Page 62 of Love Unscripted
“Why did you leave football?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced away and focused on helping Madison cut her meat.
Camille assumed he wouldn’t respond. He seemed distressed about whatever led to his decision. She was about to change the subject, when Madison hopped down to ask to use the bathroom, Aaron took her inside. When they returned, Madison ran off toward the swings, and Aaron turned back to Camille.
~*~*~*~
“After my wife died, I lost the appetite for it,” Aaron said quietly, answering the question he’d been weighing whether to answer at all.
His voice dropped on the last word, roughened by memory.
“Oh,” Camille breathed.
“I met Scarlette when I was in the NFL. She was a cheerleader.”
His gaze drifted toward Madison, but his mind had already gone back to that time.
Scarlette Swinton had been the love of his life.
He’d signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a tight end in August that year but didn’t meet her until November, at a Thanksgiving charity event. She was a Rams cheerleader—gorgeous, all endless blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, and a kind of radiance that made people turn without realizing why. It was like she lit up every space she entered. Like he’d been struck with a lightning bolt when she turned that megawatt smile on him.
He knew, almost immediately, that he needed to know her.
He also knew the rules. Players and cheerleaders didn’t mix. In the battle between following the rules and following his heart, his heart won.
Through a teammate, he passed his number to her.
He hoped that she would call but he hadn’t really expected her to. She was brilliant. Popular. A star cheerleader. She wouldn’t risk sanctions to go out with a rookie. Or so he’d believed. When his phone rang one night from an unfamiliar number, he answered, “Who’s this?”
Her voice teased, “Didn’t you want me to call you?”
“Scarlette?” he’d blurted, stunned.
She laughed. And that was it.
They kept the relationship secret at first, but the secret couldn’t last. When it became known, they faced a choice. Breaking up was never an option. Scarlette had to leave the Rams but decided to leave cheerleading altogether, unwilling to cheer for another team.
“How did she feel about that?” Camille asked.
“About what?”
“Giving up her job.”
He studied her. “Why do you ask?”
“Some women might resent being the one who had to give up her career.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting I should have quit instead?”
She shrugged. “Is that unreasonable?”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “As the man, I was expected to provide.”
“That sounds a little macho.”
“I’d say it’s more biblical than macho,” he replied.
“Oh?” she said lightly. “Which verse would you say supports that?”
