Chapter 3
THREE
TEX (TRAVIS)
Something wasn’t right here. Would he tell me what was going on between him and his father? I eyed him as I planted my hands on my hips.
Hanging his head, he darted past me and into the main room. “It’s complicated, okay?”
I followed and grabbed his elbow, stopping him. “Talk to me. I can be a good listener.” I didn’t know why, but I wanted to help him. Something inside me craved it—and to be more than just a student he tutored.
As he turned, he freed a harsh huff. “My dad doesn’t think I have any friends. I do.”
“Yeah, like Evan Crosby?” I hooked a brow. “And Sara?” My chest stung for a second. “Are there more?”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “No, not right now.” His gaze found mine, and his brows wrinkled. “If I told him you were my friend, then it would impress him more.”
“So, you feel you need to impress your father?” It was a common issue for so many guys I knew.
Hell, wasn’t Grey caught up in that nonsense too?
I loosened my grip on his arm and let my hand fall to my side.
“Tell me about him. You know, since we’re such good friends now, right? ” I gave him a lop-sided grin.
With a smirk, he shook his head. “He’s just…” He plopped onto the end of the couch and raked his fingers through his long brown bangs. “He’s the opposite of me. Where he’s very outgoing, I’m not. I prefer to choose my friends wisely and only have a few.” He flashed his eyes at me.
“Okay. If I could be one of them, I’d be honored.” With my chest warming, I sat beside him. He was letting me in and damn, I liked it.
As his gaze crept to mine, his eyes grew glassy. “Thank you.” He rolled his lips. “My dad doesn’t see my intellect as an asset. He thinks I’m book smart and street stupid. Does that make sense?” He set his hand on his thigh. “My dad also loves sports.”
I stared at his hand and nodded. I wanted to hold it. Would he let me? “What’s your dad’s profession?” I tore my gaze from his hand and studied his gorgeous face. Did he have any idea how attractive he was?
“He sells medical equipment. Machines they use in surgeries to make it less invasive. That’s about all I know.” He scoffed a laugh. “I don’t even think he knows much about them. For him, it’s all about the relationships he builds with the doctors.” He wrung his hands in his lap.
“Okay, so you and your dad value two very different things, and you wanted to impress him by telling him you have a friend on the football team.” Oh…
now the hockey friend made sense. His father loved sports, so he’d kept in touch with Evan.
Me being a football player was an advantage for me. Hot damn. A smile tugged at my lips.
“My dad said you go by Tex. Is that true?” He lifted his chin, focusing on me.
“Yeah, everyone calls me that. It’s only because I’m from Austin.
” I inched closer to him. God, if only I could touch him somehow.
But right now, he might freak out. “It started in football camp where I met JJ Matthews. He’s on the Cardinals now, and he’s from Scottsdale.
I told him a story about my ex-boyfriend, Dante, and his family ranch.
” After a chuckle, I said, “A bull almost mauled me after he escaped his pen and JJ started calling me Tex.” I tsked.
“I think JJ wanted me to have a nickname because he had one. JJ’s real name is Jordan. ”
Colton’s lips curled into a faint grin. “Yeah? When did you date Dante?”
Funny, he bypassed the bull story in favor of knowing more about my ex.
“We dated in high school and for about a year after I moved here for college. Like most long-distance relationships when you’re that young, it fell apart, and we became friends.
” I watched him relax, his shoulders dropping and posture not as straight.
I lifted my hand and brushed a lock of hair from his brow.
He leaned into my touch for a beat and then swallowed hard. “I’ve never been with someone that long. I’ve never had time for it.”
“With football and school, I haven’t either.” But maybe it was time. I’d make time for him. Hell, all my friends had found partners in their senior year, and Malik and Grey would be official soon. Could I ask if he were—
His phone buzzed on the coffee table. “Shit.” He picked it up and tapped the screen. “It’s Evan.” As he rose, he took a deep breath. “Anyway, I think we’re done, aren’t we?” He tapped more on the screen and then rubbed his neck.
“Yes, we are.” I shouldn’t keep him any longer. I slipped my laptop into my bag and lifted it as I stood. “So, next week maybe we could grab the beer we’d talked about?” I touched his forearm. “Then you won’t be lying to your dad.”
“Yeah, sure.” His phone buzzed again, and he typed more. “I’ll see you out.” He stepped toward the door and opened it.
