Page 6 of My Brother's Teammates

Comebacktothehouse. We need to talk.

I stared down at the message from Jason and then back up at their house. I didn’t want to go inside. I didn’t know what he wanted to talk about. I thought of how I’d left him with Landon and my chest grew tight at the idea of them talking, of Landon telling Jason everything. That was stupid, though. The whole reason Landon had changed his mind about me moving in was because he was worried about someone finding out. Jason was smart, though. He might’ve guessed. If he did and Landon confirmed, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. I knew how mad I was at myself. Would he be angrier? I was supposed to be smart, after all.

The other reason I didn’t want to go inside was that I couldn’t find another apartment. There were only a few available and they’d been astronomically out of my price range. I’d even called my landlord and begged for my apartment back. I’d cried. He hadn’t been moved by my tears. He’d already gotten someone in and was charging them two times what he’d agreed to accept from me two years earlier.

I really didn’t have a place to go. I’d promised Jason that I only needed to stay for one night, but I was going to break that promise if I went into their house and admitted the truth.

Do I need to come out and get you? I saw you pull up.

I dropped my head back on my seat and groaned. Things were not going the way I needed them to. It’d taken no time at all for me to give Landon all the freedom to ruin me. Why had I trusted him? The man got hives at the idea of us walking to his office together. Why had I been stupid enough to think he’d really move me into his apartment? And then what? We’d live in secret happiness until I graduated? Or a few years after, just to be sure no one got the wrong idea about him? Or maybe we’d wait until he retired?

Alright. I’m coming, kid.

I sucked up my emotions and climbed out of my car. I locked the door and met Jason at the door of his house. He frowned at me and tugged me inside. I started rambling, feeling the need to soothe whatever feathers I might’ve ruffled. “I’m sorry. I… I was on the phone. I didn’t mean for you to have to get up. Why do you want to talk? Is everything okay? I’m feeling much better so I hope this isn’t about me. I even found an apartment.”

Jason had been leading me into the living room, but he stopped and looked back at me. He stared at me in the way he’d learned to do when we were still kids, the way that made me squirm when I was lying. He grunted and shook his head. “Liar.”

I rubbed my face and automatically handed my glasses to him after tapping his arm with them to get his attention. “I’m not lying…”

He took my shoulders and led me to a seat on the couch. A second later, he handed me my glasses back and I saw that the other guys were all filing in. “Okay, then. Where is the apartment?”

I swallowed and pulled myself into a smaller position so the guys had room around me. “Um… It’s on the other side of campus.”

“Oh, yeah? The big apartments next to that new bookstore?” Axel spread out next to me and somehow still managed to rest his thigh against mine.

I nodded. “Yep. That’s the one.”

“Wow. That’s interesting considering how I just made them up.” He quirked an eyebrow at me when I glanced at him. “Sorry, Jenny, but you’re a terrible liar.”

“What exactly were you going to do tonight, Jen?” Jason had his disapproving older brother voice on and I hated it.

Hudson was on my right and he rested his arm along the couch behind me. “You’re going to make Jason’s blood pressure go up, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call my sister that, dick.” Jason rubbed his face aggressively. “But he’s right. If you lie to me, my blood pressure will go up and then I’ll be more at risk of a heart attack. Do you want that?”

“That’s not fair, J.” I met his unwavering gaze and sighed. “I don’t know. I was just going to sleep in my car until I figured something out.”

They all reacted like I’d just told them their favorite pro football team had been disbanded. Even Ryder looked like he wanted to strangle me. I withered under all the attention and dramatics.

“Enough!” Ryder’s voice silenced the other three. “You three fools aren’t making her feel any better.”

Jason knelt in front of me and held my hands. “Jenny… That was an incredibly bad idea. You’re supposed to be the smart one in the family, so I know you know better.”

Emotion burned my throat but I refused to cry again. In front of them, at least. Instead, I met my brother’s eyes and told him as much of the truth as I could. “I was supposed to move in with someone.”

“Okay, that’s a good start. Are they not ready yet, or…?” He watched my face and swore. “They wouldn’t let you move in?”

I chewed on my bottom lip until I tasted blood. “He let me give up my apartment and show up with all my things.”

The room was deadly silent and Jason’s face was growing darker by the second.

I rolled my stiff shoulders and tried to calm him. “Maybe it was a bad idea, anyway. I mean…Yeah, it obviously was. If he could do this, he didn’t love me. It’s better that I found out earlier. Although, finding out almost two years ago would’ve been a lot easier. I wouldn’t be homeless.”

Jason’s head snapped back. “Two years? You’ve been dating someone for two years?”

I hugged myself tight and nodded. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.”

“It fucking matters, Jenny!” He stopped and took a deep breath before starting over. “Sorry for yelling, but it matters. Why didn’t you tell me?”

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