Offsides: A Superbowl Party Second Chance Romance

  A Back to Love Short

  Tina Martin

  Copyright @ 2023 Tina Martin

  OFFSIDES: A SUPERBOWL PARTY SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, names, places, things or events are a product of the author’s imagination and strictly coincidental and are used fictitiously.

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  For Entertainment Only Ages 18+

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Offsides: A Superbowl Party Second Chance Romance (Back to Love, #3)

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Football is like life. It requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.” - Vince Lombardi

  CHAPTER ONE

  “What are you doing here?” Tyler and Ivory asked harmoniously as soon as Ivory stepped inside Chloe and John’s home – each with an identical sharp tone of disdain in their voices.

  Chloe had invited Ivory.

  John had invited Tyler.

  Ivory and Tyler were in the process of getting a divorce.

  They weren’t supposed to be partying together. They couldn’t stand each other! How were they supposed to share the same space, even for a few hours?

  Chloe and John were their best friends, their kickin’-it couple – that is up until Ivory decided to file for divorce. Ivory still considered Chloe and John good friends, but it was awkward now. Waay awkward. They were more like ‘couple friends’ – not individual friends. And since Ivory filed for divorce from Tyler back in November, she hardly had any contact with Chloe or John. She thought it was for the best. Besides, she was on a new journey, starting a new, anti-Tyler life. That meant new, single friends. Their marriage friends had to take a back seat.

  That is until Chloe and John got the idea to invite Ivory and Tyler to their Superbowl party, so not only did they have a seventy-inch flat-screen TV view of the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Kansas City Chiefs, but they also had a front row seat to Ivory Richards versus Tyler Richards.

  By the way Ivory was frowning, that show probably wouldn’t go on. She was ready to leave.

  A frown tore through her smooth, brown skin when she looked at Chloe and asked, “Did you know he was going to be here?”

  Chloe flipped her curly hair and gnawed on her bottom lip – a telltale sign she did know – then replied, “Okay, I knew John had invited him. I just didn’t think he was going to show, so I invited you.” Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Please come inside. You don’t have to talk to him at all. Just talk to me. We need to catch up.”

  Ivory rolled her eyes and sighed. I got cute for this?

  She ran her fingers through her black hair that she’d spent a substantial amount of time straightening so she could be around her old friends without looking busted. And she was smoldering hot. Her makeup was on point, topped off with her favorite tint of red lipstick. And she had on a cute, yet comfortable outfit – a stretchy pair of black jeans that gripped her size twelve curves with a white turtleneck and a pair of knee-high boots.

  Gosh, she didn’t want to do this, but she was here now. There was no sense in letting a bomb outfit go to waste. Plus, the food smelled too good to just walk away from. The aroma hit her nose as soon as Chloe opened the door.

  Narrowing her eyes, she said, “Fine. I’ll stay, but the minute I feel like he’s bothering me, I’m outta here.”

  Giddy, Chloe responded, “Yay! I’ll keep you away from him. Promise.”

  Yeah, right...

  Ivory doubted very seriously that her friend would play referee all night and why would she? This was a party – her party – and nobody wanted to be wound up tight at a party because of a kerfuffle between exes.

  Ivory reluctantly continued inside. Besides the four of them, there was another couple they knew well – Miriam and Thomas – watching the pre-game show, already stuffing their faces. And there was plenty of food to stuff their faces with according to that massive spread on the island. It was enough food to be seen from space.

  “Hey, Ivory,” Miriam said, setting her plate on the table, brushing crumbs off of her shirt and walking over to Ivory, embracing her.

  “Hey, Miriam. Long time no see.”

  “I know!” Miriam said, releasing her. “Girl, you look amazing!”

  “Thank you. So do you,” Ivory replied. Then she spoke to Thomas. She didn’t look at Tyler directly, but she could sense his eyes on her and that she didn’t like. What was the purpose of looking now when he had her and wouldn’t do what was required to keep her?

  Ivory looked for a safe spot to settle, and since Tyler was in the living room, she took cover in the kitchen. Fortunately, Chloe and John had one of those large homes with an open concept, so she could see the large wall-mounted TV from there with no problem. She wasn’t interested in the pregame show, anyway. The real show was all the food on the island.

  “You’ve got quite the spread here, Chloe.”

  “Yeah. John wanted to go all-out this year since this is our first Superbowl party in two years.”

  “Oh, right. The pandemic...”

  “Yeah. That’s why we only invited three couples. We’re still waiting for Jeremy and Talissa. Talissa wasn’t sure if they were going to make it.”

  “Ok. Cool.”

  “So, how have you been, Ivory? You look good, girl?”

  “I am good. I would be even better if I didn’t have to see his face. Ugh.”

