Page 52 of Game Changer

I don’t want you to get into any trouble.

Joel

I’m not concerned.

Me

I’ll see you around 5:45.

I shove my phone in my pocket and scrub a hand over my face.

“Is everything okay?” Liam asks.

I nod. “They’re going to try to remove the vent at six in the morning. I need to make some calls. I have to be there with her. I might be late for practice tomorrow.”

“I’ll make the call for you,” Remington offers.

“Lily, I need?—”

“Sydney will have it all under control,” Phoebe assures me.

Walking into the house, I holler, “Major, someone’s here to see you.”

“Is that Big Daddy Boone?” Hart calls mockingly.

“Who else would it be?” I ask.

“How is she feeling?” Riley asks.

“You’re going to need to be more specific. I have three ladies not feeling well; one’s hooked up to a vent, one has a fever, and one has some seriously bruised ribs and an injured leg.”

“Start with Lindsey.”

I tell them everything I know, and everything that is to be tomorrow. I tell them I hate being away from Lily when she’s not feeling well, and if this thing with the vent wasn’t happening tomorrow, I might say fuck-it and chance getting a three-day virus that will surely be gone in time to get my ass back to peak performance level before the playoffs.

“After tomorrow, you’ll know more,” Riley says, giving me a hug. “And then can you take a day or two off to be with Lily. I can promise you Sydney and Aunt Molly have it covered. That little girl is never going to want to go back to school.”

“You want to be closer?” Hudson asks.

“Obviously, you already got called about the commandos taking over the old fire station?”

“You think?” Riley laughs.

“Just going to put it out there that you should have probably let Sydney make the decision to get the town talking, or at the very least the Brooks, Ross, Links, Hines, Sawyer families talking.”

Riley elbows him. “Aunt Sydney already dished in the old ladies’ group chat.”

Hudson looks at her curiously. “Why are you in the old ladies’ group chat?”

“Apparently, once you have a ring on your finger, you step it up a level in this game of life here in Blue Valley. And if either one of you spill those beans, I will cut you in your sleep.”

“So, it’s a secret society?” I chuckle.

“Everything’s a secret around here, yet not one thing truly is.” Hudson laughs.

“Sydney’s already had a ring on her finger. Surely, she knows,” I state.

“Then maybe it’s the baby in the belly thing.” Riley shakes her head. “She’s not in this one.”

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