“You and Fallon are like my family—hell, you’re better than my real family. Anything you want, you can have.”
Serious now, she put her hand on mine. “Just being your friend and knowing you trust me is enough, Dev.”
I’d told Kelsie I was gay after Brody and I were married. I had that sense, like with Fallon and Ezra, that I could trust her with my most personal secrets. Little by little, I’d let people into my life, and they hadn’t proved me wrong.
“I do. And I don’t trust many people, as you can imagine.” We finished our meal and were drinking our coffee. I filled her in on our plans for after the hoopla of the win settled down and we finished all the required promotional work under our contracts, to retreat to the cabin for most of the winter for privacy.
“Excuse me, Mr. Summers?” I looked up to see a boy of about twelve standing with his parents. He wore a jersey with my number on it and was holding a football.
“Hi. What’s your name? And call me Dev.” I winked at his parents. “That’s what all my good friends call me.”
“My name’s Duncan. I’m sorry to interrupt, but can I have your autograph? You’re my favorite player. I’m a quarterback on my team.”
“You are? And my number-one fan? I think that deserves more than just my autograph. Hey, guys? C’mere. Duncan here is a big fan. Let’s take a picture.”
All the guys—even Zeke—came by, and with my arm around Duncan, his parents took several pictures with all of us and after with just myself and Duncan.
“Wow, thanks. That’s so awesome.” He looked at his parents’ phones.
“How about we go outside and play a little catch. Then we can sign your ball?”
I thought Duncan’s eyes would pop out of his head. “Su-sure. That’d be way cool.”
I took out my wallet and tossed two fifties onto the table. “Let’s boogie.”
For the next twenty minutes or so, we were in the parking lot, throwing the ball, and it might’ve just been me throwing to a child, but it was as good as being in the Super Bowl. My arm felt good, my shoulder was fine, and there was no problem with my vision or any headaches.
After we all signed the ball and Duncan left, I walked hand in hand with Kelsie to her car. Knowing everyone was watching, I gathered her close. “Put on a good show.”
“Ohh, baby,” she purred, and I grinned, tipping her chin up.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
We kissed, and I watched her leave, then retraced my steps to the restaurant, where Luke and Marlon waved me over. Brody and his mother were talking to Jonas, his wife, and his daughter.
“Man, she’s gorgeous.” Marlon sighed. “Where’d you meet her?”
“I’ve known her for a while. But it’s nothing serious. You know how it is.”
“Nah. Lemme tell you something. If I had a lady like that, I wouldn’t be sittin’ around with you jokers. I’d snatch her up and put a ring on it.”
Luke snickered. “You shoulda heard Marlon. He was sayin’ he wished she wasn’t your girl, that he’d go for her in a heartbeat.”
This would prove better for Kelsie than I thought. “She’s not my girl. We were just having fun. To tell you the truth, it got annoying ’cause she was kinda more into meeting you than being with me.” I shrugged, watching Marlon’s big brown eyes grow wide. “So if you want her number…”
“Say what? You looked really into her.”
“Kelsie’s a great girl, but I’m not into getting serious with anyone. She wants the whole family thing—house, kids. That’s not my style.” I grabbed a muffin from their basket. “I was gonna bow out, so if you’re interested…” I raised a brow.
“Hell, yeah,” Marlon declared.
“What about you, Luke? You have a girl?”
His cheeks turned pink. “Yeah, her name’s Dawn, and she’s a schoolteacher. She and I have been dating since high school. Her mom’s in a wheelchair, and Dawn takes care of her. That’s why she doesn’t come to the games.”
“Sounds like a special lady. You gonna get married, you think?”
Why I’d decided everyone needed to couple up now that Brody and I were married, I didn’t know, but I guessed when you were happy, you wanted all your friends to share in that joy.
