Ryland
Omiri made a hand gesture that brought a smirk to my face because my thoughts went right to a pretty honey face set in a scowl with orange tipped hair falling over her eyes.
Thick ass thighs and that ass… Damn. Somee’s body was nice.
I could see those thick thighs wrapped around my waist while I was digging in them guts.
Thinking about Somee messed up my timing on the next play.
I took off late. Coach blew the whistle before I was ready so Dedric came off the line half a second before me. He managed to bypass my attempts to block him and Omiri took the hit and went down.
I didn’t have to look around to know all eyes were on me because that never happened. Not at practice. I knew these guys well enough to anticipate their moves and they never got past me.
“Tighten up, Parks.”
I extended a hand to Omiri, and as soon as he was on his feet, he shot me a look, questioning what the hell I was doing.
“Again,” Coach yelled, sending everyone to the line.
I settled into position with my eyes on Dedric, wanting to knock that damn smirk off his face.
His ego peaked because he got to my QB but I shook it off and waited for the whistle, only to see Rylee’s pout when I told her she had to come live with me.
The whistle sounded and Omiri took another hit. This time because I didn’t get my hands up fast enough. Dedric went right through me and I landed on my ass because I overcorrected.
This time Omiri was the one extending a hand, and when I was on my feet, he was glaring at me, confused.
“The fuck, Land? You good?”
“Yeah, just distracted.”
“You think?” He frowned harder and I grinned.
“You can’t take a hit?”
“I can take a muthafuckin’ hit but would prefer not to. You need to take a break or can you do your fucking job?” he growled at me and I tossed my chin.
“I’m good. I got you this time.”
“I damn sure hope so. Pull it together.” He extended a fist which I met with mine before Coach called out for us to line up again.
When the ball was snapped, I was able to keep Dedric off Omiri, giving him time to throw the ball. Perfect pass down the field to McClain.
“That good enough for you?” I threw my hands up and he shot me a bird, catching the ball Coach tossed him so we could set up again.
Unfortunately the minute we were on the line, my mind was back to Somee when Omiri used his hand to set the play instead of calling it out verbally.
Before I could shake the thought, two defenders crossed and I gauged it wrong.
I moved left and created a gap. Dedric plowed right through it with a clean hit that took Omiri down. He couldn’t get out of the way in time.
Fuck…
I jogged over to help him up and felt like shit. He went down harder than necessary since he didn’t see the hit coming.
“You’re slipping, Land. Don’t let Charles take that spot.” Dedric grinned, jogging backwards. Charles was the second string left tackle and damn sure not about to take my spot. Fuck that.
“My bad, O.”
He accepted my hand when I reached to help him up but stepped close to me so no one could hear what he was about to say.
“You need to get some shit off your chest?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“I just took three hits back to back. You’re not good, Land. What’s going on?”
My mind was in a million and one places.
Mostly centered around how the hell I was going to manage keeping up with a six-year-old in the middle of playoffs.
A six-year-old who had no desire to fit into my life.
Then there was Somee, who I was willing to guarantee hated my entire existence but loved my sister enough to deal with me.
I couldn’t get Somee out of my fucking head.
I was damn sure off my game but couldn’t tell my boy he’d just gotten knocked on his ass because I couldn’t stop thinking about a woman who was likely plotting my death at this very moment.
“Too much to explain right now. We can talk after practice.”
“Nah, fuck that. Talk…”
“That’s it for today. Weights and then you’re done. Parks, over here,” Coach yelled, cutting Omiri off.
“Let me go get this over with. I’ll get with you in a minute,” I mumbled, turning to jog toward Coach before Omiri could respond. When I stepped in front of Coach, he angled his head to the side and looked me over before speaking.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Parks?”
“Nothing, Coach, I’m good.”
“Then do you want to tell me why you practiced like shit today?”
I smirked because Coach just didn’t give a damn.
“Just distracted. I have a lot of personal stuff going on right now.”
“Your personal stuff doesn’t need to show up on the field. Hayes gets hurt at practice and we don’t have a QB. Your job is to make sure Hayes doesn’t get hurt. You didn’t do your gotdamn job today, Parks.”
