Page 29

CHAPTER 29

LOOK, A PUPPY.

JACKSON

“I ’ll be back soon,” Austin says before kissing his wife on the cheek, while I wait at the door of their hotel room.

Emma giggles softly and cups the side of his face. “Don’t rush. Go enjoy dinner with your team. Lizzie Bug and I will go and enjoy the pool.”

Speaking of whom, little miss Elizabeth, or Lizzie, or Lizzie Bug, comes hobbling over to me on her two little feet. Except just before she reaches me she loses her balance, falls backward, and lands square on her butt.

Her baby-blue eyes look up at me and she holds her hands up in the air, signaling for “up” as she says, “Ja Ja.”

More than eager, I squat down and scoop her up from the floor. Her little hands play at the buttons on my shirt as she continues to babble. We’ve become fast friends, she and I. Clay might not have to worry about Austin stealing his spot, but miss Lizzie might give him a run for his money.

“Ja Ja, Ja Ja,” she repeats.

I chuckle at her antics, and when Elizabeth smiles and those little dimples pop out, I swear I almost faint from cuteness.

“Ja Ja!” She claps her two little hands together.

“I know, I know,” I pretend to agree with whatever she’s saying. “You are the prettiest girl in the world.”

Even though she can’t understand me, her face practically beams with pride.

Austin and Emma walk over to us, and Austin kisses his daughter on the head. “Da Da,” she says.

“Be good for Mama,” he tells her before kissing her one last time.

“Come here, Lizzie Bug,” Emma says before scooping her out of my arms. Emma settles Lizzie on her hip before looking at me. “Make sure he’s not back too early, okay? Two hours minimum.”

“Got it, boss,” I say with a wink before kissing both the girls on the cheek. “Come on,” I say, clapping Austin on the shoulder as we walk toward the elevators. “Let’s go have ourselves a nice team dinner.”

* * *

“Theo!” Coach Taylor booms across our private dining room, and I immediately freeze. “Come, have a seat.”

I close my eyes and silently wish to myself, “ Please don’t sit next to me. Please don’t sit next ? —”

I hear the chair to my left pull away from the table, and I let out a heavy sigh.

I don’t know who I thought Coach Taylor was saving this seat for, but I should have guessed.

Theo sits down next to me, his thigh brushing mine as he pulls his chair in, and the scent of him envelops me. I clench my fists on my lap as I stop myself from taking in a deep breath.

Theo clears his throat awkwardly. “Sorry I’m late. I-I had to take a phone call just as I was leaving my room.”

I clench my jaw so hard I can almost feel my teeth crack.

“Wives have a habit of calling at the most inopportune times,” Taylor jokes. “How is the soon-to-be Mrs. Young?”

My stare remains glued to my glass of water. “She’s good. Yeah—good. She umm—she is away on work and just wanted to check in with some… wedding details.”

“You know,” Taylor says, “this may be an unpopular opinion, but I loved watching my wife plan our wedding. As stressful as the entire thing was, watching her plan such a special day was just…” When I look up at him I can practically see the hearts in his eyes. “Well, it was just incredible. And every time I think of when I finally got to see her as she walked down that aisle”—he shakes his head as his smile grows a mile wide—“I’d do it all over again.”

I dream of a love like that.

“Yeah,” Theo clears his throat again. “It’ll be quite the day, that’s for sure.”

I snort a sarcastic laugh before I can even stop it, and the entire table looks at me. Grabbing my glass of water, I anxiously chug half of it down. Silently hoping that when I stop no one will be looking at me anymore.

“You okay?” Austin whispers in my ear on the other side of me.

“Yup. Mhm. So good.”

I don’t have to see his face to know he calls bullshit. “Okay then.”

“How’s the knee feeling, Jax?” Coach asks. “Been a while since you played this many games in a row.”

“Good. Knee’s good. Tip-top shape,” I answer. Because if we get off this topic quick enough then hopefully Theo won’t?—

“Everything still feeling stable?” he asks.

So much for that.

Thinning my lips, I nod. “Mhm.”

“No pain when you land?” he asks softly.

I still don’t look at him. “Nope.”

“What about?—”

“It’s fine. My knee feels fine,” I snap. Still not daring to look at him.

“Jackson.” The way he says my name has the potential to undo all of the work I’ve put in in the last six months, and I just can’t have it. I can’t. “I’m just trying to?—”

I slam my hands on the table and snap my head to him. Looking him in the eyes right through those damn glasses. “I said my knee is fine, Theo. Drop it.”

And just like that, everyone’s eyes are back on me. Except for his. His shocked expression falls, and his stare drops to his lap. Meanwhile, Coach Taylor’s face pinches in confusion, then, disappointment.

Shit.

I sigh heavily before pulling an excuse out of my ass. “Sorry. I’ve just got a migraine coming on. I don’t think I drank enough water today.”

