Johnny Deeper: A Sports Romance (44 page)

My cock slips from Eliza’s mouth and she peeks out from under the covers. “Who is that?” she asks.

I wince. “That’s my sister.”

“Junior, come on! We gotta go!” Maggie shouts, knocking even louder on the door. “You better not be in there with some bimbo!”

Eliza raises her brow at me.
“Bimbo?”

“Just…” I slide off the bed and grab my pants from the floor. “Let me get rid of her. Hang on. Don’t—” I gesture at her perfect, naked body. “Don’t get rid of this.”

“Junior!”

I pull my pants on, rushed by the urgency in Maggie’s tone.

Eliza hides under the covers as I pull the door open and push outside into the hall, guiding Maggie to take a step back.

“Hey, Mag,” I say, closing the door behind me. “How did you get in here?”

“Ty let me in.”

“Oh.”

“Why aren’t you dressed?” she asks. “Did you forget about Mom’s birthday?”

I cringe. “Kind of…?”

She tilts her head with annoyance. “Well, hurry up and shower first. You smell like sex.”

“Shh!”
I lay a finger against my mouth and lower my voice to a whisper. “I need a few minutes here—”

“Wait…” She takes a step back and glances over my shoulder with an upturned nose. “You really do have a girl in there.”

I nod. “Give me like twenty minutes—”

“What happened with
Eliza
?” she accuses.

“It
is
Eliza.”

“Seriously?” She bites her lip, cringing. “Did she hear the
bimbo
thing?”

“Yes, she heard the
bimbo
thing.”

“Sorry,”
she hisses. “I want to meet her.”

My chest jolts.
“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because—”

Maggie pushes forward and throws the door open before I even know what’s happening.

“Mag—”

Luckily, Eliza was blessed with the glorious gift of foresight and she’s already dressed in her blouse and skirt by the time I follow Maggie inside.

“Hi! You must be
Eliza
.”

“Hi,” Eliza says, forcing her tangled hair to one side of her neck.

“Ellie…” I sigh. “This is my sister, Maggie.”

Maggie takes several steps forward. “It’s so great to finally meet you. I’ve heard all about you.”

Eliza’s eyes flick up at me. “Really?”

“Well—” Maggie waves a hand. “Nothing too
personal
or anything.”

“Mag—” I tug her back towards the door. “Can you excuse us, please?”

“Oh, sure. I’ll just wait in the living room— Oh, hey!” She pulls her arm from my grasp. “Eliza, you should come with us to the party.”

“Party?”
Eliza mutters.

I grab her again. “
No,
Mag, bad idea—”

“It’s a great idea!” she argues. “Today is our mother’s birthday and we’re going to see her. You should come along. It’ll be fun.”

Eliza tries her very best not to panic. “Uhh…”

“Mag…”

“It’s just a casual get-together with our parents,” Maggie continues, ignoring all of my attempts to shut her up. “
My
boyfriend will be there, too, and our dad is a
huge
fan of your dad. He’d love to meet you. Mom, too!”

“Mag, for God’s sake—”
I yank her through the doorway but she digs her heels into the floor.

“Come on, Eliza. Please? It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Eliza’s little, blue eyes shift with nervous glitches. “Um… okay.”

“Awesome!
I’ll just be in the living room—”

I push her out into the hall. “Okay, thanks, Mag—”

She pokes her head back in. “Sorry about the
bimbo
thing!”

“Get out.”
I slam the door and turn back to Eliza’s petrified face. “I am so sorry. She can be a real…”

“Sister?”

“Yeah… Look, you
do not
have to come with us today.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll go. Unless you really don’t want me there…”

“No — I do,” I say, panic gripping my throat. “I mean, I don’t
not
want you there, I just… Don’t feel like you
have
to go, I mean. She
really
shouldn’t have invited you out of the blue like that.”

“I don’t want to be rude,” she says. “I said I’d go, so… I’ll go and…” she swallows, “meet your parents.”

