Page 92 of Wild Card

“Thanks, dear. Appreciate it. What’s second?” He looks at me skeptically.

“I have a surprise for you. My boyfriend came tonight, and I want to introduce you.”

His friends howl and holler at my announcement.

“On his birthday? You’re a cold one.” One of his friends laughs.

“He’ll like this one. Trust me.”

“All right. Let’s see him. Honestly, I feel sorry for the boy, Scar. All us guys here. Trial by fire.”

“He can handle it.” I smile, and then motion for Tobias to come over.

I can tell on my dad’s face the second he sees Tobias. His eyes go wild, and his face goes pale and then bright red. I hear his friends cursing under their breath, and I just watch amused as it all unfolds.

“This… How the hell, Scar… this is. Wow.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Tobias holds out his hand, and my dad takes it, shaking it absently as he tries to make sense of it.

“Jamie Edgar. My daughter here’s a comedian. Telling me you’re her boyfriend, although I can’t figure how she got you here otherwise.”

“Oh, that’s true. We’ve been friends for a while.”

“I mean, I knew she had some friends who knew guys on the team, but… Scar. Don’t joke on an old man’s birthday now.”

“Yes, Dad. We’ve been friends. I helped him with some stuff while he was recovering and then we ended up dating,” I explain because I’m gonna skip right over the part where we almost had a sex tape go viral. Thatwouldgive him a heart attack.

“I adore your daughter. She’s honestly a good part of the reason I’m even back on the field at all. If I play next week, it’s because of her.”

“And she’s throwing me parties like this. Gotta be proud of you, Scar.” My dad grins at me, and I give him a hug.

“There’s more though.” I grin at him.

Tobias waves Xander and Colt over, and now my dad is ready to keel over.

“Scarlett’s told us all what a huge fan you are. So when she said she couldn’t make the game because it was your birthday, we thought we’d stop by.” Colt grins and holds his hand out for my dad.

I smile at all of them and kiss Tobias on the cheek. “I’m going to go and talk to the girls while you guys talk football for a bit. Just let me know when you need a rescue.”

“Sounds like a plan. And Scar, huh? That what your friends and family call you?”

“Yeah. We tried Lettie for a while, and I didn’t like that. Scar sounded more badass when I was a teen, you know? Then it kind of stuck.”

“I like it. Might have to try it out sometime. All right. Go have fun with the girls while I dazzle your dad with my football knowledge.” He kisses my forehead and lets me go.

As I walk away my stomach somersaults. I’m falling incredibly hard for him. The kind that’s for good and instead of being scared, I think Ilikeit.

FORTY-NINE

Tobias

By a stroke of late-season luck,the Wild Card game is still at home despite our record, and we have the chance to keep our playoff dreams alive with a home crowd. Plus I get to fucking play again this season and that’s all that fucking matters right now to me. That and the fact that Scarlett is here in the stands along with the rest of the wives and girlfriends to support me.

“You ready for this?” Ben grins at me.

“Fuck yeah, I am.”

“It’s gonna be a good one. Especially having you back on the field.”