Luke placed a trophy in the case and shrugged. “I’ve been able to compartmentalize those worries. They’re still there, but deep down where they won’t distract me. Having you around definitely helps.”
“Really?”
He nodded and reached into the box for another trophy. “I feel safer. After that asshole in Vegas, I know you can handle anything that gets thrown my way.”
“Don’t put too much faith in me,” I replied. “If five guys attack you all at once, I think we’re fucked.” But despite my modesty, it felt good to know Luke had accepted me as his bodyguard. That he was relying on me every single day.I’m not just a distraction, the way he claimed the first week I was here.
“Whether one guy attacks me or five, I’m just glad you’re watching my back.” He smiled at me genuinely for a moment, then returned to his trophies.
To stop myself from blushing, I got up from the couch and joined him by the case. “You have a lot of hardware. There’s enough metal here to melt down and build a car.”
“I’ve been playing football a long time. The youth leagues, then high school. Then Penn State.”
I pulled an especially large award out of the box. It was a jagged piece of cut glass with his name frosted into the front, and mounted in a brass stand. “Where’d you get this?”
“That’s from the National Championship game last year,” he said proudly. “I was the MVP.”
“You must have put up some big numbers to get MVP,” I replied.
“Yes and no. I had two touchdowns that game, but what earned me this award was the touchdown Ididn’tget.”
I frowned at him. “Is this a riddle? Because I don’t understand.”
Luke gave me a puzzled look. “You didn’t watch the game last year?”
“I don’t follow college sports.”
“Oh, man. You missed a great game. We were beating Alabama by one point with two minutes to go, and we had the ball. I split two defenders and leaped in the air to catch a pass, then made a sweet spin-move to avoid Alabama’s free safety. There was nobody between me and the end zone. I could have walked the ball in. But then I stopped and took a knee on the one-yard line.”
“What? Why not take the touchdown?” I asked. “That would put you up eight points.”
“Eight points is still one possession,” he pointed out. “And there was plenty of time on the clock for Alabama to score and get a two-point conversion to tie the game. But by taking a knee instead, we kept the ball and were able to run the clock down to zero. Alabama never got the ball again, and we won. A guaranteed one-point win was better thanmaybewinning by eight.” He placed the award on the top shelf of the display case. “That’s why I was named most valuable player.”
Smart, I thought.And selfless.
As time went on, Luke and I became more comfortable around each other. With Kaylyn, I felt like a servant she could boss around. But Luke and I felt more like roommates, or even friends. Wherever he went, I went too. We shared every meal, and watched TV together. He was the last person to say goodnight to me at the end of the day, and the first to say good morning.
It helps that he’s gorgeous, I thought while watching a shirtless Luke run on the treadmill at the practice facility, sweat glistening on his tan body.Any assignment would be enjoyable if I got to stare at someone like him the whole time. But it went deeper than his physical appearance, I knew. Luke was a nice guy. He was charming. I genuinely enjoyed his presence, even when he had a shirt on.
Luke’s performance continued on a road trip to Detroit, where we beat the Lions by two touchdowns. After that was a win against the Chargers at home. The Salt Lake City Stallions were at the top of the standings and showed no sign of slowing down.
Stallions: 6 - 0
Chargers: 3 - 3
Broncos: 2 - 4
Chiefs: 2 - 4
Raiders: 1 - 5
I remained on high alert everywhere we went, but there was no sign of another attack. But rather than ease my concerns, it only made me more worried. Why attack him twice in the first two weeks, and then suddenly stop? Had my presence in Las Vegas, thwarting the stabbing, convinced the attacker to back off?
I spent my free time doing a little bit of research. That wasn’t part of the job, but I couldn’t help it—I was curious. Luke was new on the team, which meant he had taken someone’s roster spot. Logically, it made sense that the attacker might be someone who would get promoted if Luke was suddenly moved to the injury list.
But my suspicions were fruitless. None of the players on the bench—or on the practice squad—showed any signs of animosity. And all of them could be accounted for in the locker room during the attack after the Raiders game. The physical appearance of the attacker also pointed to someone who wasn’t a football player; he simply wasn’t big enough. There was still the possibility that the attacker washiredby someone, but I didn’t have any evidence to prove it was one of Luke’s teammates gunning for his spot.
Furthermore, I was confused as to why Luke would be a target at all. There were hundreds of players in the NFL. Why focus on wide receiver Luke August? He was a rookie. He hadn’t been in the league long enough to make enemies. The more I thought about it, his rookie status was something that stuck out to me. He was the youngest player on the team. Was his attacker targeting him because he thought Luke could be pushed around? That his young age made him more susceptible to intimidation?