Page 18 of The Interception (Southern Sports Sweethearts #2)
Chapter Fourteen
Ender
I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I glanced up at the VIP box and saw my sister, who hasn’t attended a game yet this season, with Layne seated beside her. Sure enough, though, what I saw was right, and instant panic set in.
Leo nods up at the box. “Looks like your cooking partner got Sarah Beth out of the house for a while.”
“Yeah, I saw. I’m glad the game is almost over, because now I’m going to be self-conscious knowing Layne is up there.”
Leo scoffs. “You’re playing great. We’re up with three minutes left and zero chance they score without a miracle. Relax.”
I try to do what Leo suggests and end up getting tackled mercilessly by a New Haven Hawks defenseman.
While I sit on the bench and catch my breath, I stare up at the box.
Layne and my sister are having some kind of deep conversation, but eventually, Layne laughs and shakes her head.
Then she looks back to the field, so I avert my eyes to avoid eye contact. I’m already distracted enough.
Fortunately, only one more touchdown is scored, and it’s by the Timberwolves. If we can keep this up, we stand a fighting change at surviving. We don’t have to win a championship to stay alive, just prove we’re worth investing millions into every year.
When the game ends and everyone else heads down to the locker rooms to shower before heading out for a night of fun, Leo grabs me aside.
Lately, life feels like one big blur of games, showering, cooking practice, and lather, rinse, repeat on a vicious cycle…
broken up by bits of stomach-twisting confusion about where Layne and I stand with one another.
“Why don’t you invite them to go to dinner with us tonight?” Leo asks.
“You and me? I didn’t know we were going to dinner. How sweet of you.” I smirk and wipe the sweat from my face with an already damp towel.
“Funny. You got jokes. You know I meant with the rest of the guys. Only a handful are going to that new sports bar downtown. Might be fun.”
There is zero chance Sarah Beth will want to do that, especially anywhere that there will be men who might hit on her. I know the bar has a lot of booth seating, and the guys Leo is talking about are generally safe, but not safe enough for my sister.
“I can ask, but you know SB.”
Leo shrugs. “Worth asking at least. Let her know it’s an option.”
We enter the locker room and listen to what Coach has to say before hitting the showers.
As the hot water rushes over me, I can’t help wondering if my sister will ever fall in love again.
What she had was epic, probably not easily duplicated, and her heart is so fragile.
It’s not like she has to ever marry again or even fall in love, but it breaks my heart to think of all the love she and Lula have to give and no one there to accept it from them.
I do my best, but I’m still just Uncle Ender.
I can’t do all the things for Lula that a real father can, even if I try my hardest. On the outside, one might think it’s possible.
And sure, I can step up all the time, but Lula deserves a full-time dad, not an overly tired uncle for those special moments.
Whether Sarah Beth meets someone else or not isn’t something I need to think about right now. What I need to focus on is making sure she has a place to live that’s all hers, a place where she feels comfortable and can repair her broken heart. Something to give her hope and freedom again.
When I’m done, I pull on some jeans and a Timberwolves hoodie. If the girls decide they want to go out for dinner, this will be fine for our options. Leo is already gone, as are most of the guys, but a few stay back to plan other events I want no part of.
I manage to make my way to the lounge without too many stops along the way and find Lanye and Sarah Beth talking to Leo.
“Hey, we were just talking about you,” Layne says.
“Oh yeah? Telling him about the pebble in your shoe?” A smirk pulls at my lips and Layne smiles.
“No, but the good news is that I’m used to the pebble now.” Layne shrugs as if I’m growing on her, at least tolerated, so I figure now is as good a time as any to invite them to eat out with us.
“Good to know. Leo and I thought maybe you two would like to go get dinner with us at that new sports bar downtown?”
Sarah Beth winces. “Ah, sorry, but I have to get back to relieve the sitter. She can only stay until eleven, and your game ran late. You should go out though.”
I know my sister, and I know when she is stretching the truth.
She’s stretching it so far right now, it’s going to tear like a piece of cheap bubble gum.
Disappointment shadows Leo’s face. He’s been such a good friend to both of us, but I know he understands.
She’s not ready to hang out with friends again just yet.
“No worries,” I say and adjust the strap on my heavy bag. “Layne, would you like to go out?”
She shrugs again. “Sure, why not?”
