Page 52 of No Place Like Home

I groaned.

My old college teammate, Gavin, walked in with his wife at his side.

“Now I see why the cute Asian girl was pissed. Guess you don’t have game anymore.” The fucker said it with no pity, not that I wanted any.

“Did Jess let you in?”

“No, your mom sent us a key.”

That wasn’t surprising.

“She took your dog,” Gavin’s wife, Scarlett, said with a smile.

“She hates dogs. She thinks they eat people. He’ll be back,” I said as I closed my eyes and threw my head back.

I felt the couch sink, and I knew it was Gavin.

“Dude, you fucking reek. No wonder she wouldn’t fuck you.”

“Look, I appreciate you coming to check on me. As you can see, I’m fine. Now y’all can leave.”

“You’re not fine,” Scarlett said.

“Look, mamas. I’m dealing with it.”

Gavin grabbed my shoulder, and his steel eyes bored into mine. “Bro, we both know you ain’t.”

Knowing that I wasn’t going to get rid of them today, I got up and told them I would go shower.

My knee wasn’t at a hundred, so limping my way out of there was embarrassing enough, but I didn’t dare to look at them because I couldn’t stand to see pity in their eyes.

The kitchen was fucking spotless. Upon seeing everything Jess cleaned, I felt like shit by the way I treated her.

I also noticed that Simba's bowls were missing.

My stomach churned at the way I had treated my dog since my injury happened. Knowing I couldn’t do anything about it now, I went to my room, hating that I had such a big house.

Nothing lets loneliness and grief settle like open space.

* * *

The next fewdays dragged by because I had Scarlett trying to psychoanalyze everything I did or said. Gavin, on the other hand, was all about tough love. Meanwhile, my mind kept wandering to Jess and what she was doing with my dog.

Now that I was forced to be sober, I regretted how I’d treated her. She didn’t deserve that shit from me. You’d think I'd have learned my lesson the first time.

I was sitting outside, taking in my lakeside view, which I hadn’t done much of, first because of my schedule and now because I couldn’t see the upside of life without football.

Gavin and Scarlett were coming back from their walk. I was glad their flight left tonight. It had been nice to have them here, but it had exhausted me.

“Beautiful view you have there,” Gavin said as he sat across from me, blocking my million-dollar view.

“Yeah, Jess picked good.”

Gavin raised a brow. “Jess…the angry girl from the other day? She picked your house?”

“Not like that.” I shook my head at the look he gave me. “She just mentioned this one was her favorite one on—”

“And you bought it.” Gavin grinned.

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