  Chloe looked across the way to Tyler’s eyes aiming straight for the kitchen as if he knew they were talking about him. Or maybe he wanted to talk to Ivory. She was sure it had been a while since they said anything to each other.

  Chloe said, “You didn’t really talk to me after you filed for divorce. You just cut everybody off and—”

  “I know. I was in a place where I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to be alone so I could decide what I wanted for a change. I couldn’t make that decision with people in my ear constantly telling me what they think I should do. I needed to make that decision for myself.”

  “Okay, so what happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What was it that pushed you over the edge to go through with filing for divorce?”

  Ivory sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  “You don’t have to go into any details. Just a simple it wasn’t working out, or he cheated on me will suffice.”

  “He didn’t cheat on me if that’s what everybody’s thinking.”

  “Did you cheat on him?”

  “Girl, no! Look—this wasn’t a cheating issue. It was more like we weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. Irreconcilable differences.”

  “About what, though?”

  “Well, there were a lot of fights between us surrounding this issue, but basically the bottom line is this—I want children and he doesn’t.”

  “Oh,” Chloe said in a way that suggested she understood Ivory’s position and why she did what she did. Then she said, “Wait—so where was the disconnect?”

  “What disconnect?”

  “I guess what I’m asking is, who breached the contract because surely y’all discussed having children before you got married. You talk about those things to determine compatibility. So, there must’ve been some agreement before you married.”

  “That was me, and I acknowledge that. I agreed with him when we married that I didn’t want children, but somewhere along the lines, I changed my mind. I simply wanted him to be open to it, but every time I brought it up, he clammed up, then blew up. It finally got to where neither of us could stand the other, and subsequently, here we are.”

  “Wow.”

  “But it’s all good. I’m not sweatin’ it.” I pick up a mini chili-cheese hotdog and take an orange Fanta from a cute ice bucket on the counter.

  “By the way, Chloe, where are the chicken wings? You can’t have a Superbowl party with no chicken wings.”

  “Girl, I completely forgot, and by the time I thought about ‘em, it was too late, so this is all there is.”

  “Well, it’s all good. You got enough food here to feed the Chiefs and the Eagles, as well as all of their coaching staff.”

  Chloe giggled. “I have to. These men can eat.”

  “Touchdown!” John shouts, leaping from his recliner with the beer bottle in the air. He slapped hands with Tyler. “I told y’all Philly was gon’ win this game.”

  “You sound like a traitor, man,” Thomas said. “You ain’t no true Falcons fan.”

  “I am, but I got money on Philly, so today, I’m a Philly fan—you feel me?”

  “Real talk,” Tyler said, “But the Chiefs are going to win.”

  “I’m with Tyler on this one,” Thomas said. “The Chiefs got the refs on their side, along with all the powers that be up in New York. Y’all saw what happened in the AFC Championship game, right? The Chiefs couldn’t convert on third down, so what did the refs do? They called a lil’ meeting on the sideline and gave them another shot at it. That’s the only reason they won that game. The Superbowl should’ve been Philly versus the Bengals.”

  “Facts,” Tyler said, “And the Bengals coach was livid, but there’s nothing you, he or anyone else could do about it. Like everything else in the United States, the NFL is heavily controlled, and guess what? The right amount of money can get you anything you want. That’s all I’ma say about that before they come looking for me.”

  “Oh, so that’s why #NFLRigged was trending on Twitter,” Chloe said. “Now it all makes sense.”

  “I didn’t know because I didn’t bother watching the game,” Ivory said.

  “None of it was fair,” Chloe added. “Where is the integrity in the world?”

  “In a world that promotes money over everything, you’re looking for integrity? Good luck with that. That ship has looong sailed,” Ivory said, and as she laughed, her eyes caught sight of Tyler’s. Caught in a trance for a moment, she held it, remembering all the good times they shared before she switched up on him. That’s right. She switched up on him. But could she solely be the blame for the downfall of their marriage?

  Marriage was about yielding to the other person. It was a relationship of communication and respect. If one person changed their mind about something, it would bode well for the other party to at least listen and try to understand.

  Tyler did neither.

  As if people aren’t supposed to grow and evolve...

  That’s what humans were supposed to do. They changed their minds and women were experts at this. Ivory had changed outfits four times before deciding on what she ultimately chose to wear this evening. And she’d changed her mind about having children. But why?

  Was it seeing parents with their children at the park? Perhaps it was the cute babies she’d see with their mothers when she was out shopping. Whatever it was, she had a severe case of baby fever and it wasn’t going away. That’s how she knew she wanted children. This wasn’t a temporary thing. She was dead serious. She wanted to leave a legacy in the world, and she wanted to be with someone who wanted to do that with her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tyler grabbed a handful of chips to go along with the seven-layer dip on his plate. He glanced up to see Ivory sitting at the dining room table, alone. She could see the TV without having to sit in the living room near him, and he knew that was a plus for her. She hadn’t spoken a word to him in six months. And even now – even while they shared the same space – she kept her distance. And another thing she did that ruffled his feathers was making it a point not to look at him as if they weren’t once in love and living a good married life.

