20. Colton

Colton didn’t typically get to see his family for Thanksgiving since the chances of him, Landon or Maya playing on the day of were high, and without the support of his siblings, he wasn’t really interested in having a tense dinner with his father.

Which meant he usually ended up at Rudy and Jenna’s house for a slightly late Thanksgiving dinner, often with Cooper and some of their other teammates in tow. This year, Lucia’s father was on a cruise for the weekend, so she’d agreed to accompany him to the Barrett household. He knew her only other option was to sit alone in her house all day, but he had still been ecstatic when she’d finally conceded.

Lucia had also asked him on several occasions if the reason he wasn’t going to his father’s house for the holiday was because of her outburst. To which he continued to respond honestly that, no, he just couldn’t stand to be around his father for very long, especially if none of his siblings were there with him.

When he and Lucia arrived, Jenna immediately put them both to work mashing potatoes, making casseroles, and warming bread—notably passing the easier jobs to him, as she’d learned over the years that he wasn’t the best in the kitchen.

Colton spent most of his time bothering Lucia, bumping into her, or rearranging the utensils she was using. When she got tired of his antics, a barely there smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, she banished him from the kitchen, telling him to make himself useful and play with the kids.

Cooper was already outside kicking a soccer ball around with the twins and Hayley. Cooper, Colton, and Lucia had all gotten there a bit earlier to help out where they could before Jenna’s friends and more of the team showed up. The Barretts didn’t usually host too many people, but every year, more and more showed up.

As couples and families trickled in, Colton split his time between playing with the kids, getting the adults drinks, and setting up the folding tables and chairs in Rudy’s massive living room. Rudy was so busy helping Jenna that Colton was happy to take over hosting duties. Plus, setting up the living room meant being able to subtly glance over at Lucia as she helped in the kitchen.

After a couple of hours of letting people into the house, he opened the door to a very familiar and very distressed face.

“Mai? What’re you doing here?”

Her eyebrows remained knitted even as she tried to smile at him. Voice raspy, like she’d been crying, she asked, “Does Rudy have room for one more?”

Colton wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked her inside. “Of course,” he said softly. He led her down a quieter hallway. “Tell me what happened.”

Maya cleared her throat and shook her head. “I don’t really feel like talking about it. I just—I needed to get away from my friend group, and you were the first person I could think of, and I knew you would probably be at Rudy’s like you usually are for Saturday Thanksgiving, and…” She inhaled a shaky breath. “Is Lucia here? I’d like to pretend everything’s okay. I don’t want to talk about it,” she reiterated.

Colton looked over her reddened cheeks and tired eyes, battling with himself on whether he should press her or not. He wasn’t used to his vibrant and happy sister being so sad, and he felt his protective instinct increase. Still, he wanted to respect her wishes.

“Okay, that’s okay. Let’s go hang out with Lucia.”

They walked back toward the kitchen, Lucia’s worried glance finding them before it morphed into excitement at seeing his sister.

“Maya! It’s so great to see you.” Lucia’s eyes found his, and without even meaning to, he seemed to communicate something to her that she understood. She approached them, putting her arms around his sister and taking her into the kitchen, chattering about how badly she needed to speak to any other Beaumont sibling. He was glad to see a genuine smile on his sister’s face at that, gladder still to see how well Lucia and Maya got along.

He stood behind the couch as his teammates watched college games, keeping an eye on his sister and Lucia the entire time. When the food was ready, he helped carry the trays to the tables he’d set up.

“Time to eat. TV off,” Jenna called. When a few of his teammates groaned, she glared at them. “Fine, leave it on, but turn it down so the people who actually like each other can talk amongst themselves.”

They did as they were told, knowing better than to disobey Jenna Barrett twice in her own home. Cooper came inside, Oliver on his shoulders and James dragging from his leg. Hayley was talking to one of Sam’s daughters, though Colton couldn’t remember her name.

“Coop, could you make sure they wash their hands before they eat, please?” Jenna was already directing people as they grabbed plates and started piling food onto them.

When Maya heard Jenna, her widening eyes landed on Cooper, mouth slightly open like she wanted to say something. Cooper’s expression mirrored hers when he saw Maya beside Lucia.

