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When you start your day by sliding the signed divorce papers under your wife’s door, you can probably expect it’s not going to be the best day ever.

And as I arrive at the Complex for camp today a few minutes early, I’m dreading the talk I need to have.

I texted Coach last night to ask if I could have a few minutes of his time, and I have no idea how this is going to go. I wish I was in a better headspace, but signing those papers made it real.

My entire chest aches. I keep rubbing at it, expecting the shooting pain there to go away, but it won’t. I guess that’s what happens when your heart is ripped out and torn to shreds.

“What can I do for you, Woods?” Coach asks at the start of our private meeting.

I fidget for a beat, and then I draw in a bolstering breath. “I know I’m in a lot of trouble, sir, but I have to put my family first, and if that fucks up my chances to play for you, I understand.”

His brows crease together. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll need to miss camp on August twentieth. It’s a Monday, and I know we have practice, but I will not be there and I wanted to give you plenty of notice.” My voice is strong despite the anxiety darting through my spine and making me break out into a nervous sweat.

“Why won’t you be there?” His eyes don’t break as he stares at me. His expression gives away nothing. Apart from the creased brows, he’s stone cold, and I have no idea what he’s thinking.

I press my lips together. Honesty, Trav . Be honest . “As you know, I just met my daughter a few months ago. It’s been quite a transition for the two of us, and there’s a man in California, the father of one of Harper’s classmates there, who is trying to prove I’m unfit to raise her. All the recent headlines haven’t done much to solidify me as the patriarchal type, so the judge has moved up the hearing. It’s not looking good for us, but I need to be there. I have to go fight for my daughter. She belongs with me. Football has always been my first and only priority, but then I met her, and…well, I guess things have shifted a little.”

He’s silent as he stares at me, so I ramble on a little longer.

“And I get it, sir. I understand that this is a business and you will do what you feel is the best thing for the team. I will be—"

He clears his throat in some effort to stop me from blabbering on. He leans back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest, and he lets out a long, heavy breath. “I gotta be honest with you, Woods. This season has not gotten off to a shining start. But hearing you tell me this…I think it might be exactly what I needed from you. You’ve got your convictions, and you’re showing fight. You’re putting your little girl first, family first, and I admire the hell out of that. What can I do to help you keep her?”

Relief filters through my chest at his words. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I have no idea what to expect.”

“If you’re in need of character witnesses, I’m happy to provide that for you. Any reference to prove what a dedicated, loyal, and hardworking man you are.”

Heat climbs up my back at his words, but I will not get emotional here. I fight it off, keeping my expression neutral as I say, “I appreciate that more than you know.”

“You’ll be back on Tuesday the twenty-first?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes.”

“Thank you for keeping me in the loop on this,” he says. “I’ve always tried to run this team with a family first mentality when it comes to the big things. This is a big thing. This isn’t just missing your kid’s birthday party. This is fighting to keep her in your life, and the entire organization is right here ready to fight alongside you.”

“Thank you, Coach.” I stand and reach over his desk to shake his hand, grateful for an incredible coach like him as he stands in my corner with me.

“We’re keeping you around, you know. You’ve proven yourself so far, and with Mike’s plans to use three or four WRs for many of our plays, we’ll need you this season.”

“I hope to continue proving I’m an asset to this team.”

He looks impressed with my words, and I guess honesty was the right move.

I head down to the locker room a little early and find one of the trainers in there, so I do some cupping before I head to the sauna to get my day off to a nice, relaxing start.

The other guys start to show up, and when Jaxon shows up, I wait for him to walk over to me. He starts the day with a vague greeting and one of those head nods. He looks wrecked, like he was up most of the night…and from the sound of things, that Mandy is a wild one.

I nod back before I lean in and lower my voice. “I heard about you and Mandy, man. Congrats.”

His eyes light up a bit at the mention of her name, and he grins. “Thanks, man. We’re still figuring everything out but we want to make this happen before game one.”

“I heard. I’ve been through it pretty recently, so let me know if you have any questions.” I don’t mention the whole divorce thing or the papers I signed this morning. That feels more like a conversation I’ll have with Tristan than Jaxon.

He laughs, and then he surprises me by asking, “Will you be my best man?”

We’re close, but I didn’t think we were that close. I didn’t even invite him to my wedding in the Bahamas. Surely he’s closer to another running back or somebody else…right?

“I’d be honored,” I say.

“It’s just…I know it’s probably out of left field, but you and Victoria were there pretty much every step of the way since the night we met, and it just feels like the right move to have you both stand up with us, you know? We’re keeping our wedding party small. Just a maid of honor and a best man. We’ll have a huge blowout party back here, but we agreed to get married in Denver since that’s where my family is. Just my parents and hers plus my siblings who are all in Colorado.”

“When are you thinking?” I ask.

“September first.”

“The Saturday before game one,” I murmur, and he nods. “You got it, man. I’ll be there.”

A trip to Denver when I’m suspended anyway to stand in a teammate’s wedding while my future ex-wife will be on my arm as the maid of honor and she’ll know nobody else there except her best friend, who will be awfully busy…and me?

Yeah. I will most definitely be there.

Game on.