  It had been six months since he moved out of their home – the house they purchased together. She was so upset – was in such a hurry to get away from him – that she was more than willing to move out, but he wouldn’t allow it. What kind of man lets the woman he loves leave her home to search for an apartment?

  Not him.

  Tyler loved Ivory from the depths of his soul and still did, but after some time, that love came with a little animosity. He didn’t want his marriage to end. He thought she was just upset, that this was a phase and she would eventually come to her senses. Once she did, their marriage would pick up right where it had left off.

  That didn’t happen.

  So, what he initially thought would be two weeks turned into six months. Six whole months! He couldn’t believe it—still couldn’t—but when a woman makes it clear that she doesn’t want you, what was there left to do?

  Granted, he could’ve called her, or made an effort to visit, but how was that fair when he wasn’t the initiator of their separation? He wanted his wife more than anything. He cherished his relationship with her – the dinner dates, the parties, vacations...they had a good life.

  Now, they were practically in the same room sharing the same air and you could cut the tension with a knife and not just any knife. It had to be a dangerously sharp one because that’s how choking the sensation was of being in a room with someone who hated you.

  It didn’t start out that way.

  On the day of their wedding, he told Ivory she was the most beautiful woman in the world. With her luscious black hair, full lips and pretty brown skin, she turned heads anywhere she went. And her body – oh how he loved her body. She fit perfectly into his arms any other way a woman’s body fit against her man’s frame. He missed her. Upset and all, he missed their lives together. And he still wanted – no, needed – to know why.

  Well, he sort of knew. It was the baby issue. She wanted a baby after she told him she didn’t want kids. They’d established that before they were married, but she changed her mind. Said she felt unfulfilled as if Tyler wasn’t enough. She wanted more, and a baby was supposed to give her the fulfillment she was seeking.

  “Oh, shoot!” Thomas said. “Them Chiefs said don’t count them out. They didn’t make it all the way to the Superbowl to be sitting ducks.”

  Tyler was too busy staring at Ivory to know what was happening in the game, nor did he care. Over and over he ran a scenario in his mind in which he could get his wife back and honestly, he didn’t feel like giving her a baby would satisfy her. He didn’t feel like it was the baby issue at all. How could it have been when she was so adamant about not having children before they got married? People changed their minds about a lot of things, but something as serious as having a child shouldn’t be considered lightly. You can’t wake up and say, I want a baby on a whim, like creating new life was all fun and games. Babies required a lot of work and money. They were living comfortably now. No one had to get up in the middle of the night to comfort a crying baby and whenever they wanted to go anywhere, without hesitation they’d book a flight and go. You don’t have that same freedom with children. Everything is tied around their schedule.

  “I think the Chiefs might win this, John,” Thomas said. “I know you got money on Philly, but that’s your fault. The Chiefs looking real nice right now.”

  “You mean the refs looking real nice right now,” John responded, then laughed. “What do you think, Ty.”

  Tyler blinked out of his trance with Ivory and said, “Nah. Philly got it.”

  “I’m just waiting to see what Rihanna gon’ do for this halftime show,” Chloe said. “They’ve been hyping this up for a minute. What songs do y’all think she’ll perform?

  “She better do that What’s My Name song. That’s my joint!” Miriam said. “I used to put on my cutoff jean shorts and tear that song up.”

  “You don’t even own no cutoff jean shorts,” Thomas said.

  Miriam picked up a pillow and swatted him with it. “Shut up, Thomas.”

  “You may as well forget about that,” Chloe told her. “No way they’re going to allow her to perform that song to the kind of audience the Superbowl brings. She’ll probably do the safe songs like Don’t Stop the Music or Umbrella.”

  “That’s what I was thinking, Chloe,” Ivory said. “We Found Love is another safe one.”

  “Isn’t that ironic...” Tyler grumbled.

  Ivory’s eyebrows raised. “Um, what was that?”

  “What was what?” Chloe asked, glancing over at Ivory.

  “Nothing. I thought somebody said something,” she told her.

  Chloe knew who that somebody was...

  “It would be lit if she linked up with Jay-Z and did Run This Town,” John said. “You know she gon’ bring somebody out.”

  “No she ain’t,” Chloe said. “If anything, she’ll have some models coming out wearing Fenty like a mini-runway show.”

  “I can see that,” Ivory said.

  “I don’t know,” Thomas said. “I think she’s a big enough artist where she doesn’t need to bring anybody out but it definitely ain’t gon’ be as lit as last year’s halftime show. Dr. Dre, Snoop, Eminem, Mary J., 50 Cent and Kendrick...that was epic!”

 

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