Page 44 of Nothing Less Than Everything

I nearly choked on my tongue. “Angie, your ex-wife?”

“She’s bringing the kids to the game. I don’t want to be a dick.”

Theo and Angie had quietly divorced two years ago but were rocking the shit out of the whole co-parenting thing. Being married to a professional athlete wasn’t easy—at least according to the guys I played with who were married. For Theo and Angie, it had been too much. Football was Theo’s first love, and even though they couldn’t make it work, Angie still cheered for the Reds and brought their kids to every game they could attend.

“That’s cool.”

Theo slammed the door and jumped into the shower. I threw on a pair of shorts and grabbed my foam roller out of the corner to work the tightness out of my hamstrings.

I wondered what Wren’s family was like. I wondered if she was an aunt, if she was a sister. Was she a kid person or was that something she didn’t want?

I grew up as an only child. It wasn’t depressing, though. The upside of my dad pawning me out to football camps was that I got really good at making friends on the fly. Some of those friends stuck. Now, I knew people in pretty much any state I had ever played in, whether that was in the pros or just pee wee football.

I allowed myself one final indulgent thought about Wren, then stored her safely in the back of my mind.

It was game day. I needed to be locked in.

Gideon and Theo had commandeered a table in the corner of the meeting room the team was using in the hotel for a breakfast buffet. I slid in beside Theo and inhaled a forkful of suspiciously spongey scrambled eggs. Hotel food was always hit or miss. But protein was protein, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Coach Tyson say something to Seth and point at our table. Seth cut his eyes at our table, and without much fuss, strutted over.

“Fucking hell,” Theo muttered into his coffee.

“So much for a good morning,” Gideon grunted as he mauled a bite of toast.

Seth dropped his tray beside Gideon, sliding in the empty chair. He looked better when he got the right amount of sleep and wasn’t hungover.

We leaned into the excuse of still being half-asleep and ate in silence. I was halfway through my plate when my phone buzzed. I usually kept it off on game days, but I was secretly hoping Wren would text me before we had to be at the facilities.

No such luck. Instead of a message from my Little Bird, it was worse. So much worse.

Mom: Your father and I will be at the game today. You two should get some photos with each other. It’ll be great PR. Also, Samantha hasn’t been returning my calls. Do see to it that she responds promptly.

Sam had been explicitly instructed to ignore any and all communication from my folks. At least I had one person truly on my team. I’d have to send her a little something extra for her belated honeymoon.

My mother’s request for a goddamn photo op, on the other hand…

“Dude.” It had come from Gideon. He, Theo, and Seth were staring at me. I glanced down at my phone and realized that I was crushing it in my fist.

I dropped the phone with a clatter and ripped into the banana that was tucked beside my plate.

Seth shot me a curious glance, but kept his mouth shut.

“You got something you wanna share with the class?” Theo asked.

“Nope,” I said out of the side of my mouth as I downed a quarter of the banana.

Gideon eyed my phone. “Senior?”

“Yup.”

“He still riding your ass after all these years?” Theo asked.

“Yup.”

“Who?” Seth finally had the balls to speak up in a language other than frat boy.

I raised an eyebrow. “My dad.”

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