Page 54 of Nothing Less Than Everything

WREN

“Better now.” The throbbing in the back of my skull faded as I felt Tatum’s strong arms encircling me.

“You haven’t been feeling nauseous, right?” he asked. “Have you been dizzy?”

I shook my head and instantly regretted it when it felt like a bowling ball rolled around inside. “I’m good. I’m fine.” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I added, “But you really shouldn’t be here.” I loathed the words as they slipped from my mouth, but it was the truth.

For the first time, Tatum admitted, “I know.” He kissed the top of my head. “But I had to see you.”

“This is a mess.” I traced my finger along one of the lines of his many tattoos. “And now we have to pretend to like each other on camera when we’re supposed to be strangers, but we actually are kind of…”

“Kind of what?” he asked, hope filling his voice.

“I don’t know,” I said with a deflated sigh. “There’s no way that this works.”

“Worrying about the ending steals joy from the here and now.”

I closed my eyes and let his words take some of the edge off. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out before now. You were going to tell me tonight, weren’t you?”

Tatum nodded. “I was gonna have some of the guys and their wives come over and meet you at the house. Theo Jackson, Gideon Carmichael, and I played college ball together. We’ve been tight for years.”

“I’ve met Gideon before,” I admitted. “A few times, actually. I’ve met Heidi, too.”

He raised his eyebrows. “No shit?” He paused a beat, then added. “I should’a known. I showed Gid your picture and he said you looked familiar.”

“The Reds spend a day volunteering at the children’s hospital every season. Some of the WAGs help organize it. Players show up to talk to kids and sign autographs. The ladies perform. It’s pretty fun, actually. I think Heidi is on the committee that organizes it.”

“Sounds like her,” he said. “They were pretty excited to meet you and see what you did to my place.”

Shit. Tatum’s housewarming party. With all the chaos of the day and the revelation that the guy I almost started dating was a professional athlete, I had totally forgotten about the get-together at Tatum’s place. “Have you seen the condo yet?” I asked.

Tatum shook his head. “Didn’t even bother going home. There were cameras outside of the building. I didn’t feel like being a part of the circus until I had to be.”

Fear danced through my body. “What if they—”

“They didn’t follow me,” he said. “I didn’t even stop in front of my building. I looped around the block and parked at Dunkin’. I brought you an iced coffee that I think made it onto a table. If not, it’s on the floor in the hallway and I’m sorry for the mess.”

The gesture of an iced coffee from Dunkies wasn’t lost on me.

“So,” I sighed in contentment as I wiggled down between Tatum’s tree trunk thighs. “T.J. Bryant Jr.” I let out a quiet laugh. “How did I not see that?”

His lips pressed against my temple. “I only go by T.J. on the field.”

“Tatum…”

“Jamal,” he supplied. There was a bit of resentment with the utterance of his name.

“And you’re named after your dad?”

He tipped his chin down. “Unfortunately.”

“What’s the story there?” I asked. Tatum hesitated and I opened my eyes to look up at him. “Sorry… I don’t know how this works now. I don’t know how we’re supposed to…”

“You can ask,” he said. “I’ll show you my thorn if you show me yours.” Tatum shifted his tattooed arms, turning me so that I was sideways across his lap. My knee draped over his thigh, relieving some of the pressure and soreness from the game. “You know how they say you’re your own worst critic?”

I nodded.

“That’s not true in my case. My dad is my worst critic. I get a new contract, his contract back in the day was bigger. I break a record, the records he still holds after twenty years are still higher. I play a great game, and he’s calling me after to tell me what I did wrong. Every interview I do, all the reporters want to talk about is my fucking father. They compare our stats, not giving a fuck that the level of competition in professional football has completely changed since he was on the roster. Every team I’ve ever been signed to has been fucking thrilled to land T.J. Bryant Sr.’s son. They call it a legacy. I call it bullshit.”

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