When I glanced at the kitchen, I couldn’t help but alert him to the smoke that had started to fill the air.
“Dammit!” Lucas rushed into the kitchen with me trailing behind, ready to grab the fire extinguisher I knew he kept under the sink. He turned the oven off and started waving his gloved hand back and forth before retrieving what looked like a black Frisbee.
“What the hell is that?”
“Itwasa pizza. And my dinner.”
The loud shrill of the smoke detector blared. Its incessant beeping had us both waving our arms wildly, trying to move the smoke away. I went into the dining room and cracked open a window to help clear the air. Finally the ear-piercing noise stopped. Then Lucas’s phone rang. He whipped off the padded mitts and grabbed his cell off the charging pad on the counter.
“Donovan,” he answered. “Yes. No. Everything is fine.” He chuckled, then said, “Tried to make dinner but was interrupted.” He shot a narrowed glare at me, and I shrugged. “Thank you for checking. No need for the fire department. Yes, thanks again.” He ended the call. “My security company.”
“I figured. Sorry about your dinner. Hopefully you weren’t cooking for Harley.”
“No, she’s at an event with Sophie; then they’re going to grab a bite to eat somewhere.” He opened the fridge. “Want a beer?”
“Yeah, sure.” He handed me the bottle after popping off the cap. “Thanks.” I took a long pull and let out a breath.
“What’s up? Isn’t Sally in town?”
“Yeah, she’s hanging out with your sister and Charlie.”
“That sounds like trouble. How is our famed rookie?”
He wasn’t exaggerating. On the way to his house, I’d had the sports network on my radio, and they were projecting which player would be the rookie of the year. They couldn’t remember the last time a kicker had won that award. Everyone loved her. And the fact that she had signed only a year-long contract had been leaked as well. Which had other teams champing at the bit to see what she’d do next season when we weren’t halfway through ours.
“She’s amazing.”
Just as I was about to ask him when he knew that Harley wastheone, his phone rang.
“Grand Central,” he quipped before breaking out into laughter. “You’re such a dickhead sometimes.” He mouthedMackto me, and not a second later, his eyebrows shot to his hairline; then they pulled together right before his head dropped forward. “He’s here. Yeah, okay. I’ll tell him. See you soon.”
“Do I want to know what that was about?”
“Leave your beer, we’re going to McNulty’s. Seems your girlfriend and our sisters are quite popular… especially Charlie.”
“Christ.” I set my bottle down, thankful that I hadn’t drained it. “Let’s go.”
“Give me just one sec. I smell like burned pepperoni.” He darted out of the room and up the stairs. Even though it had been only a couple of minutes, if that, it felt like an eternity when he returned in a fresh T-shirt.
We hustled outside and hopped into my Maserati. Once it purred to life, I put it in gear and headed toward the bar. “What else did Mack say?”
“Nothing, only that a couple guys wanted autographs and pictures with Charlie.”
“Did he put a stop to it?”
“Apparently your sister prevented him from doing so. She told Mack, and I quote, ‘Charlie isn’t doing anything wrong. She signed autographs, and it’s no different from what you and the guys do with your fans.’ End quote.”
My sister would be the death of me. I was sure of it. Not a heart attack or stroke—although she had the power to invoke both—it would be her and her throw-caution-to-the-wind antics that would do me in. I’d bet the car I was driving that half of the guys in the bar weren’t even fans of the team’s but saw a photo op with a beautiful girl who happened to play professional football. Everything revolved around social media trends. No doubt that was what this was about.
Sally never saw the bad in people. I loved her for that trait, but she didn’t know what it was like being in the public’s eye.
I cursed when the light turned red. Lucas tapped away on his phone’s screen before looking at me. “You never said why you came over?”
“The girls were supposed to be home. Rather than stay, I decided to go out and get some fresh air. Didn’t expect on getting smoke inhalation.”
“That’s your fault. Are you sure that’s it?”
The light changed, and I took off, knowing we’d be at the bar in another couple of turns. “Yeah, just trying to sort some things out.”