Page 4 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

I hit accept call on my steering wheel and smile.

“Bro,” I say to him. I can’t remember the last time we talked on the phone. Mostly, it’s through text and memes, making fun of each other.

“How’s it going?” he asks.

“Same stuff, different day. You rarely call me. You good?”

He pauses, then lets out a deep exhale.

“Barbecue,” he says. My foot lets up off the gas, and the smile slips from my face.

“Are you in town?” I ask, wondering what’s going on and instantly feeling anxious that something is wrong with him, Casey, or the boys.

“Not exactly,” he draws out.

Barbecue is our code word, the one we came up with in college for our 911 word. Emergencies, bailouts, whatever—when that word is spoken, we both know it’s serious.

“What does that mean? Not exactly.”

It’s approximately twenty-two minutes from the practice facilities to my house, and just a few more minutes from there to get to the airport. It’s eleven hours if I drive straight to his house.

“Lily’s in town.”

Lily.

His younger sister.

That edge of uncomfortableness under my skin at him using our code word recedes, and my shoulders drop as I relax into the driver’s seat and cross the bridge that heads onto Davis Islands where I live.

“Okay, and you want me to do what? Take her to dinner?”

I think back to the last time that I saw her. It was four years ago after the birth of Lance’s oldest son. She had just graduated from college, which means she’s got to be in her mid-twenties now.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to you showing her around.”

Showing her around. Does that mean she’s moving here? A weight drops in my stomach as I think about that asshole quarterback she dates. Is he being picked up or traded to the Tarpons? I really hope fucking not. I can’t stand that guy, and he would be horrible for the morale on our team.

“Is she moving here? What about that dick boyfriend of hers?”

He hums.

“You could say she’s moving there, at least temporarily, and they broke up.”

They broke up.

Lance and his family have to be thrilled. I know the world thinks this guy is top-notch. He sure knows how to turn on the all-American charm, but those closest to them have seen and heard it all. He isn’t anyone I would want dating my sister.

“Oh. Well, good for her, then. Where is she staying?”

He pauses, and every hair on my arms stands up.

“About that⁠—”

“No.” My vision slightly blurs.

“Don’t say no. Hear me out,” he says, using his dad voice.

“Lance, I don’t do roommates. You know this, and you know why.”