Page 116 of Forever Offsides

“Anyway, it’s a pacifier with red lips over it,” Skylar explains. “So when the baby sucks on it, it’ll look like she has porn star lips.”

“What every father wants for his daughter,” Aston deadpans. “I’m putting this in the donation bin.”

“Please,” she agrees, then sighs heavily as she takes in the mountain of gifts around her. “We’ll never get through this. Pass the pizza.” She takes a giant bite of hers and talks through her mouthful. “Forest, you’re not eating.”

“Sorry, Mom,” he teases and holds out his hand. Skylar drops a piece of pepperoni in it, and he takes a bite before he tosses it on a nearby empty plate. “There I ate.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I tell him, sitting on the floor with an untouched slice of pizza in front of me. “I’m sure it’ll all work itself out.”

I haven’t talked to Rhett. Or my brothers. Or even Russel. They’re all at the stadium till six today. No one here other than Sky and Brae knows about Rhett, and I need to keep it that way because the guys won’t hold that secret from Crew, and I’d never ask them to.

I don’t understand what Russel is doing. Forest is convinced he’s doing this for a reason beyond love—which I can’t help but agree with—so he’s digging around. What he expects to find, I have no clue. But Forest doesn’t like unknown entities, and he really doesn’t like it when people mess with his people.

A text comes in.

Crew: Where are you?

Me: Sky’s.

Crew: On my way. And what the ever-loving fuck, Quinn?

Me: I have no clue, but I’ll talk to him. Again.

“Crew’s on his way,” I announce. And because of this, I covertly text Rhett.

Me: What’s going on with him?

Rhett responds almost immediately.

Rhett: I don’t know. He seems jumpy. He dropped three passes at the walk-through, which isn’t like him. I tried talking to him first as a coach and then as a dad, and he’s not having either.

My gut sinks, and I frown. I don’t like how Russel keeps pushing Rhett out. It breaks my heart for him.

Me: I’m sorry.

Rhett: Don’t be. This isn’t on you. It’s on him. But something doesn’t feel right to me.

Me: Same. I have a friend looking into some stuff.

Rhett: What friend and what stuff?

Me: *Shrugging emoji*

Rhett: Fine. You won’t tell me. The problem is, he’s adamant that something is happening between the two of you.

That hits me strangely.

Me: It’s not. You know it’s not. Why is he saying this?

Rhett: I don’t know.

He leaves it at that, and a strange sense of foreboding washes over me. Something is really off.

“Hey, Forest?”

He glances up at me. “Yeah?”

“You can keep digging.”