Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“Move,” I snapped.
She jumped, darted backwards, and cursed before taking off. She went toward the elevator that went to administration.
Reeves, Bilson, Doubard, and Olvander were waiting for me near my locker. I skimmed the room. The guys who hadn’t taken off were watching, silent, waiting.
Olvander was the biggest of the guys, his bald head still gleaming from the game. “Hey, man. This is the chick, huh?”
Bilson glanced his way.
“Yeah, man.”
He held up his fist. “I’m real sorry about what she went through.”
Dipping my chin up toward him, I met his fist with mine before I began changing. The shower would need to be bypassed until I got to Billie and got her home.
Reeves was waiting for me to finish. He tilted his chin up as I shoved down my shirt and reached for a ballcap, yanking it down over my head. “What do you need from us?”
“From us specifically or from the whole team,” Bilson added. “Tell us, man. We’ll do whatever you need.”
Doubard ran a hand through his hair, flicking his eyes in the air. “Obviously we’ll all shut the fuck up about this situation because none of it is our business.”
“But …”
My eyes shifted to the back, to whoever had said that. Foreman, the running back who’d probably just seen it on his phone when I was leaving the locker room, hesitated before rolling his shoulders back, thrusting his chest out. “There’s a serial killer involved. This guy, whatever the fuck they’re saying about him, is sick. He’s connected to Broudou’s woman, and she’s connected to him. We’re connected to him. Could we be targets? Let’s be real here. We got families.”
“You engaged?” Colby snapped.
“No.” Foreman frowned.
“Anyone in your family engaged?”
“Not that I know of.”
Doubard turned all the way around to face Foreman. “If you’d read the full article, you’d see engaged couples are being targeted. Now you just look stupid.”
“Hey, man.”
“That’s uncalled for.”
Reeves raised his voice over some of the other guys. “Right now, as a team, we gotta support Brett. The rest of your worries go to fucking PR. That’s their job.” He turned back to me. “What do you need from us?” He raised his voice, purposively letting the team know he was also speaking for them.
While they’d been arguing, I’d grabbed my phone and checked the notifications. The world had gone mad. That’s how it looked on my phone.
I ignored all of them, finding Billie’s name and hitting call.
She answered after the first ring. “Hey.”
Goddammit. Her voice said it all.
She wasn’t sad. She wasn’t falling apart. She was regretful. She was thinking of me.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. There was noise on her end, but she moved somewhere. I heard a click, then the sound faded away. “One of his lawyers leaked everything. Feds are also here. They showed up an hour ago.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry for what happened to you. We saw the interview. Roger got all pissed on your behalf, said it wasn’t an interview, it was a press drive-by. He’d had two glasses of wine. To let you in on a family secret that’s not a secret at all, Roger will use any excuse to have wine. You may now get to experience what we’ve lovingly nicknamed Wine Roger.”
My lips twitched. Jesus. She was joking. She was thinking of me, feeling bad for me, and watching me on television. Her world was breaking wide open, and she was focused on me.
“I really want to say some things to you right now, but considering I got a decent portion of the team listening in, I better not. I wouldn’t want to make their ears burn from embarrassment.”
Doubard snorted before moving away. “The dude’s joking. He’s making a crack.”
Olvander’s big hand came down on my shoulder. “Tell your girl we’re thinking of her. She’s got our support.” He left too after that.
Reeves stayed. He lingered until Billie and I ended our call. She was fine. She was going to be fine, but I needed to get to her because that was my job too.
No matter how she sounded, what she said, how she seemed, I needed to be at her side.
Reeves moved in as soon as I put my phone away and started filling my bag. “Bring her Tuesday.”
I stopped. “Are you fucking serious? That is the last thing we’re thinking about.”
He held up a hand, a stubborn look on his face. “Bring her. She needs friends.”
“She’s got family. She’s got a sister.”
“She’s going to need friends among the football wives and girlfriends. You know the deal. They have a group.”
“Not the fucking time, Reeves. Christ.” I shoved aside my impatience with extreme effort as I let go of my bag. “I’m not saying this to be a dick, but fuck off right now. The last shit she needs is dealing with what that group scoops out on a daily basis.”