Page 84 of Delayed Offsides

He smiles at me, drinks my fucking beer, and says, “I’ll have to give my girl Callie a call.”

His girl? His fucking girl?

See, told you to wait. Boom. There it is. Walker in all his cunty glory. Cunty is a word. Believe me. There’s a picture of Walker next to it.

I want to say something snarky, but anger flattens me immediately. She’s not his girl. She’smine.

I force a grin. “I don’t think she’ll answer.”

He laughs, looking around the bar as if this is funny to him and everyone else should laugh. The guys beside us, Mase, Remy, there are others, but I don’t see them. My rage is blinding me. Hell, look at me. I’m shaking. “And why’s that, Orting?”

“Because she’s with me now.” A wave of fury rattles through my bones, settling in my stomach.

“She’s with everyone.” He nods to Remy and Mase, who are staring at him like he’s lost his mind. “We can share. I’m a nice guy if you get to know me.”

And that’s when I lose my shit. “I doubt that,” I snap.

“What the fuck is your problem with me anyway?” Walker asks, as if I shouldn’t have a problem with him.

Mase places his hand on Walker’s chest, backing him up. “Don’t do that, bud. He’s havin’ a bad day.”

He warned him. But Jeff Walker listens about as well as I do. “Oh, who fuckin’ cares?” He laughs, but there’s arrogance to it. Do you sense it? “This dude can shit talk with the best of ’em, and now because he’s fuckin’ a regular, we gotta be nice? Screw that.”

He isn’t doing himself any favors, so Mase raises his hands and takes a step back away from the table. “I warned ya.”

I stand up from the table. Walker does the same and stands tall. “So what, she can’t come out and play anymore? That’s not what I heard.”

Is this guy for real?

I barely have enough control to continue speaking in a normal civilized manner. Inside, my blood is boiling. “She’s with me now.”

“So? She’s been with everyone. You ain’t special, man. Just the flavor of the week.”

I don’t know why, but I hit him. Right hook to his jaw. First time I’ve hit someone in the face in years.

Stunned, he blinks and turns his head to the side, and then looks back at me, pushing his dirty-blonde hair from his face. “We may be teammates now, but no one hits me and gets away with it.”

I’ve never been in a bar fight before. Until today. And remember, I don’t like the sight of blood and I see a lot of it. I throw some punches, have a beer bottle broken over my head, and I basically destroy Fifty/50 all over a stupid comment. I’m pretty sure I will never step foot in this bar again. Okay, I’maskednot to as I’m escorted by police.

* * *

I sit in county jail,right along with Walker. Lucky for me, in different cells.

Now, if you haven’t guessed, I’m still pissed off. In fact, I’m angrier than I was at the bar. Probably because I know Callie’s going to be angry with me.

My thoughts are all over the fuckin’ place as I contemplate what the hell this is and why I’m freaking out. The last couple of months have been great. Why am I reacting this way now that Walker’s on the team?

Hearing that shit from Walker scares me too. Has Callie really changed?

Have I?

Here we are playing house, but deep down, I’m terrified of the strain a baby is going to put on us. Are we strong enough?

Bringing my knees to my chest, I sit on the bench, my hands shaking. I wonder if I broke my hand. It’s sore and swollen, and I can’t move my pinky finger very well. Closing my eyes, I lean my head against the brick wall. For some reason, as I stare at concrete walls, in my mind, I’m back in my childhood home, sitting on the floor watching my dad stare at my brother and me, two kids who never asked him for anything but attention, a little of anything to show us we weren’t invisible. But he couldn’t even do that. In the background, I can almost hear the screaming over the Linda Ronstadt album my mom played almost on repeat some days to mask the arguments.

My eyes snap open, not wanting the memory.

With a heavy sigh, I get to my feet, pacing the small cell, wondering what the fuck I’m going to do now. Surely my agent isn’t going to be happy about this. Neither is Coach.

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