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Chapter three

Shane

“ M an, are you just going to sit here and pout all weekend long?” Kade’s voice pulls my attention to him.

“What do you mean?” I ask him, furrowing my brows. “I don’t pout.”

“You know what I mean. And you definitely do. Since you’ve been drafted, all you’ve done is sit at home. You never come out with us or talk about doing anything.”

He’s the only one who could ever get away with talking to me like that outside of my family, and that’s because he basically is. Kade and I used to be teammates in college. We’d roomed together in the football house and quickly became friends.

He was like one of my brothers: helping me navigate classes, football and the social scene at school. We were living our best lives—football and partying. Until he left and I met Shelby. Being two years ahead of me, he’d been drafted to the Vegas Vipers before me, and it was sheer luck that I ended up on the same team as him.

“I’ve just been focused on football, man,” I say, focusing on putting my gear back into my locker.

“Really? And not pining over Shelby?” he asks me with one eyebrow arched.

“No,” I answer quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

“Man, she is not worth this sadness. She broke it off months ago. The reason was bullshit too. You had to move away from your town to Vegas and she didn’t even give you a chance. And on draft night? Come on, man, that’s bullshit.”

I know he’s right. She isn’t worth my time. My brothers had been telling me this for years. She’s always demanded my attention and would get mad when I needed to focus on football. And here’s the biggest kicker, or “red flag” as my sister-in-law Mya would say—she would get upset when my family needed me.

“You never put me first,” is a phrase that she would say on repeat. Which wasn’t even remotely accurate, but she would never listen when I tried to talk with her about it.

My brain knows that I should be glad that I’m not with her anymore and that I can be here, in Vegas, without any baggage. That this is the time for me to live my life for me and football, but my heart still feels crushed. Not because I miss her. No, I miss being part of an us .

I’m a one girl kind of man and believe it or not, it can be hard to find someone. Especially someone who is interested in me and not just the fact that I play football.

I’m actually very awkward, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. I have no game. I mean, I do when it comes to football. And video games? One hundred percent.

But ladies? Nope, not even close. All my brain cells leave my head. Anyone will tell you that. Teammates have literally laughed watching me pick up a woman. The only reason I ended up with Shelby was because we had a mutual friend who’d introduced us. It’d made me relax. She would talk about football with me, and I thought that meant she was interested in what I enjoyed. When, in reality, all she cared about was the status I brought her being a football player’s girlfriend. The funny part was that she didn’t like it when I became really good, either.

After Shelby broke up with me, I decided that was it. I didn’t have time for relationships, and I would try to get out more. I did it once and it was fucking exhausting. Is it too much to ask for my soul mate to be dropped into my lap? Probably.

Blowing out the air in my lungs, I know I need to say something, but I must’ve been quiet long enough because Kade talks first. “Why don’t you come out with me tomorrow night?”

My body tenses up at his suggestion. I don’t want to go out. “I don’t know, man—” I begin, but he cuts me off.

“Shane, you need to get out. Not just for your sake, but everyone else’s too. You need to make friends with the team. How else do you expect us to win?”

Grabbing my bag out of my locker, I shut it and turn toward him. “Fine. What are you doing?” I ask, exasperated at the fact that Kade won’t just leave me alone.

“First, a drink at Moe’s with a few of our teammates, then a girl I’m talking to shows up with her friend,” he says, raising both of his brows up and down.

“Okay. I’ll go. Will you leave me alone now?” I ask him, lifting my duffel bag over my shoulder.

“You know I won’t,” he says. “But this is a start. We’ll have you out of this funk before you know it.”

“Whatever, man. Just text me what time and shit.” I leave without another word. It’s time for me to go home and rest. The start of the season will begin soon, and I need to make sure I’m in top shape.