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As I pull out ingredients, he pours himself a cup of coffee and slouches at the eating counter. “Any news on your teammate?” I ask.
“They okayed him to fly home today. The owner sent his private jet to pick him and the trainer up. Then he’ll get checked out by medical staff here, but it doesn’t look good. Ligament damage for sure, but how severe is the question.”
“Oh no. You need him to get into the playoffs.”
Slurping his java, Donny nods. “That we do.”
“That was a cheap shot by that other player.” I keep my voice neutral, though I feel anything but neutral about the dirty play. He stuck his knee out on purpose.
Donny stares at his coffee. “Yeah, it was, but heat of the moment and all that. The refs gave him a game misconduct—”
My mature evenhandedness dissolves. “A lot of good that did,” I snort. “There was only a minute left in the game.”
“Yeah, but it means the league could take a look, and he might be suspended.” Donny scrolls his phone.
“Could, might …” I hmph as I crack some eggs. “How, um, is the rest of the team taking it?” There’s one teammate in particular I’m curious about.
He stares at his phone screen. “About how you’d expect.”
I whisk in some half-and-half. “Looked like he and Chase were going at it all during the game.”
“Because he kept running our guys,” Donny says absently. “Asshole was especially keyed on Dylan. Chase was doing what he’s supposed to do.”
A thrill of hope wends its way through me. Is the ice finally melting between my brother and Colby? I tell myself it’s because I’d like to see Colby stay in North Carolina, where he’s grown comfortable. It’s got nothing to do with Colby’s and my relationship because, honestly, I don’t know if we even have a relationship anymore. He acted strangely our last night together, and it’s been nearly a week with little to no communication. So many questions linger. He made a halfhearted attempt at an apology, but I was sulking and didn’t respond. When I finally snapped out of it, I made my own lame try. It was his turn to ignore me. And then my world caved in—again. He was the first one I called. That was the last time I talked to him. It’s been crickets ever since.
He hasn’t checked in to see how I’m doing, to tell me how he’s doing with the pressure as the regular season nears its end or news on the trade front. I could take the elevator down seven floors and clear the air, but my wobbly confidence warns me he might not welcome the intrusion—especially if I bring up the talk that was abandoned but still needs to happen.
I should be the adult in the room and reach out again, but self-preservation holds me back and keeps me from opening myself up to more disappointment. Besides, I only have so much bandwidth, and right now I need to direct all my energy elsewhere. If Colby wants me, he knows where to find me.
Donny is totally focused on his phone now. Coming out of the fog of my own thoughts, I season the eggs and pour the mixture into a pan.
“What are you doing with your day off?” I ask my brother.
Stretching out his arms, he tips his head back and yawns. “Probably laundry, maybe a little grocery shopping.”
“Done,” I announce.
As if he doesn’t believe me, he hops up, opens the fridge, and peers inside. “Nice.”
“Your laundry is clean, folded, and put away.”
His eyes bug. “Seriously?”
“Don’t look so surprised. I needed to fill my spare time doing something.” Plus, when a girl owes her brother as much as I do and is back to square one on the repayment plan …
“So about that,” he says. “Want me to talk to your employer?”
“No!” I screech. “I do not need you fighting my fights for me.”
He raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Jeez, calm down.”
I will not calm down, but as I open my mouth to tell him so, my phone rings. When I see the number, my heart jackhammers in my chest. “I gotta take this.”
Stepping into my room, I close the door, pull in a bracing breath, and clear the stickiness from my throat. I accept the call with a shaky finger. “Hi, Jeff. Thank you so much for calling me.”
My former boss hesitates before bypassing pleasantries and jumping straight into it. “The attorneys don’t know about this call.”
“The attorneys from the settlement or the ones who sent a demand letter to my current employer?”
