Chapter 13

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

“Am I seeing things?Or is that Trey Van Horn holding our daughter?” Andi Fletcher demanded of her husband.

Her tone was more bewildered than panicked, however. Not that Trey could blame her. Hell, he wasn’t even sure why he was toting her baby around. Except that Lily’s blue eyes had crinkled with pure delight when her father opened the door of his penthouse moments earlier. The little charmer had thrust out her arms in invitation and the next thing Trey knew, she was being passed from Dex’s arms into his. He carried her out onto the balcony overlooking Lake Michigan and settled into one of the sofas with Lily’s back resting on his thighs as though they’d assumed the pose dozens of times before.

From his seat on the opposite sofa, Luke Kessler draped an arm over his fiancée Summer’s shoulders. “The better question is what is QB One doing out of the film room? Training camp opens in two days and he still has a tan instead of that vampire pallor he gets from sitting in the dark breaking down plays. Could it be he’s slacking off from his pre-season preparations?”

“Maybe he’s pissed off the football gods and now he needs to sacrifice a small child to get his superpowers back,” Summer teased, her artist’s imagination working overtime, as usual.

Andi jerked forward in her seat.

“Relax,” Dex reassured his wife as he set a bottled water down on the table next to Trey. “My reflexes are much quicker than his.”

Trey snorted. “Like hell they are.”

As if he didn’t trust his own boast, Dex leaned his hip against the balustrade, creating a human barrier between Trey and the lake below. “Something is off with him though.”

“Yeah. Rumor has it he’s deviating from his iron-clad routine of no endorsement work during the season,” Kessler added. “Not only is he chairing the gala, but he’s promoting cheese.”

“No?” Summer pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s definitely a red flag. Everyone knows he doesn’t eat anything that tastes good. Maybe we should pinch him to make sure he’s the real Trey Van Horn.”

“Except the real Trey Van Horn is actually a robot,” Andi said with a smirk. “At least according to well-informed female sources. Pinching him wouldn’t prove anything.”

Trey made a noise deep in his throat. “You know I can hear you people, right?”

His so-called friends laughed. Lily kicked her chubby legs with abandon, adding her giggles to the mix.

“What happened? Did the heat and humidity in Palm Beach give you some sort of brain fart? You had to agree to any deal just to get out of there?” Kessler demanded.

“Nah.” Dex studied Trey. “It’s just a guess, but I believe our boy might be having an existential crisis.”

Screw this.

He didn’t come here so his brainiac kicker could spend the evening psychoanalyzing him. Luke was correct. His time would be better spent breaking down film. Trey stood so quickly, he had to rely on those quick reflexes of his to grab Lily and settle her on his shoulder. The baby chortled with glee.

Her mom, not so much.

“Give her to me,” Andi commanded, reaching for her daughter.

Trey was suddenly reluctant to part with the snuggly infant. He’d been feeling untethered for days now. Something about the adoration in Lily’s blue eyes grounded him. Andi was two seconds away from going Mama Bear, however, and, judging by her husband’s snarl, Trey didn’t have a choice.

The baby scrunched up her face in protest at being handed off. Fortunately, the pacifier her mother stuffed in Lily’s mouth immediately soothed her.

“Bath time,” Andi announced.

“I think I’ll tag along.” Summer stood, grabbing both women’s wine glasses and followed them into the penthouse. “I sense some team bonding is about to happen and I’d rather avoid the chest thumping.”

He moved to follow the ladies inside, but the stocky kicker blocked his path.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” The asshole had the balls to grin.

Trey’s only response was a glare.

Kessler chuckled. “I’m beginning to think QB One is a red-blooded human after all. And his altered state has been caused by a woman. This doesn’t have anything to do with your rescue of a pretty publicist, does it?”

Trey snapped his chin around, redirecting his scowl at the receiver.

“Huh,” Fletcher murmured. “Interesting.”

“Fuck you both,” Trey grumbled.

