“Yes, Coach,” I murmur.
“You got a new family in the making, and I know you want to provide for them. Work on your shit between now and the next eligible game, and we’ll see. Be the player and teammate that I know you can be. No excuses.”
“None,” I agree with a nod.
“I did see that guy was playing dirty, and we made sure to serve him his just desserts. But you are not a one-man Justice League.”
I almost laugh because that’s funny as shit. A one-man Justice League. I press my lips together as my shoulders shake in an attempt to keep from bursting out in laughter since he’s scolding me and shit.
“We have five days until you play again. Get your head figured out. Get your family figured out. Don’t miss practice. Now get the fuck out of my office.”
Standing, I turn and head toward the door, stopping with my hand on the handle. I look over my shoulder, and my gaze catches his.
“Thanks, Coach,” I say.
I don’t give him the chance to respond to me. Opening the door, I move out into the locker room and close it behind me. I’m not going to go out and party tonight. There is no celebration to be had. Instead, I slide my phone out of my pocket and text Wrenly to meet me out back where she found me the first night.
WRENLY
I’m standing outside of the arena’s exit after Eli texted and asked me to wait for him there. I can’t help but feel uneasy. It’s not the same uneasy from the first time I was standing here with Ryan in my arms.
It’s different.
As my eyes scan the women hanging around, I see so much clearer than I did the last time I stood here. Sure, I noticed them. I knew they were here to take a stab at hanging out with one of the players, a groupie, but now that Eli and I are together—everything is crystal clear.
And I don’t like it.
“Who are you hoping to get hooked up with tonight?” the girl standing next to me asks.
I turn toward her, showing her my toddler in my arms. She wrinkles her nose, then smirks as if she’s won some big prize. “You aren’t going to get any of them with that crotch goblin in tow.”
I could be offended, but I decide that I don’t care what she says. “Okay,” I respond.
She blinks, likely unsure why I’m not overly offended by her words. At the end of the day, I just don’t give much of a shit. Ryan is sleepy. His yawn fills my ear before he rests his head against my shoulder. Patting his back, I watch the door, waiting for Eli.
“I’m Maddison,” the girl next to me announces chirpily.
Shifting my gaze from the door to her, I blink as I watch her for a moment in silence. “I’m Wrenly,” I say, although it feels odd telling her my name because she just insulted me and my son at the same time.
She smiles, then she gasps and swings her head around. “The door opened. Oh my God, it’s Eli Abbott,” she breathes. The way she says it, I feel like I should give her a moment alone because she clearly is excited.
If Eli notices her, he doesn’t show it. His gaze scans the crowd until it finds mine, and then I watch as his lips tip up into a smirk. He jerks his chin in my direction before he makes his way toward me.
Maddison’s breath hitches, and then she lets it out in what I can only assume is a huff when Eli approaches me and not her. I don’t know, because I can’t look anywhere but in his eyes.
Sucking in my own breath, I tilt my head back slightly as he lifts his hand, cupping my cheek. He leans down, his lips brushing mine. “Let’s go home, sunshine,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Okay,” I breathe.
TWENTY-TWO
WRENLY
Eli issilent the whole way home. Then he is quiet as he watches me bathe Ryan. And he continues with his silence until we’re alone in his bedroom. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, and thankfully, he speaks before I can make a fool of myself.
Because a fool of myself I would definitely make.
“I fucked up tonight,” he announces.
