Jace: How was your gym workout?
Today was usually a gym day.
Brooke: Didn’t go.
Jace: Knew you were only going there for me.
What could I say? He’d found out my secret. Just like that, I wasn’t feeling sleepy anymore.
***
Jace
“Are you sure your ribs don’t still hurt?” Hailey asked for the hundredth time the next day.
“One hundred percent.”
My sisters usually doted on me, but even more so when I was playing outside of LA. I almost never admitted that something hurt simply because I did not like them worrying for no reason.
“Do you have some time for your dearest sister on Saturday? I could use some help repairing that old shed.”
“I’ll be
there. I’ll call Will and Landon and ask them if they have time too.”
“You don’t trust my skills?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Hey!”
“Just being honest. Whenever we’re working on something, I do most of the work.”
“But I keep you entertained.”
I laughed. “True, but I also need help doing the actual work, so I need reinforcements. How is work going?”
“Oh, you know. The usual. Love some clients, want to throttle others. Everything is in balance.”
She sounded content, though even if she weren’t, she wouldn’t outright say it. Hailey was a bit like me. I always considered things internally, without voicing my thought process. Probably why Val and Landon had gotten so good at needling information out of someone.
“And speaking of clients I want to throttle, one is calling right now. Talk to you later?”
“Sure.”
After hanging up, I dove right into the apple pie in front of me. I was with the team in one of the hotel’s conference rooms, enjoying a short break from watching yesterday’s game.
I loved having Hailey back in LA. Before taking this job, she traveled a lot as a business consultant. She was usually in LA during weekends, but sometimes I was away for games, so there were stretches when I hadn’t seen her for weeks. Even though she was two years older than me, I’d always considered myself in charge of her, probably because I’d always been much taller than her.
I still had a few minutes left of the break and used the opportunity to send Brooke a message.
She and I had texted constantly over the last couple of days. I was mostly sending her small updates, asking for the same in return. She always answered right away, as if she was looking forward to my messages as much as I was looking forward to hers.
“Boys, five minutes left of the break,” Coach barked. Even though we’d won the game yesterday, he wasn’t going easy on us. I had no doubt that he wouldn’t be thrilled about me and Brooke. Unfortunately, Coach had had a front row seat to my personal life over the past few years, at a time when I’d enjoyed parties and no-strings trysts. But I’d never shied away from a complicated situation.
I couldn’t wait to be back in LA, to pick things up with Brooke where we’d left off. My phone lit up with a message.
Brooke: Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail.