Page 102 of Family Bonds- Emma & Warren

Not even a minute went by and she replied, “Awwwww.” And nothing else.

Hmmm, he expectedsomethingbetter than that.

But then he got a notice that she posted something and tagged him.

It was the same picture with the caption, “Found my real-life hero.”

Shit.

Yeah, that was her.

She wouldn’t know he had mixed emotions to that statement.

That he wanted to be her hero, but was so tired of being that strong for everyone in life.

To be funny, he replied, “Awwwww,” right back.

He went to put his phone in his pocket, but it went off with a text and he saw it was Emma sending him a laughing emoji followed by a heart. He returned it and walked toward the classroom to go over plays from Sunday.

The minute he pushed the doors open, there was laughter and clapping.

“Dude. You’re a hero.”

Fuck.

“That was fast,” he said, trying not to have his face fill with heat.

“What’s that comment all about?” one of the rookies asked.

Most of the guys would know not to follow bullcrap on social media. They’d know he had a girlfriend by now but not much about her.

“Tiff said Emma is some romance writer or something,” DeMarcus said. “Is that true?”

There was no way DeMarcus would know that at this point unless it was Tiff who was talking on Sunday. Emma had told him she was one of the few who got close enough to see her tag. She’d turned it around afterward and no one asked her to flip it back.

“She is,” he said. “She writes romantic suspense. It’s more about thrillers and mysteries than romance, but it is in there.”

“And you’ve read them?” someone else shouted out.

He didn’t know who it was and didn’t care. “Of course I have. I support my girlfriend.”

“Settle down everyone,” Coach said, coming into the room. “We’ve got a lot to go over.”

He was glad to get that stopped so they could focus on what was important.

There were a lot of phones buzzing during their two-hour session, but no one was dumb enough to pull them out to look. It was more than normal and he wondered if it was messages about him.

When they were done and getting ready to change and get on the field, most everyone was pulling their phone out to look as they walked to the locker room.

Warren didn’t get out of the room before someone shouted, “Seriously, dude. Your girlfriend is a Bond?”

“You’re dating a Bond Girl?” someone asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Not a Bond Girl like in the movies,” he said.

“No,” DeMarcus said. “Tiff just said that Emma is a member of the Bond family. That her grandfather owns The Retreat and half of the rest of Amore Island and Boston.”

“Don’t believe everything you read,” he said. “It’s not half.”