Page 17 of One Night Valentine

I cut her off. “You’re not.”

She juts her chin at me. “I just wanted to be here for you. I didn’t want you to do this… alone, but I’ll stay out of the way.”

The door opens, and Coach interrupts. “Payne, they’re ready when you are.”

I nod and take a deep breath.

Tara puts her hand on my arm. “You can do this, Cruz.”

I nod and take her hand in mine. “Come on.”

She shakes her head. “No, you go on in. I’ll sneak in the back.”

I laugh and pull her with me. “Nice try, honey. You’re here now, you’re stuck with me.”

I hold her hand, guiding her into the big conference room. The room is full of people from the press. They’re all talking at once, and the room quiets when we walk in. I don’t know why, and maybe it’s a mistake, but I hug Tara tightly, and it seems to calm me. “I’ll be right back,” I whisper, adding, “Stay right here.”

She nods, and I release her and walk up on the stage.

I have my speech ready, and I’ve practiced it a few times. I start by thanking everyone for coming, and then I make the announcement about my retirement. I take the time to thank my teammates, the coaching staff, my friends, and everyone that hashelped me along the way. As soon as I’m done, I’m bombarded with questions.

I sort of knew what most of the questions would be, and I prepared myself with the answers.

I tell them about why I decided to retire and my future plans. I wasn’t ready for the last question, though.

I point at Robert Fox with theGazette. “Robert.”

“Hey, Cruz. First, I want to tell you what a pleasure it’s been to watch you on and off the field. What you do for the community sets a great example for the league.”

“Thank you,” I tell him, starting to breathe a little easier.

And then he continues, “My question is, who is she?”

All eyes turn to Tara. She binds her hands together in front of her and rocks back and forth on her feet. I should have known that by her coming in here with me, there would be questions. Well, there’s no turning back now.

I smile at her and hope she forgives me for this. If I don’t give them the information, they’re going to get it somehow, and I’d rather it come from me. “That is Tara Brooks. She is my sister’s best friend, and… she’s my girlfriend.”

Everyone starts talking at once. I answer a few questions. “Yes, it’s a new relationship.” “Yes, she loves the Jasper Eagles.” After a few minutes, I hold my hand up. “Okay, thank you everyone for coming out today and for supporting me and the Jasper Eagles.”

I walk off the stage and straight to Tara. I put an arm around her shoulder and then take her through the tunnel to the private offices. As soon as we’re behind closed doors, I’m apologizing to her. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault. I wasn’t thinking when I showed up… you did so good up there, Cruz. Are you okay?”

She’s not mad. I half expected her to throw a fit because I just threw her life into a tailspin. But maybe she doesn’t realizeit yet. “Tara, I really am sorry. Most of them are good people and will leave you alone, but some of them are going to want to know more about us.”

She shrugs. “It’s fine, but seriously, Cruz. This was supposed to be one date.”

I nod. “One Valentine’s Day.”

She laughs. “Yeah, and so far it feels like we’ve been on a date every day since we’ve made this agreement.”

“Three days,” I mutter.

“What?” she asks, not making the connection.

“It’s only been three days since we’ve made this agreement.”

She reaches up on her tiptoes and brushes a piece of hair off my brow. “It feels like longer.”

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