He turned and placed his palms on the balustrade. The cool stone beneath his skin did nothing to quiet the maelstrom of emotions churning within him. The sound of gulls dive-bombing the beach looking for their dinner filled his ears while his teammates remained blessedly silent. He could feel their eyes boring into his back, though.

Trey would never live it down if he admitted that part of their theory was true. He had taken the endorsement gig because of London. But not for the reasons they thought.

The two men behind him believed in the happy ever after hype. Hell, they were living and breathing it every day. If he revealed he’d taken the endorsement deal to help London, they’d wrongfully assume it was because he was in love with her.

He cared for her, yes. But if what he’d felt for her all those years ago had been love, he would have never left her sitting alone at that boathouse. He would have never believed the malicious gossip of a stranger. The truth was, he didn’t have the guts to really put his heart on the line. When the going got tough in romantic relationships, the Van Horns simply got going. End of story. Trey was incapable of the kind of loving commitments his two teammates enjoyed.

Not that they’d ever be able to understand that. But he’d have to give them something. His sudden departure from the structured way he lived his life was obviously causing talk. With training camp opening this week, Trey didn’t need anything interfering with the team’s preparation.

“London is a family friend.” He kept his gaze focused on the darkening shore so his astute friends wouldn’t see too much. “I’m doing her a favor.”

There was no possible way either man could unravel Trey’s explanation. Every word was true. The lie he didn’t want them to ferret out? He’d never devoted so much of his time fantasizing about any of his other “family friends.”

Hell, Bree was technically a family friend. And he hadn’t even given her a passing thought despite spending two weeks in bed with her at one time. Not only that but coming face-to-face with her again hadn’t registered any movement of his body—and she’d made it a point to display a lot of skin every time she was in his company last week.

His libido had been on to something, though. Bree had been using him to get the attention of some oil rich polo player from Quatar. She claimed to have some beachfront property she wanted to show him. More likely it was a private tour of her naked body she wanted to take the guy on, considering the way the two of them circled one another half the night at the Polo Club.

The only woman who continued to fascinate his libido every night was London. So he’d made up some lame excuse to drop by her office today. Only to find her in the arms of Bergeron. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she looked like she belonged there. Trey rubbed at a spot on his abruptly tight chest.

Even worse, Trey was such a tool, he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her. He had no right to her body. Not then and certainly not now. Yet he couldn’t help himself. Even if it was simply holding her hand. And he’d swear on his left testicle that she felt the same sizzle every time they came in contact. Only she was better at controlling her baser urges, apparently.

This was why he didn’t let his emotions get involved in his relationships. He didn’t have time for this shit. He’d dropped by Dex’s place tonight to refocus. To get his head back into football where it belonged. He needed to get smart and leave London to Bergeron.

Alek was a decent guy. From a normal, tight-knit family by the sounds of it. The hockey player had been given a rock-solid example of what commitment looked like. He could give London the fairy tale that Trey could not.

“London is good people.” Kessler’s words were unexpected.

Trey turned around to find both men staring at him defensively. He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“You know her?” he asked.

“Sure,” the wide receiver replied. “She’s been handling the PR for my dog adoption foundation for a few years now.”

“She promotes Andi’s shop, as well,” Fletcher added.

“Funny how she never mentioned knowing you.” Kessler was just as bad as Fletcher when he thought there was a puzzle to be solved.

“She never mentioned working with you either,” Trey replied, doing his best to throw his teammate off the scent. “But here we are.”

“Just friends, aye?” Fletcher had that dogged look in his eyes he normally aimed at his teenage Mathletes when they got out of line.

Trey sighed. “Yep. If you’re trying to get the deets on her love life, look in Alek Bergeron’s direction.”

“Bergeron?” Kessler cocked his head to the side. “Actually, that kind of works. They’d make a cute couple.”

It took some doing, but Trey managed not to flinch at the receiver’s comment.