Sure…why not? She’s probably right. There’s not much that can go wrong. We’ll go meet some of my teammates and friends, have something to eat, then I’ll take her back to the house or to her truck, whichever. Not a big deal.
If only my teammate, Lucas Garrison, hadn’t decided to accompany us, that is.
Lucas, also known as a bit of a womanizer, isn’t my cup of tea.
He’s more like a cup of battery acid we all have to swallow, because he’s our quarterback and the couch’s cousin’s son.
Surely, there was no nepotism when he was recruited… surely.
The moment we walk into Scrappy’s, the new sports bar, my eyes land on him. I couldn’t help it if I wanted to. His voice carries, and since he’s always talking about himself, it’s hard to miss the narcissistic tone. I stiffen, but Layne doesn’t seem to notice my annoyance.
“There you are. I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind,” Leo says, waving us over. I’m not sure how he beat us here, but he’s already ordered.
I let Layne go ahead of me so she can choose where she’s comfortable sitting. Unfortunately, it’s in a chair Lucas pulls up for her right beside him as if I didn’t just walk through the door with her.
“Here you go.” Lucas pats the seat and grins.
“Thank you.” Layne knows nothing about the guys at this table.
Leo, he’s great, and there isn’t a chance he’s going to do or say anything inappropriate in front of Layne.
He never does anyway, so I’m not concerned.
Scott Evans sits beside Lucas, tapping his fingers on the table.
He’s not so bad. In fact, I might actually like him if I ever spent time with the guys outside of practice and games, but I don’t have time. Haven’t for a while.
Then there’s Curt Williams, Jennings Foyer, and Matt Hannah…
also known as Lucas’s closest friends and unofficial pack members, as I like to call them.
The four of them are on the hunt for starstruck, vulnerable women almost nightly.
It makes me nauseous to see how they drool over Layne, but I swallow down my annoyance so I don’t make a scene.
Layne is a big girl, and if things get uncomfortable, I’ll get her out of here.
“Where have you been hiding her, Langley?” Lucas teases.
I’m glad Sarah Beth didn’t come along, or this jerk would be all over her.
It wouldn’t matter that her husband died only a few months ago.
He’d flirt mercilessly with her anyway. My gut twists.
I’m not sure if I can sit through this or subject Layne to their behavior.
“I’m his partner for the cook-off.” Layne adjusts herself so she’s facing me more and him less. The way she crosses her legs puts more space between them, because she has to adjust the chair’s position. She’s already uncomfortable. I’m planning my exit when Leo speaks.
“I think they’re going to bring home another win this year for sure. I’ve had some of the leftovers, and they are fantastic. They tied for second in the last round.”
“Yeah, cool. So, tell me a little more about you, Layne.” Lucas blocks everyone else out and gives my date—I mean Layne…definitely not my date—his full, unwavering attention. He’s trying to find her weakness, whatever it is that gives him an easy in to lure her into his web.
Not on my watch, buddy.
“Well, I’m a trained chef, and my sister-in-law decided to enter me in the cook-off, so that’s why—”
“Oh, no,” Lucas interrupts. “I meant tell me about you personally, not the competition. In fact, would you want to go somewhere quiet and talk?”
At this, Layne blinks a couple of times and stares at Lucas. I love that the look on her face is something between horrified and disgusted, but I’m not going to let this go any farther than it already has.
“Oh, uh…I think that would be a little rude since I came with Ender, but thanks for asking.”
Lucas waves her statement off as if it’s merely a stumbling block to climb over with or without an invitation.
He makes a joke or two that his goon friends laugh at, but my skin itches to assert some sort of dominance or protectiveness or…
who knows. I just don’t like how he looks at her, and it makes me want to rip his face off.
He says something else that brings another round of laughter, but I’m laser-focused on Layne’s eyes. Her stare is cautious, alert, stressed.
I can’t take it anymore, especially when I know this guy’s track record with women.
Layne smiles and laughs when appropriate, but uncomfortably so.
She avoids his hand when he reaches to touch her and leans toward me even as he leans closer to her.
I’m about to say something when Evans chimes in.
He’s good at easing tension, so I wait to see what happens.
Layne hasn’t exactly given me the save me look like she did before at the bonfire, so I don’t want to assume she needs saving.
“So, your last name’s Rossi? Any relation to the Sharks pitcher?”