“Mai, what are you—when did you get here?” Colton was surprised at his friend’s concerned tone, eyes flicking between his best friend and his sister.

“I—I missed Colton.”

Hayley tugged Cooper toward the hallway with the guest bathroom, and he followed her reluctantly. Colton’s phone rang, his father’s name popping up on his screen. He groaned but answered it, walking out the door Cooper had just brought the kids in through.

“Dad.”

“I’ve called you twice today. We need to go over the game.”

“Dad, I’m busy right now. Can we talk about this later?”

“Busy? Do you even care about playoffs? Your focus is being pulled, that much is clear.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means your incredibly rude girlfriend is distracting you from your game and may very well ruin your chances at getting through to playoffs this season.”

He ignored his father’s words, tired of the variations of the same conversation over and over again. His father had been warning him a minimum of twice a week since meeting her that Lucia was going to be the reason he lost out on another chance at the Super Bowl. As if the woman who’d single-handedly saved his game could ever be the cause. If anything, like he’d told her on the plane, she was now the voice in his head that reminded him about the best way to scramble, not to release the ball too early, not to slap the ball the same way before he threw the same pass. Knowing she was in that analyst box watching him each game lit a fire under him like nothing else ever had.

His eyes watched her through the screen door, a glass of wine in her hand as she spoke with Maya. While the tired conversation with his father wouldn’t end productively, it did remind him that this was temporary. After January, she may very well never speak to these people outside of the game-day environment again, and that thought had him swallowing over a rock. No matter how much she seemed to genuinely enjoy everyone, this was a duty for her, a way to ensure she got to keep her job and stay ahead of the media.

“Dad, is Maya staying with you while she’s here?”

“The last time I heard from Maya, she was in Asia. What does that have to do with playoffs?”

Colton held back a scoff. Maya had come back from the Open in Hong Kong three weeks ago, and he was sure she’d tried calling their father since then. He probably hadn’t answered his only daughter’s calls.

He was glad Maya was in town, even if it wasn’t necessarily under pleasant circumstances. He rarely got to spend time with her, and having her stay with him would make his often-lonely house feel more like a home. The way that Lucia had started to over the past few weeks. He grimaced when he realized where his thoughts were heading once again.

“Dad, I’m gonna have to call you back. I’m at a team event.” And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he hung up on his father before he’d even had a chance to tell Colton that his call was more important than any team event, a line Colton had heard plenty of times over the years.

When he was back inside the house, he piled some food onto his plate and sat beside Lucia.

“Everything okay?” she asked him softly, her eyes trained on Leigh and the conversation she’d been a part of with Jenna and Maya before. Her hand moved closer to him on the table, though she stopped before she reached his.

“Yeah, just my dad.”

Her eyes snapped to him. “Is he upset with you for missing Thanksgiving with him?”

Colton scoffed, “Right, that would be the normal parental response during the holidays, but no. He just wanted to tell me, once again, that I’m too preoccupied to get through to playoffs.”

Lucia rolled her eyes. “He needs a life.” She smacked a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “Oh my god, I’m sorry Colton. That wasn’t an appropriate thing for me to say. I should probably slow it down with the wine.”

He knocked her shoulder with his as he started eating. “I’m in complete agreement, don’t worry.”

After a couple hours of mingling with the team and their families, and with most of the food gone, groups of them began leaving, either to enjoy the rest of the night together or in some cases, to hit King Street for the evening.

Once Maya seemed more like herself again, he agreed to leave her side. He went to the kitchen to help Jenna put up some of the casserole dishes and place pieces of pie on paper plates for those who were staying for football and trivia, when Jenna said, “Tell me you’re staying for trivia this year.”

He hadn’t thought much of it, but Lucia had been enjoying herself so much, he wondered if she’d want to stay. “If Lucia and Maya want to stay, I’ll be glad to.”

Jenna’s smile was wide as she set the last casserole dish in the sink. “You like her a lot.”

“Maya? Well, I’d hope so.”

“Colton.”

He sighed. “Fine, yes. I do. I like her a lot.”

It was hard to admit it out loud. He’d admitted it to himself, and it was difficult enough knowing that she wouldn’t be in his life as much soon, but telling Jenna only made the thought of that harder to digest.

