Page 31 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

“You did whhhhat?” Miles asks. Miles is a linebacker, and I find I’m surprised that even he doesn’t know. Our offensive team is pretty close. Not much happens that we all don’t know about, which makes me think of Lily. They don’t know about her, but it won’t be long before they do, and I grimace on the inside. It’s not that I’m embarrassed to have her there. I just know these clowns and they’ll make it into more than what it is. I don’t even know how long she plans on staying.

“I did the four-day Inca Trail hike. While I might be athletic, you won’t catch me doing a lot of what other people do. I’m a big guy.” He shrugs. “Hiking is perfect for me.”

“When did you go to Peru, and how did we not know about it?” Miles asks, looking at him suspiciously.

“I went during the week of Memorial Day.”

“Who did you go with?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest like he’s somehow offended that he wasn’t invited.

“I went by myself.”

Miles flinches. “What? Why?”

“Why not? I love to travel, the food there was amazing, and it was something I wanted to do for myself.”

“Did you know that Machu Picchu was never really the lost city of the Incas? It was abandoned after the Spanish invasion, but scholars have yet to find any mention of it in Inca literature. They don’t actually know who lived in the city that held seven hundred and fifty.”

“Camden, not now,” Miles says.

Camden is a walking encyclopedia. He continually amazes us with his intelligence and his athleticism. I’m certain if others knew, they wouldn’t think it’s fair that he was blessed with both brains and brawn.

“Do you do this a lot?” Bryan asks.

“Yes.”

Jaws drop all around us, but Bryan, being the captain he is, turns his gaze my way to pull the focus off Sully.

“What about you, Tyler?”

“Not much. Hung out with Jonah and Vivi, fished a lot, and spent some time with an old friend.” I can feel Jonah staring at me, but I refuse to look at him. If I do, I’m certain someone will pick up on it and then shit will hit the fan.

“You have friends outside of us?” Miles asks.

“You don’t?” I throw back at him.

“Not really,” he answers.

“Well, that’s just sad.” Sully shakes his head at him.

“Well, look at that. We all learned something new today,” Bryan says.

“And so did your fans,” Danica chimes in, and all our gazes snap to her. We totally forgot she was standing there. Poor Sully has an indescribable expression on his face as he looks at her, and then it’s gone. He gives her a smile, and then one to all of us.

“From the tree of silence hands the fruit of tranquility,” Sully says as he holds out his hands, spins around, and walks off.

None of us knows what he’s talking about.

“Maybe these clips won’t be so bad after all,” Ross says, grinning from ear to ear.

Chapter 12

Lily

I’m sitting on the couch, in the spot that’s become mine, when Tyler walks in from practice. He’s carrying two large Amazon boxes and one smaller one. His biceps are strained, showing off just how muscular his arms are, and considering I know how heavy a single one of those boxes is, and to see him carrying three, I have to avert my gaze not to ogle him.

“It smells good in here,” he says.

“Thanks. Dinner is ready whenever you are, and I could have grabbed those,” I tell him, pulling off my headphones and setting them on the couch.