Page 8 of Game On

“Been here for a year now. You’re looking at the head of security. So watch your ass!” Donovan teased.

Donovan Carter grew up in the same small Pennsylvania college town as Shane. Donovan’s father had been the chief of police back then. Chief Carter probably had done the most of any adult to keep Shane from ending up in jail—or dead. In return, Shane let little Donny shadow him around the football field, picking up all the right moves to earn a commission to the Naval Academy as a tailback on its football team. His senior year, Donovan blew out his knee in a game against Michigan, ending his dreams of playing in the NFL.

“I told you I’d make it to the pros somehow.” Donovan smiled as he leaned his hip against the desk behind him.

“What were you doing before this?” Shane was a little ashamed that he had lost touch with Donny over the years. But then again, Shane had put much of his past behind him.

“Oh, I did my stint in the Marines, working for Naval Intelligence. And before you say anything, I’ve heard all the jokes about me not having enough intelligence for the job.” He put his hands up and laughed.

“How are your parents?” Shane propped a shoulder up against the wall, relaxing for the first time that day.

“Mama’s good. She’s already called this morning. It’s all over ESPN about you signing with the Blaze. She’s sending a box of cookies later this week. She made me promise to share.”

“I always knew I loved your mama. How about your dad?”

Donovan’s smile dimmed a bit. “Oh, he passed a few years ago. He had a heart attack in his sleep. Mama was just glad he died peacefully and not by a bullet.”

Shane felt his chest tighten as his shame grew. Donovan and his family had been a lifeline for him while growing up, and Shane hadn’t even bothered to keep up with them after going on to college. He should have. But that was his father’s hometown now. Not Shane’s. He didn’t want to know what was going on there.

“I’m sorry.” The words sounded hollow, even to Shane.

“Hey, he’s in a better place.” Donovan jumped off the desk, quickly changing the subject. “You got a place to stay? I’ve got a two-bedroom condo I just bought down in the warehouse district on Federal Hill. You’re welcome to crash there ’til you find some place.”

“Thanks, man, but I think the brass wants to keep an eye on me. They’ve leased me a place in some gated community a few miles from here. I’m sure it’s a good distance from any decent nightlife.”

“Yeah, that may be a little tame for a player like you, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do, right?” Donovan teased.

They both agreed to catch up over dinner and a few beers at the end of the day. Donovan pointed him toward the coaches’ suites in the other wing of the building. Shane made his way to his meeting with Coach Richardson feeling a little better about his day.

The feeling was short-lived, however.

“Coach Richardson had some pressing commitments outside the office this afternoon, but he’d like you to meet him at his house,” the coach’s secretary told him. “It’s only about ten miles from here, hon. Here’s the address. Just plug it into the GPS in your rental car and you should find it without a problem. The guard at the gate knows Coach is expecting you.”

Shane could only imagine what the coach’s pressing commitment was this afternoon. Getting down and dirty with the GM’s assistant. His gut clenched again at the thought. He was just about to ask if he could reschedule the meeting for the next morning, when a young woman he’d seen hovering outside the conference room earlier in the day raced into the office.

“Amy, what’ve you got there?” the coach’s secretary asked.

“Has Coach left for the day?” Nearly out of breath, she peeked into the coach’s darkened office.

“Yeah, hon, he has.”

Amy swore, then colored brightly as she saw Shane standing there. She turned back to the coach’s secretary.

“Carly left these forms and she needs to review them and send them off to the Commissioner’s office first thing in the morning. I was hoping Coach could give them to her. I know they’re getting together tonight.”

Jeez, did everyone on the team know they were having an affair?

“No problem.” She plucked the envelope from Amy’s hand and handed it over to Shane. “Shane is headed to Coach’s house. He’ll take it.”

Was she kidding? Take something for the coach’s girlfriend to his house? Where his wife and kids lived?

Shane was about to tell them both what they could do with their envelope when his agent’s parting words from earlier echoed in his head: play nice. Right.

These people were just a means to an end, Shane reminded himself. So what if they weren’t who he desperately wanted them to be. Nobody ever was. Wasn’t that the main reason he kept to himself and trusted no one? The only thing he should be focused on was playing every game and breaking every one of his deadbeat dad’s records.

Flashing both women his most charming Devlin grin, he took the envelope and headed for what would certainly be an interesting encounter. On his way out, Shane stopped at Donovan’s office and left him a note rescheduling dinner for the next night. There was no telling what was waiting for him at Coach’s house.

Twenty minutes later, Shane pulled into a long driveway that wound back behind a massive stone home. The plush front lawn was meticulously manicured, lovingly kept up as if the Blaze were going to play their opening game on it. He pulled back behind the house, toward the three-car garage. A carriage house stood farther back, with a basketball court and a swimming pool beyond that. The Richardsons lacked for nothing, it appeared. Shane parked the car in the roundabout in front of the garage. One of its doors stood open, revealing a veritable sporting goods store: bikes, scooters, Rollerblades, hockey sticks, and every type of ball imaginable were strewn across the floor.

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