“Do you lo—”

“Do you need any help?”

Colton was glad for the interruption, not sure of the answer to the question Jenna had been about to ask. Though, when he realized it was Lucia doing the interrupting, his heartbeat picked up, worried she’d heard his confession.

“Nope, we’re just finishing up. Thanks, sweetie.”

Colton smiled at Lucia before asking, “Do you want to stay for trivia?”

She blinked at him.

He chuckled. “Think of it as a knockoff of Trivial Pursuit, but all the questions are about the NFL.”

“Oh, absolutely. Get ready to get your ass kicked.”

Jenna snorted beside him. He turned to her solemnly. “She’s not kidding. She’s a four-time fantasy football champion, Jenna. She’s insane.”

Lucia walked out laughing, and Jenna sent him a knowing smile. “Right. Well, we’d better set up trivia in front of one of the thousands of TVs we don’t need in this house.”

Lucia was in the bathroom while they set up the table, and they seemed to be missing a chair for her. He’d just stood to grab another when she walked out. The thought vanished when he saw her hair was down, out of the clutches of the clip she always wore. His heart stuttered, not for the first time that night, taking in the way her long dress hugged her body.

She looked alarmed at the lack of seats, so he sat back down and patted his leg. “Come on, Moretti. I’ve got a perfectly good seat right here.”

He probably shouldn’t have offered, but he’d barely talked to her all day. There had been so many people during the meal, and so many conversations, they’d hardly said more than a few words to each other here and there. Having her close to him, right in his lap, was something he couldn’t deprive himself of. Not when they were so close to January.

She moved closer, a frown marring her beautiful features. “I hardly think your friends are interested in playing trivia with the Disgustingtons.”

Jenna shuffled the cards before placing them and the other pieces out on the board. “We’re your friends too, and we don’t care as long as Colton’s here. He usually leaves early. Actually, he leaves every function before the fun starts, so we don’t care.”

Rudy, Cooper, Chris, and Sam all nodded their heads in agreement, so Lucia perched on his knee tentatively. Colton placed a hand on her torso, his fingers splayed across her abdomen, scooting her closer to his body. She made a noise as she moved up his leg, but their friends were already setting up their pieces on the board and didn’t seem to notice.

“Okay, let’s just do couples as teams,” Jenna announced. “Coop, you and Maya can team up.”

They were already sitting next to each other, so they nodded, not making eye contact with each other. Lucia looked back at Colton questioningly, mirroring his own confusion.

Each team rolled the die, and Lucia rolled a six, allowing them to go first. Jenna read off their first card. “Who was the first player to rush for two thousand yards in a single NFL season, and what team did he play for?”

Lucia didn’t even consult him before she responded, “OJ with the Bills.” She smiled wide, confident in her answer. Jenna nodded, and everybody around the table groaned.

“This doesn’t seem fair. Lucia’s whole job is to know random facts like these.”

Colton glared at Sam. “Don’t be a sore loser. We’re all in the league, we should all know these things.”

Sam continued grumbling but took his turn. Each team continued around the table, and before Maya and Cooper rolled their die, Lucia’s phone lit up in her hand. “Asshole Clark” flashed across the screen, and Colton wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the contact name or be pissed that Clark was still bothering her.

He sat up slightly so his lips were against her ear, tightening his hand on her stomach as she shivered. “If you don’t block his ass, I swear to god, I will.”

Lucia elbowed him, though she ignored the call, shoving the phone into her bra.

“You’re crazy if you think I won’t go in there.”

He got a sharper, more painful elbow for that one.

The couples continued taking their turns, and as more drinks flowed, everyone struggled a bit more with the questions, except Lucia. No matter how much wine she knocked back over the two hours, she was as sharp as a tack, rarely even checking for Colton’s input before answering the questions.

Lucia leaned closer and closer to his chest with every round of laughter at Rudy or Chris answering completely incorrectly, and Colton realized how fucked he was because Jenna might not have been so far off. He knew it was wrong, but when she met his eyes before laughing at something Rudy said or smiled wide at him because she’d answered correctly, he pretended those smiles were just for him, and that they meant something.

If Lucia wanted to use him, he’d let her, even if it ripped his heart into a million little pieces that might never fit back together.