Page 29 of Broken Play (The O’Ryan Family #1)
TWENTY-NINE
GREYSON
On Mondays after a Sunday game, we're off except for any physical therapy or medical treatment.
It's time for our bodies to heal. Of course, I watch raw film of yesterday's game as well as the next opponent and jot down notes.
I notice Sutton on the sidelines during the game, cheering when I threw a touchdown pass. She sends me a short text this morning.
BL: House at seven?
Me: Mine or yours?
BL: Yours. I want to ride.
Me: By the way, that was one hell of a speech. Who knew the word trust could get grown men so riled up? And I'm always available for you to ride.
Flirting and making Sutton blush is my favorite thing to do. She gives me the eye-roll emoji, and it triggers an idea .
Luckily, Dad answers when I call because I know his day starts early on Monday mornings, preparing the coaches and dissecting his next opponent.
"Hey, thanks for coming to the game yesterday." He runs himself ragged between his games on Saturdays and making it to see Noelle cheer for her team. He takes a little time off on Sundays and will be able to come to most of the games.
"Do you think I would miss the first game in history where the head coach and starting quarterback are brothers and my sons?
Your mom would send down lightning to strike if I didn't." A laugh rumbles and dies on his tongue.
"She would be so proud of the men you've become and how close you two stayed.
Before the kids came along and it was just you and John David, she would say, 'My boys this and my boys that.
' I used to remind her that her boys are my boys, too. "
Hearing the emotion in Dad's voice causes an admission. "I don't know if she would be proud of me."
"Of course, she would. You were her baby boy for over a decade before Parker came along."
"Mom would have wanted me to find someone to share my life with by now."
"What's bringing this on?"
Stammering, I say, "I don't know." But I do. Looking at my sketch pad, I see I've drawn Sutton trying to sneak into my room and then another of her face with lockers behind her and the tops of the players' heads listening to her.
"Son, your mom trusts that you'll know when you find the right person, just like I do."
"My house is so empty. I never felt like that in Denver, but being at home and running into my friends from school can be a little depressing. They're going to the lake on the weekends with their wives and children. And I'm sitting in my big-ass den watching film by myself."
Silence cloaks the phone, and finally Dad asks, "Do you still love playing football?"
"Absolutely." Doubt never enters my mind. "But I don't want football to take away my chance at happiness for the rest of my life."
"Why would it? Plenty of players are married."
"I don't know. I'm just thinking aloud. The reason I called is that I'm going to van two of the horses to my land. Is that okay?"
"Just don't take Noelle's favorite, Gypsy."
"I won't. And Dad, thanks. I just want what you and Mom had."
"You will, Greyson. You will."
After we hang up, I drive to Dad's house.
As soon as I walk in to grab the barn keys, I hear someone stomping around inside.
I go to Witt's room, but it's not him, and I realize he's already at the high school.
Parker rounds the corner, and I'm stopped in my tracks.
My brows rise. "What are you doing here?
And why in the hell didn't Dad tell me you were home? I just talked to him."
Clothes are being fired at the clothes hamper and his open dresser drawers. Parker snaps a shirt that lands on the bed. "Dad doesn't know." His voice is nearly inaudible.
I suck in a helium tank of air and let my body fall onto his bed. Leaning over, with my elbows on my knees, I shove my fingers into my hair. All I want is to take a couple of horses, and now I'm caught in the middle with no plausible deniability.
I've never seen Parker act this way, stomping, hissing, and mumbling to himself. I catch his elbow, and he says, "Don't touch me."
Holding my hands in the air, I say, "Whoa. You need to check yourself. Tell me what happened."
"Don't start with the big brother act. It's too late."
His words hit me harder than I expect. For a second, my mouth hangs half open, as if I've got something to say, but I can't. It's a gut punch as guilt sets in.
He's right; I've missed more of his life than I want to admit.
Football always seemed like the most important thing in my life, and I'm realizing that shouldn't have been the case.
But it's not my fault that I'm so much older than he is.
I flew him and his friends to Denver last year.
What is my fault is not calling him just to chat and pester him.
Still, I try to catch his eye and force a crooked smile.
"It's never too late to nag. Dad and J.D.
should win an Olympic medal for it," I say, shrugging like it doesn't sting.
"Just tell me why you're in Texas when school and hockey just started.
You can swear me to secrecy. Whatever is going on, I'll help you. "
He walks out of his bedroom and scampers down the stairs. "Parker, stop. Do you want to go riding?"
He stalls at the front door. "I just don't want to talk about it."
"Dad will realize you're home, so do you want to practice your story on me? J.D. and I used to do that all the time."
He sighs and says, "My teammate screwed my girlfriend."
Slowly, the puzzle pieces come together.
He's brokenhearted, something I only know a little about.
The time Sutton said kissing me was a mistake—that stung.
The thought causes me to wonder how I would react now if Sutton broke it off with me after we'd been intimate.
Instantly, I know I would be devastated.
"That sucks."
"I tried to forgive her, but I couldn't. When I closed my eyes, all I could see was her fucking him."
His eyes fill with water, and his whole face is tight.
"Parker, the best way to get over a betrayal is to do it better somewhere else or with someone else.
Like Vegas betraying J.D.—we went there and beat their ass.
You don't treat an O'Ryan like they're old meat.
We're the best damn meat in Texas." A booming laugh comes from deep within.
Parker finally cracks a smile. "You're embarrassing. J.D. would never say that."
"Nope, he wouldn't. We all play a role in the family, and my job is to loosen J.D.
up." He gives me an airy laugh. "Are you still thinking about playing football?
I'm sure Dad would love to have you on his team.
You may not be able to walk on since they're two games into the season.
And if you can't, then you can come to the Armadillos' practice and work with us. I can ask Sutton tonight..."
"Slow down, bro. You already have me playing professional football. I want to go to college and have fun. Maybe join a fraternity. What fraternity were you and J.D. in?"
"Beta Theta Pi. But rush is before school starts, so again, you would have to wait. Any chance of going back to U-Mich?"
With a barely noticeable head shake, he says, "No, I withdrew. My scholarship is gone."
"Don't worry about tuition. I've got no one to spend my money on, and I can't think of a better way to spend it than on my little brother. Do you want me here when you tell Dad? I just came over to grab a couple of horses and take them to my farm."
He grins. "You're so lonely that horses will make you feel better?" I shrug. "That's so lame. You're one of the highest-paid athletes in America, and you want to spend your nights with a horse. So lame. You should be..."
"Already been there, done that. It's not all it's cracked up to be."
"Says the man who has never had a real girlfriend." He thinks about what he just said and then yells, "Yes! I'm better at getting girlfriends than you."
"Do you want to go to the barn and help me hook up the trailer and load the horses?"
He doesn't answer but follows me to help load Pickles and Pinky into the horse trailer. I don't know why I do this, but I invite Parker to my house to ride.
"I need to stay and talk to Dad. He usually gets home around six. Can I ask you one more thing?"
"Sure."
"What would Mom say to me if she were here?"
When I smile, a puff of air escapes my lips.
"That's easy. She would say to follow your heart.
You know she never pushed J.D. or me. She just wanted us to do what we loved, and that was football.
But she would also say you need to be your own person, so if you don't love football, don't do it, because it can take your life away.
One moment you're twenty-three playing on the field, and the next day you're in your thirties, and the only love in your life is an oblong-shaped brown leather ball. "