I cringe. “Yeah.”

She raises her fists in mock celebration. “Yay…”

“I guess it’s only fair…” I chuckle. “I’ve already met your dad, right?”

“Right…”

“And you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing us. They live an hour away. No one will know.”

“Good,” she nods. “Well… we might as well get cleaned up. Wouldn’t want to meet your mother smelling
like sex
.”

I laugh. Even in the trenches, Eliza Pierce cracks a joke.

They’re going to love her.

This is not good.

***

I cast one more apologetic glance at Eliza but she just keeps smiling next to me in the backseat of Maggie’s little car.

I don’t know how she does it. She’s obviously screaming inside but there’s not a single thing on the outside that shows it. Maggie and Nate bark question after question at her from the front seats and Eliza answers each one — never once showing an ounce of inconvenience. It’s amazing, honestly. I guess this is what happens when you grow up in Cary Pierce’s shadow.

“So, where’s your mom?” Maggie asks, staring more at Eliza through the rearview mirror than at the road.

“Mag…” I warn.

Eliza pats my hand. “No, it’s okay,” she says, smiling politely. “My mother is no longer with us. It’s just me and my dad.”

“Oh, man,
that’s awful
…” Maggie says. “I can’t imagine living without my mother.”

“Mag.”

“What?” Her eyes shift to me in the mirror and I give her the sternest look I can muster. “I’m just preparing her for the exact same questions she’s going to get from
Mom
.”

“It’s okay,” Eliza chuckles. “Really. I don’t mind.”

Nate adjusts his glasses. “So, Junior… What are the team’s odds for taking the championship?”

I nod at him in gratitude for switching the subject. “I’m not huge on numbers, but
pretty good,
” I answer.

“That’s awesome,” he says. “When I was an undergrad, no one gave a shit about the football team. Now you guys actually get news coverage.”

“I guess all it took was for someone to come in and give a shit.”

“I guess so.”

“Pfft!” Maggie spits. “
Boring
. I want to know about the school play. Eliza, how’s that going? Got all of your lines memorized?”

I kick the back of her seat.

Eliza laughs. “About ninety percent of them, I think.”

“Well,
I can’t wait
,” Maggie says. “Nate and I already have tickets for opening night.”

I lean forward. “You know, Mag, opening night and the last game of the season are on the
same night
.”

Maggie tilts her head, feigning ignorance. “Oh, really? I had no idea.”

“There’s a show on Sunday,” I add. “You could always go to that one instead and come see us qualify for the championship on Saturday.”

She hisses. “I mean… I would… but… I kinda already bought the tickets, so…”

“They’re
refundable
,” I growl. “I’m sure you could get them
exchanged
.”

“Nah.”

I sit back and shake my head at Eliza’s grin. “Nothing is more supportive than family.”

“Hey, you’ll have thousands of people in the stadium and half the country watching and supporting
you
, little brother,” Maggie argues. “Someone has to support
Eliza
.”

“Thank you, Maggie,” Eliza says, batting her eyes at me. “I appreciate that.”

We turn off into my neighborhood and my chest constricts. Eliza has certainly passed Maggie’s test but getting her to survive against my mother is another task entirely.

“We’re here!” Maggie announces, pressing hard on the brake in the driveway for no purpose other than to jolt the car a little.

I watch Eliza’s face as she takes in the street with interest. There’s no going back after this one. After today, Eliza Pierce will have seen where I came from and she’ll either accept it or she’ll run away screaming into the night.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans as we step onto the porch.

Maggie barrels on inside, loudly announcing our arrival and Nate follows her.

“Ellie…” I slip my fingers around her arm.

She pops up onto her heels and lays a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Relax,”
she says. “It’s going to be fine.”

The imprint of her lips spreads across my face and tingles all the way to my toes. I take her hand and lead her inside.

