Page 13 of Scoring Chances
“And this… so-called sobriety. Is it by choice?”
He scrunches his brows. “Of course.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe?”
He pushes off the car, suddenly uncomfortable. “You want me to go after him?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then what’s the story there, Lando?”
He crosses his arms. “The story is that I don’t want any distractions. Women equal distractions. As our dear teammates have clearly shown us this past year.”
This house used to be full of Heatwave teammates. Now, they’ve paired off and left. Leaving just me and Keelan. And since I’m supposed to be leaving soon, too… it’ll be just Keelan with absolutely no distractions.
He’ll be a nightmare next season. The man can’t be alone to save his life.
“I’m taking the car… maybe I can convince him to come back if I let him drive.”
Keelan cocks his head to the side. “You’re going to let a fourteen-year-old drive your baby?”
I shrug. “He’s almost fifteen.”
He kisses his fingers and then presses them to my Mustang. “It was nice knowing you girl.”
“You’re so weird.” I pull the driver’s door open, slide in, and slam it shut.
He meets me at the window and gestures for me to roll it down.
“What?”
Leaning on the car, he motions toward the house, “Be honest. You like her?”
I shake my head. “No. I need her. To watch the hooligans. Those are two very different things.”
He purses his lips in thought before saying, “Cool! I was hoping you'd say that."
“Why?” I eye him suspiciously.
“Because–I invited her out tomorrow.”
My grip involuntarily tightens on the steering wheel. “Why the hell would you do that?”
He smiles, “Because Rina’s bringing a date to Izzy’s baby shower. And I’m not going without someone.”
“I don’t get it… you literally just said you’re not dating.”
“I’m not. It’s not a date. She’s helping me like she’s helping you.”
I shake my head. “You can’t hire my nanny, Landry. What the hell?”
“Relax,” he squeezes my arm. “I’ll have her back before curfew. And you just said you didn’t like her. Now, go. Get the raging teenager before he makes it to Ryker’s house.”
Our goalie, Ryker Balinger, and Keelan’s sister, Izzy, live in the same neighborhood as us. The same sister who has a baby shower tomorrow that I’ve politely declined attending since I have babies of my own to worry about these days.
Granted, their not actual babies, but they all sure act like it.