even grinned.

Everyone mingled and had snacks and drinks while Haven tallied up the winners. When she announced that she was ready, people started gathering around.

“Third-place winners of gift cards to some of Tampa’s finest restaurants are Vivian and Louis Trammell, and Sue and JW.”

Rounds of applause went up.

“Second-place winners of gift cards are Trevor, Elvin and Allison, and Warrell.”

“Hey, that’s us,” Trevor said.

“Dammit, I wanted to win,” Elvin said.

Warrell laughed at that. “Don’t we all.”

But they took their gift cards. “Thanks,” Trevor said as Haven handed him the gift card.

“You’re welcome. You all did very well.”

“And the winning team, with ten items found, is Coach George and his wife, Amanda, along with Barrett and Grant Cassidy.”

“I didn’t know the Cassidys could run that fast,” someone shouted amid the applause.

“I will kick your ass in practice next week,” Barrett said, pointing a finger and glaring at one of the guys.

Trevor laughed. Everyone gave the winning teams cheers. And Coach was grinning.

It was a good win, because Trevor knew how much Coach loved deep-sea fishing. So did the Cassidy brothers.

“Thanks for this, Trevor,” George said, waving the gift certificate. “I’m going to enjoy it.”

“So will I,” Amanda said, sliding the certificate into her purse. “While he’s off fishing for the day, I’ll be at the spa.”

Haven had moved in next to Trevor. “Sounds like a win-win for everyone, then.”

“More so for me, I think,” Amanda said with a wide smile. “I do love my spa days.”

“I don’t know. I do love my fishing.” George put his arm around Amanda. “But yeah, spa day for you, babe.”

The party started to wind down. Trevor saw everyone out, surprised when Warrell came up to him.

“I actually had a good time. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Thanks for coming. I think our team did good.”

Warrell nodded. “We did. And I’m still planning to beat your ass on the field.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Warrell grinned. “See you on Monday at practice.”

After the caterers and bartenders cleaned up and left, Trevor locked the door and grabbed a bottle of water. Haven was busily putting away all of the scavenger hunt stuff.

“My cleaning staff is coming tomorrow. They can take care of that.”

She looked up at him. “So can I. This will only take a few minutes to put away.”

He walked over to her and took her hand. “You’ve done enough work tonight. Let’s go outside. You should put your feet up and relax. I feel like all you did was work during the party.”

She laughed. “It was hardly work. I mostly sat and had wine while the rest of you ran off and did the scavenger hunt thing. And I got to visit with Luisa Wilson.”

“Oh, Mowery’s wife?”

“Yes. She’s like eight months pregnant. She said her ankles were swollen and she wasn’t up to dashing around doing the scavenger hunt, so she stayed behind while her husband went off and did the hunt. She and I talked. She’s very nice.”

“Yeah, she is. Do you want more wine?”

“Sure.”

“What are you having?”

“I can get it.”

He gave her a look. “What are you having?”

“The sauvignon blanc.”

He went to the refrigerator, studied the bottles for a minute, then pulled one out. “This one?”

“Yes.”

He uncorked it and poured her a glass, then motioned for her to join him as he headed out the back door. She’d long ago kicked off her sandals, so she padded out to the deck barefoot.

He liked her feet, liked her painted pink toenails. And when she went and sat by the pool and slid her legs in the water, he kicked off his tennis shoes, pulled off his socks, and sat next to her, handing her the glass of wine.

She took a sip, then sighed. “Mmm. This is good.” She turned her head to look at him. “How did it go with Warrell?”

“Good. He loosened up some.”

“I’m glad.”

“Me, too. I think it might help him at practice and in game situations to realize we’re all not the enemy.”

“I hope so.”

“Thank you again for organizing all this tonight.”

“You’re welcome. It was fun for me.”

“It was work.”

“Work can sometimes be fun.”

He liked hearing her say that. It was the attitude he was trying to cultivate. Though tonight hadn’t been part of her job. “Did you get to talk to any of the players—actual work-type stuff?”

