Page 83 of The Cheerleader
“But you had the other drinks before—”
She waves a hand. “Those were made with liqueurs. That’s baby stuff. I wanted to talk to you about this tradition I heard they have at Navy football games.” She glances around like it’s some big secret. “I heard their mascot takes a cheerleader from the opposing team and passes her up the stands to the cadets.”
My eyes go wide, and I immediately dismiss the outlandish rumor. “That sounds crazy. No way they’d get away with that.” I give a little laugh. “Can you imagine?”
She giggles. “You’re probably right.”
I was wrong.
Two cadets, one dressed as Superman and one dressed as a gorilla, trot across the field toward our lineup during the team’s warmup. They go to the short end of the line and, standing in front of Sherry, they gesture to her and look toward the opposite side of the field where the cadets, dressed in full uniform, fill the stands.
They clap and hoot, and when they quiet down, the mascots move to the next girl in line and eventually get to me. The cadets cheer like mad and stand, waving towels or something, going crazy. We’re all watching and looking at each other for answers.
“Josh, any idea what they’re doing?”
“I have an idea, but—”
The Superman and gorilla return to me, and the Superman says, “Don’t worry. No one’s going to hurt you.”
My heart immediately spikes into my throat, then hammers like I swallowed a bottle of speed pills, and before I can ask what he’s talking about, they get on either side of me and lift me. Cradling me between them like I’m sitting in a chair, they rush me across the field.
“Shit.” I try calming down, and as I pass by our team doing their warmups, Bryan turns around and sees me. His face goes stony, but the mascots are fast, and they get me to the stands, then lift me.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry. Just relax and have fun.” The cadet dressed as Superman smiles as he heaves me overhead and passes me into the raised arms of the first row of cadets.
They’re all cheering as I get passed up the stands, but before I reach the top, I manage to slip from someone’s arms who kindly lets me go. I scurry back down the stairs like I’m about to be executed. My heart booms like a kettle drum in my chest as the cadets cheer and clap, and the two mascots meet me at the bottom of the stands. They escort me as I dash back across the field to safety, glancing at our players still doing warmups.
Bryan stops what he’s doing and turns to me. “Are you okay?”
I nod and smile for the first time since my capture, realizing I am okay. When I reach our squad, the girls are mid-routine, so I jump into the lineup as if nothing ever happened.
At the end of the game, Josh says, “Your kidnapping was the most exciting thing that happened at this game.”
Exhausted and hot, I glance at the scoreboard. Fifty-two to seven. It was a horrible game, and I can’t imagine how the team feels. After a quick change in the ladies’ room, we take the buses directly to the airport, and there’s nothing but low murmurs in the back. I don’t know what to say to Bryan when he brushes by me, head down, so I say nothing.
Liz touches his hand, and I see him flinch, but he keeps going without looking at her.
On the plane, Liz falls asleep within ten minutes, but I can’t. There’s still too much leftover energy in me, like I’m an engine that refuses to idle. Bryan is sitting with Dane two rows behind us across the aisle, and I can’t resist peeking at him when the stewardess comes by with drinks and snacks.
He’s resting, eyes closed and his seat back. He has a right to be tired. He got the only touchdown for UConn, the only bright spot that came at the beginning of the second half when the score was already thirty-five to nothing. He gave us a spark of hope, but it was short-lived.
After I drink my Coke, I decide to go to the restroom, though, strictly speaking, I don’t need to. I know I’m being ridiculous, but I want to walk by Bryan. Say something to him, anything that might console him. Stupid me. I need to get my vision of him as that vulnerable little boy out of my head because he’s not that boy anymore.
He’s a much more dangerous man-sized version of him. And someone I have no business having a soft spot for.
I stand and head for the back of the plane. But to prove to myself I’m not pathetic, I don’t say anything to Bryan. I don’t even look at him. I barely nod when Dane says hello to me. I keep going. It’s good to stretch my legs.
When I come out of the closet-sized bathroom, Bryan is standing there. The stewardesses are at the front of the plane talking, so there’s a space behind the restroom that’s empty. He slides around the corner and pulls me with him.
“Have you thought about me, princess?”
“You mean have I thought about sleeping with you?”
He grins. Of all the times and places I might expect him to grin, this isn’t it. I frown. Maybe I’m trying to keep us in balance because I feel very off-balance with him.
“I mean,” he says, his voice deep and rough, disturbing any sense of control I thought I had, “have you thought about what we’ll do in bed when we’re not sleeping?” His mouth is close to my ear, and I can’t help shivering as I glance around the corner to the front of the plane. The stewardesses are still there. No one else is in the aisle heading our way. For the moment.
