Page 53 of Forever Offsides

By the time I make it home, my townhouse is surrounded. This is why celebrities live on big estates with fences and tall hedges. Except I’ve never thought of myself as a celebrity. I’m a ballplayer. A coach. A regular guy.

My parents owned a canning and bottling chain. It provided jobs to nearly everyone in our small town as well as thousands of people across the country. It made them more money than they or I could spend in twenty lifetimes. The company is still doing very well, though I don’t run it. I only serve on the board. But at their roots, my parents were simple people. We had a nice house with nice things in it, but nothing flashy.

So I didn’t want to hide behind shrubs and fences. I wanted a place in the city.

Now I’m regretting that as I jog up the steps of my building while my name is yelled at me and flashes burn holes in my retinas. I keep my back to the press, unlock my door as quickly as I can, and slam it shut in their faces.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

“I’m sorry,” comes Russel’s voice from the back. I shove myself away from the comfort of the wood door and head in the direction of the kitchen. “I had no clue it would get this bad.”

“What were you thinking?” I round the corner and come to a halt. Damn. Crew got him good. “You need ice on that.”

“I’ve been icing. Not much to do with a straight sucker punch to the nose.” Russel is sitting on a stool at my kitchen island with a beer in his hand and his phone on the counter.

I grab a beer from the fridge, pop the top, and pull out the stool beside him. “I’m not punishing them,” I tell him before I take a sip.

He nods. “I didn’t expect you to. So it’s out there now. That you’re my dad.”

Not a question, but I answer him. “Yes. Did you tell Tamira?”

“No, but she’s got a hard-on for me and digs into me a lot. Half the things that hit the news about me, she reports. She’s the one who discovered Jermain Betts had two children with two different women at the same time.”

Lovely. She’s become a bloodhound, and it’s serving her well. Now she’s set her sights on my son. I wonder if that’s a fuck you to me or if he’s simply easy pickings because he’s had some trouble on and off the field.

“Does it bother you that it’s out there?”

“No. I was going to talk to you about it anyway. I’m good with it being out in the public.”

My brows take a nosedive. Nothing is adding up. For his entire life, he’s been adamant that it stays a secret. “Russel, what’s going on?”

“I spoke to my agent and my coach. It sounds like if Asher is willing, they’re going to work out a deal.”

I let that resonate for a moment as I take another sip. I came from kissing Quinn in my office and having her squeeze my dick to sitting beside Russel, who’s telling me I may finally have the opportunity to coach him. It’s what I’ve wanted his entire life, and I should be over the moon about it. Part of me is. The other part is still stuck in disappointment.

“Why now?” I have to ask.

“Between us?”

“Always.”

He tips his beer against his lips, and after swallowing two large gulps, he sets the mostly empty bottle down on the stone with a small clink. He wipes his mouth with his hand and shifts on his chair until he’s partially facing me.

This can’t be good.

“Two things. One, I hate the new quarterback in Dallas, and the feeling is very mutual. He’s a cocky dick, and it’s not something we’ve been able to work out privately or on the field. The reason Dallas is willing to make a deal and not flying off the handle that I’m here is that he went to them and told them I had to go or he would.”

Jared Parsons is their third-year stud with a killer arm and field smarts. He was their number one draft pick, and the city loves him. Anytime he’s photographed off the field, he’s with his pregnant wife, whereas my son typically has a different woman on his arm every time. No way they’re getting rid of Jared.

“And the second reason?”

“I want to win. I think I can with this team, and I also like the idea of playing for you.”

That surprises me and I twist to catch his eye.

“You’re a good coach, Dad. You always have been. But I also know you, and this is your shot at proving yourself as a head coach. You’ll do what it takes to win.”

“Is that really the reason?”