36. Lennox
Chapter 36
Lennox
Standing on the sidelines, I looked up at the scoreboard and watched the replay. We were up by three over Green Bay with three minutes to go. This fucking game was closer than it should have been.
And something was off with Evan. He never missed passes. But if I had to guess, it was about Hudson. He was supposed to be here, but something had come up.
The last three minutes turned into the longest fifteen of my career. The ball changed possession twice, and when I could finally take a knee to end the fucking game, I was ready for a beer.
Dane had to go to Lemoore Air Base for meetings and flying competitions of sorts. I had no idea, and I knew he couldn’t tell me what was going on. So I took the information he gave me, let him fuck me, and off he went.
After the coach said his thing and we’d showered and changed, I picked up my phone to text my man.
Me: Hey. We won in case you didn’t know.
Dane: I saw. Congrats.
Me: When are you coming home?
Dane: Later. Want to shoot some pool?
Me: Fuck yes.
Dane: See you later. I’ll text you when I land.
Me: Fly carefully.
Dane: LOL. Yeah, okay.
I pocketed my phone with a grin. But my best friend next to me was a little more reserved than usual. He looked over at me when I stood, then followed me out.
Evan looked around the hallway outside the locker room. “Is Dane not here?”
I shook my head. “Nope. He had a training thing.”
His eyes widened. “On a Sunday?”
“Yep. I don’t like it, but they didn’t ask me. He’ll be back later this evening.”
He nodded as we walked out to the parking lot. When no one was around, I took the opportunity to check in with him.
“What’s up with you? Evan Ellis does not miss passes. You catch the ball and run the fuck over defenders.”
He ran a hand through his damp hair.
“I know,” he said as we walked to the car. “I’m just… distracted.”
“By what?”
He stopped and leaned against his car. Folding his arms across his chest, he sighed as he glanced around the parking lot.
I turned and looked at what he saw. Some of our teammates were leaving with their families, and he was missing his. I could relate to that.
“Evan. Talk to me.”
He sighed and rubbed his neck. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Okay. Like what?”
I didn’t want to press him, so I just waited him out.
“Well, first, Senator Andrews offered Hudson a position in his cabinet if he wins the election. Then Jack is struggling with something, and I can’t put my finger on what it is. I want to be there for him, but it’s difficult to do five hundred fucking miles away. “
I curled in my lips and watched as he looked around. When his gaze landed back on mine, he let it out.
“I fucking miss them, Lennox. This is more difficult than I thought it was going to be, but I can’t tell Hudson because he’ll blame himself. He’ll say he’s not making enough of an effort to be here for me when he’s juggling the fucking state and his kids’ lives while trying to take care of me too.”
He took a big breath. “Life just sucks right now.”
I moved next to him. “I’m sorry you’re going through this, man. Loving someone isn’t as easy as it sounds, huh?”
He huffed out a disgusted laugh.
“Loving him is the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but missing him is killing me. That taste of normalcy and seeing what we could be as a family has ruined me. I fucking learned to cook for him, Lennox. He came home to my house every night. The kids hung out with me during the day. I fell in love with all three of them while I was there, and then I came back to my empty house.”
Now he was in my territory. I knew all about empty houses and missing the person you loved. That’s why I kept pushing Dane to move in with me, or to just marry me. But he was being fucking stubborn.
But this wasn’t about me. Our bye week was almost here.
“Hang in there. We go to San Francisco on Saturday. Tell Coach you need to go up on Friday for your kid’s game. He’ll understand that. He’s got four of them.”
Evan looked back at the door to the stadium.
“Get through this season with me, Evan, then decide what you want to do. We’ve got some things to finish and that charity thing at the end of the season.”
He furrowed his brow. “What charity thing?”
Shit. Did I forget to tell him I signed us up for that? “You know, that thing Laura asked us to sign up for when we won the Super Bowl. That’s months away. Just worry about getting to Hudson. ”
Yeah. I’d forgotten to tell him. Thank god he was distracted.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go talk to him.”
“Good,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Want me to come with you?”
“Nah. I think I can handle it.”
“Okay. Let’s go get a burger and play some pool. Me kicking your ass will get your mind off the governor.”
Evan finally gave me a smile. Glad I could be entertaining for him. “Where?”
“Coronado. The Slippery Squid.”
He rolled his eyes. “You want a rematch after your pilot kicked your ass, don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. The guy was an asshole, and I have to show him who’s boss of the billiards.”
I sure hope he didn’t tell Dane I’d called him that. But if he did, I knew how to make it up to him with my mouth. And not with words.
“Whatever,” he said, walking toward the stadium. “I’ll meet you there in an hour. I need to call Hudson.”
He had a little more spring in his step now, which made me smile.
“Gotta get permission, Clark?”
He laughed and shot me the bird. “No asshole. I just need to talk to my baby. And for the love of god, try to stay out of trouble until I get there.”
I swung open the door to my Porsche and grinned at him. “No promises, Ellis.”
By the time Evan finally got to the Squid, Dane had arrived and was killing me at pool. The ladies were keeping their distance, and I couldn’t have been happier.
I sidled up to my best friend. “Watch this.”
I finished my beer and then handed him the bottle.
“I’m not protecting you, Sanders. You’re on your own.”
I winked at him, then moved right next to Dane. Crowding him, I made the shot he was trying to sink nearly impossible.
He stood up and looked at me. There was a smirk forming on his face.
“What are you doing?”
I pointed to myself. “Me? Nothing. I just missed you.”
He laughed and shoved me out of the way. But I moved right back. He knew I would. He should be used to me sticking to him like glue. It was my hobby and new favorite pastime.
I surveyed the table again. “How did you get so good at this, Calloway? I mean, you were always good, but not like this,” I said, motioning to where he’d already sunk all his balls except the last one. “Did you go to pool school or watch a bunch of YouTube videos? I bet you were the platoon pool shark, weren’t you?”
He folded his arms over his chest and gave me that look that said he’d like to fuck me up against the wall.
“Not a pool shark. Just pretended the white ball was your head.”
Evan barked out a laugh and started clapping.
“Priceless. I really like you, Calloway. You keep him in his place.”
“Oh, he keeps me in place,” I said to Evan. Then turned to look at Dane. “And it’s usually on his dick.”
He leaned down and knocked the last ball in, effectively ending the game.
The smug expression he wore when he beat me turned me on. He took my pool cue and returned both to the holder on the wall.
Dane turned and walked up to me. Leaning in, he spoke into my ear. “Time to eat so you can go home and get on my dick.”
I gave him a big grin, then took his hand and led him to the bar.