The Trouble with You (Rixon Raiders 1)

“She has depression or some shit. I think having Xander screwed her up.”

“Jason,” I scolded, wishing I knew what had happened to him to make him so mean. “It’s more than that. Maybe if you weren’t so...” I let the words die on my tongue. I wasn’t here to argue with him. I just wanted to be there for Cameron.

“Go on, say it. You think I’m too invested in football to see what’s really going on here.”

“Aren’t you?” I clipped out.

“I... fuck.” Jason’s expression hardened but then softened when he let out an exasperated breath. “Something is really happening with his mom?”

I nodded. “I think so. He told me some things.”

“What things?” That got his attention.

I pressed my lips together in defiance. It wasn’t for me to reveal Cameron’s secrets.

“He never said anything to me,” Jason added when I didn’t offer an explanation.

“Are you sure? Maybe he was trying to tell you all along and you just weren’t listening?” My voice rose, the tension between us rising with it.

He dragged a hand through his unruly brown hair, his eyes darkening. “You should go after him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t think this means I’m cool with the two of you. I’m not. But if what you say is true, Chase needs someone right now, and I’m probably the last person he wants to see.”

“Jason,” I sighed. “You’re his best friend.”

“A pretty shit one at that,” he grumbled.

I was stunned speechless. Never once, had I heard Jason own up to his shortcomings. He was always so arrogant and cold. Infallible. Yet, he looked completely lost tonight; the fire in his eyes extinguished to nothing more than a dy

ing flame.

“He’ll come around,” I said without doubt. Because the bond between the three of them exceeded right and wrong, good and bad. They were brothers. Bound together by invisible threads I would never truly understand.

“Just tell him I’m sorry,” he said, and something passed between us. A mutual understanding I never thought we’d have. “Can you do that for me?”

Too choked to reply, I nodded.

“And Hailee?” He wasn’t done. “What Thatcher did; it went too far, and for that, I am sorry.”

I gaped at him unsure I was hearing correctly. This would forever go down as one of the most surreal moments of my life.

But I’d take it.

If it finally meant not being on the opposite side of the line from Jason, I’d take it.

Flick agreed to drop me off at Cameron’s house. The ride over was quiet. I was too lost in my thoughts to really answer any of her questions. And there were many. I was thinking about the strange conversation with Jason. Distracted by the apprehension churning through my stomach.

Eventually though, she’d shut up and accepted silence as the soundtrack for the short journey.

“Are you sure about this?” Flick finally said as we pulled up outside his house.

“No, but I have a really bad feeling.” Players didn’t just storm off the field without good reason, not Raiders. And especially not star wide receivers.

“Should I wait...”

“No,” I said. “I’ve got this.” Besides, if the worst-case scenario became reality, and Cameron slammed the door in my face, I wouldn’t want anyone to witness it.