That was good news. But walking in wet grass on crutches was a royal pain in the ass.
They squelched in the muck, getting stuck in the particularly squishy places. It had been about a week since the accident, so my armpits were toughening up. But I could have lived without the constant need to pry the rubber ends out of the wet soil.
Of course, I didn’t really need to be here, either. I could have stayed home.
My brothers and a handful of other Bailey relatives ran formations, practicing for the upcoming flag football season. Tilikum took its traditions seriously, and the annual flag football league was no exception. There had been a Bailey team since the beginning. The Havens had a team, too, the assholes. So did the Montgomerys, the Pines, and the Saxons. There was also the town team, for anyone who wanted to play who wasn’t related to one of the family teams. It had been that way for decades.
And I’d played every year since I was sixteen.
I fucking loved flag football. I loved sports in general, but football had that gladiatorial thing going for it. You couldn’t tackle anyone, which was kind of shitty, but chasing a guy down intent on subduing him—even if it was just by pulling a flag attached by Velcro—was pretty awesome.
And this year I couldn’t play.
Stupid broken leg.
They had Asher at quarterback, which was a good call. He had a crazy good arm. Evan and Logan were playing wide receiver, and Levi was lined up behind Asher as running back. We had some cousins on the line—big guys—along with a dude named Paul who’d married into the family. My cousin Gena was out there, too. She was a kick ass receiver.
Half the team was on the other side, playing defense for the scrimmage, and Jack had taken over for my great-uncle Wendell as coach. Jack wasn’t a Bailey, but Grace was now, and Jack was her stepdad, so we’d decided it counted.
I leaned on my crutches and watched Asher execute a play. He attempted a pass to Evan, but it was incomplete.
“You gotta get open if you’re going to run that one,” I called.
Evan glared at me. He probably growled, but he was too far away for me to hear him.
I’d come for the first practice of the season tonight because… well, because I was bored as fuck. I was on leave from work, so I had all kinds of free time. But I couldn’t do any of the cool shit I usually did. I was starting to realize that all my hobbies required two legs. Rock climbing, ice climbing, hiking, swimming in the river, jumping in the river, swimming in the lake, jumping in the lake, mountain biking, baseball, dirt bike riding, martial arts… and of course, flag football. Two-leg activities. And I only had one.
Could have been a lot worse, of course. I was going to heal. I just had to find something to do in the meantime.
Bored was not good for me. I tended to get into trouble when I was bored.
Jack’s wife, Naomi, walked onto the field with her son, Elijah. Naomi was Grace’s mom, which made her my brother’s mother-in-law. I wasn’t sure if that meant we were related now, but it was close enough. I’d grown up next door to her, so she was family either way.
I waved to her and Elijah. He was getting tall—hitting that first pubescent growth spurt. They waved back. Jack called for a water break, then walked over to kiss his wife and give Elijah a big hug.
They were such a cool family.
I moved over to a bench and eased myself down. Logan came over with a water bottle and sat next to me. His flannel shirt and lime green swim trunks were splattered with mud, as were his white tube socks and shoes.
“Hey, brofa.”
“Brofa?”
“Bro on a sofa.” He took a swig of water. “I know it’s a bench, but close enough. Are you pouting already?”
Logan had been out at the wildfire all week. Even once it had started raining, the crews had stayed to do spot checks and cleanup. I hadn’t seen him since the day of the accident.
“I’m not pouting.”
“Could have fooled me. Come on, it’s a broken leg. You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”
“Lucky would have been not getting hit by a car.”
“Fair point. Guess you used up all your luck out at the burn.”
He was probably right. Maybe I’d given some of my luck to Robby. That was a worthy sacrifice.
“What am I going to do for another five weeks? I can’t just sit around.”
“I thought it was seven more weeks in the cast.”
“Whatever. I’m a quick healer.”
“What’d you do the last time you broke something?”
“Last time they put me in one of those boots so I didn’t have crutches. I was on light duty at work so at least I had something to do.”
“See? Pouting.”
Fine, maybe I was pouting.
“Was that really Chief’s daughter who hit you?” he asked.
A vision ran through my mind. Me, lying on the pavement, looking up at a face. The most beautiful face I’d ever seen. For a second, I’d honestly wondered if I was dead. Light had framed her dark hair like a halo, and when she’d touched me, the pain had disappeared.
“Yeah, it was her.”
“You realize you’re going to have to give him shit about that, right?”
My mouth twitched in a grin. “Oh yeah.”
“Good. I was starting to think you were getting depressed or something.”
“I’m not depressed, I’m bored and my leg itches.” I paused for a moment. “She grew up hot.”
“Who?”
“Chief’s daughter.”
Because fuck, she really had. Unless I’d hit my head and that ethereal memory of her was a pain-induced fabrication. Long dark hair. Big brown eyes. Probably looked bananas in a bikini.
Or naked, but that was taking things a little too far, considering who she was.
He elbowed me. “Dude. Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t start that shit. Not with her.”
“I’m not starting anything.”
“You just said she grew up hot.”
“It’s just an observation. You saw her. She did grow up hot.”
“Yeah, I did, and you’re right, but you know you can’t chase her.”
“Who said I was going to chase her?”
He shook his head. “I know you love danger in all its forms, but use your brain. This one isn’t worth the risk.”
He was right. Even though she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid eyes on, Skylar Stanley was completely forbidden—to me and my brothers at least.
Not that Asher and Evan counted anymore. Asher was married, and he and Grace were pregnant with their first baby. Evan had gotten engaged to his girlfriend Fiona a couple of months ago. Baileys were dropping like flies, and I had no intention of being the next one.
And Chief’s daughter? I wasn’t stupid. Even I knew how big of a mistake it would be to go after Skylar Stanley.
Which, okay, made it really tempting.
But I wasn’t going succumb to that. There were plenty of girls in the world. I wouldn’t risk my career, or my relationship with Chief, over one of them.
“I know. Even I’m not that crazy.”
Jack called for the team to huddle up.
Logan got up and cast me a sidelong glance. “We’ll see.”