“No. I didn’t want to break up what was a relaxing, fun night with reporter questions. I’ll leave that for another time, when I’m working in my official capacity.”

He shifted so he could look directly at her. “No one would have minded, you know.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But you can lose trust if you start pummeling people with questions while they’re trying to kick back and have a good time. This just wasn’t the right venue for me to go after people with questions about you or the team.”

“Okay. You know what’s best.” He paused for a minute, then smiled. “So does this mean if I’m kicking back and having a good time, you won’t ask me questions?”

She laughed. “Nice try. And no. It doesn’t work that way, since you’re the reason I’m here.”

“Well, it is all about me.”

Now she rolled her eyes. “Modest as always.”

“You know me so well.”

“Actually, there’s a lot more I need to know about you.”

“For the story.”

She wanted to know more about his past. Yes, for the interview, but also because she was curious about him—about his past, and how he came to be. “What if I said my reasons were personal?”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t believe you.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Why not? Is it so hard to believe I want to know more about you because I care about you?” He didn’t answer her for a few seconds, then he turned to look at her. “We’re just having fun here, Haven, right?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You and me. Nothing serious, right?”

His words stung. They shouldn’t have, but they did. She should have known better than to open herself up to getting hurt. But a simple question and she’d done that.

She hid that sting behind a casual smile. “Of course. You have two careers that keep you more than busy. I have a new career that will have me traveling everywhere. Neither one of us is looking for a romantic relationship. Like you said, we’re just having fun here, Trevor. And when this interview is over, I’m walking away.”

He looked at her, and for the life of her she couldn’t fathom what she saw behind his eyes. She wished it weren’t so dark outside.

“Right. That’s exactly what I want, too.”

She got up and grabbed a towel to dry her feet and legs. “I’m glad we both want the same thing. I’d hate for there to be anything awkward—you know—when this is over.”

He looked over his shoulder. “Where are you going?”

“It was a super busy day and I’m kind of tired tonight. I’m going to head up to bed.”

His lips curved. “My bed, I hope.”

She paused. “Actually, I have a few hours of writing to do on the interview. I could use some quiet time, so I can get through this as quickly as possible. I think I’m going to close myself up in the guest room tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”

He gave her a curious look. “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” In her best this-is-all-just-casual-between-us voice, she said, “See you tomorrow, Trevor.”

She hurried upstairs, closed the door, and leaned against it, trying to calm her rapid pulse.

Stupid. She was so stupid.

She had fallen in love with him.

Again.

And it was totally, utterly one-sided.

Again.

When will you ever get smart, Haven?

He will never love you.

TREVOR HAD NO IDEA WHY HE’D SAID WHAT HE’D SAID to Haven.

Correction. He knew exactly why he’d pushed her away.

She’d said she cared.

He couldn’t afford to let a woman—to let Haven—get close enough to care about him.

Because she wanted to know more about him, which meant exploring his past. And that meant exposing secrets—secrets he wasn’t ready to trust anyone with.

Or was he ready?

No. He couldn’t. Just the thought of it . . . what she might think if he told her . . .

She wouldn’t understand. She’d think less of him. Or even worse, she’d try to help, and no one could help him, because no one could know.

He took a long swallow of his beer and rolled the bottle around in his hands.

The problem was, she wasn’t the only one who cared. He’d gotten used to having her in his life. In his house. He missed her when she wasn’t around. He loved having her body next to his at night. He enjoyed her laugh, her sense of humor, her counsel. He’d grown closer to Haven than any other woman in his life before.

Was that love? He didn’t know.

Maybe it was, because when he thought about her, everything inside him tightened with lust, with emotion, with a sense that if he didn’t have her next to him all the time, something was missing.

But still, he kept a part of himself removed from her.

He couldn’t tell her about that part. It would change her feelings for him.

And that meant there could be no relationship, which was why he’d spent all these years alone.

With no answers to his dilemma in sight, he stared out into the darkness.