Page 15 of Necessary Roughness

“Who, Stacy?” Brett stammered. “Don’t mind her, she just says random shit sometimes. No biggie.”

I studied Brett closely. “Don’t parrots typically repeat what they’ve heard?”

“No, not at all! Well, not Stacy. She’s really, uh… she’s really smart, ya know? Learns new words all the time.”

Stacy’s voice penetrated the air again.

“Squawk! Loves Luke!”

“Okay, that time I heard my name!” I exclaimed.

I needed an explanation. From Brett or the bird! Someone needed to tell me what the hell was going on.

I cleared my throat. “I’m surprised to hear her use the word love in the same sentence as my name. Most of what I’ve heard so far has been negative.”

Brett scowled at me, but he seemed fixated on closing the door and preventing me from hearing any more of Stacy’s utterances.

“She’scrazy,” he said. “Zany. You know how parrots are!”

He started to close the door but paused when he saw the expression on my face.

“Look,” he said pointedly, “famous NFL players are often criticized. You already know that. It’s nothing new, Luke.”

Hearing Brett say my name directly to me was strange. Thus far, I had only heard him speak it in his podcasts and always accompanied by a disparaging comment.

He had no idea how much he had ruined for me. He didn’t know what he had cost me. Millions of dollars in sponsorship losses.

No one knew except me, my agent, and the fine folks at Monarch Watches who’d unceremoniously dumped me when they’d heard Brett’s vile words.

I turned to walk away, glancing over my shoulder to add one final thought. “But sometimes people aren’t aware of the impact of their words and the losses that can occur for the people involved.”

I didn’t wait for Brett to respond. I was already on my way home.

As I walked along the driveway, I heard Stacy squawk again, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying as Brett quickly—almost frantically—closed the door.

5

BRETT

That was way too fucking close.

Stacy had almost squawked me into a catastrophe.

I had most definitely heard her sayloves Luke. I wasn’t sure what else she’d blurted out, and I had no idea if Luke had fully understood or not.

I was going to kill Claire. And the bird. But first, Claire.

As I sat at the local beachfront café an hour after my ordeal with Luke, I waited for my iced coffee to be delivered by the waiter and stared out at the deep blue Pacific Ocean. I’d been desperate to escape the confinement of my home for a while and pretend that things weren’t the way they were. My podcasts weren’t coming together as effortlessly as I’d hoped, and Stacy’s constant blabbering was enough to drive anyone insane.

The tension between Luke and I had reached new, uncomfortable heights. How was I going to endure the entire summer in this kind of agony? Three months of hell next to someone who hated me. Whom I also hated.

Kind of.

Still, there was something about him. If he weren’t so fucking infuriating, he’d be… charming?

In a pompous, off-putting, arrogant way, of course.

I tried to relax as I took in my surroundings. The café was a cozy, high-end spot a few minutes from the house, with massive windows offering ocean views. Outside, a beautiful wooden deck had sleek tables and chairs for enjoying the sea breeze. Inside, calming, earthy tones, reclaimed wood furniture, and comfortable designer seating created a gentle, beach-chic atmosphere.

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