Fletcher continued to stare down Trey. “Bergeron is a decent bloke.”

Trey was sure he was grinding his teeth into stumps. Lucky for him, the sound of his cellphone buzzing in his pocket put an end to the conversation. His pulse shot up when he saw his father’s name on the screen.

“Is there some place I can grab this call in private?”

Fletcher gestured to the glass door leading into his study.

“Dad. Where the hell have you been?” Trey demanded once he was alone.

“Wow. Good to hear from you, too, son.”

Trey swore violently. The guy was apparently fine. Especially if he was getting in a dig about Trey not using Jay’s first name.

“Excuse me if I was worried about you,” he said. “You’ve done some crazy shit in your life, but you’ve never skipped out in the middle of a major race.”

Jay sighed. “One of the crew had a health issue he needs to deal with. The sponsors have nothing to complain about. The yacht is still on track to win the Cup.”

“Would it have killed you to let someone know that? Marty probably set back his recovery by a month.”

“Marty is turning into an old lady. I had it handled. Besides, I know how you get when you’re headed into the football season. No distractions, remember?”

“Sure. Whatever.” Trey was pissed at having his words thrown back at him.

“Pops mentioned you’re throwing Kessler’s bachelor party at the lake. Maybe I’ll head back to the States and come hang out with you guys that weekend. Show you boys how it’s done.”

“Don’t you have another race to get ready for in September?”

“We’re finishing the prep work up as we speak. I’ll have plenty of time. I’m sure your planning will be well thought out, but everyone knows you’re not the party animal I am. I’ll bring the fun,” Jay announced.

Trey bit back a groan. That’s exactly what he was afraid of. The Growlers’ season opener was the Sunday following the bachelor weekend. The last thing anyone needed was Jay Van Horn enticing one of the guys to do something reckless and get injured. Everything was a party to Jay. Even his yacht races.

Trey would never do something as irresponsible as fly halfway around the world for a party while leaving his crew to get the boat ready to race. There was no way he would ever take the field without being totally prepared mentally and physically.

Not for the first time, he wondered how he and his dad could share the same genes. Hell, their physical appearance didn’t even match up. Where Trey was six foot three with broad shoulders and a square head, his father was four inches shorter, with a round face and a wiry body. Even their coloring was opposite. Trey had inherited his mother’s olive skin and dark hazel eyes. Jay, however, was blond and blue-eyed like Pops.

He shook his head at the mystery of genetics.

“Pops also mentioned you just got back from visiting your mother. How is Reese?”

Not this again.

“For crying out loud, why don’t you ask her yourself! I know you’re on speaking terms with at least one of your exes.”

Jay had the nerve to laugh. “Yeah, I read about you rescuing Kim’s daughter from death’s door. Kim is a good friend. Probably because she’s the only one of my exes who never took a dime from me. Hard for a man not to respect a woman like that.”

Say what?

He was letting that stunning revelation sink in when Jay continued.

“Glad you got to show off your human side after that ridiculous article that woman wrote. Although, it’s like I’ve been telling you for years, you’re too closed-off. You need to open up more. Women want to think they can fix you or they’ll move on. Stop giving the ladies material to roast you with when you walk away.”

Trey clenched his teeth. The last thing he needed right now was relationship advice from his old man.

“You’d be happier if instead of having a routine for everything, maybe go where life takes you once in a while,” Jay continued.

Like me,Trey inferred. Like Hell.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he lied.

Jay sighed. “Send me the details on the bachelor party. It’s always good to have an excuse to catch up with you and Pops. Besides, I need to meet this new wife of his. I’ll talk to you before then.”

It was just like Jay to drop a guilt bomb two seconds before he hung up.

Kessler stuck his head in. “Everything okay?”

Hell, no.

“Just Jay calling to say he’d be thrilled to come to the bachelor party.”

“Awesome! The weekend is going to be something.”

Trey bit back a snort. “Yep.”

He just hoped it wasn’t going to be something he would regret.