Two years ago, even Lane’s self-deprecating comment wouldn’t have made Aidan laugh, but Levi had relaxed him, and he laughed now. “You kinda are, actually.”
“Exactly.”
“You wanna tell me about what’s going on between you two?”
It was Lane’s turn to laugh,weakly. “No way.”
“Do I need to lecture you? I lectured Dawson before he got involved with Cameron.”
“And that turned out so well. I don’t think you should be bragging about your lecturing efficacy if that’s your example.”
Aidan huffed, but he sounded amused, still. “You don’t knowwhatthe lecture was. Maybe he didn’t do what I warned him not to do.”
“Unlikely,” Lane said.
“Come on,” Aidan said with resignation. “Let’s go over the next set of plays Zane wants to run. I’d like to be able to at least score a touchdown, even if we don’t need to win this game. Do you think Trevor’s gonna be ready to block?”
“Gotta cover the Giants’ pass rush?”
Aidan nodded grimly. “Wes needs another second.”
“Then he’ll be ready,” Lane said, even though all he knew for sure was that he wanted to believe in the best of Trevor.
Trevor felt so stupid.
He’d thought he was doing good. Decent numbers for a rookie—not even the starting tight end, and he was still in the conversation for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
But Lane made him feel so fuckingstupid, sometimes. Like he was clueless. Like he’d made a misstep and he hadn’t even realized the ground was shaky under his feet.
Grabbing a cup of water to try to cover how his hand was trembling slightly with frustration and something else Trevor didn’t want to look at too closely, he stared out at the field.
The Giants’ offense was moving the ball. Another first down with that new running back who was doing his best to bust right through the Thunder’s best attempts to contain him.
“Hey.”
Trevor glanced over, and was surprised to see Mo standing there, hands shoved into the pockets of his navy-blue sweatpants.
“Hey,” Trevor said mulishly. He supposed it could’ve been worse. They could’ve sent Lane, orAidan, who would just make him feel excruciatingly clueless.
Still, it wasn’t like Morris Jeffries wasn’t a legend in his own right.
“You alright?” Mo’s mouth quirked up.
“No,” Trevor muttered.
“And you don’t wanna talk about it, right? Just wanna be left alone?”
“Right on all counts.”
“Would it help that everyone has to start where you’re at?”
Trevor’s gaze slid over to the wide receiver. “Seriously?”
“Some of us were even worse,” Mo said.
“Not you, though,” Trevor said. Every professional football player knew about the career and the magic of Morris Jeffries. He’d had a record-breaking first season and had never looked back.
“Oh, definitely me,” Mo admitted.
