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I hopped down from the table, keeping one hand on the surface behind me to stay steady. If I gave even one wobble, he would be calling an ambulance. “I promise, Doc. I’m okay. I’m sure I’ll have one hell of a bruise tomorrow, though,” I said with a chuckle, rotating my shoulder to keep it loose. My ribs were screaming.
Doc crossed his arms over his broad chest. He wasn’t laughing. “No confusion, foggy thoughts?” I shook my head and waited, because I knew he wasn’t finished with me yet. He was listening for slurred speech and incoherent thought patterns. “Coach said something about you having family in the stands today? Why don’t you tell me about them.”
And as stubborn as I was trying to be, my lips tugged into an involuntary smile. “I found out I’ve got a kid. His name’s Cam.”
Dr. Frater grinned back. “Hey, congrats, man. Kids are the best. How old is he?”
“He’s ten, and he’s got more energy than I know what to do with. Do you have any kids?” I asked. I was new to the team, still trying to get to know everybody.
He seemed to close up at the question, though, and got up from the chair. “Hey, don’t try to make this about me. I’m the one asking the questions, and you’re the one giving the answers.” His eyes homed in on mine. “Are you sure you’re good? Not just putting on a brave face for your kid?”
I raised my right hand up, three fingers raised in a salute. “Scout’s honor, I’m good to go. I’ll rest up tomorrow and take it easy this week.”
He dragged his cap on over his unruly hair, the flyaway strands sticking out from under the brim, and he slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “All right, go have a shower, grab some dinner, and call me if anything doesn’t feel right. Any time of day or night. Yeah?”
“Sure thing.”
I was more than grateful to be headed for the locker room. I needed a long, hot shower. Most of the team had already cleared out, but when I walked in, a few of the stragglers patted me on the back and asked how I was feeling. I brushed all their worries off, but in truth, I was feeling it. I was getting too old for this game.
The average quarterback made it less than five years in the NFL, and that was higher than some of the other positions where they took a lot more knocks. It was a hard job—hard on our bodies, on our hearts and our brains. And I loved it, but I knew realistically that I wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. I hadn’t decided what I would do next as far as a career went, but I intended to spend as much time with Cam as possible to make up for lost time.
Peeling off my gear, I dumped it at my locker and grabbed a towel before heading for the shower. I cranked the spray as hot as I could stand it, then stepped in, letting the heat soak into my aching body.
“Hey, QB, that was some hit. For a second, I thought we’d be bringing out the stretcher,” someone said.
I wiped a hand over my face and cracked my eyes open. It was Schuster, the team’s center. His hair was still damp from his shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. He was smirking at me, like he was holding on to a secret. “Yeah,” I muttered, turning to face the spray. “Not this time.” I wasn’t sure what it was about Schuster that really bugged me, like I couldn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth.
“Can’t say I blame ya for being distracted,” he said in an offhand way. “I would be too.”
Something about his words didn’t sit right with me, and I glanced back at him, that damn smirk still sitting on his lips. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t distracted.”
“Yeah, sure. But I’m just sayin’, I get it, with your kid watching the game and all. It must be a lot of pressure.”
I watched him warily, licking the water from my lips, waiting for the punchline.
“I saw you waving at him. That was him, right?” His grin turned wolfish. “And that was your omega with him? His name’s Jasper, right? Oh, wait. No, he’s not yours, is he?” My insides clenched, fire burning through my veins, my pulse pounding in my ears. “Missed your chance with him, I guess. Wonder if he would give me a chance next…” He reached down and adjusted himself through the towel, his insinuation clear.
“What the fuck, Schuster,” I growled, slamming off the shower and rounding on him.
He backed up a step, cackling. “Just kidding, man! Consider it a little friendly hazing for the new guy on the team.”
Except there was nothing friendly about the fury pulsing through me. I pointed a finger at his chest. “Whatever, Schu. Watch your mouth, or I’ll have to teach you some manners.” He laughed it off, and I glared at the back of his head as he retreated to his locker. It didn’t matter that Schuster was younger or that he had a good forty pounds of muscle and three inches of height on me. He would learn to keep my family out of his thoughts, and if he wouldn’t listen to my words, then he would be listening to my fists.
I forced myself to return to the shower, switching to cold water to cool off my temper. I welcomed the needling sting on my flushed skin and braced my palms flat against the tiled wall. I hadn’t considered how this would feel. I’d spent so long imagining Jasper back in my life, but in that image, he’d always been right there at my side. It seemed impossible that he could be in my life but not be mine. It made no sense. And even as I tried to talk myself into this whole co-parenting thing, told myself to be mature about it, to respect Jasper’s wishes, my body wasn’t listening to logic. Every fiber of my being wanted him—and not just in my bed.
And now, announcing to everyone that he was the father of my son, it was like there was a target on him. The press would be hounding him for questions, wondering why he was only showing up now, ten years after the fact. They would accuse him of things. And I was supposed to believe it wasn’t my role to protect him?
Fuck, this is bad.
I needed to talk to Jasper about all this, maybe convince him to move to a gated community, enroll Cam in a private school. I didn’t want Jasper to regret telling me about Cam in the first place.
With a towel around my waist, I dried off my hair and grabbed my clothes off the hook in my locker. My phone gave a trill, Jasper’s ringtone, and I quickly fished through my jeans pocket and pulled it out, seeing a video call coming through. I answered without thinking, not taking note of my state of undress until I saw myself on the screen, about half a second before Jasper’s jaw dropped.
His cheeks flushed pink, and he looked away from the screen. “Oh! Shoot, sorry. I can call you back after— I shouldn’t have called.” His eyes flicked back up, and I could already feel him slipping away.
“No, it’s all right,” I told him quickly; anything to keep him here with me a little longer, even if it was over a screen. “I don’t mind as long as you don’t,” I said gesturing to my chest, and I noted with satisfaction that his gaze dipped lower, following the path my hand drew for him, and he licked his lips. “There’s nobody left in the locker room, so we can talk. Is Cam okay? I hope I didn’t scare him.”
“No, Cam thought the game was awesome and can’t wait to go back. It was me you scared.” He laughed as if he was kidding, but there was a shakiness to his voice that belied his attempt at remaining casual. He swallowed hard and then sighed, his eyes turning sad. “I just needed to see with my own eyes that you’re in one piece. That was… hard to watch.”
