23. Battle Stations

BATTLE STATIONS

EVERETT

I was in the TE room with the other tight ends going over blocks and pass protection with our coach when my phone started buzzing like crazy. Coach shot me a look that could've melted steel, but something in my gut told me this wasn't just another fan tagging me in a workout video.

"Sorry, Coach," I muttered, sliding my phone out just enough to see the screen. My heart dropped when I saw Jules's name followed by a string of angry emojis and just two words.

Douchepotato posted.

"Kingman, you need to step out?" Coach asked, his voice gruff. I wasn't usually one of his problem children. I did my best to keep the drama in my life outside of football to the minimum. But sometimes life got in the way.

I nodded, already on my feet. "Sorry, guys. I'll be right back."

The moment I hit the hallway, I messaged Jules.

Send it to me.

A moment later, my phone pinged with a link. I hit play and instantly wished I hadn't.

I fast forwarded through Odin's intro about how he was going to save the fucking world from fake influencers, but when I got to the cut, I instantly realized what I was seeing. That fucker had followed me and Pen out of the bar and recorded our conversation in the parking lot.

The video was grainy, clearly shot from a distance, and mostly focused on Penelope. Pen's voice came through, distorted but clear enough, though he'd also added subtitles.

"I just... I didn't think someone like you could ever be interested in someone like me."

Then the close up cut to me, and I was frowning.

Of course the video cut off there, making it look like I'd rejected Penelope. Like I'd been disgusted. Fucking hell.

The video jumped to Odin's smug face, and I was ready to smash my phone.

"Is this your body positivity icon?" He didn't sneer like I expected. He shrugged, making out like he was just posing the question to make the viewers think. Like he was fucking doing them a favor. "Seems like even she doesn't believe the lies she's selling. Stay tuned to this series where I'll help you find a better path to being the best you."

"That manipulative piece of sh—" I bit off the curse, aware I was still in the practice facility.

I immediately dialed Pen. Straight to voicemail. Same with Kelsey's phone. It wasn't like I could call Dec. He was here at practice too.

"God fucking damn it," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I needed to get to Pen, now.

I burst back into the meeting room. "Coach, I gotta go. Family emergency."

I was in my car and peeling out of the parking lot before I even had a chance to think. I sped towards Declan and Kelsey's place, and my phone was going ballistic with notifications. I glanced down at a red light, seeing a flood of reactions pouring in.

@BodyPosiFitGurrrl: I knew it. @BestiesBestie has always made my alarm bells ring with the way she hides herself in videos

@BigGirlBody143: Give her a break. We all have insecurities. That's the point.

@GetFitFanatic81: No wonder she went after a notorious chubby chaser. She knows she can't get better. #GetFitNotFat

@OzLife2001: There're so many ways to lose weight. I don't get why she doesn't even try. #Lazy

That last one made me see red. I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. These people didn't know Pen. They didn't know how hard she worked, how much she cared, how she'd helped so many people.

I screeched into Declan's driveway like I was driving a getaway car and sprinted through the door. "Pen, Kelsey, it's me, I'm here."

I found Kelsey on the phone pacing, her usual sparkle dimmed by worry. "Yes, I want triple the regular security around the house. Yes, immediately. Thank you for your help."

Once she hung up, she just gave me a nod and pointed to the stairs. "She won't come out of her room."

I took the steps two at a time, my heart pounding. When I reached Pen's door, I knocked gently. She needed me calm and steady right now. I could punch walls later. "Pen? It's me. Can I come in?"

Silence.

"Penelope, please," I said, leaning my forehead against the door. "I'm not going to let you hide, baby."

I heard a muffled sob, and I fucking snapped. I wouldn't stand here and listen to her cry. I wouldn't let her isolate herself when she needed support the most.

"I'm coming in," I announced, turning the handle. The door was locked. Not for fucking long. I took a step back and threw my shoulder into it. The lock gave way with a crack, and I stumbled into the room.

Pen was curled up on her bed, her face buried in a pillow. She looked up at me, her eyes red and puffy. "What are you?—"

I didn't let her finish. In two strides, I was at the bed. I scooped her up in my arms, cradling her against my chest.

"Everett," she squeaked, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Taking care of my woman," I said, my voice gruff with emotion. I carried her out of the room, down the stairs, and into the living room where Kelsey, who'd been joined by Neith and Jules, was waiting.

"Everett, you can put me down now," Pen protested weakly, but her arms tightened around my neck.

