More than the Game by Jenni Bara

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@CelebPeopleMag:@HotShotDemoda was missing for the Metros big party—where is he?? Even with the rumors we don’t dare to hope that he could be with everyone’s favorite confident and beautiful blonde, can we? That would be a fairytale for this magazine’s favorite couple.

“He’s late.” Beth slammed her purse down on the table as she sat. Corey had asked her to be his date tonight for the end-of-season party the Metros’ owner threw every year. The team invited all current and past players, so Marc would be there. Despite that, she had agreed to go—she owed Corey for all the events he’d accompanied her to in the last month. “I don’t want to make a scene, and coming into a party late always makes a scene.”

“Maybe you should wear a different dress,” Luke said, not looking up from his phone.

“What’s wrong with this one?” Beth demanded.

“Philips is an old man; you might give him a heart attack. If the owner dies, Corey won’t get a new contract.”

Beth looked down; the emerald satin dress didn’t look so revealing at first glance. But the dress plunged to the small of her back, and with every step her favorite black heels and her entire right leg were on full display.

“Think I should change?”

“I figure you’re going for the ‘eat your heart out’ look,” Luke said, shrugging. Then he looked up. “You haven’t been this nervous about a media appearance in months.”

“I’m not nervous.” The press didn’t scare her anymore. They would always tell whatever story they wanted, but standing up and speaking out helped get the truth across, and she believed she could do that now. She wanted to say Loretta helped, but it had started before she offered her support. Slowly, over the last six months, she’d developed confidence she never had. And she wouldn’t pretend Marc hadn’t helped with that. “When will it get easier to see him?”

“It’ll get easier after tonight,” Luke promised.

But Beth didn’t believe that.

“Ms. Evans.” The man popped his head in the door, and his eyes lingered down to her legs. “They opened the gate for your date, and he said he’s running late. He’s asked you to please meet him outside.” She had almost gotten used to the Secret Service presence in her life over the last few months. Since Beth had become such a public figure, her father insisted on Secret Service protection until after the election.

“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed. “He might as well honk the horn.”

“Give him heck. A gentleman always picks a lady up at her door.” Luke smiled.

“Corey’s never been a gentleman, but I don’t want to be too late.”

“If you want to stay in the city, I’ll be here all night,” he reminded her again.

She couldn’t imagine wanting to spend any more time than necessary at this party. She rolled her eyes and headed for the car. The wind picked up as soon as she walked off the porch, and she wrapped her arms around herself, eyeing the limo warily.

“Beth!” Luke called from the door, and she turned back to see him waving her purse.

Beth grabbed it while her dress whipped and swirled around her legs. She spun back and walked to the car door, which the suit opened for her. Another agent was already sitting in the front seat next to the driver. She didn’t see Corey, but she climbed in, ready to give him hell.

“I swear to God, Cor, you better have—” But the words died on her lips when she saw the man sitting across from her. She sat there, shocked, as the door shut.

As much as she hated to admit it, the sight of Marc made her heart swell even as her chest ached and her stomach flipped. She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat.

“You take my breath away, do you know that? I think you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said. His eyes bored into her, lapping up every inch. Marc’s foot brushed against hers, and the heat radiated up to her stomach. She crossed her legs, looked out the window, and the car lurched forward. There was no escape from him.

“If that dress was supposed to make me miserable,” Marc said, continuing to fill the silence, “it worked.” His eyes raked over her.

She’d known she was going to see him tonight—maybe across the room, or in passing, she’d thought. She hadn’t planned on sitting in a limo with him. It hurt as much as it had the day she walked out of his apartment. She pulled deep from her reserves and looked at the man blankly.

“Where’s Corey?” she asked, her heart about to explode from the pressure.

Marc sighed. The surprise flashed across Beth’s face, and then something else was there for a moment before the shutters crashed down and every discernable emotion disappeared. He hated it, but it wasn’t a surprise. With the trust gone, he had expected her to shut down.

“I wanted a chance to talk to you, and you’re hard to reach. Corey’ll meet us there.”

