Traded

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as his thumb pressed the numbers on his cell phone, he knew he shouldn’t have made the call. Hang up now, stupid! his head screamed at his heart. This was one of those idiotic things Jake couldn’t stop himself from doing. He felt, at times, as if he were part of a train wreck.

He walked along the end zone as the phone rang, watching his team—his former team—practice. He loved the grunts, the whistles, the plays called, the sweat, the running, everything about the game. And he’d loved this team.

Two rings and no answer. Dammit, he didn’t want to leave another message, because he knew he was starting to sound pathetic. Three rings…

“Hey, Jake, wait up!” Glen Chalmer, the team physician who’d benched him, was jogging his way. Lean, middle aged, average, he was a man who wouldn’t stick out in any crowd—but he was also a d**k, considering he overlooked injuries all the time, all except Jake’s. For some reason, Glen had it in for him. It had to be that.

Four rings. “Hi, this is Jill. I can’t take your call. Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

Shit! He held up his hand and gave Glen his back. “Hey, Jill, this is Jake…” Crap, did his voice sound weak and pathetic? Of course she knew it was him. She was probably screening this call just like all the others he had made. “I know I said I’d give you some space, but I wanted to let you know I’m leaving tonight—for Arizona…Phoenix,” he said for emphasis, as if she didn’t have a clue where he was going or had missed all the other messages he’d left.

He took the phone and smacked it against his forehead a couple times, then noticed the doc frowning. Maybe Glen had picked up on how desperate he was sounding. “I hoped you’d call me back before now. It’s been…how long?” Twenty-six days and counting, and it was almost the end of the season. “I’d still love for you to come with me. So…call me.” He made himself hit the “End call” button and pocket his cell phone as he jammed his fingers through his thick, dark hair. He could feel the ends, longer than they should be, but he’d let it grow, stopped shaving. Stopped caring, really.

“Glen,” he bit out. He knew he sounded like a prick, but he didn’t care. Glen was the last person to whom he wanted to extend any bit of civility. He crossed his arms over his wide chest, his navy hoodie pulling against his back. He took a breath, puffing out his chest, letting Glen sweat just a bit at the sight of the pissed-off hulk of a guy staring back at him. Jake was big enough, strong enough, built enough that he could make a man nervous when he wanted. And right now, he just didn’t give a s**t about playing nice.

“Just wanted to see how you’re doing, how that last checkup went for you with the ortho specialist I sent you to,” Glen said.

See how he was doing, his a*s. Jake started to say something, then glanced up and away for a second. “Fine,” he said. “Take care, Glen. Got to go.”

He started to turn away when the man reached out and touched his arm. Seriously. Jake’s gaze went right there, to that light, slender hand on his bulging right bicep. He just stared at it with loathing, as if Glen had any hope in hell of holding him back.

Instead of using his words, as he knew Logan, his big brother, would have warned him—damn him, too, for being in his head—he reached down, lifted Glen’s hand from his arm, and took a step back.

Glen must have known that Jake wasn’t in a mood to be messed with, as he raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I can see you’re still a little upset. I’m sorry, Jake, but this is the business, and as the team physician, it’s up to me to make sure you’re okay. We’re a team here. Everyone gets injured, some worse than others. It just happened that your injuries were back to back. You pushed yourself too hard, didn’t let up. Listen, if you continue to push yourself, that knee injury won’t heal. Stick with your physio.”

The way he rattled it off, Jake wasn’t interested. In fact, he started away again, one step, two steps across the turf.

“Jake,” Glen called out.

He glanced over his shoulder at the team physician, who was wearing the same light khaki pants he always wore, the dark blue and white team jacket, the light green lettering with the Seahawks logo on the front. He wore it like he owned it as his hands rested on his hips.

“Your first stop tomorrow morning is at nine a.m. with the Cardinals’ physician. He’s expecting you. Don’t be late.”

Jake hesitated a second, giving his head a shake, then walked out of the stadium, feeling Glen’s eyes burning into him the entire time. He was very aware of his phone in his pocket and willed it to ring, ignoring that sinking feeling of losing his home, his team, and, worse than anything, the girl he loved. His bags were packed, and he thought of the airline ticket he had bought for Jill, knowing deep down that if he could just talk to her one more time, he really believed he could convince her that moving to Phoenix would be the best thing for both of them.