Chapter 2
chapter
two
Donavon
It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed into Bluebonnet county. I was born and raised in the county seat, Saddle Creek, and my dad still lives here.
After high school, though, I took off. Went and played football at The University of Tennessee and got drafted out my junior year. I spent my first several years in the pros playing for a team out of California, but last year I got traded to the Armadillos in my home state. Being back in Texas feels so natural.
Being back in Saddle Creek feels as comforting as a favorite sweatshirt. I don’t think I realized how much I’ve missed home. It doesn’t take me long to drive to my buddy JD’s house. I’ve come home for my dad’s wedding next weekend, but since it’s off-season, I’m taking the opportunity to catch up with my best friends.
Well, at least my best male friends. I can’t afford to think about Kathryn tonight. I know I’ll see her soon enough. We’re about to be family. Somehow my dad marrying her mom is not how I thought she and I would be linked.
I haven’t yet met Jude’s fiancée, so I suspect I’ll be meeting her tonight too. Because all of my best guy friends have paired up. Two of them are married, one of which has a couple of kids, and I suspect the other one will be procreating any day now. Then Jude found his lady love stranded on the side of the road.
Personally, I don’t have time for romance. Football keeps me busy the majority of the year and then there are the endorsements. So yeah, I’m pretty busy. I can’t even have a dog, so I know I don’t have time for a relationship.
I pull up and park on the street in front of JD’s house. My phone immediately buzzes with a text.
JD: We’re in the backyard. Come around.
So I do just that, following the noise of my friends. I open the fence and am met with the barks of two dogs. The higher pitched barker appears at my feet, running around my legs.
“Rosie, leave him alone,” Jude says in a commanding voice. The smallish, furry thing scampers off to my friend.
The deeper bark is rhythmic. Bark. Bark. Bark.
“Mike, that’s enough,” a woman says. I move further into the yard and find everyone sitting around a fire pit.
“Mike, oh hey, that’s the boyfriend, right?” I ask. Everyone laughs.
“Har-har. Yes, I should have asked more questions, I get it,” JD says.
It took three years for him and his woman to get together because she told him she had a boyfriend named Mike, which turned out to be her dog. Miscommunication hilarity.
Hayes is the first one to greet me.
“Hey man, good to see you.” He gives me a hug, then points to a woman sitting behind him. “You remember my wife, Rory.”
“Yeah, of course. Where are all the munchkins?” I ask.
“At their Uncle Roe and Aunt Cassie’s house,” Rory says. “Thank you, Jesus.” She raises her hands up. “Another cocktail, my love.”
Hayes chuckles. “Coming right up. You want something to drink?” he asks me. “There are beers in the cooler, but pretty much a full bar inside.”
“Beer is fine,” I say. Hayes heads inside and I grab a beer from the cooler. I high five JD, greet his wife, Chelsea, and then fist bump Jude on my way to sit down.
“This is Emory, by the way,” Jude says. He’s all warm-gooey smiles as he looks at the curvy blonde next to him.
“Hi,” she says. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I take a swig of my beer. “That doesn’t bode well. You can’t trust anything this fucker says.”
“Obviously,” she says. “No, I got all my info about you off the internet. It’s all true, right?”
I chuckle. “Absolutely. No one lies on the internet.”
Hayes comes back out with a bright pink cocktail for his wife, then sits down next to her. He pulls her legs up to rest on his lap.
“Okay, I have a question,” Rory says.
“What’s that?” JD asks.
“I wanna know what Donovan thinks about his high school crush becoming his new stepsister,” Rory says. She flashes me a big grin.
“She’s got you there, man,” Jude says.
“First of all, I never said that Kathryn was my high school crush,” I say. “Secondly, it’s past time my dad found love again so I’m happy for him.”
“I believe the term he used for her was ‘the one who got away’,” JD says.
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Hayes says. “You were mooning about how she was the one you let get away, and how you’d never forgive yourself.”
I take a slow pull on my beer. “I don’t think that ever happened.”
“It did,” Jude confirms. “You were drunk.”
“Then it doesn’t count,” I say.
“Where is that rule written down?” Chelsea asks.
“It’s not,” JD confirms.
“Well, as Rory so helpfully pointed out, Kathryn is about to be my stepsister, so it doesn’t matter what I said about her once when I was drunk. Besides, that was a long time ago.”
“And she still hates you,” Jude says.
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Remind me why I came over here to be with y’all.”
Everyone laughs.
“Y’all know I don’t have time for a relationship. I’m on the road most of the year. Football is my love.”
“That just sounds sad,” Jude says.
“Listen, man, we just want you to be as happy as we are,” Hayes says. “Married life is where it’s at.” He winks at his wife.
“He’s not wrong,” JD says.
“Next time bring your kids,” I tell Hayes. “At least then I’ll have someone to talk to.”