If things went the way he wanted them to, he hoped Beth would skip the party and head to his house. But he had a lot of work ahead of him to get there.

“What did you want to say?” Her voice was laced with pleasant coolness. Then her eyes suddenly widened in shock. “Wait.” She threw her hand into the air before he could say anything. “We’re riding in a limo.”

If that was what broke through her composure, then he was grateful Corey had decided it was the best way to see her. The idea hadn’t thrilled him at first, of course, but when Corey had asked if Beth was worth it, Marc knew she was.

Marc’s mouth twitched. “Yes, we are.”

It sounded stupid and obvious, but Marc didn’t ride in cars. “No, I mean, you’re riding in a limo.”

“Yes,” Marc agreed.

“But you don’t.”

“I needed to see you,” he said simply, but she knew it wasn’t simple. He wouldn’t have gotten into the car if it wasn’t necessary, and she felt the first glimmer of hope.

“You’re not worried?” Beth asked, looking at the driver behind his head, and Marc reached up and closed the divider.

“About a lot of things, but at the moment the car isn’t on my radar,” Marc said.

Beth’s heart stuttered.

He moved to sit next to her but made no other move to touch her. “Beth, I want to talk to you about my parents.”

“Your parents?” The glimmer of hope vanished.

“I’m going to start there because I don’t know how else to,” he said. Then he reached for her hand, pulling it into his. His hand was warm and soft, and it felt so right wrapped around hers. “My dad was a minor league pitcher when he met my mom. My mother ended up pregnant. My father felt responsible so he gave up baseball, they married, and he took a job at an appliance repair shop his father’s friend owned. My mom dropped out of school to raise me. They both gave up their lives and started this new life because they had to. Neither has ever said they wished I wasn’t born, but they resent each other, and in a lot of ways, I think they resent me.”

She couldn’t imagine that being true. “Marc, I’m sure—” But he cut her off, looking so sad it broke her heart.

“They love me, they’re proud of me, but honestly, if they could go back, they would change history. I grew up in a house built with lost dreams, and I thought that’s what family meant, an unwanted responsibility. I didn’t want that. I was going to be different. I would make sure I could make all my own decisions with no regrets.”

He was explaining why he hadn’t told her about Boston. Understandable or not, it still hurt. And she didn’t want to hear about it, because it wasn’t changing anything. The problems went deeper than him not telling her. She pulled her hands back, but Marc held on tight.

“Please don’t give up on me, Beth.” Marc’s voice broke, and he cleared his throat. Their eyes met. He needed to do this, even if it changed nothing.

“Go on,” she said hesitantly.

“Last year, I answered my phone, and a girl I’d slept with told me she was having my baby. I’d been stressing for weeks after we hooked up because the condom had broken. I had given her my number and told her to call. But even still getting that call I felt like I was drowning. I didn’t love her—hell, I hardly knew her.” Marc paused. She squeezed his hand and nodded encouragement. “I didn’t want a baby. But she was having one, and I was responsible. I took her out one night after a game. I invited her and some friends to a party with some guys from the team. She wanted to leave, and I felt like I should at least make sure she got home. The guy who was driving was high as a kite.”

“This was the night of the accident,” Beth said, and Marc nodded.

“The baby that would have been my child died that night along with their mother, and all I felt was relief and anger that I had sacrificed my career.”

“People deal with things differently. I’m sure a part of you had to connect how the woman was like your mother, and you were your father.”

“Yes—and how, with a small twist of fate, my father could have been the one not caring that I’d never been born. Because if my mom had died while she was pregnant, he wouldn’t have cared. I’d spent a lifetime hearing how he and I were the same; that we didn’t have it in us to love. Reacting to the accident the same way he would have was all the proof I needed. I was just as shitty as he was.

“I should have talked to someone,” Marc continued, looking at the floor of the limo. “But instead, my solution was to drink too much, stay out all night at clubs or parties, and sleep with any woman willing to fuck me.”

“But…?” Beth said and reached up to rub the tears off his cheeks.

