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I chuckled. “Nope. Not on the juice. I’m just on a hot streak, that’s all.”
“Hell of a hot streak,” he said. “You look like you found the fountain of youth.”
“Oh, he found the fountain of youth, alright,” Dakota said. “She’s a dime piece, too. Hey, Rust, show Johnny the picture.”
Shit.This was what I was afraid of.
Johnny cocked his head at me. “What picture?”
“Nothin’,” I muttered.
“Uh-oh!” Johnny laughed. “I know that look! Ol’ Rusty’s up to no good again, eh boys?”
My teammates laughed.
“It’s nothing,” I insisted.
“Yeah, as if I’ll get the story from you.” Johnny turned to the boys. “So what’s the deal with Rusty’s woman?”
“Who knows? He won’t talk about her,” Tank said. “We call her Tinderella, because he won’t even tell us her name.”
Johnny looked at me and grinned. “That’s my boy. He’s always tried to keep his ladies a secret from everybody.” He paused to deliver the punchline: “Butespeciallyfrom his wife!”
The boys roared with laughter. I didn’t. My stomach was a muck of shame and guilt for a hundred different reasons. Why was I such a piece of shit?
“Was he so secretive he wouldn’t even give you a name, though?” Brock asked.
Johnny nodded. “Oh yeah.”
“All we know is she’s got a great ass,” Dakota said. “I saw her picture for like, a split second.”
“And we know she’s nineteen, too,” Cale said.
“Nineteen?” Johnny asked, his smile fading. Adrenaline flooded my bloodstream, slowing time as Johnny turned to me, his eyes sharp, cruel, penetrating. In that moment, I thought the game was up—but a second later, that look left him and he howled with laughter. “Holyfuck! Nineteen?! You’re robbin’ the cradle, big fella!”
The boys laughed, too.
I shook my head. “It’s really nothing.”
“Oh, please,” Connor said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t act like you’re not texting herconstantly,bro.”
“Tell you what. Nineteen’s too young for me,” Johnny said. “Once you have a daughter, you can’t look at a girl that young anymore. Doesn’t matter how smoking hot she is. All you can think is, somewhere, that girl’s got a father.”
“Well, sure. They’ve all got fathers,” Dakota began, grinning. “But they callmedaddy.”
Everyone roared with laughter—everyone but me, that is—and Johnny clapped Dakota on the shoulder. “Dak, man, you are fucked in the head. I love it.”
The bartender delivered our drinks, and the boys scattered elsewhere to drink and play foosball. Johnny and I took our pint glasses to a table where we could talk one-on-one.
“Bi~g fella,” Johnny said, grinning at me like a fool.
I chuckled. “What’s up?”
He reached over and patted my shoulder. “I’m happy for you, man.”
“Yeah?” I sipped my beer, trying to hide my guilt. “Why’s that?”
“Because you’re playing great. And Vegashasto sign you to an extension now. And sooner rather than later, I’d bet—because the longer you play like this, the higher you drive up your value. Besides, they won’t want to let you get any closer to free agency.”
