“Keep telling yourself that, dumbass.”
Derek was a fucking beast and fast as shit. He was built to tackle but also quick enough to catch the ball if need be. I was four inches shorter than him and at least thirty pounds lighter. Getting in and out of my Toyota Supra was a piece of cake.
I glanced toward Cooper’s house and sighed. It was going to suck ass seeing him down for the count. If anything was to ever happen to my legs, I’d be done in the NFL. I wanted to play for as long as I could.
“Have you talked to him?” I asked Derek.
His smile faded. “Only briefly on the phone. He didn’t sound upset or anything, but you know how Cooper is. He always liked to stay strong for the team.”
That was what made Cooper a great leader. No matter what happened, he always had that positive energy, just like Derek and Evan. They were the team trio; I’d always hated them for that. It just took a while to realize that it was me holding myself back from joining them.
We walked up to the door and I pressed the bell. “You don’t think he’ll mind us stopping by, do you?”
Derek shook his head. “Nah, he’ll want to see us.”
A few seconds later, Kate opened the door, her blond hair pulled high, dressed in a T-shirt and yoga pants with her baby boy on her hip. It was the first time I’d ever seen her and Cooper’s son; he looked just like her.
“Hi guys, how are you? Come on in.” She stepped out of the way and Derek walked in first. “Did you just get done with practice?”
He hugged her and pinched the little boy’s cheeks. “Yep. We wanted to come by and check on that husband of yours.”
She pointed to the living room. “He’s in there watching TV. It’s all he can do at the moment.” Derek walked off and I hung back with her. “You doing okay, Jax? I was happy to hear you didn’t get traded.”
I snorted. “You’re probably the only one.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that. The others are happy too, even if they don’t admit it. You’re the best kicker in the league. Any team would be salivating to have you.”
“Thanks, Kate.” Before we stepped into the living room, I lowered my voice. “How is he doing, really? It can’t be easy knowing his career is over.”
She shrugged. “It’s not, but he’ll get through it. The first thing he said was that he’d get to spend more time with me and the baby now that he wouldn’t be traveling as much.” I followed her into the living room, and surprisingly enough, Cooper had a grin on his face.
“What’s up, Reed?” he called out.
I walked over and shook his hand. “Nothing much, man. Just tagging along with D to check up on you. How’s the leg?” His right leg was covered in a cast from his knee on over his foot.
Cooper sat up in the chair and cringed. “It’s not too bad. Hurts like a bitch at times, though.”
“How long will you be in the cast?” Derek asked.
“Six weeks, and then three in a brace.”
“Damn,” I said. “What are you going to do after you’re healed?” I sat down on the couch and Kate sat beside me, bouncing her little boy on her lap.
Cooper smiled at his son. “I think I’m going to stay home for a while. Then, once I can move around, I’ll start looking for a job. I’m one hell of an architect.”
“You have an architecture degree?” I asked incredulously. I had no idea he was artistically gifted. Most of the guys on the team had no talent in anything besides football. “I didn’t even know you could draw,” I added.
Cooper nodded. “All the time.”
Kate nudged me in the side. “He’s actually really good. When we retire, I want him to design our home in the mountains.”
Derek hooked a finger my way. “Reed here draws too, but he designs cars and motorcycles.”
Eyes wide, Cooper turned to me. “Really? I never would’ve guessed.”
I laughed. “Not many do. To everyone else, I’m just a dick.”
Derek cleared his throat. “Can’t argue with you there,” he replied teasingly. He then focused on Kate. “What about you? Are you ever coming back to the team?”
“Of course,” she said. “I love you guys to death. Andrew’s just going to have to do it solo for a while.”
Andrew Sawyer was our other team physician. He was good at what he did, but the guys always wanted Kate to tend to them. I had to admit, when she first started working for the team, I made it a point to see her frequently. That was, until Cooper came to the team and staked his claim.
Derek stood and shook Cooper’s hand. “All right, bro, I think we’re going to head out. I gotta get home to my wife.”
Cooper chuckled. “Sounds good. Tell Hayden we said hello.”
“Speaking of Hayden,” Kate cut in. She set her son in his playpen and hurried out of the room. When she came back, she had a handful of pictures. “Since you just got married a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know if you had a chance to get your wedding pictures printed, so I went ahead and got some made for you.”
Derek accepted them and smiled. “Thanks, guys. We really appreciate this. I’m sure we’ll get around to getting our own printed, but it’s been a hectic month.”
As much as I wanted to feel like I fit in, it was hard to. Derek and Cooper were married and I was still the forever bachelor who liked to fuck a different girl every week. It was what made me different from them. I didn’t give a shit about marriage or finding the right woman. I was happy doing my thing.
Looking at one of the photos, Derek slapped me on the arm and burst out laughing. “Holy shit, dude, is this the girl you said you fucked in the bathroom that night?”
Groaning, I glanced down at the picture. It was me, dressed in a tux, dancing with a tall redhead in a short green dress. I had no clue what her name was and I was so drunk at the time, all I could remember was laying her over the sink and fucking her from behind.
“Yep, that’s her,” I said uneasily. “I don’t remember much from that night.”