I looked at the girls and shook my head. "Pen's moving in with me. Right now. We'll be back for her things. Do what you need to set up battle stations at my house later."

Neith's eyebrows shot up, but Kelsey gave me that small nod, smile, and wink of approval. Jules held the door open for me and gave me a salute.

"Ev, we can't just—" Pen started, but I cut her off with a gentle squeeze and then threw her over my shoulder and smacked her ass.

"Yes, we can," I said firmly. "You're mine now, and you're not going through this alone, Pen. I won't let you."

I'd barely gotten Pen home and settled on the couch when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, I found Kelsey, Neith, and Jules, arms laden with laptops, cameras, and what looked like enough snacks to feed my entire offensive line.

"Troops reporting for duty," Jules announced, marching past me with determination.

Well damn. I'd hoped to be able to relax my girl with a couple of orgasms before we went into battle, but duty called. I had to hand it to the girls for rallying the troops, supplies, and equipment so fast.

As they set up in the living room, I caught Pen's eye. She looked overwhelmed, but there was a glimmer of something else there too—hope, maybe.

"Alright, team," Neith said, taking charge for today's crisis. "We need to counter Odin's narrative and fast. He wants us on the defensive. We're changing the conversation on him entirely."

Kelsey nodded, pulling out her tablet. "Trixie's headed to Marie Manniway's, and they're calling in the Cowgirls and CowPals. A lot of them also have solid followings, so we're going to be able to get the message out. They're ready to mobilize, but we need a unified message."

"I think I know what we need to do," Pen spoke up, her voice quiet but steady. "We focus on the reality of what it means to be a big girl, chubby, fat, and body positive. Not just the good days, but the struggles too."

All eyes turned to her. I moved to her side, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Go on," Neith encouraged.

Pen took a deep breath. "Odin's trying to paint me, and honestly the whole body positivity movement, at least the side with fat people, as a fraud. Because we have insecurities. But that's part of the journey, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kelsey nodded and closed her eyes. She tipped her head to the side and her fingers danced, as if she was playing a piano in her mind.

Pen must have found that totally normal, because she continued on. "When we were at the spa the other day and you all told me about your stories of when you didn't feel beautiful, or secure, that helped me. It empowered me, even if it was only for a day."

No one said a word, because we were, or at least I was, completely riveted by this step forward in her own journey that Penelope was taking right before our eyes.

"What if we show that? Real people, real struggles, and the real side of body positivity where we work our way through it."

Pride swelled in my chest. Even in her darkest moment, my girl was thinking of others.

Jules snapped her fingers and bowed her head, cheering on Pen's ideas, her strength. "Yas, queen, yas. It'll be fast and easy to do a bajillion short videos. Everyone shares a moment of doubt they've had, but then how they overcame it or are working to overcome it."

"Real bodies, real stories," Kelsey mused. "I like it."

For the next few hours, our living room transformed into a production studio. Jules coordinated logistics, Neith crafted the overall strategy, and Kelsey kept humming a tune I didn't recognize. Through it all, Pen was the quarterback, the coach, their cheering fan.

I watched Pen slip into her element, offering words of encouragement to a nervous influencer on a video call, suggesting tweaks to the messaging. She was still hurting, I could tell, but she was also fighting back.

Odin had no idea what he was up against.

But I could see the toll the day was taking on her.

"Hey," I said softly, cupping her face in my hands. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm scared, Ev," she admitted. "What if this isn't enough? What if people don't understand?"

I pressed my forehead to hers. "Listen to me. What you're doing here? It's brave as hell. You're not just defending yourself, you're standing up for everyone who's ever felt like they weren't good enough. That's powerful, Pen. That's real."

When she opened her eyes, I saw a flicker of her usual fire. "You really think this will work?"

"I think you're changing the game," I said firmly.

She took a long, deep, empowered breath and got right back to work.

That first day was fucking brutal, but I loved waking up with her in my bed, in my arms the next morning. No matter what happened, I wasn't ever letting her go.

I gently kissed her awake, crawled over her, and planned on making sweet love to her. But Penelope had other plans.

"All these stories of women overcoming their fears have me thinking," she gave me a little shove on the shoulder, "about all kinds of things I've never done because I was worried about my size."

"That's great, baby. You know I'm happy to help you work on any of the items on your list." Please let there be a couple that she wanted to try in bed.

"You know how the wives, girlfriends, partners, and lovers are the Cowgirls and the CowPals?"

