Page 59 of My Brother's Teammates

I laughed through my tears and wiped my nose on his shirt. It felt good to be home already, even if my parents were weird and didn’t understand me most of the time. There was nowhere else I could wipe my nose on a grown man and not get shoved away.

“And it’s blowing its nose on me. Gross.” Dad plopped me down on the couch and settled next to me. “Your mother is going to blow in here like a hurricane in a few seconds so tell me any secrets you need to keep from her now.”

Mom did blow in, with her long hair and her flowy shirt fluttering behind her. “I heard that, Mike. Oh, my goodness. What’s wrong with my baby? Come here, honey.”

I grunted as she pulled my face into her chest and did her motherly best to suffocate me. “Mom, I need air!”

Dad scoffed. “Wimp.”

“Why are you here? Why are you crying? Who do I need to poison?” Mom sat on Dad’s lap and held both my hands. “Tell me everything.”

I sniffed and looked up them with wide eyes. I was scared, but I’d already decided that I was going to tell them everything. I’d made a mess of things and I needed help. They deserved the truth if they were going to have to help me find an apartment and get back on my feet.

“Oh, no.” Mom sighed dramatically. “Her eyes went so big, Mike. I’m a little nervous now.”

I rolled my eyes and curled up so I could face them. “I did a bunch of stupid things. A series of stupid things, actually.”

“Are you fucking pregnant, Jennifer Mae Ramsey? I swear to god, if you’re pregnant, I’m going to flip this table with your mother on it. I told you both a million times, safe sex is no sex. She insisted on teaching you the truth and if you’re knocked up-”

“I’m not pregnant!” I groaned. “Dad, just be quiet. Please.”

“Thank god you added that please at the end or that might’ve been rude.” He motioned for me to go on. “Well.”

I looked down at my lap and realized with a jolt that I was still wearing Ryder’s t-shirt. I wondered if there was a woman in a hotel room somewhere doing the same. When I looked back up at Mom, her eyes widened and she sighed.

“Oh, honey.” She rested her head on Dad’s shoulder. “It’s your first heartbreak.”

Dad sat up, nearly knocking Mom onto the floor. “Excuse me?”

I shrugged. “Like twice. But I don’t even know if that’s right. I don’t think the first one was real. And this one is…big.”

“Twice?” Dad rubbed his face. “Start from the beginning. Give me names.”

“It’s not good. It’s not good at all. I made a mess of things and I don’t know what to do.” I whimpered as I curled in on myself. “I think Jason might hate me, too.”

“Jason? What the hell does he have to do with this?”

Mom put her hand over Dad’s mouth. “Just tell us everything, honey.”

It wasn’t easy, but I did. I told them everything, from the beginning of Landon to Jason sending me the picture of the guys with other women. By the time I was finished, I had both hands fisted in Ryder’s shirt and I was doing my best to hold myself together.

“And maybe I never loved Landon because I was sad about him leaving me homeless, but it was nothing compared to what I feel now. It physically hurts. I just don’t get it. I thought they cared about me. Why would they do that? Why bother making whatever we were doing a relationship if they didn’t want me?”

Mom and Dad both looked shocked. Dad couldn’t seem to find words and Mom couldn’t seem to figure out where to start. “Well. I… You… What…”

“And Jason said that everyone is going to call me names and make jokes about trains. I thought that if I had the guys, maybe it would be worth it. I could handle being harassed if I had the guys on my side. But now I don’t have them and I’m still going to be ridiculed. I’m going to be the girl who slept with a professor and half the football team. And at the end of the day, I’ll still just be sad because I cared about them. I… I can’t say it. I more than cared for them. But they don’t care about me.”

***Jenny***

“Yourbrothersaidwhat?” Dad picked Mom up as he jumped to his feet and put her down next to me. “I heard you when you said you just want the stuff with the professor left alone. I understand, even if I don’t like it. But you can’t tell me what to do about your brother. He can be upset, but he sure as hell can’t say shit like that and think it’s acceptable. And is that why he played like that yesterday? I thought he was trying to get Tuff killed but I knew they’re best friends so I convinced myself that couldn’t be right.”

“Dad, Jason’s just upset. It’s my fault.”

“No. Your brother knows better. He watches out for you and takes care of you. I don’t care if you did sleep with thewholefootball team and rumors got started. He doesn’t repeat that shit to you. He handles it with his teammates and whoever else he catches talking about it. He protects you.” Dad put his hands on his hips and glared around the room, looking so similar to Jason that it was striking. “I’m sorry, Jenny-girl. You deserve better.”

My eyes burned and the lump in my throat grew but I did everything to stop myself from crying again. “I did it to myself, Dad. I didn’t mean to make a mess of things, but I did. And I hurt Jason. I knew that he didn’t want me anywhere near his best friends. It just…happened.”

“Sweetheart, you can’t help who you love. The heart does what it wants and sometimes, unfortunately, it’s stupid. What happened with your professor wasn’t your fault, though. You have to change that narrative. You were young and maybe we sheltered you too much. You’re still young. That man knew better. I don’t know how, but I’ll figure out a way to make him suffer.”

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