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Cade waits for Boni to return, scratching his ears and throwing the ball again. “I’m going to work. Will you bring him inside before you go?”
“Yep. Have a good one.”
He leaves and I play ball with Boni for another fifteen minutes before taking him in, getting him fresh water and a treat and leaving for practice.
Saturday practices are usually low-key, which is why I invited Zane to meet me there today. He’s standing at the entrance when I walk up, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie.
“Hey, man. Your mom didn’t come today?”
“She had to take my sister to a dance thing.”
I hold the door open for him. “Text her and tell her I’ll bring you home when we’re done.”
“What am I going to be doing today?”
“Helping out with practice. Handing out water bottles when people need them, bringing us towels, that kind of thing.”
We have two interns who already do that, but I arranged for them to get today off so Zane could do it. I think seeing guys doing guy things will be good for the kid.
As soon as we walk into the locker room, I start to question myself, though.
“Hey, this is Zane,” I tell our team captain, Ford, who’s standing alone.
“Hey, man,” Ford says, nodding at Zane.
“Dude, ask Rowan why he’s sitting out today,” Beau calls when he sees me.
I glance over at the bench and see my teammate Rowan sitting there, dressed in regular clothes and looking dejected.
“It’s not funny,” he says.
“It’s the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Colby says.
Rowan’s one of my closest friends on the team. If something’s going on with him, I can’t believe I don’t already know about it.
“What’s up?” I ask him.
“I have an injury, but I’ll be fine for the next road trip. It’s not a big deal.”
“His beanbag took a beating,” Beau says, amused. “And it wasn’t him beating it, for once.”
When I look at Rowan, he shakes his head. “I should have just lied about it.”
“What happened?” I ask as I put my phone and keys in my locker.
When Rowan hesitates, our teammate Ben jumps in, grinning. “He was a bad boy and his mistress punished him.”
“It wasn’t like that.” Rowan scowls. “A woman got too rough in bed and now my nut sac is bruised. That’s it.”
I stare at him in disbelief for a second before laughing. “Are you serious? You’re sitting out practice because you have a bruised nut sac?”
Our teammate Marcus gives him a disgusted look. “I ruptured one of my balls during a game in high school and kept playing. There was blood everywhere when I got undressed after.”
Rowan stands up. “Yeah, if it was a game, I’d still play. It’s a Saturday practice. This hurts like a motherfucker, you guys.”
“Take a Midol and quit bitching,” Ford says.
Beau approaches Zane and holds his hand out. “Hey, I’m Beau Fox. Nice to meet you.”
