Page 13 of Undeniable Love

“Hey! I thought you’d be out celebrating,” Ty said with amusement when he answered.

“Yeah, well…kind of trying to stay under the radar for the rest of the season. Plus, I’ve already had to change all my security codes and buy a new truck. I’m done going out for a while because clearly I have poor judgment.”

Tyler laughed. “To be fair, she was hot. How could you know she was crazy too?”

“Because everyone warned me, but I was too stubborn to listen!” They both laughed at that one.

“Yeah, I’m familiar with your stubbornness, but I still don’t think anyone could have predicted the way things played out. Did you press charges?”

“Personally? No. The coaches and team lawyers all said it would generate bad PR. But the cops got her on other charges, so…there’s that. But basically, I’m screwed and can’t get her to pay for the damage to the truck. It was totaled, and that just pisses me off.”

“For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen anything about it in the press for about a week now, so I guess it all just blew over.”

But Jax shook his head. “Just good PR. Simon’s fiancée is a master at that sort of thing and got most of the pictures scrubbed.”

“That’s awesome!”

“It is, but she strongly suggested we do something to generate some good PR. Soon.”

“Like…?”

“That’s just it; I’m not sure yet. The guys and I can go visit sick kids in the hospital or donate to a charity, but it’s going to look like we’re trying too hard, you know?”

“O-kay…but what else can you do?”

He paused for a moment. “I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to laugh.”

“I’ll try.”

“Ty…”

“Fine, fine, whatever. No laughing.”

Another pause. “I’ve been thinking a lot about retirement and…”

“Wait, you’re retiring? When?”

Letting out a long breath, he leaned back against the cushions, closing his eyes. “That’s the thing. There’s a part of me that thinks I’m ready to retire at the end of this season. Then I start second-guessing myself and wondering if it’s the right thing to do.”

“Damn. What do you think you’d do with yourself? Would you do the sideline reporting thing?”

That made him chuckle. “Absolutely not. Public speaking isn’t my thing at all and I can’t imagine sitting there trying to make sure I sounded professional when I’d really like to be screaming about whatever play we’re discussing. Hard pass. Seriously.”

“Okay, so then…”

There wasn’t anything he couldn’t tell Tyler, but this felt like it might be awkward.

“One idea that keeps coming to me is a camp,” he blurted out.

“A camp? Like a sports camp? A football camp?”

“Sort of? But more like a sports camp for kids with disabilities,” he said carefully. “I don’t know if it’s feasible or even something there’s a need for. When I do think about it, I envision there obviously being football and having some of my teammates coming in and volunteering. We’d have different facilities so we can offer a variety of sports and obviously I’d reach out to professional athletes from all of them and make that part of the draw.” He paused, waiting for Ty to say something, but he didn’t. “Of course, I know this would be a massive investment with both time and finances. I have no idea where I’d want the camp to be or anything like that. It’s all just been there in the back of my mind.”

“Why?”

That one-word question spoke volumes.

“Because I remember, Ty, okay? I remember the look on your face when you knew you’d never play football again,” he gruffly admitted. “I remember visiting you in the hospital and they had you in the pediatric unit and seeing all those kids who were never going to play any sport of any kind because of their limitations.” Swallowing the lump in his throat, he went on. “This isn’t something I just came up with; it’s something that’s always been there. I’m just at a place in my life where I think I can make it happen. I need to sit down with Noah and figure out a way to do it.”

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