Chapter 2
TWO
DAYLEN
Iwalk into my house at eight in the morning, wearing the same clothes I left in last night.
I can hear the loud thumping of BJ’s feet padding across my large, marble-floored foyer to greet me before she leaps into my waiting arms. I squeeze my favorite being on the planet into a tight embrace. “I missed you too, sweet girl.”
Bark.
“Is my precious angel hungry?”
Bark. Bark.
BJ is my Doberman Pinscher. Her name is short for Blackjackie.
I originally named her Blackjack when I thought she was a male dog as a puppy.
Admittedly, it took me a full week to figure out I had a female dog.
The guys love to rib me about it, but BJ is the love of my life.
I can’t imagine being without her. We have a special bond that no one understands.
I scratch behind her ear and, in a playful voice, tell her, “I’m sorry Daddy didn’t come home last night. I met a blonde who could suck a golf ball through a garden hose, and she wanted to suck on Daddy’s garden hose all night.”
Bark.
I sigh at her obvious hurt. “I know you hate all women, and I’m aware that breakfast is late, but I’ll make you a big serving today.”
She turns her head away and gives me the silent treatment. Spoiled brat.
I sigh. “Fine, I’ll make extra bacon too.”
Bark. Bark.
I rub my nose against her wet one. “I knew you’d understand. Let’s see what Chef Benny has for us in the refrigerator.”
Chef Benny is my house manager, for lack of a better term.
It’s not as pretentious as it sounds. Benny was drafted out of college by the Camels a few years ago.
In his very first game, he suffered a career-ending knee injury.
It was heartbreaking and only made worse by the fact that his fiancée was pregnant at the time.
Rookie contracts aren’t very big. While the team took care of him for another two years, he was struggling to make ends meet.
It coincided with my getting BJ and buying a big house in the suburbs.
He happens to be an amazing cook, a gifted handyman, and a hard-working guy.
I offered him a job where he helps around the house, does my grocery shopping, meal preps for me at times, and stays with BJ when we’re on road trips.
I overcompensate him, and I’m completely okay with that.
I know how fortunate I am to make the kind of money I do.
With one unlucky twist of fate, I could easily have been in Benny’s shoes.
BJ and I take in the contents of my always-full refrigerator. With my bestie next to me, I cook her favorite breakfast. She prefers French toast and bacon in the morning, just like her daddy.
While I’m at the stove, I pull up my sister’s contact information on my phone.
Jagger is technically my half-sister, given that we have different mothers, but there’s nothing half about our relationship.
Even though we only lived together for her first two years of life, we’re very close.
She lives with my dad and his wife in Maryland.
They’re about two hours away from me, and I do my best to see them as much as possible.
I can’t believe Jagger will leave for college in a little over two years.
She answers right away. “Hey, D.”
“Hey, Jag. Any juicy gossip for me? What’s the latest on Wysteria Lane?”
She giggles at my Desperate Housewives reference. “Same old shit. My mom wore a thong to the neighborhood pool party barbecue yesterday. Half the men nearly stroked out.”
I chuckle at Ashleigh Humblecut’s antics.
My mother passed away when I was a little boy.
Years later, my father met and married Ashleigh, twenty-five years his junior, putting her at only eight years older than me.
Besides a little Botox, lip fillers, and a breast augmentation, Ashleigh’s body gives Pilates a good name.
And she loves to show it off all the time.
She’s a bit ditzy, but, fortunately, Jagger got my father’s brains. She’s super smart.
Unfortunately, Jagger received every ounce of good looks from my dad and Ashleigh, getting the best of both of them. She’s grown up a ton in the past year and, much to my chagrin, is garnering a lot of attention from the inferior sex.
“Sis, your mom is one of a kind.”
“Yep, bro. Sometimes I think half the guys who ask me out only do so to see her prance around in her tight clothing.”
I scoff. “Are you nuts? You’re gorgeous. I don’t want you coming to my games anymore. I know the guys on my team are going to bust my balls about you.”
She lets out a laugh. “Ha! I wouldn’t mind an intro to your new guy, Reece Sanders.”
I curl my lips in disgust. “Ugh. He’s a douchebag.
” He’s a rookie on our team. He acts weird around our gay teammate, Champ Williamson, and none of us care for that kind of behavior.
