Dare To Play (Dare Nation #3) - Carly Phillips Page 0,11

his gaze.

“Okay, let’s have it.” Jaxon didn’t mean to sound glib but realized, based on his brother’s and sister’s expressions, that’s exactly how his statement had come out.

“Despite the fact that we discussed this at the party, let’s start with the obvious. What part of lie low do you not understand?” Austin asked.

“Oh, excuse me. Walking out onto my own driveway is a crime now,” he said, well and truly pissed off.

Austin closed his eyes and groaned. “You’re right. It’s not your fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a staple online, in the papers, and everywhere else. Not to mention you’ve now made Macy a target for unsavory gossip.”

Jaxon winced at that because it was true. Online celebrity sites had jumped all over the photos and were more interested in finding out who the woman he’d been with was, which put Macy directly in the spotlight. Something she probably didn’t need or want.

“Sit,” Bri said, glancing between her brothers.

Not wanting to piss his sister off further, Jaxon sat.

Leaning back against the sofa, he glanced at his brother and braced himself for whatever came next, but Austin had obviously calmed down. He walked over to the seat beside him and lowered himself onto the cushion, placing one arm on the back of the sofa.

“As your brother, I understand who you are and why you act the way you do.” Austin was fully aware of Jaxon’s past with Katie and always coming in behind both Austin and Damon because of his choice to play baseball, not football, and disappointing their father.

“But dammit, Jax, you have to grow up.” He held up a hand. “I’m not talking about getting caught on your driveway but brawling? You’re twenty-eight. Old enough to understand you’re nearing the end of your pitching career.”

Jaxon’s heart squeezed in his chest. “Ouch.”

His sibling was hitting on every insecurity he had about his past, old relationships, his job, his career, and his future. The things he partied and drank to avoid dwelling on.

He knew why he’d fallen into this lifestyle, and it wasn’t just the woman who’d walked out on him.

Though Jaxon had been fifteen when his father died, Jesse Prescott had been around long enough to have an impact. His asshole father had let him know in no uncertain terms, if he didn’t play football, he was useless and no woman would want him. After losing Katie, Jaxon had gone about proving his deceased old man wrong by letting any cleat chaser available into his bed.

Austin didn’t flinch at Jaxon’s reaction. “It’s my job to tell you the hard facts. I know you’re in the off-season, but if you want to retire in disgrace, you’re well on your way, because if the Eagles want you gone, no team is going to want to pay what’s left on your contract, and they’re not going to trade for a twenty-eight-year-old with Tommy John surgery two years ago. The reality is you’re too old for the partying and sex-with-groupies shit, too.”

“Hey! Macy isn’t a groupie!” Bri said, taking the words out of Jaxon’s mouth before he could say the same thing.

“You know what I mean,” Austin said. “Actually, this is worse, because Macy is a nice girl who probably didn’t expect her life to be turned upside down by sleeping with you.”

Jaxon dipped his head. “Yeah. Linc said the same thing,” he admitted, speaking of his best friend, his catcher, and a happily married family man who planned to retire at the end of next year when his contract expired.

Bri strode over and put a hand on his shoulder, offering sympathy. “I represent Linc, too, as you know. He gives me no trouble, he goes to work, does his job, and knows how to stay off ownership’s radar. Can’t you be more like Linc?”

Jaxon’s eyes opened wide. “You mean you want me to get married and settle down? Hell no. No female wants to live the kind of life a baseball player does. I’m constantly on the road and play one hundred and sixty-two games a year, excluding postseason. Not to mention the fact that I was once in a relationship, came damn close to having that married life, and learned it’s not in the cards.”

Austin groaned. “It is possible to live that life with the right woman. Look at Linc.”

“You two sound like parrots,” Jaxon muttered.

Austin went on. “You won’t be playing ball forever. You’ll be more settled. And you don’t want to be alone for the rest of