Part 16 (2/2)

Shay leaned against the countertop. ”I really am a PhD student in nutrition. Brody is one of the subjects I'm using for data to confirm my thesis. He eats a certain amount of carbohydrates at specific intervals and I a.n.a.lyze his vital statistics when he's playing at his peak level.”

”Interesting,” his sister said. ”And what enticed him to partic.i.p.ate in your study?”

This was the part that required a little slight of hand. Shay shrugged. ”Free food that he didn't have to prepare? Or maybe the novelty of being included in a PhD study? Who knows?”

”Both are likely.” Bridgett got up to retrieve the whistling kettle off the stove and Shay nearly sank to the floor with relief that his sister had bought it.

”And what will you do once you have your PhD, Shay?”

”I'd like to keep working to optimize athletes' performance. But initially I'm going to be working in a state prison near my home in Texas. I'll be supervising the overall nutrition of the prison population.” Unfortunately, the job didn't sound any cooler the more times she explained it.

Bridgett looked at her wide-eyed, her hand stilled in the process of replacing the kettle on the stove. ”Did you say a prison?”

Shay smiled at the look of complete wonder on Bridgett's face. ”I need to help my mama out for a year or so and pay back my student loans. After that, I'll be able to do what I want.”

Coming to stand in front of Shay, Bridgett blew on her tea. ”I take that back about liking you, Shay. Like doesn't cover it. I truly admire your determination. It's not easy to sacrifice what you want for someone else.” A wistful look pa.s.sed over her face. ”Trust me, I know.”

Shay felt uncomfortable under Bridgett's lawyerly gaze. ”Well, there's plenty of lasagna if you're staying for dinner. The cooking instructions are on the top of the container.”

”So you really don't stay and eat with him?”

Not since the time I embarra.s.sed myself in his bedroom. ”No, the whole couple thing is just a ruse to throw off his teammates.”

”Not all of it,” Bridgett challenged.

”Pardon?”

Brody's sister gestured toward the Sub-Zero. ”Whatever you two were doing against the fridge that night was real. And I've seen the way you both look at each other. Some of it is definitely real.”

Tears stung the back of her eyes and Shay had difficulty speaking around the lump in her throat. ”Sorry to disappoint you, Bridgett, but you're mistaken. I'm not Brody's type. Nice to see you again.” Her hand was on the door handle when Bridgett spoke.

”Interesting.”

Shay turned to stare at her. Brody's sister had a smug smile on her face as she spoke. ”Most women would have saved face and claimed Brody wasn't their type.”

The monsignor's homily was droning on. Brody fidgeted on the wooden pew while Sister Agnes sat still as a statue. The Blaze were playing the Tennessee t.i.tans at home this afternoon. The mild fall weather had given way to a bl.u.s.tery cold wind off the Atlantic, and Brody felt like the air around him: as if he were in the middle of a squall.

Bridgett had become the houseguest who wouldn't leave, saying she was sick of staying in the hotel her firm had booked her in for the duration of her trial prep. Worse, she'd seemed to develop a fast friends.h.i.+p with Julianne and the other Blaze wives, ending up at a party at Celtic Charm last night. Not that Brody believed any of it was a coincidence. Julianne was up to something and she wouldn't stop until she decided everyone is happy. Which of course meant Shannon's happiness. Unfortunately none of the women seemed to understand Shannon was happier without him.

He sucked in a deep breath, reminding himself that he and Shannon weren't anything more than science fair partners at this point. Clearly, she wanted nothing to do with him other than to use him as a lab rat for her thesis. It was time to move on. Once he got his mojo back on the field, Brody was going to get his mojo back in the bedroom with the first willing woman he could find. It had been way too long.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block his wayward thoughts out and just listen to the ma.s.s. He needed to focus on the game this afternoon. He and Devlin had worked on every pa.s.s play this week, and Brody hadn't dropped the ball one frickin' time. Last Sunday's game would seem like a figment of everyone's imagination once he took the field today.

Sister Agnes waited until the end of the homily to get her two cents in. ”Was someone else wearing your uniform last week, Brody?”

”Nope. No one to blame but myself.”

She shook her head. ”It was a horrible loss.”

”What are you upset about? We got beat by the Cardinals. At least you nuns should be happy.” Brody was the only one laughing at his own joke.

The sister sported a grim look and Brody felt like he was back in the fourth grade.

”And that awful story on the Internet? Was that you, too, Brody?”

”h.e.l.l, no-ow!”

Sister Agnes rapped his thigh with her rosary beads.

”No!” Brody whispered hoa.r.s.ely. ”None of that was me. None of that was even true.” Except for the destruction of a two-hundred-year-old door at an estimated one thousand dollars in damages. Brody's mother had been mortified, the rest of the wedding guests looking at him like he had 'roid rage. He'd made up a story about the bathroom door somehow locking itself with Shannon trapped inside. Shannon had disappeared early that morning with Will and Julianne before anyone else became aware of the situation, so there was no one to dispute him.

The sense of shame he felt angered him, though. His family, his teammates, and the Blaze organization disregarded the blogger's article as untrue. But the average person, like Sister Agnes, would always doubt him.

”It didn't happen the way that blogger wrote it,” he reiterated, hating the disillusionment he saw in the nun's eyes.

She nodded. ”I never pictured you as an abuser of women. I don't always approve of the women you go out with, though, Brody. You should be more serious in your relations.h.i.+ps.”

s.h.i.+t. There was nothing like censure from a nun to discourage him from going out and finding a willing woman to help him rediscover his mojo.

”No time for women anymore. I have to concentrate on my game.” Which was the truth. The goal was to get a contract extension. He'd just put Shannon and all women out of his mind until he had that sewn up.

Sister Agnes actually snorted, startling Brody into nearly laughing before he remembered they were in church.

”Hmm. I don't know if I believe that,” she said. ”But we can discuss that next week. Today, you'd best be concentrating on the t.i.tans.”

”Yes, ma'am.” Not bothering to tell her he was only agreeing to the second part of her statement. Because there was no way he was discussing his love life-or lack of one-with the nun.

Four hours later, Brody was standing midfield in his sweats as the wind swirled around him.

”It's like a d.a.m.n wind tunnel in here today,” Devlin moaned as he tossed a few blades of turf in the air to see how they'd float. ”We're gonna have to keep this game on the ground.”

”Does that mean you're not gonna be throwing Brody any pa.s.ses, Mr. Devlin?”

The quarterback rubbed Maddox's head. The kid seemed to have grown an inch since Brody'd seen him last, three weeks ago.

”Nah, it just means Brody's gonna have to work a lot harder to catch 'em,” Devlin told the boy as he pierced Brody with his drop-it-and-I'll-kill-you glare. ”Come on, boys. Let's get you out of the wind before you both get ear infections.”

Maddox laughed.

x ”Don't laugh at the b.u.t.thead, Maddox,” Troy said as they trudged toward the tunnel leading back inside. ”Ever since Carly got pregnant, he's become like a grandma with his overprotectiveness.”

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