Rooster: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (25 page)

“So, The Rhino.”

“I’ve never liked that nickname.”

“Coming from you, that surprises me.”

“You know why they call me it?”

“I always thought it had to do with the size of your, what’s it called, brain.”

I smile, while Lucy delivers another tender slice of tuna to her mouth.

“But I know why they really call you it, so don’t flatter yourself.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Everyone knows it’s because you’re rarely seen in the wild anymore.”

“That’s funny.”

Lucy smiles at me with her gorgeous round eyes.

“This is good.”

“I have a good team.”

“They don’t mind living here, in the middle of nowhere?”

“Not with the amount I pay them.”

“You like it then. This.”

“It has its ups and downs.”

“I can’t do this honestly if you don’t answer honestly.”

“I told you we should start tomorrow.”

“So what do we do tonight?”

“Why don’t you tell me about you.”

Lucy has to hold back a laugh. “Uhuh. That’s definitely not going to happen.”

“I need to know I can trust you, there has to be a bit of give and take, surely.”

There’s that look again. The narrowing of the eyes, the quick decision about whether she can trust me. She pauses dramatically to drink from her glass of wine and I take the opportunity to fill the gap in conversation.

“I want this to flow like a natural conversation between two people who are getting to know each other.”

“One, this article is about you, not me, and two, this isn’t a date.”

I lean back into my seat, smiling.

“You know that’s a classic tell.”

“What is?”

“Saying this isn’t a date.”

She rolls her eyes. “Alright. What do you want to know?”

“Just like that?”

“Ask away.”

I’m blocked. I don’t know what to ask.

“See. It isn’t easy is it?”

“Alright. Why did you come?”

“Because you asked me to.”

“You could have refused.”

“Refuse a week’s paid holiday? No chance.”

“Is that what this is for you?”

“What this is for me is an opportunity, I’m not blind to that. What I don’t understand is why you picked me, of all the journalists across the States, you chose me, a nobody.”

“I admire your work.”

“My fascinating interviews with non-professionals.”

“I thought you might be honest.”

“That could be dangerous for you.”

“I guess we’ll find out soon.”

“I have a question.”

“You never stop working do you?”

“Have you ever brought a girl here you didn’t intend to fuck?”

Wow. Either that wine is stronger than I thought or her will is. Nothing like getting to the point straight away, I like that.

“Would you think I was an asshole if I told you no?”

Lucy tilts her head at me and smiles.

“No, I’d just think you were lying.”

“You mean you?”

“No, I don’t mean me.”

I’m almost certain she’s going red.

“Lots of women want to fuck me, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“If your plan is to make me think you’re not an asshole, you’re going in the wrong direction.”

“So, deny it.”

“I’m not playing this game.”

“That’s not an adequate response.”

“I’m not the one with inadequate intentions.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“You brought me here because you intended to fuck me?”

“I brought you here so you’d write an article about me, I can’t help it if women find me irresistible.”

“If this was a date I’d leave right now.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“Are you even aware how arrogant you sound?”

“Sorry, I’m a little rusty with the outside world.”

“Conceited.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not here because I want to fuck you.”

“Then I guess you’ll be famous as the one who managed to refuse.”

“It’s not easy to refuse if you’re paying them.”

“Ouch.”

“I don’t find you attractive anyway.”

“You don’t like big men?”

Lucy gives me a look she disguises as dismissive.

“I like big men, but I wouldn’t describe you that way.”

She’s had her eyes all over me since she got here.

“How would you describe me?”

“Lost. Immature. Rude.”

“That’s no way to treat your host.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“Well hopefully we can change your opinion of me.”

“That might be hard if you continue trying to hit on me.”

“You’d know if I was hitting on you, this is just us having a conversation.”

“This is how you conduct all of your conversations? You’ve been on your own way too long.”

“That’s why you’re here.”

“I told you, I’m not your therapist.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m not your date either.”

I let that statement hang in the air while I refill her glass with wine.

“I’m going to make a bet with you”, I say.

“Reporters don’t make much money. Nowhere near as much as football players.”

“I make less than I did now that my sponsors have pulled out.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“You’d understand if they were camped outside of your house every day.”

“You know I’m one of those people.”

I smile. “Scum of the earth.”

“Someone’s got to do it.”

“By the end of this week, your opinion of me will have changed.”

“That’s it?”

I shrug. “That’s it.”

“We’ll see.”

“You know, I can’t change a closed mind.”

“You’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do to convince me.”

“What did I ever do in the first place to make you feel so strongly one way or the other?”

Lucy leans back in her chair. “Oh, you mean beyond the threats to colleagues in my profession?”

“You can’t hold yourself accountable for the protection of journalists worldwide, as though they're a protected species under your sole care. You know, like rhinos.”

