Part 26 (2/2)
”You wanna wait until we get home?” Teryn asked.
”Yep. That way we can enjoy the road trip.”
Her sister broke out into a wide grin. ”I'm in.”
They dug in to the pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream they'd bought earlier at Santoni's as they caught up on their lives. Teryn had a vast circle of friends in Dallas and she was excited to have Shay be a part of it. Thanks to her time with Brody-and Julianne's tutoring-Shay didn't feel apprehensive at all about joining in. Perhaps going home to Texas wouldn't be so bad after all. Later that night as the twins crawled into bed, their hands automatically linked together as they had for so many years when they'd slept together as girls, and Shay finally believed she'd survive life after Brody.
Brody's house had been infested. By his own family. His mother had insisted on monitoring his condition and nothing short of a nuclear holocaust was going to stop her. Gwen and Ashley had descended upon him with the intent of decorating his house for the holidays.
”Really, n.o.body sees this place but me,” he told them over breakfast-a meal his mother was closely supervising. ”Why do you have to go to all this trouble of putting up this junk?”
”So you'll have some Christmas spirit, Mr. Grinch,” Gwen said as she hung a heavily scented wreath on the mantel.
”I don't need any Christmas spirit. I just need my house back,” Brody grumbled. Secretly, however, he was relieved to have other people around distracting him. Bridgett had gone back to Boston, her pretrial work complete. His home was quiet without her popping in unexpectedly all the time. And without Shannon.
There was nothing left of her in his house any longer. Her smell was gone from his pillow. Her spreadsheets no longer littered his kitchen table. There weren't any containers with Post-it Notes in the fridge any longer. It was almost as if she'd never been there. Until he went to bed at night; then the memories crowded into the room with him so that he couldn't sleep.
”Try not to get carried away, ladies,” he warned. ”You are all quick to fly down here to put this c.r.a.p up, but I always get stuck with taking it down.”
”Go to practice, Brody, and leave us to our fun,” his mother said. ”And make sure you keep an eye on your sugar.”
Brody didn't need to keep an eye on his d.a.m.n sugar levels because everyone else in the world was too busy doing it for him. He barely got through an hour of practice before someone-Nate, the team physician, one of the coaching staff-was checking his readings. h.e.l.l, even Jay McMa.n.u.s, the Blaze owner's G.o.dson, was having him monitored.
”It'll all blow over after a few games, Brody,” Roscoe told him as they walked from the practice field to the training center. ”Just let them rea.s.sure themselves that you're not going to keel over on the field. It'll make the contract extension talks go more smoothly if they feel like they have some control over the situation.”
”Control over the situation or control over me?”
Roscoe chuckled ominously. ”Right now, the two are one in the same. If you want to play football, you'll deal with it.”
Nate didn't let up the entire road trip to Miami, following Brody around like a mad scientist collecting his urine and drops of blood. Not for the first time, Brody cursed his former trainer for his big mouth. The other night, when Bridgett had forced him to finally put the pieces together, Brody had been numb. He'd spent twelve hours thinking he was betrayed by another lover, only to find out it was his friend. And Erik hadn't even sold him out for money. It was just another reason why Brody couldn't trust anyone with his secrets. His future looked lonely, but it beat the alternative.
Fortunately, the weather in Florida was a lot more hospitable than it had been in Denver. Brody snagged two touchdowns and DeShawn ran for over a hundred yards to carry the Blaze past the Dolphins. The flight back to Baltimore was festive with Christmas carols and talk of the playoffs.
Devlin took the seat beside Brody, a groan escaping his lips as he eased into the seat.
”You gonna make it through the season, old man?” Brody teased. The quarterback had taken a few punis.h.i.+ng licks today when one of the offensive lineman had gone down.
”Yeah, I'll be just fine if you can remember to block when you're told to.”
Brody shot his teammate his killer grin. ”Dude, I caught what you threw to me-even the wobbly ones-and I didn't miss a single block.” It was true. His game had been on fire this afternoon.
”None of my pa.s.ses were wobbly, dumba.s.s. Anything that came into your hands less than perfect was tipped at the line.”
”Whatever you say, old man.” Brody had enormous respect for Shane Devlin and he'd be truly sorry to see the quarterback hang up his spikes. But he knew that day was coming and he couldn't resist teasing his friend when he could.
”Hey, that little boy, Maddox. Do you have his address?” Devlin asked.
”Sure. Why?”
”I promised him an autographed jersey. He wanted it to send to his father for Christmas. I totally forgot about it with the baby coming early. I want to get it to him so his mom can send it out. Hopefully, it will get there in time.”
Brody felt a little miffed that Maddox hadn't asked him for a jersey. He'd already sent b.a.l.l.s and Blaze caps to the boy's father's unit. But Devlin had been the Super Bowl MVP. If anything, Brody should feel a little guilty about how he treated the boy the night of Shannon's party.
”Just give it to me. I'll take it to him,” he heard himself saying.
Devlin stared him down, but Brody wasn't some rookie receiver.
”Dude, you don't trust me to take a kid a stinking jersey?”
”It's not the kid or the jersey I'm worried about. It's whether or not I trust you to do it without messing with his neighbor again.”
Brody blew out a breath. ”Shannon and I are fine.”
It was Devlin who blew out the breath now. ”Look, Brody, don't make my mistake-”
”Jeez, Devlin, I didn't know you made mistakes,” Brody said trying to fend off another lecture.
”Stop being a wisea.s.s and listen to what I have to tell you. I was so caught up in thinking about my football career that I nearly lost Carly-twice; the second time to some joker's bullet. If there's something there between you and Shay, don't throw it away because of a d.a.m.n game. Or, worse, your stupid pride.”
”Like I've told you and everyone else, there's nothing between Shannon and me.” His teeth nearly ground to dust in his head as he said it. ”Now, do you want me to take Maddox the jersey or not?”
Devlin shook his head with a disgusted sigh. ”Sure, Brody. Take the jersey. Just don't trip and fall with those thick blinders on.” He clicked on his iPad and focused his eyes on the screen.
It was Monday afternoon before Brody made it to Shannon's apartment complex. A hodgepodge of Christmas lights decorated the railings outside the various apartments, already lit up as dusk fell. He knocked on the door of Maddox's apartment and the boy pulled the door open.
”What have I told you about opening the door to strangers?” Brody chastised the boy. It was a familiar refrain between the two, but today, instead of cheering in excitement at the sight of him, the boy's eyes were wary.
”Brody!” Jackie's greeting was more cheerful as she came out of the small kitchenette, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. ”What are you doing here?”
He lifted the two shopping bags. ”Christmas gifts. Although one was a special request to be sent to Afghanistan, so I hope it's not too late. Devlin got a little wrapped up in his new baby and he's behind in getting it to you.”
Maddox inched toward the bag and peered in. ”Whoa! Is that the jersey?”
”Signed by the MVP himself.”
”Oh, Brody. That's so sweet. Tony will be thrilled. But Maddox will be able to give it to him in person.” Jackie's face lit up in delight. ”He's coming home on Christmas Eve.”
”Hey, that's terrific. I bet you're excited to see your dad again, huh, Maddox.”
”Yep. And we're moving to Texas. So we're going to see Shay.” The boy's chin went up a notch as if to say ”up yours.” Brody would have laughed at the kid's bravado if he wasn't feeling a touch of jealousy. Crouching down on his knees, he looked Maddox in the eye and smiled. ”I'm glad, little dude. Because that will make her happy. And it will make me happy knowing you'll be there taking care of her.”
The boy's chest puffed out. ”Whatcha got in the other bag?”
”Oh, that. It's just something I thought you'd like.”
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