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Chapter 14

Tyler

I went down the rabbit hole last night, even though I told myself I wasn’t going to. I looked Lily up online. First, I looked up her real name, and her personal social media accounts popped up. She doesn’t keep a lot on them, just enough to stay active, but there are a hundred images of her and Davis together on Google, starting back in college, and then there are the tabloid articles.

The pictures of her were like a walk down memory lane. Granted, he’s in most of the photos, but still, the internet has chronologically captured her turning from a teenager into a woman. From the shape of her face and body to how she styles her hair, she’s aged beautifully and gracefully over what is almost the past decade.

All of the tabloid articles span back to basically when Davis transferred from Miami to Alabama. There are pictures of him with other women, pictures that look like he’s on vacation, pictures where he’s standing alone, and quite frankly, it’s all ridiculous. Some of the articles love her, while most of them bash her for one thing or another. It’s terrible, and I can see why she’s hiding out in my house. I would hide out too if every time I stepped outside, someone took my picture and then tore my appearance apart.

Which led me to look up her author name. These accounts are very active, and her readers engage with her almost daily. While she doesn’t show her face or too much of her gorgeous hair, there are quite a few pictures of different parts of her body, like her hands when she’s typing, her legs stretched out in a lounge chair overlooking a lake, which I’m assuming is where she was before she came here and the setting for her next series, and different images of her outfits from the neck down. And those outfits, damn, if she doesn't look so good in them. Especially the ones from the dude ranch with the mountains in the background, where she’s either wearing skintight jeans and boots, or a tiny skirt with those boots. I didn’t realize I had a kink for boots, but after seeing these, I’m thinking maybe I do.

But really, how amazing is it that she writes books? And how ridiculous is it that Davis didn’t even have a clue? He’s such a fucking dumbass. She has thousands and thousands of followers, she’s been ranked on Amazon, her brand is spot-on from her website, to book covers, to color schemes and fonts, and she’s on her ninth book in just over two years. Her reviews are glowing, and I feel such pride at seeing how successful she is by following this dream. It’s unfathomable to me that he wouldn’t feel the same. But then again, she knows him better than all of us, and if she felt she couldn’t tell him, then she had her reasons. How sad. I’m so glad she finally left that guy. It makes me irrational with how much of her time he actually got. I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it does.

What also bothers me is that she wrote about hockey players. Hockey.

Granted, I think it’s a cool sport and all, but she has lived and breathed football her whole life. From going to her brother’s games to Davis’s. And as for hockey, those guys fight and lose their teeth. What could possibly be romantic about that?

But hey, now that she’s out from under his thumb, maybe I can sway her. I bet with her knowledge, those stories would be incredible, and as I look around the inside of our practice field, there’s no way she can write about sports and not pick football. I’m just going to have to push that storyline down the road. I feel like this is a deep wrong she needs to right. I mean, hockey. Like what the …?

“This team barbecue is my favorite barbecue of the year,” Rico says as he walks to our group. “The guys are all here, we get to see their families, and the food is damn good. Especially Lexi's pies.”

“Yeah, I think Vivi has already sampled every flavor Lexi brought. Forget the grilled chicken and the mac and cheese, she went straight for the dessert,” Jonah says, looking toward the tables where Vivi sits next to Darius’s son. Meanwhile, Sophie hovers not too far away.

“Girl after my own heart.” Rico pats his heart twice while glancing toward the food tables longingly. He’s already had three plates of food.

Three times a year, the team gets together with loved ones. At the beginning of the season, the middle, usually our bye week, and then at the end of the season. This first barbecue is in our practice facility, as it is enclosed and air-conditioned. It’s the first weekend in August when it’s the hottest here all year. The second is in the stadium, keeps the vibe going for the season, and the last is usually in a hotel the weekend after whenever our last game is. Everyone dresses nice, there are spoof awards given, there’s a bloopers reel, acknowledgments for whoever is leaving or retiring, that kind of stuff.

“I like the fall family picnic, too. Actually, I think I just like seeing everyone together,” Reid’s saying, as Rico gasps and cuts him off.

“Bro—” He grabs my arm. “Do you see who I see?” he asks.

“Who?” All of us standing together turn, follow his line of sight, and sure enough, he’s spotted Lily. Lily is laughing at something that Lexi has said, and I’m glad.

