Page 26 of Quarterback Keeper

“She’s tired and looked like she was in pain. But once we shared our news, all that went away. It was like watching a weight lift off her shoulders.”

“What news?” Liam’s brows furrowed.

“Gia and I told her we’re engaged.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You just met the girl.”

Liam reared back, jostling our teammate, one of the defensive ends, who was taking up maximum space on his other side as we crossed the quad. He was in a boisterous conversation with whoever was on his far side, so I didn’t worry overmuch that we might be overheard.

“Isn’t it a little early to get engaged?” Ares took a calmer approach to the same response.

“Sure. If it were real.” I filled them in on how Gia and I met, the contract, and why the fake engagement helped me with my parents in vastly different ways.

“So Evalyn was happy about the news? She believed you?” Ares dropped his voice.

A genuine smile curved my mouth for the first time that day. “Mom likes Gia a lot. So, yeah. She believed us. I don’t know if it was the ring or how real it seemed between us, but she was thrilled, and the relief when she sagged into me was unreal. It had bothered her.”

“What? That you hadn’t settled down?”

“Yeah. She wished I would find the girl I wanted to marry. She worried I wouldn’t before she passed, especially given the limited time the doc had originally said she had left.”

“What do you mean originally?” Ares’s gaze sharpened, and I read the hope swirling in his topaz eyes.

“We don’t know. Hopefully, that’ll change with the new treatment. If we’re lucky, she’ll keep responding, but it’s not a guarantee.”

With that, we fell silent. The reality of what Mom faced—and what I would face in the wake of her passing—was depressing.

I felt off for the rest of the walk to practice, despite letting my friends in on what was going on in my life. It wasn’t until I was on the field, with the football in my hand, that some normalcy crept in. That was where I thrived. It always had been, and I knew without a doubt that football was the right career for me—if and when I entered the draft. The only problem was anything could happen—an injury or any number of things.

Ares, Liam, and the other receivers lined up, ready to run drills with me. Calvin, the backup quarterback, palmed a football as the second string prepared to do the same with him.

“Don’t get too comfortable, QB1.” Calvin’s grin was sly. He was an antagonistic fucker. “You can’t hold onto the starting position all year. As soon as you screw up, I’ll be on the field, securing the spot.”

I laughed. “You can try.” It wasn’t the way I should’ve responded. I needed to be a leader and teach him to read plays better. He sucked at spotting blitzes. If he weren’t such an evil asshole, I would’ve spent time with him and taught him. Instead, I regularly watched film with the third-string QB, a freshman. He had the right attitude, and I firmly believed he would take over my position next year. I did other things for him, like making sure the coach knew we watched film together, and he sometimes joined Ares, Liam, and me on our morning runs.

But I didn’t need to focus on that problem, or the bullshit Calvin would spew every chance he got. I could read him like a book. Something was eating at him. He was at his worst during those times. I had no idea how his cousin Maverick dealt with him, let alone defended him. I must be missing something about Calvin because Mav, aside from fighting Liam that one time, was a good guy.

I pushed everything from my mind as the quarterback coach called plays, tossing me the ball so I could execute them. While I did drills, everything felt right with my world. I just hoped it would stay that way.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

GIA

Icracked an eyelid open and peered at the clock. I had to blink a few times and shove my hair out of my face before I could read the time. Eight in the morning. Kylian had left a half hour ago and told me to stay, that he would drive me back to the boat after his class. I stretched, luxuriating in his bed with the addictive scent of him all around me. Two weeks had passed since the reporters had followed me and the dinner with his mom when we’d told her we were engaged. Warmth filled me at the memory of how happy she’d been. What Kylian was doing—the fake engagement—it was so worth it to see the joy shining in her eyes.

Last night, we’d stayed at his place. The time Kylian and I spent on the boat wasn’t enough, and we often alternated between there and the condo. If it worked with his schedule, we went on the boat, which usually ended up being a few times a week and after we had dinner with his mom. It’d become a pattern, and I wasn’t sorry about it. I tried not to read too much into how easy things were between us, but it was hard not to.

Another half hour passed before I dragged myself from bed, showered, and ventured into the condo’s kitchen. I ran myhand over the gorgeous, lightly veined white quartz countertop. I’d been dreaming about cooking in there. It was my chance. I suppressed a squeal.

The condo was quiet, and I wasn’t sure if Kylian’s roommates were sleeping or in class. It was hard to believe that three guys lived there, given how clean everything was. I expected the kitchen to be a pigsty with used dishes in the sink. I opened the dishwasher and found a mess of dirty plates. I guessed that was the extent of their being slobs—they’d forgotten to run it the night before. A grin curved my mouth. I could work with that. After cooking breakfast, I would just start the load for them with my dishes inside. No one would know I’d even ventured in there or eaten their food. Not that it was a big deal, since Kylian said I could help myself to anything I wanted, and that had been in front of Ares and Liam. Neither of them had protested.

I pulled out eggs, veggies, a package of shredded cheddar cheese, and a loaf of whole wheat bread. I got to work chopping the vegetables then heard the shower turn on in one of the bedrooms. A door closed, and another opened. Liam appeared. Ares must be the one in the shower, then. I bent my head and continued my task while he helped himself to a cup of coffee.

I risked a glance when he sat across from me on one of the island chairs. I wasn’t sure what to make of Liam. I was comfortable around Ares—I related to his sincerity and the sadness that sometimes swam in his eyes—but Liam seemed like more of a player.

He took a sip of coffee before setting it down. “You cook?”

Heat flooded my cheeks. The kitchen was my happy place, but I wasn’t sure I was genuinely welcome in their domain. “Yeah, did you want anything?”

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