Page 54 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

“I’ve never given much thought about having a pet, outside of the fish, but maybe you and Jonah were onto something with your dogs. It was nice to have Luna there, and you should have seen Lily. She was so happy.”

Bryan’s face is blank as he looks at me, but I can tell he’s trying to get a read on what I just said.

“So it was nice to have the goat there, or is it nice to have Lily there?” he asks even though we both already know the answer.

“Who has a goat?” Rico asks as he saunters over to stand next to us.

“Tyler.” Bryan smirks, knowing he just added fuel to the fire. Suddenly, I don’t know who I want to kill more, Jonah or Bryan.

“Bro.” He gives me this disgusted look and takes a step back. “Who are you? What did you do to my friend?”

“I didn’t get a goat. I rented one for the day.”

His face scrunches up. “What the fuck for?”

“Lily likes baby goats.”

“That doesn’t mean you go out and get her one,” he argues.

“Get what?” Benny asks.

“Bro over here went and bought his girl a goat,” Rico says as if this is the worst thing he’s ever heard. I should correct them all that Lily’s not my girl, but it’s kind of starting to feel like she might be. Or maybe that’s just me and wishful thinking.

Benny cracks up with a loud cackle and slaps me on the shoulder. Benny is from Texas. He is a country boy through and through. Granted, he grew up with oil and cattle, but still. I’m pretty sure the idea of a single goat doesn’t sound repulsive to him, but normal.

The other players on the field turn to look at us, including Marcus.

“Let’s go. I don’t know why y’all are standing around gossiping like teenagers. Run the tree again. This time, substitute with 5A and 7D.”

Instantly, we break apart, but Rico keeps eyeing me like I’m either a stranger or someone he needs to save. It makes me crack up, and he frowns even more. It’s funny, now that they know, I thought I would feel some type of annoyance for being outed over the goat, but I really don’t. She was so happy, and that makes it all so worth it. This must be how Bryan felt over the chickens and Jonah felt over Molly.

Bryan moves to the fifty. Reid and Titan move to the left side of the field, with Benny on corner, and Jonah and I move to the right side of the field with Rico on corner. Bryan calls the play, and I take off for route one, otherwise known as the flat route, a quick route toward the sideline. I love running routes, I love when we build upon a basic tree and amp it up, and I love when these routes execute perfectly during a game. Whether it’s me catching the ball or one of the other guys, advancing the ball from dedicated preparation feels damn good.

The ball slides right into my hands, and it’s as familiar and easy as walking. I jog back and toss it to the assistant quarterback coach as Bryan calls route one for the left side. Rico looks me over from head to toe, still giving me a confused look, and I smile real big at him. He snorts and turns away. I don’t even care. Renting that goat was worth it.

Chapter 23

Lily

This week has been so good. So, so good.

Tyler was right. I needed the reset of Luna. Everything that I had been worried about or uncomfortable over slipped away as the joy and endorphins of the tiny animal took over. All those things, they just didn’t matter anymore and the result was instantaneous. I went to lunch with Camille and Lexi, and didn’t worry at all about who might see me. I got back out on the dock for some yoga, and I sent my finished first draft to the editor. Morgan and I designed my favorite cover of all my books. We launched the title, cover, and release date to the world with a preorder. So far, I have the highest number of orders since I began this career, and everyone has gone crazy over the pictures of Luna.

Once Tyler told me Jonah spilled the tea to his friends, I posted a reel of pictures and short videos of her time with us. Of course I didn’t show our faces, and the footage was taken at Jonah’s, but it didn’t matter because she became a star.

Most of my social media up until this point has been book-related teasers and graphics. For each of the other two series, I did post a few shots of myself, but it wasn’t that many. We took a bunch in different outfits at the ranch in Wyoming, so for each release in the series, I wasn’t wearing the same thing, and we also went to a couple of different hockey games. One game, Dean gave Morgan and me the tickets, and they included a behind-the-scenes pass for when the players were making their way to and from the locker room. Morgan got a lot of shots of the players, without their faces, of their skates, sticks, all the things that would make for great teaser images. But over the past couple of months, it’s the subtle pictures that I’ve posted of my legs in the lawn chair at the lake, me holding a cider donut with the logo behind it, me here in Tampa with palm trees as the main part of the image, me walking out of an image with an inspirational quote on the wall, and of Luna that get the most interactions. The book ones are great, but it really feels like people want to know more about me.

This is why when I open an unexpected email addressed to my pen name, it doesn’t feel that unexpected at all.

“Dear Ms. Keegan. My name is Julia, and I’m the owner of Between the Pages, an independent bookstore in New York City. I would love the opportunity to speak with you about hosting a launch party for your upcoming new release Love at the Lake, book one of the Lake Loon series. While I know you have remained anonymous in your appearance, I was wondering if this is an indefinite plan of yours or if you might be open to an in-person signing? I know this is a little short notice, with your book releasing in less than a month, but my team and I have some fun ideas we’d like to run past you and could have the invitations out ASAP. Here is my personal cell phone number. I do hope you’ll consider joining us, and I very much hope to hear back from you soon.”

Between the Pages.

Every indie author knows this bookstore. It’s TikTok and Instagram famous, and people come from all over to go to this store. I’ve only seen them host a handful of releases, and I’m so wowed and honored that they want to host one of mine too. Me.

What is this life?

Looking across the living room, I find my favorite fish happily swimming with his friends, and as crazy as it sounds, I draw a parallel between that fish and me. I am happy living in a bubble being surrounded by my friends and keeping my world small. For so many years, I stood in the shadow of Dean, but even as I stood there and was visible to everyone, it was small. Now, although Tyler and I have created some media noise, it will die down, too. I know it will, and again, my world will be small. We aren’t even a couple, but we are friends, and for most players, their personal lives aren’t front and center. It’s mainly quarterbacks.