My mother stands in the foyer with her fingers pinched hard against Nate’s cheeks. She’s always loved Nate since the moment she met him but I think she’s just thankful that there was actually a man in this world patient enough to put up with her daughter’s sass.

Her eyes catch Eliza and she instantly drops her hands.

“Mom…” I gesture to my right. “This is Eliza.”

Eliza throws on the sweetest smile in her toolbox. “Hello.”

My mother stares back at us as if Eliza just spoke some alien space language.

“Roy!” she calls out my father’s name and I squeeze Eliza’s hand even tighter.

“What is it, Bonnie?” he shouts back from the living room. I can just imagine him now, sitting there in
his
chair, watching the game.

My mother’s voice pitches higher with each word. “Is this a
friend
of yours, or…?”

“Yes
, Mom,” I say. “She’s a friend of mine.
Maggie
invited her to come along today.” I fire a quick glance at my sister and she grins at me from the hallway.

Eliza drops my hand and steps forward, taking complete control of the moment with a confident stride. “It’s nice to meet you. Happy birthday.”

My mother shakes Eliza’s hand while her face brightens with each passing second.

“Roy!
Get in here.
Now.
”

“Why?” he fires back.

“Come and meet
Eliza
, a friend of our son’s…”

He says nothing in response but I hear the shift of his recliner closing.

Mom’s attention twists towards me. “I really wish you’d
told
us you were bringing company, honey. I would have cleaned up a bit more.”

Eliza waves a hand. “Oh, no. This place looks great, really. You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Morgan.”

I blink, probably way more impressed with her than my mother is. Eliza is a damn champion at this. I breathe a little easier as my father finally makes an appearance from the living room.

“Roy,” my mother says, “this is Eliza.”

My father peels his reading glasses off his face while my mother slides her hand over his shoulders to flatten out the non-existent wrinkles in his shirt. He narrows his eyes for a moment, glancing Eliza up and down and I’m almost tempted to hide her under a damn sheet. It sure would be nice if they’d stop staring at her like a damn leper.

Eliza shifts over to him and extends her hand. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting your game, Mr. Morgan.”

My mother slaps his arm. “Oh, he doesn’t mind at all. Right, Roy?”

“Not at all,” he confirms, shaking Eliza’s hand.

Maggie slides in from the kitchen. “Isn’t she pretty?”

I stare at my sister, fighting the childish urge to shove her down the stairs or yank her hair out.

“She’s very pretty,” my father agrees.

“So pretty!” my mother adds.

“Guys…” Blood burns my cheeks. “Come on… Don’t embarrass her.”

But Eliza just grins. “Thank you very much.”

Maggie opens her mouth again and I cringe with fear. “Eliza’s dad is the new football coach.”

Their faces drop cold.

“Your father is
Cary Pierce
?” my mother asks.

Eliza nods. “Yes, ma’am.”

If she was a leper before, then right now, she’s a leper with three heads and each one of them has a pierced nose.

My father says nothing. He just flashes a quick nod of approval at me, so I guess Eliza passed with him.

My mother, on the other hand, shifts between an expression of seasickness and abject terror.

Cary Pierce’s daughter is in her house and she didn’t clean it first.

Her fiery stare falls on me. This is my fault, obviously.

“So, who’s playing today?” Eliza asks my father.

I furrow my brow, knowing that Eliza doesn’t give two shits about football but her face feigns great interest.

“New York and Dallas,” he answers.

“Oh, what’s the score?”

“You know…” my mother says, “if you’d all like to watch the game for a while, lunch won’t be ready for another twenty minutes.”

“I’d love to,” Eliza says.

And then I realize… Eliza baited my mother, giving her the perfect excuse to isolate her location while she worked like a damn bee to get the rest of the house in top condition for her guest.

A fucking champion.

Eliza follows my father into the living room and Mom grabs my jacket before I can pass by her.

“Kitchen. Now.”

I sigh and fire another hateful glance at Maggie’s amused mug before dragging my feet into the kitchen.