“But you made me want to be better because I wanted to be someone you could respect,” Marc said. “I met your family, and the more time I spent with you, I saw that family doesn’t have to mean resentment even if you sacrifice for them. Because you don’t do it out of responsibility. You do it out of love. My family was an embarrassment, and I didn’t want you to meet them because they aren’t like yours.”

“Marc, I—”

“No, listen: Every time I saw them, my father would tell me that being with you was stupid, and if I got a job in another city, I’d have to give it up for you. He kept saying I was thinking with the wrong head, that I could get good sex anywhere, that he and I weren’t built to love.”

Beth’s mouth dropped open.

“Yeah, my dad’s a real ass. And until recently, I thought I was like that too. I thought I was selfish and couldn’t love anyone.” Marc sighed, but he continued before she could say anything. “Then, Boston. It stunned me when they offered me the job. I wanted to talk to you about it.”

“But you didn’t,” Beth said, the accusation heavy in her voice. She glanced down.

“No, be mad, Beth, but don’t pretend you don’t care.” Beth looked up, and her expression hardened, but his didn’t change. “I didn’t tell you because if you had asked me not to take the job, I wouldn’t have. And that terrified me. So I waited until I had signed the contracts so I couldn’t back out—but I still couldn’t get the words out. Because I knew it would change things, and I didn’t want that. Honest to God, Beth, I wasn’t ready to let you go.” He looked up at her again desperately, then continued. “I should have realized then: The problem wasn’t only that I didn’t want to tell you, but that I didn’t want the job.”

“You didn’t want the job?” That threw Beth for a loop. “Marc, you’d been waiting for months for something like that.”

“I know. I should have wanted it. But my priorities had already shifted.”

“Shifted?”

“I wasn’t doing interviews that cut into my time with you. I canceled appointments to go to Steve’s games. I canceled twice on NESN simply because I wanted to be home so you could run, and I wouldn’t miss reading Mandy her bedtime story. I wasn’t trying, but the less interested I became, the more they wanted me.”

Beth swallowed. “Marc, I didn’t know we were—”

He cut her off. “No, I was choosing you, at every step, before I realized it was a choice. But I didn’t realize I was doing it. Then, after a week of traveling with the team, I resented the hell out of it. Everything I wanted was back in Jersey. I blamed the job for the fact that everything was a mess.”

“It was only a matter of time, Marc. If you hadn’t gone to Boston, something else would have happened.”

“I think you’re wrong. I’m not quick, but I would have figured it out eventually. Instead, I took the job, and I missed you more than I ever missed the game.”

“More than baseball?” The hope she’d been fighting since she had gotten into the car spread slowly through her system, and she couldn’t stop it.

“No contest,” he said, and reached his hand up to rub along her cheek. “It took me too long to realize I had repeated my father’s mistakes exactly. I gave up what I loved for something I thought I wanted. Because Beth, I’m completely in love with you.”

“You were… you what?” Beth stumbled over the words as her heart skipped a beat.

“Beth, when I met you five months ago, my entire world changed, and everything became better. Two months ago, I didn’t know how to tell you that you were different. But I know now.

“I could have told you that you give me a reason to smile; that you challenge me to stay on my toes. You reach into my gut and stir desires I’ve never felt before. I should have told you that you’re different, because my days are better when you’re in them and even the simplest things are fun because you’re there.

“But mostly, I should have said I love you, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I know what to say now, but the problem is I’m not sure if it’s too late.”

“It’s not,” Beth said as a tear slipped out and rolled down her cheek. Everything she’d ever wanted to hear had just come out of his mouth. “It’s not too late.” Marc wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb.

“Are you sure?”

“I love you, Marc—but I want a life partner. I need you to talk to me from now on, or we won’t ever work.”

“That won’t be a problem. I have a few job offers sitting at home, and I can’t decide what I want. I was hoping we could talk them over, figure out what we want.”

Just like that, Beth threw herself into his arms and kissed him.

Marc pulled back before she wanted him to. “I have something for you,” he said, and settled her back on her seat.