Coach Taylor looks at me for a moment longer before grabbing the glass pitcher in front of him and passing it to me. “Drink up. We need you ready for tomorrow. When we get back to the hotel Theo can grab you a couple of electrolyte pouches.”

The rest of the dinner goes off without a hitch, regardless of the fact that you could cut the tension between Theo and I with a knife. I’m not sure if anyone besides Coach Taylor or Austin notices, but it would be pretty hard to miss.

When we get back to the hotel, I don’t dare have Theo meet me in my room, and instead, I have him bring the pouches down to the lobby. He doesn’t question it. And when he hands them to me, I’m careful not to let my fingers brush his. I don’t trust it.

I don’t trust me .

I simply give him a hollow “thank you” and make a beeline for the elevator before he has a chance to follow.

And when I get up to my room and crawl into bed for the night, I find myself endlessly staring at my ceiling. Because I may have been faking a migraine before, but I sure as fuck have one now.

* * *

“Hey!” Austin laughs out. “We’re supposed to be warming up, jackass. What the hell you hammering hits at me for?”

Shit .

It’s the final morning of the tournament. We only have two matches today. Two matches and the tournament’s ours. I should be ready. Hell, if you would have asked me last night before dinner, I would have been. But now all I can think about is that face. That fucking face he made when I snapped at him.

I laid awake all night thinking about that face.

And the longer I lay there, the more pissed off I got.

At him.

At myself.

At this entire fucking situation.

Again.

But I can’t tell Austin that, so instead, I just smile and say, “Sorry. Shoulder was feeling a little stiff. Just working it out.”

Austin opens his mouth to speak, but instead, Emma’s voice carries across the court. “Aus, can you help me? Lizzie just pooped and it’s everywhere.”

I have to try not to laugh at the way blush spreads across his entire face.

“Sure, honey. Be right there,” he yells back. I watch as he looks for Coach Taylor only to find him and the opposing team’s coach talking to the other ref. Then, he looks at our chairs where Theo is going through his bag. “Theo!” Theo looks at him, and Austin gestures him over.

What the fuck is happening?

“You okay?” Theo rushes out as he looks Austin up and down.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. But my wife isn’t. Lizzie apparently had a poo-plosion. You know how to play?”

Theo looks just as confused as I do. “Umm, well yeah I?—”

“Perfect!” Austin hands Theo the ball. “Help Jax warm up until I get back.” Before I can protest he jogs toward Emma and Lizzie as he calls over his shoulder. “Be back in ten!”

Great. Just perfect.

Theo just looks at me for a moment like a deer in headlights before asking, “Ready?”

I roll my eyes and get into my ready position. Taking that as answer enough, Theo tosses the ball to me. I pass it back to him, and to my surprise, he sets it beautifully back to me, and without even thinking about it, I hit the ball and drill it into his arms. As it makes contact with his forearms he lets out a loud grunt, and a wince of pain spreads across his face. Suddenly, I can’t help but think that felt a little too good.

So, I do it again. And again. And again.

And, when he sets the ball a little too short, likely due to how sore his arms are getting, I take that as my opportunity to… stretch my legs a little.

Approaching the ball as best as I can, I jump in the air and let it rip. Except this time, it doesn’t make contact with his arms and instead hits him right in the cheek.

Theo falls back on his ass, gripping his face in pain as he lays still in the sand.

And as agitated as I am, I’m not a monster.

Jogging over to him, I crouch down to see if he’s okay. “Let me see.” His furious eyes look up at me, but he does as I say. Slowly, he moves his hand from his cheek, and I already see the giant red mark forming. “Shit. Sorry.”

He raises his brows. “Are you?”

I shrug. “Mostly. Good thing you weren’t wearing your glasses. It’d be a shame if we lost those.”

His eyes search mine for a moment. “Yeah. A shame.”

“Come on.” I stand and hold my hand out for him to grab. And when he does, it hits me like a tidal wave. Every memory of his skin touching mine crashes into me so hard I almost fall to the sand myself. The two of us stand there, hand in hand, staring at each other until Austin’s voice finally breaks us out of our stupor. Quickly, we let go of one another and take a large step apart.

“Okay, I’m back. Thanks for—Oh shit. What happened?” Austin worriedly examines Theo’s face.

Before I can say anything, Theo waves him off. “There was a cute puppy. I got distracted.”

“Ugh, I don’t blame you. I’m dying for a puppy, but the boss says no.” Austin sighs regretfully before patting Theo on the back. “Anyway, you sure you're okay?”

Theo nods. “Yeah. Nothing a win won’t fix.”

Austin laughs. “Well we can do that, can’t we, Baker?”

I smile, but it doesn’t reach my ears. “Sure can, Ward.”