I get rolled eyes at that before she ignores me and continues anyway.

“You’ve never endeared yourself to me.”

“You’ve never made an attempt to get to know me.”

Lucy’s eyes go wide and she leans towards me over the table. “You haven’t exactly made access easy.”

Two glasses of wine and I’m feeling ready to break the ice here. I was going to leave it a little longer, but now feels like the right moment to do it. She might be pleading to go home tomorrow after all.

“You have never been that interested.”

“Please.”

Now I’m the one leaning. “You don’t remember me do you?”

“Remember you?”

Lucy gives a stifled laugh, looks away and then back again and her eyes tell a story of a million words.

“What’s there to remember? An asshole jock so self-involved he pushed everyone else away.”

She does remember me. Fucking hell. I’m not the only one with a secret here. I lean back in my chair and let the truth manifest itself between us. I’m a little shocked. Quite a lot shocked actually. This could be good, or it could be very bad indeed.

“That’s not how I remember it.”

“That doesn’t surprise me coming from you.”

“I didn’t think-.”

“Is that why you brought me here?”

“Are you upset with me?”

Lucy’s shaking her head. “I can’t believe you knew.”

“What difference does it make if I did?”

“All that time.”

“It’s a long time ago, maybe you’re misremembering.”

“I wasn’t the one who spent it in a drunken haze.”

“You were too busy with your nose in your book to pay attention to what was going on around you.”

“I was working hard on my career, Writing about you actually.”

“You were shutting yourself away.”

“Says the man who lives on a private island in the middle of nowhere.”

“At least I have an excuse.”

“Yeah, that you’re an arrogant and conceited asshole that thinks the world has nothing to offer them.”

Wow, now I’m definitely sure that’s the wine talking.

“Can I quote you on that?”

“You could if you talked to anyone in the real world.”

“Thank you for being honest.”

“Isn’t that what you brought me here for? Or was it really to see if you could fuck me? What are you doing, going through the yearbook one by one and you’ve finally got to the last person still standing?”

Lucy almost can’t resist laughing at her own joke.

“You look cute when you're angry, I remember that.”

“You’re thinking about someone else.”

“Not right now.”

Those hands go up in the air again, so quickly she almost knocks over her wine. “First line, Alex Vann Haden, notorious womanizer, still hasn’t changed his ways. This reporter had to fight him off only hours after their first meeting.”

“You said you’d be honest.”

“Alright. Alex Vann Haden, notorious womanizer, still hasn’t changed his ways. This reporter had to fight him off only hours after their first meeting, escape to the helipad and pilot herself back to safety.”

“You see, I never knew you could be so funny.”

Lucy shakes her head. I can’t tell whether she sees the funny side of this or not.

“You look the same”, I say.

“How do you even remember what I looked like before?”

“You know, I wasn’t the guy you thought I was. I wasn’t as confident then as I am now.”

“Confidence is not the same as arrogance.”

“You should use that.”

“I probably will.”

This time, Lucy makes a point of pouring her own wine.

“How much do I win?”

“You need to make a stake first.”

“Everything I own.”

“Then it’s a good job I’m the kind of person that can look after you.”

“Just so you know, I’m not the kind of person to write a bad article just to get your money.”

“No, I’m going to win yours fair and square.”

“Four years and you didn’t even look at me. Four years. Not once, not one look. You know I sent you Valentine’s cards every year we were there, God knows why. I guess I was just as stupid as you were back then, certainly more naive. I had a crush on you like you wouldn’t believe.”

Boom, and the cards hit the tablet. She’s going to regret telling me that.

“I guess we all make mistakes.”

“What was her name, that girl you took to the prom?”

“Rachel.”

“Rachel Banks, that’s it. Daddy was a lawyer but Rachel was as white trash and slutty as they made them. I wonder what happened to her.”

“She works in the porn industry as a go-to girl.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“You really sent me Valentine’s cards?”

“You really noticed me?”

Lucy pauses to sip at her wine, looking at me over the top of the glass as if challenging me to look away first.

“Don’t put that in the article, it might change your opinion of me.”

“My opinion won’t change until you make me believe you mean it.”

“It’s true you know.”

“Bullshit.”

“Ok.”

“Me and you, back then? The nerdy bookworm and the best quarterback in college football, no-one would have allowed that to happen.”

“It would have made a good article.”

“It wouldn’t have done anything for your bad boy reputation.”

“It might have made me a better person.”

“So now you’re admitting you’re a jerk?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’m going to have a lot of fun with this article.”

“I hope you're going to have a lot of fun while you’re here.”

“A week is not a substitute for four years. Not even the mighty Alex Vann Haden can manage that.”

“We’ll see.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Arrogance is not the same as confidence.”