Page 75 of Who's Saving You
“...Yeah, we’re a home game. Denver’s three games behind, so it won’t mean much.”
“...You got a full roster?”
“...Oh? Johnson hurt again? Who’s his backup?”
“... How did the final walk-through go?”
“...Please, he wouldn’t know what to do even if he lay on his back and let her climb on, let alone run a blitz play.”
“...You’ll be fine, just brace for impact if you’ve got a second string in there.”
I walk out into the living room. He turns his head, eyeing me from my feet up my legs and to the shirt I’m wearing.
“Hey, uh, I gotta go.” He licks his lips and adjusts himself on the couch, and I shake my head at him. “Yeah, man, talk later,” he ends the call and tosses his phone to the table. “Good morning,” he says as he pats his lap, beckoning me over. “Sleep well?”
I stay where I am, folding my arms. “You’re getting inside scoop from them,” I say it matter-of-factly.
His entire demeanor changes. “I’m talking to my friends about their upcoming games.”
“No, you’re not. You’re getting stats on who’s injured or which second string is going to step up, and then you’re placing bets.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Let me rephrase. You’re telling Dante, and he’s placing the bets.”
He stares back at me, and I know I’ve hit the nail on the head. He doesn’t blink. The faint twitch at the corner of his mouth isthe only tell.
“Maybe I just like to be prepared,” he says finally.
“For what? The game, or the payout?”
His grin returns, slow and deliberate. “Both. But right now, I’m more interested in winning you over.”
“You’re shameless.”
“And you’re still standing over there,” he shoots back. “Which means either you’re about to give me hell, or you’re about to sit down and make me forget what we were talking about.”
I lean against the wall, making it clear I’m going nowhere. “Nik, we need to talk about this.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
I wave my hands. “All of it. Let's start with your friends. Do they know?”
“No,” he clips out.
“So, they have no idea your innocent questions are being used against them?”
“It’s not like that, Noelle.”
“Explain it to me.”
He closes his eyes and takes a breath. “They aren’t a part of this, and I will never make them one. I won’t risk it.”
“But you’ll risk yourself.”
“I’d die for them. Plain and simple.”
I believe him. “How long until this shit with Rhett is over?”
