“If he keeps this up,” Kaiden said, taking back his cell. “Their Coach will have to step in. Snapchat is one thing, but Twitter is a whole other beast.”
“Don’t sweat it. Come two weeks time, the only tweet he’ll be sending is: hashtag it hurts.”
The guys all howled with laughter, but I couldn’t help but wonder what Jason had up his sleeve.
And if I even wanted to know.
An hour later, we’d moved over to the pool table. “Chase, you’re up.” Grady motioned for me to take my shot just as my cell phone vibrated.
“Hang on,” I said, retrieving it from my pocket. “It’s my dad. I’ll be right back.” Going into the hall leading to the restrooms, I hit answer. “Dad?”
“Hey, Son.” He sounded weary, his voice flat and empty. Worlds away from the guy I’d left at home earlier.
My senses went on high alert. “Is everything—”
“It’s your mom, she…” My stomach plummeted as his voice cracked. He cleared his throat, forcing out the words, “I hate to call you when you’re out with the guys, but we could really use you here. Xander is—”
“I’ll be right there, Dad.” Dread flooded me. Dad rarely called. If he did, it was usually because Katie couldn’t watch Xan. So the fact he’d called on a Saturday night when I was with the team… I knew it was bad.
Asher found me staring at my cell phone. “Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” I shoved it in my pocket, scrubbing a hand down my face. “He needs me back at the house.”
“Your mom?”
“Yeah, I think so.” My mind was shooting off in a hundred different directions trying to figure out what could have possibly happened.
“Shit, man, I’m sorry. Is there anything you—”
“No, it’s all good. I’m sure it’s fine. Xander probably got upset again.” Asher knew more than most about my mom and her mood swings. It’s why I stayed over at his place sometimes when things got too intense at home.
Four years ago, when Mom found she was pregnant with Xander, things were tough for a while. She and Dad weren’t ready to be parents again. I was fourteen and my life already revolved around football, and they were my biggest supporters, never missing a single game. After my brother was born, Mom struggled. Doctors said she had postpartum depression. Dad took some time off to help around with the house and with my baby brother. With some medication and therapy, things improved and by the time Xander turned one, it looked like Mom was returning to her normal self.
But she never did, not really.
And we’d been watching her battle her own mind ever since.
“Tell Jase—”
“Tell Jase what?” He appeared in the hall, his brows bunched, arms folded over his chest.
“My dad needs me back at the house.”
“Again?” He didn’t even bother schooling his disapproval.
“Yeah, it’s my mom…”
“I thought she was doing better?” I winced at the harshness in his voice. But I couldn’t totally blame him for his lack of compassion. It wasn’t like I went around broadcasting my family’s issues, and Mom and Dad kept themselves to themselves these days. It was a sensitive subject; one Mom didn’t want everyone to know about.
“She’s doing okay, but something must have happened. I need to go.” I went to move around him, but his hand shot out, pressing against my chest.
“You sure everything’s okay?” His eyes searched mine and I wanted to believe he cared, that he wasn’t just worried this was going to be a distraction for me. For the team.
“Yeah, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.” We liked to hit the gym Sundays, over at Asher’s house. “Just do me a favor, yeah?”
“Anything,” he said.
“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”