“What?” Beth said, looking up into his eyes in confusion.

Marc handed her a little black box. Her heart sped up as she moved to open it. The lid creaked, revealing a ring sitting in black velvet. It wasn’t the kind of ring she had expected, and her eyes flew up to Marc’s.

“I’m hoping this might be a solution for that gold band on your thumb.” She eyed him warily. “Don’t get upset—just listen. When I told you I didn’t like you wearing another man’s ring, you told me it wasn’t about him.”

“Yes,” she said, looking at the ring sitting in the box. It was a band too, but instead of the pure gold, this one had three colors of metal woven together, lacing through one another.

“I figured it out. You spin the ring when you’re trying not to worry. It’s reminding you that things work out,” Marc said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. “I still don’t like you wearing another man’s ring, even if it is Bob’s wedding band. But this.” He pointed to the ring in the box. “This we can both like because it’s a piece of your past and your future.”

“What do you mean?”

“First I want you to know, Luke helped me pull this off, and I ran it by all your brothers and Corey first, but this is all on me,” Marc said quickly. “If you get upset, I accept full responsibility.”

“Okay,” Beth said apprehensively. She looked at the ring again. The three metals were twined together, but each was still a thin individual band, one in white gold, one in yellow gold, and one in rose gold. They snaked around each other, blending to form one thick band instead of three separate ones.

“I had this ring custom-made, and I wanted it to be truly meaningful. So the rose gold is from your promise ring from Corey, and the yellow gold was your wedding ring from Bob. Both of those men are part of you, and I don’t want to take that away. Instead, I want to add to it.”

Her heart stuttered. “And the white gold?” she asked.

Marc looked like he thought she might hurl the box at him, though she had no intention of doing that.

“That’s for your connection with me,” he said quietly. “I had the jeweler use my cross, because if you’re wearing it, I’m exactly where I need to be.”

She pulled the gold band off her thumb and put the other one in its place.

“Thank you for understanding,” Beth said, and she leaned over to kiss him.

“You’re not mad?” Marc asked, twisting the new ring on her thumb a few times.

“No. This feels right.”

“Good.” Marc smiled for a minute, then he looked slightly nervous again. He took a deep breath and let it out before continuing. “I know I said I missed you and the kids, and all I’ve wanted was things to go back to the way things were, but that’s not exactly true. Hanging out at your house every night and then going home alone isn’t working for me.”

“I swear, if you tell me you want to bring other women home at night, I might kill you.” Beth crossed her arms in front of her chest. He threw his head back and laughed, suddenly he didn’t look nervous anymore.

“Beth, that is the last thing I was thinking.” His tone became serious again, but his eyes were laughing. “I want it to be my hand that lifts your veil when you say I do. I want it to be my hand in yours while we raise two of the most amazing kids on the planet, and my hands that hold our future children.” He pulled away and got down on one knee on the floor of the limo.

“Elizabeth Campbell Evans, will you marry me?”

Marc flicked the second ring box open with his thumb to reveal a giant emerald surrounded by two diamonds set in a thin white-gold band.

She stared. He wanted her and her kids and even some of their own. Marc wanted forever. She couldn’t find her voice.

“Beth, sweetheart, it would be nice if you answer me before I have a heart attack here.”

She couldn’t imagine how he could have any doubt.

“Yes, yes, sorry, yes,” she said, and her eyes filled with tears as she flung herself again at the man she loved.

He kissed her with a passion that she felt to her soul before finally pulling back. Marc took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger.

“I looked at the diamonds, but then I saw this one, and it was you. It sparkles like your eyes,” he said, and then lifted her hand where the ring now sat and kissed it. “How set are you on going to this party?”

“Why?” she asked.

“I thought maybe we could head to my place.”

“Hoping to get lucky, hotshot?”

“I don’t think I could get any luckier than I already am, Beth.” Marc wrapped his arm around her, keeping her close as he pushed the intercom button to the front of the car. “Hey, Joe, change of plans. Take us home.”