Chapter 53
The Advantage
Jack
“Again. Again.” Lucy holds her arms up and jumps up and down.
“Last time.” I give her my I’m-serious face.
She mimics my face. “Okay.”
She’ll just ask me again, but I pick her up under her arms and toss her in the air slightly before almost dropping her on purpose and catching her at the last moment. She giggles the entire time, and it helps with everything that’s going on.
When I set her down, she reaches up and wiggles her fingers.
“What?” I smirk.
“I want to give you a kiss.”
I exaggeratedly roll my eyes before squatting in front of her. She takes my face between her hands and leans forward to press a wet kiss against my cheek.
“Thank you for playing with me.” Her blue eyes sparkle.
“Thank you for being you.”
She laughs. “You don’t make sense.”
I stand and shake my head. “Probably not.”
Lucy runs off to her room.
I’ve spent the last half hour playing with Lucy while fielding worried texts from Caden and Luke. I fell asleep last night dreaming of Harper and hated waking up without her in my arms.
We need to fix this shit.
Me:
What do you have for me
Will:
A few more files unencrypted
Loaded to the cloud
More coming tonight
I don’t know what Will Frank’s deal is, but I’m glad we have him. I’m still drowning in files to review, but that’s what tonight is for. Fuck, I want to do more than just stare at my computer.
Maybe we’ll just have to get inventive.
Honestly, I just can’t wait to see how we are with love being out in the open. I’ve never been prouder of my friends than when they each told Harper they love her. It seems hard to believe, but she makes it so easy to fall in love with her.
“You heading out for the night?” Dad walks into the room and picks up some of the toys Lucy discarded to race to me.
“Yeah, I’ll check in tomorrow. But I’ve got a date tomorrow night.” I pick up my laptop and slip it into my backpack.
“The girlfriend?” When I nod, he asks, “When are we going to meet her?”
I smile because I think Harper’s going to love my family, and I know they’ll love her right back. “Soon. We have Homecoming next weekend. We’ll stop by for pictures.”
Dad nods and sits on the edge of the couch. “You doing okay? You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
I put on my backpack and pick up my packed bag. I stop because his concern is real and I’m glad I have someone looking out for me, besides Harper and the guys. “Just busy with school, football, and my girl.”
“Don’t push too hard, Jack. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You need to take care of yourself too.” Dad stands and looks around for additional stray Barbies.
I step in and wrap my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“Hey.” His surprise lasts a moment before he hugs me to him. “I’m just doing my job.”
“I know and I’m glad I have you.” Pulling away, I thrust my hands in my pockets. “I do want you to meet Harper. You guys are going to love her as much as I do.”
Dad looks shocked. “Well... of course.”
I shake my head and smirk. “See you tomorrow.”
Nico
“You should stay here. I don’t know why you want to go anywhere.” Mom wrings her hands as I pack my bag.
It’s not exactly easy, but I’ve been on crutches before for some minor shit when I was younger.
“I need to be with the guys and Harper.” Blowing out a breath, I meet my mom’s concerned blue eyes. “I’m just going to sit around here and do nothing anyway. I can do that where they are.”
“Don’t you want to be here?” But the real question is in her tone. Don’t I need her?
Reaching out, I take her hand, squeezing it. “I love you, Mom, but I need to do this. I’ll go nuts if I have to sit and watch movies on my own. Especially if I end up needing to stay home a few days after surgery. Besides, we already had this planned for this weekend.”
She squeezes my hand back. “I just worry.”
“I know.” Sighing, I lower myself onto the bed. “How was your night out before I interrupted?”
She forces a smile. “Good. Your dad and I are fine. We worked through what both of us need to do to make this work.”
I nod, knowing nothing will change. She’ll continue to drink too much and Dad will continue to fuck someone else. I wish I could ask Harper’s mom to reach out, but she’s dealing with a lot right now too.
“Have you been in contact with your old friends?”
She leans against the doorway and wraps her arms around herself. She sighs. “You shouldn’t have to worry about me, Nico. I’ll be fine. We’ll all adjust to living here again. We’ll find our groove.”
Her gaze drops to my leg. Worry coats her face.
“At least I’ll be home more often. No more football practice. I’ll still go to the games, but I should be home more.” Even as the words come out of my mouth, I know they won’t matter to her. She loves me, but the person she wants to spend time with is her husband.
Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “That will be nice, but it’s your senior year. Football is your dream for college.”
“My record should speak for itself.” I hope.
“If you wanted, I could talk to your dad and maybe you and I could go back to New York. You could finish out your senior year there with your friends.” She seems excited by this idea.
I might have been too, but things are different now. “I’m happy here, Mom. I have Harper and the guys. New York was good, but this is better. Trust me.”
It wouldn’t help. The affair just wouldn’t be in her face. Maybe that’s what’s best for her, but my future is with Harper and my friends.
She nods and the excitement seeps away. “Okay, just be careful this weekend. We don’t want your knee any more injured than it already is.”
“I will.”
The doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it.” She heads down the hallway while I work to get upright.
The pain is manageable, but it fucking sucks. If I see that prick who took me out, I’ll fucking kick his ass. He didn’t need to hit that hard. Fucker.
“Hey.” Jack leans against my doorframe. “What do you need me to grab?”
“The bag and my backpack.”
He picks them up. I could carry them, but being too proud could cause more serious injuries. So I swallow my pride.
“You got your meds?” Jack asks. “Anything else you need?”
“Yes and no.” I sigh and look around my room. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem.” Jack smirks. “Just don’t ask me to carry your ass to the car and we’ll be good.”
I smile and feel that peace settle over me that’s always there with the guys and Harper. Professional football might be a pipedream now. Injuries can reoccur and if that happens, no team wants someone riding their bench all season. When I get back to training, I’m going to be starting at zero.
I’m smart so I’ll find a career if football doesn’t pan out. But if football is gone, I can’t lose the guys and Harper.