Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
It was a heartfelt toast, and my throat swelled a little. Lo blinked a few times before each of us clinked our glasses and took a sip. Travis watched me over the brim of his glass the whole time.
I liked it.
I also couldn’t stop thinking about Brett’s latest voice message on my phone.
13
BRETT
My phone buzzed just as I was walking inside.
Callie had asked the night before if she could use my place tonight instead of Saturday night for studying. I hadn’t cared. I never did. She was quiet, but tonight as I opened the garage door and headed for the kitchen, there was music playing. Soft piano music, along with the smell of food, which had my stomach growling. It’d been a decent day of practice, but I’d stayed after for another hour in the gym.
“Hey!” Callie was at the stove, in leggings and a yoga sweater that looked more like a blanket wrapped around her, yet still showing a small stripe of her stomach. Her hair was up in a bun, and her cheeks were rosy. I guessed because of whatever she was cooking.
I lifted my chin in a silent greeting, going to the table and putting my bag down.
I pulled my phone out, reading the text from Channing.
Channing: Talked to a buddy who knew a buddy that’s friends with a buddy that’s tight with Detective Travis Dove. According to the last buddy, Detective Dove had a date tonight. Jack’s BBQ. Hope it’s not with your girl.
Another text came through.
Channing: You owe me.
“What?”
I lifted my head. “What?”
Callie had her hands folded in front of her, her eyebrows up in concern. “You just made a sound I’ve never heard you make before. Like you’re disappointed or something. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
Callie and I didn’t talk about personal stuff. She didn’t have family here, and I didn’t know her situation with friends, if she had a lot or none. All I knew was that she helped clean my place in exchange for using it to study. It worked because I was barely here, and if I was, I was at my end of the place. It was big enough for an entire family to be here and I’d barely hear them.
“What’d the text say?”
“Huh?”
She’d drifted closer, standing on her tiptoes with her head angled as if she could read my phone from where she stood. She couldn’t. She was too far away.
I slid it into my pocket anyway. “It’s nothing. Just heard someone I need to talk to is at Jack’s BBQ tonight.”
“Jack’s BBQ?” There was surprise and something else in her tone.
I raised an eyebrow. “You know the place?”
She closed her mouth and nodded. “I know someone who works there.”
This right here? This was the most personal conversation we’d ever had.
“A friend?”
Her cheeks colored, and she scratched her head, glancing to the side. “Someone I might… Someone I like.”
I didn’t know if I liked where this was going.
Her eyes darted back to me. “We could go? You could find your friend—”
“Not a friend.”
“—and I could see if my friend is there.”
Fuck. If he was on a date with Billie, then… What the hell would I do? Should I do?
Then again, if he was there with her, I could try to suss out the situation. I wouldn’t have to deal with him because I’d not been looking forward to that conversation. I doubted he’d give me the means to reach Billie the easy way, and he was a cop. I hadn’t figured out what hard way I was willing to go with him.
“Brett?”
I’d been staring at her while I thought.
It was the glint in her eyes. Hopeful. Excited. I’d never seen Callie like that. She worked. She was quiet. She was one of the team’s best physical therapists, and she was motivated for more. If she had problems, I never heard about them.
I didn’t know if I was doing this for her or for me, but I nodded. “I can’t stay long.”
Her eyes lit up, and her head bobbed up and down quickly. “Uh-huh. Sure. Not a problem.”
We took my truck, and we parked at the back end of the place. I’d never been here, which wasn’t unusual. I’d barely gone out since joining the team a year ago. But even before that, I didn’t do this. Not during the season.
The few nights with Ole were the exception.
The place was packed, and since football was a religion here, I pulled a ballcap low over my head.
Callie snorted, her little lip curling up. “If you don’t want to be recognized, you need to wear a fat suit. You’re going to be recognized. Prepare yourself.”
I grunted, hunching my shoulders. I’d try to be as inconspicuous as possible anyway.
We stepped in the front door, and that idea went up in smoke. The hostess looked up, and up, and up, and gasped. She dropped the pen in her hand. “Hi—ohmygod—hi. I’m—welcome to Jack’s BBQ. Table for two?” She nudged the girl next to her, who wasn’t paying attention until she gave her a sharp jab.