Playing to Win (The Players)

I was nervous as fuck thinking about meeting Owen Maguire the entire drive to the restaurant, where I was meeting Ruby and her parents, but he’s proven to be a pretty cool dude. We spent the entirety of dinner talking about football and stats and Knox and Cam. How they’re doing in the NFL. He asked if I have professional aspirations and I said of course.

He praised my game play and I basked in his words. Did my best to impress his wife by minding my manners and doing my best to be polite. All while Ruby watched me with amusement lighting her gaze. Like she thought me trying to be good was hilarious.

I’ve never really met parents before, beyond talking to them before I picked up a prom date or whatever, and that was a long time ago. I’ve never stayed with a woman long enough to get the parental introduction and I was just fine with it.

When Ruby mentioned going to dinner with her parents, I was desperate to go. Ready to ask if I could if she didn’t invite me herself.

We’re mostly done with our dinner and making idle conversation when Mr. Maguire’s gaze narrows, sliding from me to Ruby and back to me again.

“You two are friends then?”

Ruby and her mom go silent, exchanging secret looks.

This is my cue to step it up and say what Ruby really is to me.

“I like your daughter a lot, sir.”

“As friends?” Owen asks again, his brows shooting up.

“Well, yeah. I like her as a friend, but it’s—more than that.”

“We’re together, Daddy.” Ruby scoots closer to me, curling her arm through mine. “It’s just—complicated.”

“How so?”

“No one can know we’re together until the season is over,” Ruby says.

“And why the hell is it like that?” His gaze slides to me, his green eyes that are so like Ruby’s turbulent with emotion. “Is this some kind of weird superstitious thing you’ve got going on? Because if that’s the case, you need to know I’m about to call you out on your bullshit.”

“Owen.” Ruby’s mom reaches over and settles her hand on her husband’s leg. “Calm down.”

“It’s kind of my fault,” Ruby says, catching her dad off guard. She goes on to explain the agreement she signed to work with the social media team, and how she can’t date an athlete. “Once the season is over, we’ll be able to go public.”

He contemplates me again, his expression not as hostile as it was a minute ago. “How do you feel about this?”

“I hate it,” I say truthfully. “All the sneaking around. Not being able to tell everyone Ruby is mi—my, uh, girlfriend.”

She literally squirms in her chair at my use of the word that feels so damn foreign on my tongue.

Girlfriend.

We’ve never officially discussed it. Never come right out and labeled ourselves in that way but how else am I going to describe it—her—to her parents? That we like spending all of our free time together and most of that free time is spent…having sex?

Yeah, that wouldn’t go over real well.

Though it’s more than that with Ruby and me. It goes beyond sex. I like her. I enjoy her company. I want to know about her.

I want to know everything about her.

“You two are serious,” her mother says, a secret smile on her face.

“Mom. Stop,” Ruby moans, sounding like an annoyed teenager. “We’re just…seeing where this takes us.”

“Did you tell him about your brother?” her father asks.

“What about him?” I glance over at Ruby, who’s smiling helplessly.

“He asked Joanna to marry him last night,” she says.

“No shit?” My brows shoot up and I realize too late I cursed. I turn to Chelsea Maguire with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Mrs. M.”

“I told you not to call me that,” she chastises, her voice soft. “Please. Call me Chelsea. And I’ve heard worse. After all, I’m married to a man who uses the f-word like it’s a sport.”

“I stand by my assertion that it’s the most versatile word ever created.” Owen sits up straighter, his eyes dancing with mischief, while his wife just shakes her head.

They’re cute together. Act like they’re still into each other too, which is nice to see. I glance over at Ruby to find she’s already watching me, a glow in her eyes I’ve never noticed before.

“They’re going to get married, huh?” I turn to the Maguires to find them watching us very closely. I push past wanting to squirm much like Ruby did only moments ago and smile at them. “Congratulations.”

“We’re not the ones getting married,” Owen points out.

“I know but it’s your son who just got engaged to the woman he loves, and that feels like a pretty big deal.” I lean back in my chair, reaching out to settle my hand on the back of Ruby’s chair. “I like Joanna. She seems nice.”

“We adore her,” Chelsea says. “She also asked Ruby to be in the wedding.”

“Oh yeah?” I can imagine her in a pretty dress, standing at the altar near Joanna. Or even better, her wearing a wedding gown, walking down the aisle on her father’s arm.

Headed straight for me.

Sitting up straighter, I swallow hard, shaking the image from my brain. What the fuck? Marriage? Now that’s pretty fucking serious. We’re only twenty-one. I’m not ready for marriage yet.

But the idea of spending forever with Ruby? That sounds…

Perfect.

“It’ll be fun,” Ruby says, smiling at me.

It’s like this for the rest of the evening. Talk of family stuff. Ruby sending me flirtatious glances. Her parents watching me carefully, almost like they’re waiting for devil horns to sprout from my head or for me to say something wrong.

But I realize they’re just curious. I’m dating their youngest daughter and they want to know more about me. It’s natural. I want to know more about them too.

We’re leaving the restaurant when Ruby grabs my hand and gives it a tug, whispering in my ear, “Meet me at my place?”

I pull away slightly to look into her eyes. “You sure?”

She nods, her lips curled into this inviting, almost sexy smile. I glance around, making sure her parents aren’t paying attention before I lean in and drop a quick kiss on her pretty lips.

“You got it.”

That smile on her face is a sight to see. “I might be a while. You want my key?”

“Nah, it’s cool—”

She’s already unhooked the key from her keychain and hands it to me. “Just let yourself in. Natalie won’t be there. She’s out with Derek. Wait for me.”

We say our goodbyes in the parking lot. Her dad shakes my hand extra hard. Her mom wraps me up in a smothering hug, telling me she’s so glad we got to meet. I hug Ruby and kiss her cheek, my hand lightly patting her ass and I swear her mom caught me doing it, a mischievous look on her face when our gazes catch.

Busted.

I crank up the music on my drive over to Ruby’s apartment, feeling on top of the world. I’m having a terrific season. I just met Ruby’s parents and they seem to like me. Pretty sure me and my girl are going to take things to the next step—as soon as we can reveal our relationship, that is.

Life is good.

I’ve got no complaints.