Page 18 of The Game We Played

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I ignore it.

“Again,” Nolan says.

We reset. The ball snaps, I takeoff—

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I slow.

“Keep running!” Nolan shouts.

I do. Barely turning in time to see the ball sail past my hands and land in the sand.

“Seriously?” he snaps.

“Sorry,” I say, distracted. My phone vibrates again. And again. I pull it out and frown at the screen. Sam has messaged and called several times. My stomach tightens. This is not good.

“Everything okay?” Gage asks.

“Fine,” I say automatically.

The phone buzzes again. It’s a text this time.We need to talk. Now.

Panic rips through me and I freeze. I already talked to Sam. I promised him I’d toe the line. Why is my agent calling and messaging me? Did he change his mind? Is he done with me?

Is this the end of my career? The career I turned my back on my family for?

“What’s going on?” Nolan asks.

I shove my phone back into my pocket and force a grin. “Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“It’s nothing,” I repeat.

Brock jogs over, glancing between us. “We playing or not?”

I hesitate. My phone buzzes again.

I can’t ignore it. Not if I want to keep my career. And I do. Football is everything.

I exhale slowly. “I’m out.”

“What?” Gage says. “Since when do you quit?”

I grit my teeth. I’m not a quitter. But I need to answer this phone call. My agent is obviously pissed. I can’t let him quit on me. I’m not ready to say goodbye to my career.

“Since now.”

Corbin folds his arms. “This about the situation you think we don’t know about?”

Of course, they know what happened. My teammates are up in my business as much as I’m up in theirs. It’s how a family works. Or, at least, I assume it’s how one works. I don’t have much experience since the members of my family ignore me. They ‘disapprove’ of my chosen career.

I shrug. “Goof around without me.”

“Goofing around is the whole point of you being here,” Nolan mutters.

I back away toward the path leading off the beach. “Try not to miss me too much.”