Page 46 of Sidelining the Safety

When Mac returned to the dining area, he saw Katy in the foyer with Carey. He had a hand on her lower back as he escorted her inside. “Officer Daniels, good to see you again.”

“Hey, Mac. Tough loss Sunday. How’s Lee handling it?”

“Rough.” Mac frowned but then smiled slyly. “Drew and I had to cheer him up.”

“Drew and… What?” Katy spluttered. “What the hell? Mac! When?”

Mac laughed at his sister’s reaction. “Last night, but we’re taking it slow.”

Katy growled as she playfully beat him. She fell onto the closest counter stool and propped her chin on her hands. “Ugh. I want all the deets.”

In reply, Mac smiled as he flipped over three mugs and filled them with coffee. “So you know, after they won last week, Drew and I met Lee at the brewery. Well…”

CHAPTER 33

LEE

From the moment Lee woke Tuesday morning, he felt lighter than he had all the prior week. Monday had been a bit of a slog as his body dealt with the prior week’s travel and game, but then he’d slept straight through that night, something he hadn’t done since he walked away from Drew and Mac at the brewery. Over breakfast, he’d called his mom. With the call on speaker, they talked about the game before he told her his big news. He nearly fell over laughing when she squealed.

Energized by the conversation, he arrived early to training. So early in fact that he had time to chat with Tom, the security officer at the door, peek in on the medical team, who scowled at him since he didn’t actually need their help, and took a leisurely pace on the treadmill while watching funny cat videos before anyone else arrived in the workout room.

Addy and Cal strolled in together, approaching almost cautiously. “Hey, Matty, how you doing?” Addy asked.

Lee offered them a bright smile as he tucked his phone away and clicked up the speed a few notches for a better warm-up. “Feeling good. You?”

“Meh. Would have preferred a W on Sunday.”

Sobering, Lee agreed. “Sorry.”

“Nope. You don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But—”

Addy snapped his fingers together, miming ‘shut it.’ “You played well. Three tackles and a knockdown. Nothing to sneeze at.”

“But—”

“Sometimes they just get lucky. That receiver had a couple of inches on you and the ball was back farther than you were. You tried. You gave one hundred percent out there on the field. That’s what I want to see. That’s what the coaches want to see. Got it?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t kill yourself working out thinking that’ll make it better.” Addy pointed at him.

“Oh, no. I wasn’t. I woke up feeling good and just came in early.”

“Really? Okay… I’ll bite. I thought you were here because you were upset about the loss, so what has you feeling good?”

Lee couldn’t contain the smile that sprouted across his face.

Cal chuckled. “Drew?”

“And Mac,” Lee added. “They showed up at my place after the game.” The way both quarterbacks’ eyes lit up had Lee laughing. “Yeah. It was… perfect. We cleared the air and…”

“And…” both men said.

“We’re going to try. We’re meeting up again after practice today.”

“Hoo-rah,” Addy grunted, offering a fist to bump. “I hope it works out for you guys. And hey, I hear you frequent The Other Diner. Cal and I would love to join you for a meal. We haven’t been in ages.”

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