Holy shit, I hope she was going where I thought she was with this line of thought. "Yeah."

"Do you know why they call themselves that?"

I played dumb. Which wasn't a stretch since the way her eyes were twinkling at me and the way she pushed me down so I was laying on my back had all the blood from my brain headed other places farther south. "Why, Penny?"

"Because cowgirls ride Mustangs." She slapped a condom into my hand and just barely waited for me to get it on before she straddled my hips and sank down onto my dick.

My eyes rolled back in my head, and I was barely able to get moaned words out. "Ride 'em, cowgirl."

Two orgasms later, three for her, and I was on my way back to practice. I'd rather have stayed and let her check off every item on her bucket list and support her in what promised to be another busy day, but she insisted I get back to practice. And I was smart enough to know when to do what I was told.

The rest of the week flew by in a blur of practices for me and social media strategy for her, besides the work she and Kelsey had to do to get Kelsey's next album ready for release. But we managed to get in some stolen moments.

Odin didn't let up, making reply videos, gathering his own forces to post, and generally stirring up a shitstorm. The last thing I wanted to do over the weekend was leave for the last game of the season before the playoffs. I stood in our bedroom, packing my bag, the weight of leaving Pen feeling heavier than any tackle I'd ever taken.

"You know," Pen said from the doorway, "I could still come with you. Kelsey and I don't have to skip this one."

I zipped up my bag and turned to face her. The circles under her eyes spoke volumes about the stress she'd been under. "Pen, you need to rest. Focus on taking care of yourself for a few days."

She nodded, but I could see the worry in her eyes. "Go beat those big kitty cats for me, okay?"

I laughed. She knew full well the team was called the Pumas. "You got it, babe," I promised, sealing it with a kiss.

The drive to the airport was quiet, my mind torn between game strategies and worrying about Pen. It had been a while since I'd flown with the team, but we'd let Hayes and Willa take the Kingman plane on some impromptu trip since he was still out with his concussion. It had been Dad's idea to leave Hayes out of the loop on this for now. He had enough to worry about trying to recover.

I boarded the team plane, and when we landed, my phone buzzed with a text from Jules.

Operation Pen Protection is in full effect. We got this. Now go kick some Puma ass.

Honestly, I was going to miss having her in the stands this weekend. But some of the tension eased from my shoulders. Pen wasn't alone. She had good friends and family looking out for her, and I couldn't ask for better than that.

The flight and pregame prep passed in a haze. I was hyper-focused, channeling all my worry and frustration into my game plan. I had a job to do, one that I was very good at, and I'd be damned if I let Odin or any of these trolls affect my game.

The match was brutal from the start. The Pumas came out swinging, and we were on the back foot for most of the first half. But every time my focus slipped, I thought of Pen—her strength, her determination. It fueled me, drove me to play harder than I ever had before.

Because Kingmans play better when we're in love.

By the fourth quarter, we were behind by six. With just minutes on the clock, I slammed through a big ole defensive tackle who'd decided I was his target for the day, and I sprinted down the line. Chris's spiral landed right in my hands. There was no stopping me as I ran that sucker in for a spectacular touchdown run.

The Mustang fans erupted, my teammates mobbed me, and I pointed right at the cameras, hoping Pen saw and knew it was all for her.

But football, like life, can be cruel. In the final seconds of the game, the Pumas managed a fucking field goal that won them the goddamned game. The whistle blew, and just like that, we had our first and only loss of the regular season.

As I showered and changed, my mind was already racing ahead to Pen. I needed to call her, to make sure she was okay, to tell her?—

My thoughts were interrupted by a commotion near my locker. A group of my teammates were huddled around someone's phone, their faces a mix of anger and concern.

"Ev," Declan called out, his voice tight. "You need to see this."

He handed me his phone, and my heart dropped. I expected more backlash from Odin. I didn't expect it from the sports reporters and fans. Speculation was running wild about why Kelsey and Pen weren't at the game. The comments section on one of the major sports network's post about the game was a war zone, with fans taking sides and slinging accusations.

@IncognitoMosquito: Guess the Kingmans finally realized being Besties was bad for their brand.

@QueenofGoss: Sources say Declan Kingman is distancing himself from the social media drama. Wedding's probably off.

@GridironPatriot: No wonder the Mustangs lost. Too busy dealing with fake body-positive drama queens to focus on the game. #BoycottBesties

For fuck's sake.

Now I had to burn the internet to the ground, and I had a feeling Declan was going to help me do it.