I tugged my helmet off my head and tucked it under my arm, nodding stiffly. “Yeah, I know. It’s just one bad practice though. I’ll have my head in the game tomorrow.”
He stared at me for a minute longer before he relaxed. “Does your personal stuff have anything to do with something going viral?”
I grinned and shook my head. “No, it’s not that kinda personal stuff this time.”
“Good because you’re in a contract year and the owners don’t need a reason to consider a trade.”
My mood changed quickly. “That’s a conversation?”
I needed to know if the owners had my name on a list. I had gotten a decent amount of bad press over the past year but I showed up on the field. Every fucking time. I earned my salary, every penny. My name shouldn’t be attached to any discussions about a trade.
“Trades are always a conversation, Parks. This is a business that goes beyond love for the game when it comes to the owners. Their only loyalty is to how much money you guys bring in to line their pockets versus cost them. Bad press costs the franchise, Parks, and lately you’ve had a lot attached to you. Keep that in mind.”
He was right. The owners didn’t give a damn about us beyond filling seats. I could be replaced without much disruption to the program.
“I’m doing my part to keep my name clean, Coach.”
“Good to know. Now do you need to talk about your personal shit?” He frowned and I almost fucking laughed because Coach was a decent guy. One of the best in the league, which meant whatever we needed in order to show up at one hundred percent, Coach did his best to provide.
Even if that meant offering a therapy session, which wasn’t necessarily his favorite thing. Regardless, our needs were met each and every time. Coach was always present. Especially when it came to Omiri and me. We’d all joined the Sharks franchise together.
Coach’s first year with the team was the year Omiri and I were drafted.
At the time, the three of us had something to prove, which created a bond the other guys didn’t have.
Our bond, however, didn’t negate Coach being vocal about how sitting through our venting sessions was his least favorite part of coaching.
“Nah, I’m good.”
His expression turned serious. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure, Coach. I just need to make a few adjustments but I give you my word it won’t show up on the field again.”
“Alright, I’m holding you to that. Go do your rounds.
” He clasped me on the shoulder at the same time he jutted his chin toward the training facility.
He left me on his way to meet with the other coaches and trainers while I jogged toward the building.
Omiri was waiting for me as soon as I walked in.
This was my boy so I should have expected him.
“I’m sure you just hit Coach with whatever bullshit required to get him off your ass, now what’s really going on?”
“How do you know we didn’t just have a deep and thoughtful therapy session?”
“’Cause I know he hates talking about anything important and so do you. Now what’s up?”
I leaned against the wall across from him and laid out every detail of the past twenty-four hours.
Finding out I had a sister, my mother leaving her, Rylee living with her teacher, and how I now had custody.
I moved through my past twenty-four hours until landing this morning in just enough time to grab my practice stuff and head straight to the field.
Just about everyone knew I was adopted. I never hid that Orlando and Miranda weren’t my biological parents but Omiri was the only person who knew the reason I was adopted.
He knew my life and I knew his, so I didn’t have any reservations about telling him about the latest kid Felicia decided to bail on.
“How the hell do you leave a kid to fend for themselves like that?” he growled, expressing the same sentiment I had been trying to process since learning Felicia had just up and left my sister.
I would have respected her more had she physically taken Rylee to Miranda and Orlando and walked away, but she’d left her alone in an apartment. So many things could have gone wrong. I couldn’t count the number of times I thanked God for protecting her during those three days she was by herself.
“That’s who she is.” The words left my mouth with so much venom it made my head throb with the reality. “But that’s cool because I’ve got her. She’s better off with me anyway.”
“You sure this is what you want to do?”
I frowned hard, because I thought if anyone would understand why I needed to do this, Omiri would.
It wasn’t long ago that he’d found out about his daughter created after a one night stand.
A daughter hidden from him for almost a year because he never knew Makari was pregnant.
The first time he saw his daughter Avianna was when she was four months old and it was not planned.
A chance encounter at a drugstore where he ran into Makari, realizing the baby strapped on her chest had his mismatched eyes.
Heterochromia was hard to deny. I was the voice of reason who’d convinced him to step up as Avi’s father.
“She’s my sister, O. What the hell else am I supposed to do?”