Page 159 of The Home Game

He glared at his phone in the dash-mounted cradle as he debated what to do.

He was running so fucking late getting home. His dad was watching the kids, so they were fine but he was supposed to leave to take Alexis and Eli to hockey soon and Antoni needed to be home to take Reese to a routine checkup with the doctor.

Fuck!

A part of Antoni wanted to call Matty and bitch to him but he was doing some team bonding golf thing that Antoni was loathe to interrupt.

And what was he going to do from Carolina, anyway?

The blare of a horn behind Antoni made him glance up. The car in front of him had moved forward a little. He eased forward the whole meter that was available, then reached for his phone again.

Antoni skimmed through his messages, hesitating when he got to one from Elena. He’d gotten several messages from her and the SAPs, including Charlie, and he’d assured them all he was doing great and had everything under control.

But that was … kind of a lie.

He was doing better than he had been this summer, sure. But that didn’t mean he didn’t need help right now.

Fuck, he hated asking for it though.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, glanced at the time, then called his brother.

“Hey, everything okay?” Andrea asked when the call connected.

“Not really. Stuck in traffic. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. I’ve got about fifteen of them before I have to be at a meeting. What’s up?”

“Any chance you could get out early today?”

“No. The whole afternoon is packed with meetings. Why?”

Antoni explained the dilemma.

“I’m sorry.” Andrea sounded genuinely remorseful. “You know I’d be happy to take Reese to the appointment but these are critical meetings. We’re doing the software launch next week and—”

“No, that’s okay,” Antoni assured him. “It was a long shot.”

Traffic in front of him crept forward again and he did the same.

“What about the WAGs or … whatever it is they call the people who are involved with Matty’s teammates.”

“The SAPs?” Antoni said. “Yeah, I thought about it, I just … I hate to ask.”

“Do you have any other choice?” Andrea’s tone was blunt but he was a blunt sort of guy.

“Probably not.” Antoni drummed his fingers on the steering wheel again. “But, like, I can’t expect them to take Reese to his appointment. I don’t think the doctor would even let them go in with Reese without written permission from me.”

“Well, no, probably not, but you could have them take Alexis and Eli to hockey and Dad could take Reese to the appointment. He’s listed on all of the paperwork, right?”

“True. I guess driving the kids to hockey isn’t too big of an ask.”

“Sure and the SAPs already offered, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s the problem here?”

“I don’t know. I … I hate feeling like I owe even more people.”

---