Quarterback Keeper (Fall Lake Ballers #1)

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KYLIAN

I sat in the back row of my finance class, with Liam and Ares on either side of me, while the professor droned on about risk management. I was counting down the minutes for class to end so I could talk to them without the press of people all around us. I toyed with my pen, my laptop open to maintain the appearance of taking notes, but the class was a cakewalk for Ares and me. Liam struggled a little with it. I made a mental note to check in and see how he was doing later.

When we finally filed out of our last, packed class for the day, I took advantage of the buzz of conversation around us. On our walk through campus to football practice, I told them what was happening. It was time, and I needed them onboard.

“Gia and I had dinner with my mom last night.”

“How’s Evalyn?” Ares asked, and Liam glanced at me.

“She’s tired and looked like she was in pain. But once we shared our news, all that went away. It was like watching a weight lift off her shoulders.”

“What news?” Liam’s brows furrowed.

“Gia and I told her we’re engaged.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You just met the girl.”

Liam reared back, jostling our teammate, one of the defensive ends, who was taking up maximum space on his other side as we crossed the quad. He was in a boisterous conversation with whoever was on his far side, so I didn’t worry overmuch that we might be overheard.

“Isn’t it a little early to get engaged?” Ares took a calmer approach to the same response.

“Sure. If it were real.” I filled them in on how Gia and I met, the contract, and why the fake engagement helped me with my parents in vastly different ways.

“So Evalyn was happy about the news? She believed you?” Ares dropped his voice.

A genuine smile curved my mouth for the first time that day. “Mom likes Gia a lot. So, yeah. She believed us. I don’t know if it was the ring or how real it seemed between us, but she was thrilled, and the relief when she sagged into me was unreal. It had bothered her.”

“What? That you hadn’t settled down?”

“Yeah. She wished I would find the girl I wanted to marry. She worried I wouldn’t before she passed, especially given the limited time the doc had originally said she had left.”

“What do you mean originally?” Ares’s gaze sharpened, and I read the hope swirling in his topaz eyes.

“We don’t know. Hopefully, that’ll change with the new treatment. If we’re lucky, she’ll keep responding, but it’s not a guarantee.”

With that, we fell silent. The reality of what Mom faced—and what I would face in the wake of her passing—was depressing.

I felt off for the rest of the walk to practice, despite letting my friends in on what was going on in my life. It wasn’t until I was on the field, with the football in my hand, that some normalcy crept in. That was where I thrived. It always had been, and I knew without a doubt that football was the right career for me— if and when I entered the draft. The only problem was anything could happen—an injury or any number of things.

Ares, Liam, and the other receivers lined up, ready to run drills with me. Calvin, the backup quarterback, palmed a football as the second string prepared to do the same with him.

“Don’t get too comfortable, QB1.” Calvin’s grin was sly. He was an antagonistic fucker. “You can’t hold onto the starting position all year. As soon as you screw up, I’ll be on the field, securing the spot.”

I laughed. “You can try.” It wasn’t the way I should’ve responded. I needed to be a leader and teach him to read plays better. He sucked at spotting blitzes. If he weren’t such an evil asshole, I would’ve spent time with him and taught him. Instead, I regularly watched film with the third-string QB, a freshman. He had the right attitude, and I firmly believed he would take over my position next year. I did other things for him, like making sure the coach knew we watched film together, and he sometimes joined Ares, Liam, and me on our morning runs.

But I didn’t need to focus on that problem, or the bullshit Calvin would spew every chance he got. I could read him like a book. Something was eating at him. He was at his worst during those times. I had no idea how his cousin Maverick dealt with him, let alone defended him. I must be missing something about Calvin because Mav, aside from fighting Liam that one time, was a good guy.

I pushed everything from my mind as the quarterback coach called plays, tossing me the ball so I could execute them. While I did drills, everything felt right with my world. I just hoped it would stay that way.