Page 76 of Play Maker

“When Alex explained Mac’s plan, I thought he might need a little help. Noah, Shaw, and RJ are waiting downstairs just in case.”

“Alex told you?”

“Technically, Noah told me, but I got the details out of Alex. I assume you sent Mac to the competition venue?”

I nodded, speechless at the show of support.

“That’s my girl. Don’t let him have his way just because you love him.”

First Mom, now Eva. It might be in my best interest to let Adam know I loved him since everyone else seemed to be aware. Eva raised a brow and sighed aggressively at my slow pace. I suspected if I dragged my feet much longer, she’d call on her army of football players to physically carry me downstairs to her car. She started tugging again, and I went willingly.

“How did you get Alex to talk?”

Eva sniffed. “Alex is a pushover—he didn’t last more than a minute. I had a harder time getting past Luis. Now, are we going to go cheer on your boyfriend or not?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” I didn’t question how she could get us into the closed performance or why she’d waited until the last minute to spring all this on me.

The elevator didn’t stop the whole way down. I was starting to think Eva might be part fairy godmother. We exited the hotel into the warm night, and I spotted her silver BMW waiting at the curb with Noah, Shaw, and RJ stuffed into the backseat.

Eva thanked the valets, and they tripped over themselves trying to open her door for her. I slid into the passenger seat and twisted around.

“Thank you for coming,” I told them.

Shaw snorted. “Like we were going to miss Mac’s big singing deal afteryearsof him dragging us to karaoke?”

Noah grinned and held up a white posterboard withGo Mac!!spelled out in bright pink glitter. RJ elbowed the sign out of the way to lean forward.

“If he wins, he’ll never stop crowing about it, but we agreed to give him three weeks before we shove his head in a pillowcase.”

Eva slammed her door, buckled herself in, and threw the car into gear. “Let’s go show Mac what happens when he keeps things from us.”

A wide smile spread across my face as I thought about surprisinghimfor once. Yeah. I was ready to show him how much he meant to me.

28

My palms were sweating. Standing on stage in front of the five judges who could change our lives, I resisted the urge to wipe my hands on my pants. The auditorium wasn’t very big, but with the stage lights on, I couldn’t see anything in the room but them. I’d been singing in front of people for as long as I could remember—and I regularly played football in stadiums with tens of thousands of cheering fans—but this small audience made me nervous.

No. My inability to stay focused made me nervous.

I’d only arrived ten minutes before they called us back, and my mind wouldn’t stop replaying the last hour over and over in stark detail. Blue flinging herself into my arms, the increasing panic in her eyes as she looked for me while they danced, the red mark on her arm. A big part of me wanted to say fuck it and go make sure she was okay.

If I tried to run out again though, Alex might hogtie me on the stage until our set was over. I could probably wait through the three songs we’d prepared to go running back to my girlfriend. And then, nothing was budging me from her side. I planned to have her naked in every spare second between now and classes starting. Maybe even after classes started. With the right angle, I could have a lot of fun while she tried to listen to an online lecture.

The thought made me smile, which was a huge improvement over the tight coil of anxiety trying to climb my throat. I took what Blue called yoga breaths—four beats in, four beats out—until my heart rate settled closer to normal.

I could do this.

In front of me, the judges sat at a long table talking among themselves. Right after I got a grip on my shit, the lady with short spiky hair sitting in the middle tapped her fingers on the stack of files, which caused the others to quiet down.

She called out to me. “Name?”

“Ma—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “Adam. Adam Mackenzie.”

A smile slipped out as she flipped through the papers in front of her. “The football player?”

“Yeah.” I raised my chin, prepared to defend my team if needed.

“Nice to meet you, Adam. I’m Lacey Duvall.”

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