“Probably not.” I dropped my bag by the door, walked into the open kitchen, and grabbed a water from the fridge. I had enough time for a snack and a shower before the team’s hospital visit. “Hey, you know about Ramsey’s dad, right?”
“That he’s an asshole? Yeah, everyone knows that.”
“No, I mean that he bugs the fuck out of Rams, shows up randomly?”
“What? Really?”
“He showed up last night, wanting money.”
Houston groaned.
“Yep.” I was silent, then shook my head, thinking back on it. “It pisses me off that Ramsey has to deal with that all the time.”
“Same, but you can’t fix that shit. You know that.” Houston gave me a long look. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing with this whole hooking-up-with-Ramsey thing, because…” He blew out a breath. “Fuck, part of me knows it’s none of my business, but the other part hates the idea that one of you might hurt the other. How the hell am I gonna know whose ass to kick?”
“You ain’t kicking anyone’s ass with that bum leg,” I teased, grinning when he flipped me off, but then I sobered because obviously, I’d given some thought to our situation. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out as we go.”
“Just…you know. Watch yourself. Both of you. I don’t want either of you getting caught up in something that’s gonna eventually crash and burn. God, I can’t believe I’m even saying that to you.”
“Not necessary. We know what we’re doing.” Kinda counter to my previous statement, and definitely counter to my thoughts, but I said it confidently as I headed toward the shower.
Because what I did know was that I’d liked waking up next to Ramsey maybe a little too much.
At Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital, we were corralled into a conference room and briefed by HR. A couple of the Rush’s PR guys were in attendance too, along with a small film crew.
I bumped Ramsey’s elbow. “Nothing says charity like a film crew there to capture every second, huh?”
Ramsey bumped mine back. “Don’t be a cynic. They take pics for the kids and give them the tapes. The kids love it. It’s one of my favorite things the team does, even though it breaks my damn heart.”
I could read it in his expression, an added brightness in his eyes, the set of his mouth. After the episode with his dad last night, it was good to see, softened something inside me that’d been tense.
After the briefing, we split into small groups, signing footballs and jerseys and taking pics with the kids. Their faces lit up, their laughter filled the rooms. Ramsey was right. It felt amazing to make them smile.
He glanced over at me in the hallway as we moved to the next room. “You all right?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed a hand over my chest. “Sick kids are…” I shook my head. I lived a privileged life, that was for damn sure. My biggest complaint walking in here had been that my ass was sore. “Fuck, that’s hard, thinking about them suffering.”
“What, you mean there’s a heart behind those giant pecs?” he teased, but his smile was sympathetic, and he reached out a hand, giving the back of my neck a quick squeeze before we ducked through a doorway. “That’s why it’s good to come here. Puts things in perspective, you know?”
A cute guy in scrubs was fiddling with the IV lines hooked to a kid who couldn’t have been more than ten. He wore a Rush hat, the brim way too big. I made a mental note to check the gear we had on hand for a smaller one.
The guy in scrubs looked up with a smile as we entered and poked the kid. “Look who’s here to see you. Guys, this is Jared.”
“Holy…” Jared’s eyes got huge, his grin even wider. “Freaking Warner Ramsey, Brandon Cross, and Garrett McRae.”
Ramsey stepped forward and plopped on the edge of the bed. I was too nervous I would fuck up something, so I just stood next to it. Cross seemed to share the same fear, but Ramsey seemed perfectly at home as he brandished a football and held it out to Jared. “We all signed this for you. Come spring, you’ll be out tossing it. I hear you’ve got a younger brother probably itching to do that with you, yeah?”
“Jude.” Jared wrinkled his nose a little even as he accepted the ball. “He’s only five. Not so great at the whole catching thing.”
Ramsey thumbed toward me. “McRae here has an older brother who used to play, and he turned out pretty good, wouldn’t you say?”
Jared looked me up and down assessingly. “Yeah, you’re pretty good, except that last game. Man, what even happened?”
Cross choked back a laugh, and I could tell Ramsey was trying to do the same. The guy in scrubs didn’t even try.