Page 96 of Risky Game

“It’s certainly a surprise. Thanks to you guys for coming last minute.”

Molly grinned and bounced Brittney on her hip. “We’d do anything for Ruby.”

Of course they would. Probably, that included murdering anyone who hurt her. Or used her. Like me.

I swallowed a drink to wash away the burn in my throat. “Does this party include dinner?”

“Yep.” Ruby grinned and went to the fridge. She pulled out a platter of hot dogs and brats. “Amelia said it was your favorite thing to eat and insisted you’d want to cook because you like to grill. I tried to convince her otherwise, but…”

I knew exactly how insistent Amelia could be. “How thoughtful of her. Better than the McDonald’s we had last night, I guess.”

Ruby chuckled and Jassen laughed. “Isn’t being an NFL coach glamorous?”

“So glamorous,” I admitted.

Jassen joined me outside while I grilled. The kids were chasing each other around the patio, and we had one eye on them, one eye on the grill. At least Brittney had stayed inside with Molly. I didn’t have to worry about her falling into the pool.

I was trying to avoid the conversation I really wanted to have with him. No sense in ruining the night before we ate.

“So, how in the hell did you get here so fast?”

Jassen laughed. “I snuck out early.”

“Awesome. Thanks for letting me know.” I was teasing him. Hell, the fact that Ruby had invited him because Amelia wanted to be around Luke was enough reason for me. It gave her a friend, and I wasn’t complaining about that.

“Ruby called me while I was on my way in. I talked to Leer and explained. He said he’d cover for me. I’m guessing you didn’t know that I never came back from the bathroom?”

I hadn’t noticed shit all day. “Obviously not. Thanks, though. Know you guys have enough going on and the party last week was more than enough.”

“Like Molly said. We’d do anything for Ruby.”

“Thank you for making my party not about me at all.”

Jassen laughed. “Sure thing. You can take it.”

I could take a fair amount of ribbing indeed. And torture, which I’d only recently learned.

Not the safest thing to be thinking about with his sister twenty feet away, though.

Lucky for me, Jassen changed the subject. “Think we’ll look as good this weekend against Ohio as we did last week?”

Football. Blessed football talk. I could do this all day.

“Ohio’s defense is much stronger, so that’ll make it difficult. But I think we have the struggles from preseason behind us. What do you think?”

“Definitely. I was worried there for a bit, not about you,” he assured me, but that wasn’t necessary. I knew he’d at least always respected me. “But the team. I think we have something special going on, something we can only keep building especially after last year.”

“Yeah.” I flipped the brats and hot dogs. “This is a special group of guys when you’re all working together.”

He went on to talk about the guys. Gave some more insight to the players on a personal level. Things I hadn’t been aware of. The fact that Cole’s wife, Eden, and he had a long, difficult history. I never would have guessed that. He talked about other players, their commitment to the team. I appreciated his perspective. As a kicker, he was often isolated from the team at practice, doing his own thing. Probably part of why I didn’t realize he left today.

By the time dinner was cooked and we told Luke and Amelia to go wash their hands, I realized more than the fact I was starving.

I was thankful for this. Spending time with Jassen. He was a good guy, and he could become a friend.

Only if I stopped lying to him. I could lose his respect and never regain it if Ruby and I kept doing what we were doing and he found out a different way.

Amelia and Luke’s constant chatter took over dinner. Brittney babbled right along with them, saying the few words she knew. The distraction eased the tension broiling inside of me. I hadn’t talked about this with Ruby. Hadn’t had the time, and even if I had, I wasn’t sure I would have asked for her permission. She was too likely to tell me not to say anything.

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