Page 67 of My Brother's Teammates

Shannon and Connor were dancing around the room with Gran and Paul, each of them so excited to see the guys succeeding. Even though Gran would still always put Axel’s number on the outfits she made me, she made sure to add Ryder’s and Hudson’s to her own. They were still complaining about it, but Gran was stubborn and didn’t give in to anybody.

I went to the window and stared down at the field, trying to find my guys in the crowded field. I couldn’t wait to see them. While I’d been finishing my Masters program, Ryder was starting his PhD program. He was still the hardest worker I’d ever known. He was dyslexic I’d found out later, but he’d made it through college without anyone knowing. He talked about it more with his platform, though. He’d opened up at a few different summer camps he’d visited for kids in underfunded areas. I’d never seen anything sexier.

Hudson was in law school. After taking several years off of school, he’d decided to commit to it and go. He’d still been cut off when his dad found out he was going to law school to become a public defender.

Axel was happy playing football. He wanted to play for as long as he could. He always joked that by the time he retired he hoped we’d have kids by then so he could just be a stay at home dad. I wasn’t ready yet, but the idea of giving them babies made me giddy.

“Hey, kid, you’re being paged.” Jason held up his phone. “Are you not answering your own phone?”

I looked around for mine and shrugged. “I don’t know where it went. Who is it?”

“Coach Hill needs you downstairs. He’s fine, but Ryder pulled something.”

My stomach sank and I didn’t bother trying to look calm as I sprinted away. We’d had a few scary moments over the past years and it never got easier. Seeing my guys getting hurt made me want to run onto the field every time.

Jim stood just outside the door, waiting on me. Jim had come with the guys going pro. The organization paid for security guards when necessary but my guys hadn’t been happy with that. They wanted their own people so they’d hire Jim and a few other men from his business. Jim was my favorite, though. He had a daughter my age that I was attempting to broker a friendship with. She seemed fun, but Jim kept telling me his daughter wasn’t professional enough for him to bring around work. He was sure she’d get him fired.

“This way, Ms. Jenny.” Jim moved ahead of me and cleared the way. Everyone who saw him coming got out of his way. He was just as large as my guys, but he carried a gun.

I followed him down to the private elevators for players and their families and I waited anxiously while we rode down to the locker room. Only the elevator stopped a floor above the locker room. I waited a second for the door to close before looking up at Jim. “Why are we stopped here?”

“I believe you’re wanted in the offices.” He nodded down the hallway and smiled. “Go on.”

My stomach twisted and I rushed down the empty hallway without thinking twice. I just wanted to find Ryder and make sure he was okay. Without even knowing where I was going, I ran ahead of Jim. “Ryder?”

From one of the conference rooms at the end of the hallway, he called out. “In here, Kitten.”

I charged into the conference room and stumbled to a stop when I found all three of my guys standing in their uniforms still. They were sweaty and disheveled, a way that I found so insanely hot, but they had strange looks on their faces.

“What? What happened? Are you okay?” I directed the last question at Ryder, who just nodded once and cleared his throat. “What the hell is wrong with you three? I just had a small heart attack. Is anyone hurt?”

“Sorry about that, Kitten. We just had to get you down here fast.” Ryder swallowed and looked over at Axel. “Ready?”

I put my hands on my hips. “Guys, what are you doing? You’re being weird. Everyone’s upstairs and you’re not cleaned up yet.”

Axel coughed to cover up a sound but the sound wasn’t one I could’ve missed. I froze.

“What was that?”

Hudson laughed. “Just do it. Our nerves aren’t getting any better.”

Axel pulled a box out from behind the conference table and smiled. “Just listen for a second. Okay?”

Epilogue II

***Jenny***

Itookmyglassesoff and held them out. Out of nowhere Jason took them from behind me and cleaned them. I looked back at him, shocked that he’d appeared, even though I’d held out my glasses for him. I was used to one of the guys doing it since Jason was away with his family most of the time.

“Goddammit, Jason!” Hudson shook his head. “You had one job. Don’t come inside yet. One job!”

Jason pointed at me. “She did the glasses! She tricked me.”

I waved my hands. “What is going on? What’s in the box?”

Ryder shuddered. “Just bring them in.”

Everyone from upstairs started piling into the conference room, smiling at me like a bunch of weirdos. I turned back to my guys and saw that they each looked a little pale.

---