Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Palico — Mary’s cat that she adopted when out with Leo one day in Boston — jumped into his lap and flicked her tail in his face.
Leo’s face flattened. “Yeah. And this cat makes it hard for me to do the same for her.”
“Speaking of keeping people alive,” Holden said, pointing at the screen. “Kyle, you injured already, bud? Not used to seeing you on the table so early in the season.”
Kyle tilted his phone just enough that the trainer behind him flipped us all off without looking up.
“Soft tissue work,” Kyle said proudly. “It’s injury prevention. Because unlike some of you clowns, I take care of my body.”
“Your body is a war zone,” Leo said.
Zeke crunched on a piece of popcorn. “Jokes aside, how is the hammy?”
Kyle shrugged. “Fine. Just tight. Coach wants me loose tonight.”
“Careful,” Clay added. “You’re getting old.”
Kyle gasped dramatically. “You have a child. You don’t get to talk about aging.”
“So do you, asshole,” Clay shot back.
“If anything keeps me young, it’s those middle-of-the-night wake ups,” Kyle grumbled. He smiled in an instant. “She’s the cutest, though.”
There were no arguments from us — but Atlas stirred against Clay’s chest, and Clay froze like someone had just pointed a gun at him.
The entire call went silent.
“Don’t wake the baby,” Leo whispered.
Atlas let out a long breath before he was steady again.
Clay exhaled slowly.
And then we all lost it.
“Man,” Holden said, shaking his head with a grin. “We’re really out here with mortgages and kids now.”
“And nonprofits,” Leo added, nodding toward Zeke and Riley.
Riley lifted the popcorn bowl like a toast. “Novo Football Coalition is expanding to three new cities this fall.”
“Hell yeah,” I said.
Zeke nodded. “Got a big donor meeting next week. If that goes well, we’ll be able to start the scholarship program.”
“Look at you two changing the world,” Kyle said.
“Someone has to balance out the dumb things the rest of you idiots do,” Riley replied.
Kyle grinned.
Holden’s eyes shifted to me through the screen. “What about you, B? You ready?”
“Yeah,” I said, rolling my shoulder once. “Ready.”
The guys were silent a moment, assessing. I wasn’t ever much of a talker, but I’d been quieter than usual on this call, and the way they were looking at me told me they noticed it.
“Year two,” Clay said. “Big jump year.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Leo pointed at the camera. “You’re gonna kill it. You’ve been putting in the work.”
I nodded, even though a tightness settled in my chest. Year two was when teams decided whether you were worth investing in… or replaceable.
And I felt the pressure of that like a water buffalo on my chest.
Kyle tilted his head slightly, watching me through the screen. “You’ve seemed a bit off lately. Something going on?”
I frowned. “What? No, I haven’t.”
“You’ve been weird.”
Immediately, every face on the call lit up like someone had handed them fresh ammunition.
“Oh, here we go,” Leo said, rubbing his hands together.
Zeke dug his hand into Riley’s bowl of popcorn.
“I’m not weird,” I said, looking around to make sure none of my teammates were eavesdropping. “And how would you know, anyway? You’ve been in the new parent twilight zone.”
“Doesn’t take eight hours of sleep to see that my best friend has been distracted.”
“I have not.”
Clay smirked. “That sounded defensive.”
Holden leaned closer to the camera like he was investigating a crime scene.
Kyle leaned up onto his elbows. “You sure this doesn’t have anything to do with a certain tattooed dancer on the sidelines?”
I gritted my teeth as the guys had their fun, some of them whistling, some waggling their brows, all of them leaning in with shit-eating grins.
Heat crept up the back of my neck, and I hoped like hell that heat wasn’t showing as a flush against my skin. “You guys are idiots.”
“Is it us who’s the idiot? Or is it the player flirting with a dancer even though it’s against the rules?” Kyle debated.
Giana popped back into frame like she’d been waiting for this moment. “Oh, my God! Forbidden is truly a slept-on trope. The tension.” She folded her fingers together and kissed them like a chef marveling at their creation.
“There is no trope and no tension,” I grumbled.
“Interesting. Because didn’t she go car shopping with you over the summer?”
Shit.
I’d let it slip to Kyle one night at his house that Emily had been with me when I bought the Bronco. I thought I’d covered it well enough for him not to think a thing about it.
Apparently, I was wrong.
I schooled my emotions, cracking my neck and feigning indifference. “She happened to be in the lot when my car broke down and she offered to go with me. It was nothing.”
“If it was nothing, wouldn’t you have just said no, thanks?” Leo argued.
“Yeah. He also probably wouldn’t be drooling all over himself every time we have a break and his eyes fly to where she is on the sidelines.” Kyle winked. “Don’t think I don’t see that, brother.”