When I told her about the barbecue last week and invited her, she was adamant that she was not going to come. Her fears of being seen out in public, while justified, are a lot more severe than I originally thought. While she has been staying on the downlow after the breakup, I’m even more convinced now that Lance is wrong. None of this is about Dean. It’s about not feeling safe outside the house, which is alarming, and makes me wonder if I should be more concerned when she does leave. But then she told me about her books, and I swear she became a different person. It’s like that one admission to me released a link in the chain. I don’t know if it’s holding her down or holding her back. Probably both. But then this morning over coffee, she tells me she’s changed her mind. That she can’t and doesn’t want to stay hidden forever, and that this would be a good place for her to go since she had friends there.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

She disappeared into her room, and when it was time to go, she reappeared in a cute white dress that showed off way too much of her legs, her hair down and styled, and she put on makeup. She looked like she should be stepping out for an upscale brunch at a country club. She looked beautiful, she looks beautiful, but given this situationship, I’m not sure that’s something I can tell her, so I just told her she looked nice.

“Isn’t that Davis’s girl?” he whispers, while scrunching up his nose at just saying his name. “Oh, damn! He’s not joining our team, is he?” He looks at me, Jonah, Titan, Darius, and Reid.

“Nope, he’s not joining our team,” Titan says, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Why do you look like that?” Rico asks him. “So what is she doing here?”

“The better question is, who is she here with?” He wags his brows, and it makes me want to smack him upside the head.

“Nooo,” he drawls out. “Who is she here with?” he asks with anticipation like he’s going to be let in on the biggest secret there is.

All of the guys turn and look at me.

Rico stands up tall, confusion gracing his face as he looks at me, too. “Nah. No way.”

The guys next to me start chuckling.

“What? How? And why do all of you know and I don’t?” Rico asks, looking completely put out.

I shove my hands into my pockets. “I’m best friends with her brother, Lance. We played together in college.”

“And what, she’s just here to visit you?” he asks, confusion still marring his face. “You’re tight with your best friend’s sister like that?”

“Not just to visit,” Titan says with a shit-eating grin.

Rico’s gaze swings from him back to me. There’s no getting around this. I knew it when I invited her. “She’s staying with me for a bit.”

He looks at me like I have two heads. Everyone knows I don’t do roommates. “What do you mean?”

“She left Davis and needed a place to crash.”

His eyes widen, and his mouth drops open in the shape of an O. “She left Davis?” he whispers.

“Apparently,” Titan tells him.

He looks at each of us and then throws his head back and laughs. “I would have loved to see that prick’s face when he found out she’s staying with you.”

“I don’t think she’s told him where she is, and what do you mean?” I ask, turning to face Rico a little better.

“What do I mean?” He looks at me incredulously. “Bro, have you seen you? You’re like an eleven on a scale of one to ten. There’s no way in hell I would let any of my ladies stay with you. Ever. Especially not my little sister.”

“I don’t know if I should be offended by this or flattered.”

I’m not dumb. I know I’m a decent-looking guy. I’ve never had a problem meeting women. I have great hair, and I work out so much that my body is like a work of art.

“Be flattered. So how long is she staying?” he asks, glancing back and forth from me to her and then to me.

“I’m not sure. As long as she needs, I guess.”

We still haven’t talked about a timeline, and she hasn’t said anything about what she’s currently doing to look for a place or even if she is. I suppose I should ask her, but it’s not as terrible as I thought it would be to have a roommate.

The guys all trade looks, and I roll my eyes.

It’s at this moment that Lily looks over at us, sees me, and smiles. She gives me a small wave, and I know it shouldn’t, but my heart jumps a tiny bit, and Rico lets out a noise.

“Damn. She sure is pretty,” he says quietly.

She is pretty, and as each of them is now looking at her, I feel this strange surge of jealousy streak through me. I don’t get jealous. I don’t have anything to be jealous over, so this emotion searing its way into my veins is unsettling.

“I think I’ll go over there and introduce myself.” He moves, but my hand clamps down on his arm. He looks at my hand, then at me, and then just like Titan, another shit-eating grin appears on his face.

“Oh, this is going to be good,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“Fellas?” He looks at each one of the guys standing with us, and I do the same. It turns out, they’re all grinning as they stare at me.

I hate that they know me so well. I hate that they probably know more about me than I do myself. And it’s with that I tell them all that they can fuck right off and walk away. I know I’m confirming whatever it is they are thinking as I head toward her, but standing with her is where I want to be. I also want every other guy here today not to question who she’s here with, but to know it’s me. Am I implying something I shouldn’t? Maybe, but she doesn’t need anyone hitting on her, and I don’t need a reason to bash in any of their faces.