Champ is a star running back who was traded to the Camels this off-season.
He’s an awesome guy and has fit right in with our group.
Reece, on the other hand, is universally disliked for his disgusting bigotry and unappealing immaturity.
“What about Beau Fudd?” she coos. “His muscles are so hot. There are countless TikToks about his big thighs.”
I growl. “While I love Beau like a brother, he’s way too old for you.”
She lets out a loud laugh. “Ha! I’m just fucking with you. They’re all too old. There’s one guy at school I like, and he seems to like me too. His name is Will.”
“What’s his address?” I practically yell. “I need to do a background check and pay him a visit.”
She giggles again, which is always music to my ears. “Oh stop it.” I wasn’t joking. “Are you coming home soon? I miss you, bro.”
And this right here is why I couldn’t accept the huge contract that was offered to me from the team out of Arizona.
My contract with the Camels ended recently, and Arizona offered me big-time, life-changing money.
More than I could ever spend. But I didn’t want to be a flight away from my family.
A car drive where I can go home for dinner on any given night was my priority.
I won’t miss big events in Jagger’s life.
She’s going to have proms, graduations, and other things that I want to be at.
Initially, the Camels wouldn’t match Arizona’s offer, but my agent and friend, Tanner Montgomery, negotiated like a boss and eventually got them to.
I will play the rest of my career here in Philly.
“We have a bunch of off-season training coming up,” I answer, “but I’ll shoot home for dinner one night soon.”
“Cool. Oh, you’ll love this one. I told my mom that WTF means, wow that’s fantastic.” She starts laughing. “Now she uses WTF inappropriately all the time.”
“Oh my god, that’s classic. I can’t wait to hear her use it.”
“My friends think she’s nuts.”
“She is a little nuts.”
“Facts. Hey, I gotta go to school. Love you, D.”
“Love you too, Jag.”
While BJ and I are sitting at my table eating breakfast, Vance walks in and stops short when he takes in the scene before him. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. BJ sits at the damn table with you?”
I shrug like it’s totally normal for a hundred-pound dog to be sitting like a human in a chair at my kitchen table. “Where else would she eat?”
“On the fucking floor, like every other dog in the world.”
I gasp. “That’s uncivilized.”
He briefly closes his eyes. “You’re uncivilized. I can’t believe you won’t let women even step foot in your house but you let your dog eat at the table.”
I sigh. “I don’t let women in because BJ hates them and attacks them…and I don’t like for them to know where I live.”
I used to bring women home. BJ flipped her shit.
I don’t think she likes the prospect of me having another woman in my life, taking my attention away from her, though she does love Jagger.
Maybe BJ smells the gold-digger in all of them.
BJ went so far as to bite one of them, which is when I put her in training.
Even female delivery women set her off. And several of the women I used to bring home kept showing up after I had clearly blown them off.
It’s easier to go to their places and for them not to know where I live.
Honestly, I sleep around a lot. I suppose when the time comes that I’m serious with a woman, I’ll have to reconsider my ways, but as of now, I’m having fun and have no plans to settle down.
Would I love to be a father? Yes. Am I ready to be devoted to one woman?
No. The former will have to wait until I am.
Vance makes himself a plate of French toast and bacon, as he often does. I love that my best friend feels comfortable enough to walk into my house and take food. He has the code to my front door, just as I do for his.
He sits down at the table and points his fork at BJ. “Keep your paws to yourself. This is my food, beast.”
“BJ would never steal your food.” I wink at BJ before commanding, “Still.” She knows that means to sit in her seat until she’s dismissed. I smile at my angel. “You’re such a good girl. You and Daddy will watch Cobra Kai in bed together tonight.”
She lets out a howl of joy while Vance rolls his eyes at my love for that show. Best. Show. Ever.
I cast a pointed look at Vance. “How are you managing?”
The Philly Beavers drafted Sulley O’Shea last night.
Vance and Sulley grew up in the same small town.
Vance was best friends with her older brother.
He was killed in the line of duty, and there was a shitstorm that ensued afterward, causing a huge rift between Vance and Sulley’s family.
He was freaking out during the draft when he realized she’d be moving to Philly.
Our teammate Presley’s wife is now on the Beavers too, so Vance running into Sulley is inevitable.
I don’t think he’s seen her in five years, and I know he’s internally flipping out over the entire situation.