Page 106

Harper seems to resent me. She’s barely talking to me except when necessary. She hasn’t asked about why I did what I did, and I’ve said nothing more about it. She’s back to calling me Travis, and Victoria has been tiptoeing around me since I yelled at her in her casita yesterday.

Harper and Victoria seem to have strengthened their bond overnight, and they laugh at inside jokes while I feel like I’m on the outside.

This is my family. This is what we built together…and somehow I’m left out.

I want to enjoy the bond they’re sharing, and I do. But I’m also starting to feel a little sorry for myself. I’m starting to feel a bit like Victoria’s holding on for Harper…and not so much for me.

And if there isn’t a we here…what the hell are we even doing?

My parents went back to Los Angeles, and we’re sitting at dinner the next evening when Victoria says, “I was offered a position teaching summer school starting on Monday. Anyone have any issues with that?”

I clear my throat. “I have mandatory minicamp next week. Tuesday through Thursday.”

“It won’t be a problem for Harper to come with me,” Victoria says.

“Aww!” Harper whines. “Can’t I just go to Bella’s?”

“Maybe one of the days. Not all of them,” I grunt. I feel like I’m taking advantage of my new friend, and I hate that feeling. Besides, Evan will be at minicamp, too, and it’s a lot to ask Trudy to watch Harper all three days. This is the whole reason I had Victoria move in here in the first place.

And I can’t miss minicamp. Missing it will fuck me even harder where the team is concerned. From now until training camp, my sole focus should really be learning the rest of the plays in the playbook, and minicamp is where it all begins.

I head out on Saturday night to the Gridiron while Victoria stays home with Harper. My usual Thursday night crew is getting together to talk playbook, and I shouldn’t miss it—especially not if I intend to start this season, barring any games I’m potentially suspended for.

The talk at the table begins with my arrest, which I don’t want to comment on publicly, but when the attention fades, I turn to Cory.

“Are you dating some chick from Coax?” I ask quietly since not everyone here is a member.

He nods. “Jillian. Great girl.”

“Agree to disagree on that front,” I mutter. “Did you meet her there?”

He shakes his head. “Actually I met her here one night.”

“At the Gridiron?”

He nods. “Why? What do I need to know?”

“I was with her at the club a few months ago. She wanted to see me again, and I declined. She showed up at my press conference last week sniffing around my new bride and started asking questions. I’m sorry, man, but I don’t think she’s quite ready to move on with you if she’s still asking about me.”

He makes a face. “You’ve been with her?”

I nod.

“Dammit.”

“Sorry, dude.” I hold up my beer and clink it against his. “There are plenty of better fish, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” he mutters.

“What are you going to do?” I ask.

“What other choice do I have? She banged a teammate, and there’s a line there. But then it sounds like she did other shit, too, and that’s not okay. You don’t fuck with my brothers.”

I appreciate the solidarity, but I think maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

I don’t want her coming after me even harder if Cory breaks things off with her. She’ll think I ruined her new relationship, and maybe I did. Or maybe she ruined it herself by showing up to my press conference.

Clearly she’s a jersey chaser, and obviously she was trying to get my attention. I push down the egotistical side of me that questions whether she’s with Cory to try to get to me, but what if it’s true? Cory’s a good guy. He deserves better than someone like her.

The subject shifts back to the playbook, but I still wonder whether I just fucked everything up. Again.

Victoria takes Harper to a movie on Monday, and I stay home to study the playbook even though I feel a sense of guilt in missing what they’re doing together.

I’m allowing them to strengthen their bond while they both seem to be mad at me.

But I have to put my focus on the season. I have to learn this goddamn playbook. I have to be ready even though I’m playing a waiting game as my fate is still undetermined.

When Tuesday rolls around, it feels pretty damn good to be back in the locker room with my boys. It feels normal after everything that’s gone down this off-season.

Nothing about my off-season has been normal.

We start with meetings, and it’s good to see all the new players the organization has acquired as they sit with the returning players. This is our first chance to build the team we’ll become this season as we start getting back in the swing of things.

Some players head to the practice field for drills while others of us head toward the weight room for workouts. It’s intense, and it tells me just how much I’ve fucked around this off-season.

That might not be the right phrase for what I’ve been up to, but the workout does show me I’m most definitely not in season shape and I have a lot of work to do before training camp next month.

It’s three days of that sort of grind, but at least there’s no contact when we’re running drills. I’m starting to feel like I have a better handle on the new playbook, but I trip up more than once and see the amount of studying I still have to do.

I guess I should’ve spent more time studying it, which is abundantly clear by the end of the third day. And that also sets up my goal for the remainder of the off-season: Study my ass off so when training camp begins, I’m ready to prove that I deserve to start every game this season.

Provided I’m not suspended for some of them.