The End Zone (Atlanta Lightning 2)

“Okay, that nickname has to go.”

“You know I’m using that all the time now, right?” West chimed in, earning the finger from me. “But back to the center for a minute. We should have a discussion when I get back. With Bobby’s home base being in London now, I imagine that will change things on the possible California office. I assume you’ll be in England more.”

Fuck. He was really determined to back me into a corner tonight, wasn’t he? I opened my mouth to respond, but Darren beat me to it. “Blah, blah. Work, blah, blah. There’s gotta be a rule against talking about this kinda stuff at your wedding.”

“You’ve gotten so boring in your old age,” I added.

“I get better with age, baby.” West grinned. I nodded in thanks to Darren for the subject change.

We chatted for a little while longer before continuing with the wedding activities.

Before I knew it, we were hugging West and Anson goodbye. They would be driven away to a hotel tonight, and then in the morning, they’d be leaving for Europe.

I went home alone to the apartment I’d rented for the next few weeks.

Chapter Two

Darren

“Hell yeah, motherfucker!” I said to Lee, my sister Mia’s fiancé, as the ball swooshed through the basket. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.” We were all at Mia’s place, and she had a full court in her backyard.

“Goddamn it!” Lee replied. “Why do you beat me at everything?”

“Because I beat everyone at everything. I’m a badass,” I teased.

“I hate you,” Mia replied. “Also, I kick your ass on the regular.” She did, the brat. But she was my sister, so I didn’t count that. I liked to see her do well and show everyone what was up. We gave each other shit all the time because that’s what siblings were supposed to do, but Mia was my favorite person in the world—her and my momma.

Mia’s happiness was important to me. We’d been through a lot of shit together growing up. Now we were fucking royalty—well, not sleeping with them, but basically royalty ourselves—Mia as one of the best agents in football, and me a top quarterback.

Mia was my ride or die, and I was glad she had Lee now. She’d been in love with Anson for years, but when he’d come out, she’d put her broken heart aside to help him through it. That was the kind of strong woman she was.

“I let you win,” I said, getting back to the conversation.

I never let her win shit. Mia was just good.

“You wish, little brother.”

I picked up my shirt and wiped the sweat off my face. “On that note, I’m out.”

She waggled her brows at me. “I see how you are.”

“Where you heading?” Lee asked.

“Home to clean up. Then I thought I’d stop by You Belong.” Anson and West had left for their honeymoon a few days before. I figured I could see how things were going or if Jeremy needed my help with anything, not that there was much I could do. I donated money, stopped by and talked about being a football player and stuff like that sometimes, but it was important to me to try. I hadn’t always been the best ally, something I didn’t realize until Anson came out. I hated to think of some of the things I said in the past, including carelessly throwing around the F-word. I was determined to do better.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Mia offered, and then I said my goodbyes and left her and Lee to play without me.

My house wasn’t too far from hers. I liked being close to my sister. My mom and my stepdad, Deon, were nearby as well. He and I were close. He was my father, not the sperm donor who’d knocked Momma up twice while lying to her face, letting her think we were a family. I hated that motherfucker for what he did. It was hard sometimes too because Momma was so good about giving us a choice, reminding us that she supported us if we chose to see him, because he was our blood. That meant something to us—more than it did to him. Less to me now than it used to, when I’d still tried to see him when I was a child. We weren’t the family he chose, though.

I pressed the code to open the gate. My house was the kind of place I could’ve only dreamed of living in as a kid, and young Darren would have seen the five-bedroom as a palace. Now it was my domain.

I took a quick shower, jerked off, then got dressed and made the drive into Atlanta proper. Traffic was shitty as always, and I cursed and groaned at myself for waiting until late afternoon to go. It was five by the time I made it to the center, and while Anson and West didn’t always keep set hours, for all I knew, Jeremy had left for the day. If he had, maybe Elias was around. He was my boy too.