Kenan shrugs, adjusting the strap of his duffle as he stands by the locker room exit.
“If he doesn’t follow through on the threat,” Kenan says, “I will. You don’t talk about a teammate’s girl like that. That’s how you get your shit messed up.” He cocks one dark brow. “And it’s the quickest way to ruin a team’s chemistry. That I can’t have. Not in this locker room.”
Kenan would know. He’s still haunted by his ex’s affair with a teammate on his last squad. Valdez glances between the two of us, muttering and scowling, before stomping out of the locker room.
“Thanks for having my back,” I mumble, my hands stinging with the need to punch a hole through that son of a bitch.
“Nothing to it.” Kenan pauses. “But he might have a point. Chicks can make you believe anything when your dick is in their mouth.”
I wheel on him, angry words queued up and ready to slice.
“You better learn how to handle your shit better than that, Rook,” Kenan says calmly. He walks down the hall toward the exit, and I follow him. “If you can’t even take it from me, I’d hate to see you when we play Caleb and the Stingers on Thanksgiving Day.”
My anger ebbs as I realize he’s testing me, and I’m failing.
“You think there won’t be speculation when people find out you’re dating Caleb’s girl?”
“She’s not his girl.” She’s mine.
“She had his kid. I assume he’s still in their lives and supporting them financially.”
“He’s not.” The opposite actually, which I still don’t understand and Iris still won’t tell me. We reach the exit and head toward the parking lot of the training facility.
“For real?” He turns his lips down at the corners. “What’s that about?”
“I don’t know. She …”
Iris’s piece-of-shit car, the one we argued about this morning, is parked beside my truck. She’s leaning against the hood, watching us walk up.
“Speak of the devil,” Kenan says under his breath, then speaks loud enough for her to hear. ?
??Hey, Iris. Good to see you again.”
“Hi, Kenan.” She glances between the two of us quickly, biting her lip when she meets my eyes. “Hey, August.”
“When’s your cousin coming back in town?” Kenan asks before I can speak.
Iris and I both turn shocked looks on him. Since his wife showed her ass cheating on him and is putting him through hell in custody court, Kenan is notoriously gun-shy when it comes to women. I mean, I’m sure he’s getting ass somewhere. A baller bouncing from city to city—that’s not hard to do. But for him to ask about a girl? A real girl? Unusual.
“Um, you mean Lotus?” Iris asks, just to make sure.
“Yeah, I think that was her name.” He shrugs as if he’s not sure, except Kenan is always sure of everything.
“I guess … I’ll probably see her at Thanksgiving.”
“Cool,” he says with a nod.
“Should I, um, I don’t know,” Iris says, “tell her you said hi?”
“No.” He looks at her strangely. “Why would you do that?”
Iris and I exchange a look, and I give a subtle shake of my head, telling her not to try and figure out Kenan.
“I’ll see you on the plane tomorrow, Rook,” Kenan says, walking toward his truck. “Don’t be late.”
Once he’s gone, Iris and I stare down at the same patch of concrete. I assume she found out about the raise and is here to rip me a new one. What-the-hell-ever. There’s no way I’ll stand back and watch her struggle raising Sarai by herself on that measly paycheck.
“I got a raise today,” she finally says softly.