I clenched my jaw. Evan had pulled all his attention from me. But then, they were best friends. I strolled through the doorway and stopped. “See you.”
He peeked up from his phone. “Yeah, see you next week.” He glanced at the phone and returned his gaze to me. “And have a good game. I’ll, uh, I’ll watch it.” A small grin lifted the edge of his lips. “Probably with Evan.”
“You better.” With my heart fluttering, I left.
We reached Texas Tech for our away game, and I had settled into my usual beige hotel room with Rick Masters, a second-string offensive lineman.
I’d spent the day thinking about Colton.
He’d embedded himself into my brain, and there was no way to remove him.
The scrolling I’d done of his Instagram feed hadn’t been helpful, but I couldn’t stop myself.
Shit, I had to stop thinking about him so I could focus on our strategy session with the coaching staff.
I flicked my gaze to Masters, sitting at the headboard of his bed, his legs sprawled, and scrolling on his phone.
Maybe a quick call to my parents would help? They’d surely watch tonight’s game.
“Hey, I’m going to call my parents.” I slipped my phone from the pocket of my joggers. Would he stay in the room or leave and give me some privacy?
“Sure, no problem. I want to get a snack, anyway.” He hopped off his bed and jogged to the door. As he grabbed the knob, he turned to me. “Do you want anything?”
“Nah, I’m okay.” I watched him leave and called my mom. The phone rang a few times and picked up.
“Hey, Travis. I’m happy you called. Are you in Texas yet?” Clanking sounded in the background.
Mom must be doing dishes or something. She was always in the kitchen. “I am. Good ol’ Lubbock.” We were on the plains of Texas, with flat land as far as you could see. It was nice to see green grass and trees, though. I strolled to my window and peeked out.
“Your father can’t wait for the game. A few of his buddies from work are visiting, so he can brag about you. You better play well today.” She snickered.
“I always play well, Mom. And you can tell him that.” My breath caught.
Wait, if the guys were Dad’s work buddies, some would have ties with agents or NFL teams. Dad was the director of football recruitment for the Longhorns.
Me heading to ASU instead of playing for them had been a contentious topic, but he’d seen it my way, eventually.
I’d wanted to play with my friends, people who were like me. “Who all is coming over?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. A few of the guys who work for him and maybe the head of operations.” She sighed. “I’m making them appetizers and a brisket for the smoker.”
Yep, typical Mom, showing off her cooking skills for Dad’s buddies. “Do you think he’s doing this to help me find an agent?” Maybe I should have called him instead of Mom. I paced across the floor at the foot of the beds.
“Do you think he’s not? You know these guys have connections.” Rushing water filled the background and then stopped. “Don’t you worry, your father will find you the best there is.”
“Yeah, I’m not worried.” I smiled as warmth crawled through my chest. I might have the best parents a gay football player could have.
They’d been nothing but supportive of me my entire life.
Yes, Dad had been demanding of me with football, but he’d loved Dante like another son.
Which… “How’s Will doing? Is he working tonight? ”
“Of course. The ER gets busy on the weekends, and he loves it.” She chuckled. “Speaking of your brother, he brought a girl to dinner last week and I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“He brought someone home?” I raised my brows. That was a rare occurrence. The guy couldn’t keep it in his pants. He’d probably hooked up with all the female nurses at the hospital by now. In fact, sometimes I wondered if he picked nursing just to be surrounded by women at work.
“Yes, and she was…I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t think she was very smart.” She sighed. “He met her at a bar.”
“Oh, so I guess he’s worked through all the nurses then?” I freed a soft laugh and strolled toward the window. My brother and I were so different. But he’d buckled down and gotten his nursing degree, so there was that.
“How about you? With a new school year, has anyone caught your eye?”
Colton flashed through my head. Was he spending time with Evan this weekend? “No, not really.” I shouldn’t tell her about him. It wasn’t worth getting Mom’s hopes up.
“Okay, then how are your grades?” She clicked her tongue. “I want to see you graduate, even though I know you’ll enter the draft this year.”
“I’ll graduate.” Shit, now I had to tell her about Colton.
“I got a tutor for my business analytics class. There’s a lot of math I hadn’t counted on.
” With a deep inhale, I tensed the corner of my mouth and gazed through the window at the late-afternoon sun, setting in a blue, cloudless sky.
It would be perfect weather for the game.
“A tutor? Good. I’m glad you’re getting help if the class is hard. You didn’t last year and—”