Page 25 of Quarterback Sneak

“I’m not drunk.” Beth stood her ground, obstinate chin raised in a decided jut.

“It doesn’t matter. You’ve been drinking.” Ivy narrowed her eyes, leaned in close, and tried to outglare her friend. She was genuinely worried about Beth and was at her wits end on how to resolve the situation. She only knew she had to find a way to get through to Beth.

“Calm down. Yelling at each other isn’t going to resolve anything.” Sam stepped between them, tension in his large frame despite his outwardly calm manner.

“Stay out of this.” Ivy raised a hand in his direction, fingers stiff and unyielding. It wasn’t the first time she’d fight with Beth and most definitely wouldn’t be the last. “If you’re not drunk, why are your eyes all glassy and bloodshot?”

Beth’s stance relaxed and a huge grin replaced her earlier scowl. She held out her wrist and flashed the ring on her finger. “Because of this. Aaron proposed and I—” Emotion clogged her voice and her hand trembled the slightest bit.

Speechless couldn’t begin to describe the rush of emotions coursing through Ivy. Aaron actually proposed? Ivy couldn’t be more horrified. Her worse fears for Beth had come true and she was at a lost how to handle it.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything? Like I’m sorry, I acted like a total bitch?” Beth asked.

Unable to voice her devastation, she stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape. How could this happen? Aaron was a looser who had a hard time keeping his dick in his pants. She’d never expected him to do something so uncharacteristic as to ask Beth to marry him. What was his angle?

Sam slipped his arm around Ivy and hugged her, his calm support pulling her from her stunned silence. She forced her lips to curve in a smile and clasped Beth’s hand in her own chilled one. Ivy lowered her head to inspect the ring without really seeing the diamond. Clearing her throat, she spoke in a low, calm manner that belied her dismay. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Beth removed her hand and twisted the ring to catch the light. “I’m about to get started on the pasta. You’re going home with Sam.”

“I can’t go home. I have things to do.” Ivy glanced about the messy kitchen, dirty dishes on the counter and her unfinished risotto at the stove where Sam had so easily seduced her. If she could simply turn back the clock and relive the moment before things became crazy.

“I see you’ve been obsessing again.” Beth picked up the plates and wrinkled her nose at the congealed mess. “You can’t be any more prepared then you are right now.”

“There you’re wrong. I have to get a hell of a lot of the pasta made for tomorrow.” And I can’t trust you.

“No, you don’t. I’ll do the pasta. You’ll go home, have sex with your boyfriend, and let me do my magic.”

Sam chuckled, a dry and cynical sound that grated on Ivy. Had Beth ordered Ivy to do so an hour before, she would have jumped at the chance to pick up where they left off. After everything that happened, she developed a throbbing headache and was no longer in an amours mood. Instead, an underlying despair hit her and she wasn’t sure what was worse, her nerves over the photo shoot or Beth’s news. At least the photo shoot would end. She had a bad vibe that Beth’s engagement would linger like a bad cold, one she’d not soon get over.

The irony of Beth’s suggestion was not lost on Sam. Like sex with Ivy was going to happen that night. She was obviously pissed about Beth drinking, added to her glaring shock over the engagement, wouldn’t be advantageous to seduction.

Beth grabbed up Ivy’s purse and shoved it into her hands, her movements steady and sure. While she might have had a few beers, Sam didn’t believe she was truly drunk.

“I’m going to blast my music, which you hate, and then you’ll complain about a headache, because you always do when you’re around loud music, so you might as well give up, go get some sleep and come back refreshed for tomorrow.”

“Beth is right.” Sam was pleased Ivy and he shared yet another thing in common. He had no fear of being dragged to the clubs with her. “I’ll walk you home.”

Reluctance still shown in her terse expression but she complied with Beth’s recommendation. Once outside, he slipped his hand into hers. While she didn’t protest his action, she didn’t curl her fingers around his like she usually did.

The rain that had drenched him earlier was gone. He guided her across the street toward her apartment. It was a warm night and the town hummed with activity. Sam waited until they’d traveled to a less populated block before he spoke. “You’re upset. Care to talk about it?”

“I find it difficult to stomach the fact that she’s actually marrying him.” She stared straight ahead, not looking at him.

“Your dislike of him aside, is he an alcoholic?”

The terse line of her profile spoke volumes. “Amongst other things. He used to work for me and came in stoned more times than I cared to count. Beth tried to cover up for him and I let him slide because she’s naïve enough to have fallen for him.”

“She’s obviously in love with him,” Sam said.

“And I try to support her choice but I don’t see any future for them. He has no real job and no aspirations beyond how to score his next fix. She supports him while he “follows” his music career. He’s been fired from half of his gigs and she makes excuses for him.”

Sam understood Beth more than he dared admit. Ivy need only insert Patrick for Aaron and he was reliving his youth. “No matter how much you wish otherwise, you can’t change her mind for her. She has to hit the wall before she’ll ever wake up to the reality of who he is. It took my…” he trailed off, realizing he said too much.

She cocked her head, expression quizzical. “It took your what?”

He considered answering with the truth but the past belonged in the past. Rehashing old memories, even to make a point, wasn’t worth the emotional trauma. “It took me years to recognize I couldn’t change people. One of the downfalls of football is that money and drugs go hand and hand. I’ve seen good guys give up a promising career for their addiction. Is she an alcoholic?”

“No, she’s not an alcoholic. After her sister died, she went a little wild. She’d been fifteen and her mother was reeling from the death of her husband in addition to her daughter’s illness. Beth took care of her sister and after she’d passed, she had no one. My dad hired her and put her to work. After that, she put her grief into her cooking. “

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