Page 27 of Necessary Roughness

“Yeah,” Jordan said. She squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

Barb emerged from the master suite five minutes later. She dragged her suitcases through the entryway as Jordan watched.

“I suppose you think you’ve won,” Barb said to Jordan.

Jordan stared back at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

Barb’s face was frozen into a mask of fury. Cold dread slithered down Jordan’s spine. Barb was obviously upset at losing her job, but this was a little creepy. Jordan gestured toward the open front door.

“Do you need any help with your things?”

“No, I don’t. Get out of my way,” Barb said, despite the fact Jordan was at least three feet away from her and nowhere near the front door. She left a long scratch in the patterned hardwood floor as she dragged her luggage out of the house. “I wasn’t kidding about his ex, Star, either. She went to college with my daughter. We’ve had an earful about Tanner. He made the first move with me.”

Jordan reached into her pocket to verify her phone was there, just in case. She waited until she saw Barb drive out of the security gate and the gate closed behind her before she got to her feet and called out to Tanner, “She’s gone.”

***

JORDAN ARRIVED AT the high school football field a little after five PM that afternoon. She and Tanner agreed via text that morning she’d do some stretching with him after practice. The cloudless sky was still a dark cerulean blue. The sun was starting its late-afternoon descent. Harrison herded the knot of six-year-olds onto the football field. The air smelled like freshly mown grass and warm soil, and Tanner was already sitting on the sideline bench.

It appeared Tanner was still among the living. She’d been concerned she was going to go back to his house and find him in a heap on his bedroom floor. He was her client, but even more, she’d been worried today about his reaction to what happened with Barb. She’d tried to put what she’d overheard out of her mind as she worked. But she kept remembering the look on his face when he’d hobbled out of the bathroom: shock and anger. In that moment, all she could think of was what she could do to help him.

One of Tanner’s arms was slung over the back of the bench as he eased his body against it. He grabbed his injured leg and moved it off the bench as the little quarterback approached him. She plunked down on the bench beside him. Jordan couldn’t hear what was being said, but she saw the girl rubbing her eyes.

He said something to her. She turned to look at him as she spoke, still rubbing her eyes.

Tanner patted the girl’s shoulder in a clumsy sort of way. Jordan was willing to bet he hadn’t spent a lot of time with little girls since he was a child, but he appeared to be comforting her somehow. The girl sat next to Tanner for a few more minutes as they watched the team practice. He patted her on the back a couple of times. She squared her shoulders, jumped up from the bench, and ran back to the other kids.

***

IT WAS A good thing the weather was great today, because that was the only thing that had gone right in Tanner’s world. It was humiliating to call his agent and ask what he should do first—contact her agency or call the cops and give a statement as a preemptory strike. His agent advised him to call his attorney and give a statement, which was another fun hour-or-so convo. Tanner didn’t think she’d be dumb enough to press charges against him or whatever, but weirder things had happened. Luckily for him, the attorney handled talking with the agency. He had other things to deal with.

The agency called him to offer another live-in nurse: a guy. Tanner told them he’d think about it. He wished he was far enough along in his recovery to tell them to stick it, but he really needed someone for at least the next month or so.

Harrison showed up at his house at four PM to pick him up for peewee football practice. Tanner managed to get up the stairs in front of his garage with the crutches so he could get in Harrison’s car. He was horrified to realize he was breathing hard after walking such a short distance. He’d been exercising as much as he could on his own, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more cardio.

“How’s your sexy, sexy agency nurse?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about her right now.”

“Is she still treating you like you’re four?” Harrison teased.

“I fired her this morning,” Tanner said.

Harrison stared at him. “You what?”

“She came on to me,” Tanner said.

“What the fuck?”

“DP overheard the whole thing too.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “At least there’s a witness.”

“Was she freaked out?”

“Jordan? Yeah,” Tanner said. “She can be a handful, but she had my back this morning.”

Harrison grinned at him. “Turning soft in your old age, bro?”

“Shit, no. She’s going to chirp something at me and I’m going to lose my grip—”

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