Page 59 of Play Maker

“You don’t listen to music?” he asks.

“I do. I know he’s got a band. I stream my music.”

“On that phone you hate.” He chuckles. “Got a love hate/relationship with them, too.”

“Damned if you do, dammed if you don’t.”

“Something you wouldn’t have known because we predate high speed. Lucas left the NFL after too many concussions, and most of them due to the fact he fucked anything with tits to try and bury his loss, which was his high school girlfriend and now second wife.”

I turn and look at him, hating that I am hearing this, but yeah, I want to know just how the hell that came to be.

Eyes on the road, he continues, “And one of them was an ex-teammate. He had the whole D line just brutalize him. Refs didn’t do shit, either. He ended up in the hospital.”

“Vegas?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Nope, the Jets. And this goes no further, because again, it’s not a threat to this team. The player, he’s close with your ex’s family. Name’s Miguel.”

“I know him.”

“Yeah.”

“You said the refs didn’t do shit, and we saw how the league handled the situation in Vegas. Any chance this isn’t about any of us, or any of you, and it’s to do with the league itself?”

He thinks on that for a minute. “That may be on the list, but it’s long been buried.”

“Gotcha.”

“And now I’m thinking it should be delved into deeper.” He smiles. “Good call, Grimes.”

Ryan taps a button on the steering wheel. “Send a message to Number One.”

A calm voice responds, “What would you like it to say?”

He doesn’t hesitate. “Look deeper into the league.”

Then Siri’s voice cuts in, smooth and sterile. “You have an incoming message from Number One. Would you like to hear it?”

Ryan’s jaw tightens. He doesn’t look at me. Just taps the steering wheel once, like a trigger. “Play it.”

The response iscopy that, and then the phone rings.

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

“Driving to Dad’s to bring in some wood and?—”

“He ever going to let us switch that old fireplace out for gas?” Luke, their oldest—number one—chuckles.

“Never.” Ryan smiles.

“Any idea why my wife is full-on AvaLinksright now?”

Ryan chuckles. “Got an idea, and also a passenger.”

“Hey, Mom,” he says.

“It’s Kolby,” I respond.

“You piss my wife off?” he asks.

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