Page 19 of The Billionaire Benefactor

Chapter 7

“Mom, we’re going to be late,” Matt whined. He’d been driving Jenny crazy the whole drive from the Woodlands after she dropped Lucy off with her parents. The drive to the Roughnecks’ training facility inside the loop was around forty minutes. Matt had gone from asking a million questions that she couldn’t answer about the training camp to complaining about her slow driving as she tried to find the right parking lot outside the training facility.

“Found it!” she said, pulling in. The parking cost ten dollars, and thankfully she had some cash to give the attendant.

“Don’t run! It’s a parking lot!” she called to Matt, who was darting ahead of her with his water bottle and mouthguard.

“Well, hurry up then!” He walked backwards, his cleats clip-clopping on the concrete.

“We’re not late,” she said, but she picked up her stride. They weren’t late, but they would be just on time.

A few other stragglers were also entering the training facility as they did, and people were still in line at the registration tables. Jenny half-expected them to say that Matt’s name wasn’t on the list, but they checked his name off, handed him a badge, and had Jenny sign a waiver. She followed Matt down a hallway and out onto the covered practice field. A younger guy with a clipboard and name badge waved Matt toward the field.

“Are you staying?” he asked when Jenny didn’t move.

“Oh, um—I thought I’d watch. Is that allowed?”

“Sure,” he said. “You can sit up in the stands if you want. Might be kind of a long day. We don’t have lunch or anything up here for you, but you can always leave and come back in.”

Food. She hadn’t thought about that at all. “Do the kids get food?”

“Yes, don’t worry! We’ve got them all taken care of,” he said.

“Great.”

Jenny climbed up into the bleachers with a few other parents. Most must have left. She hoped Matt had everything he needed. Roman had sent a super brief text with info the night before. She had scolded herself over her disappointment that his message was all info, nothing personal.

He’s not into you. And even if he was…

She couldn’t keep thinking about Roman like that. Sure, he was friendly to her the day before. When he called her cute, she almost cried. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed. That tiny compliment meant so much. She couldn’t even remember the last time Hank had commented on her appearance. That didn’t mean Roman wanted to date her. And she couldn’t date anyone right now. It would look really bad since most people didn’t know that she and Hank had already split up before he died. Plus, it was too soon for the kids or for her to even entertain the thought. She needed to stop being so selfish and get back to reality. She was a widow with two kids.

Grieving was so hard though. There weren’t hard and fast rules, but it seemed like everyone had an opinion about what was appropriate. It was too soon to be smiling and laughing, apparently, because that got her a dirty look in the hallway at church the week before. But when she looked serious or sad, people tried to cheer her up and gave her platitudes.

God’s got a plan…

All things work together for the good…

He’ll never give you more than you can bear…

All true, except maybe that last one, which Jenny suspected wasn’t in the Bible at all. But when people in passing tossed those kinds of words at her, it felt so insensitive and dismissive. Then they’d just look at her expecting her to say “thank you” or look really encouraged or something so they could feel good about being nice to the widow. That wasn’t fair, really, because she didn’t know what she wanted them to say or do. But so far, most things people said or did made her feel worse.

Except for yesterday. When three totally random and unexpected guys she didn’t know stepped into her house, helped with things she would never have gotten done, and even made her smile. That had been hands-down the best day she’d had since Hank died. Maybe even the best day in the last few years. She’d felt genuinely happy. It was sad how foreign that emotion was.

Also foreign were the fluttery feelings in the pit of her stomach whenever she got close to Roman, or when she held his hand for the blessing or their fingers touched as he handed her a vase. She’d heard people say before that you should never meet your celebrity crush because they can’t possibly live up to your expectations and you’ll be disappointed. With Roman, it was the opposite. He was more attractive in person and much better than she could have pictured. The night before she’d spent some time praying for God to clear up her feelings.

Obviously, he wasn’t answering that one right now as her heart went crazy when she caught sight of Roman jogging out onto the field with a group of other players including Blake and Tony. Roman’s jersey stretched tight across his chest and biceps as he waved to the kids. The guys went around giving high-fives before a guy in a polo shirt blew a whistle and started making announcements. Roman looked up toward the stands and smiled, giving a small wave. Jenny looked around her. Was he really waving to her?

He nodded when she looked back at him, still smiling. How embarrassing. She gave a small wave back and then rested her elbows on her knees, cupping her face in her hands to hide her red cheeks. She hadn’t blushed this much since middle school. Or felt this way in over ten years, back when she first met Hank.

He’d been so different back then. They both had, but Jenny felt like she grew more into herself as she had kids and embraced the life they built together. While it seemed like Hank grew more distant. The past year or so, she felt like he was a stranger with the face of someone she once knew.

Matt had already made a friend and was joking around with a kid with a mess of blond hair as they split into their various groups. Good. He probably wasn’t facing the same kind of comments from kids his age about loss, but it was probably nice to be around kids that had no idea.

For the next few hours, Jenny sat watching Matt and trying not to stare at Roman. It was hard though, both because her eye was constantly drawn to him, and also because he seemed to be intentionally making sure he was near Matt. That only made it harder for Jenny to calm her heart. Caring for her son only made Roman more attractive. She bit her lip. After today, she’d probably never see him again—in person anyway. It was hard to live in Houston and not see his face on a billboard or a TV commercial, magazine, or online. With his great plays, his handsome face, and his generosity, he was like the poster child for the city. Which only made her stupid crush more stupid. The whole city loved him.

During the kids’ lunch, Jenny debated leaving to get fast food. She didn’t really want to drive anywhere. Maybe there was a vending machine somewhere? The volunteers passed around boxed lunches from a local deli. Matt had a whole group of kids he was eating with, all of whom had sweaty hair and smiles like it was Christmas morning. This was such a treat to get to play football with their heroes. Jenny had gotten a few videos of Matt making catches or juking around some of the Roughnecks. She couldn’t wait to show him later.

Jenny was just about to get up and look for the bathroom and vending machines when she heard her name.

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