False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,50
I would skip practice, but she wasn’t. Plus, Nicole was there to keep an eye on her. I hated that Becca was hurt, but I sure as hell wasn’t hating the license it gave me to pamper her like I wanted. Soon, she would be better, and I would have to put the pseudo-big-brother line back in place.
Practice was grueling, but it went well. I didn’t have any missed routes. Thank God. We had another tough game this weekend, but luckily it was a home game. Home-field advantage was definitely a thing, especially in college football, and that went double for us because of VVU fans. A good player needed to be able to perform in any conditions, but I felt like I played better at home because I fed off the energy of the fans.
After practice, I filled in Wyatt and Jake on what had happened to Becca. “Make sure you tell your girls to lock up.”
“Fuck that,” Wyatt said. “Katie can stay with me until that asshole is caught.”
“Same for Rachel,” Jake said. “Do the police have any leads?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Becca’s dad is a cop back in Maryland, so he’s all over it. It was all I could do to stop him from driving down here last night.” I was actually flattered that he’d trusted me enough to stay put. Take care of our girl, Carson. As if I wasn’t already planning to do that. I wondered what he would think if he knew just how much I wanted to take care of her.
Christ. The man had a gun. As much as he liked me, I was sure he wouldn’t approve of me for his daughter.
“I wouldn’t blame him if he did,” Jake commented. “I’d do the same if something like that happened to Ash or Em.” Even though Jake had had custody of his siblings for months, I still wasn’t used to him playing the fatherly role. He would be the first to tell me it wasn’t like that, that he was still solidly their brother and not their parent, but I didn’t see it that way.
“It wasn’t targeted or anything,” I said. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. The cop thinks the guy was looking for signs of empty apartments, and Becca’s roommate had left a few hours earlier with a suitcase.”
Jake rubbed his chin. “I should probably tell the kids about this so they’ll take extra precautions, but they’ve already been hitting me up for a dog.”
“Dogs are good protection,” Wyatt said.
“I know, and they know that too. Trust me. They’ve already hit me up with a bulleted list of why we need one.” Jake sighed. “I swear I’m the one in charge of those girls and not the other way around.”
Laughing, I clapped him on the back. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I headed home, and as soon as I opened the door to my house, the smell of pizza hit me. Hell yeah. I’d bought chicken and other healthy shit at the store earlier, but that required cooking and frankly didn’t taste as good. I really needed to get my diet back in check. I didn’t plan to go all crazy with macrocounting ape shit like Wyatt had, but maybe not eat so much junk.
Tomorrow. I would start eating better tomorrow.
I spread my mouth into the smile that had once been called panty-dropping by a girl I’d dated. “Hello, ladies. Miss me?”
Nicole’s eyes widened a bit, making me realize she wasn’t used to guys flirting with her. I didn’t know her well, but she’d seemed like a good girl the night we’d all hung out. I’d thought something might be happening between her and Jimmy, but nope.
“Oh, were you gone?” Becca grinned. “I hadn’t even noticed my warden was missing.” Her accusatory gaze slid over to Nicole.
She put her hands up. “What can I say? He scares me a lot more than you do.” Yup. I definitely like her.
Becca crossed her arms. “I just wanted to go for a walk, not run a marathon.”
“You’re skinny but not light enough for me to carry your butt if you pass out.” Nicole looked at me for support, and I nodded in approval. Becca might be going stir-crazy, but it wouldn’t kill her to take it easy.
“Don’t worry, though. I can carry you,” I said with heroic flair. “Give me a minute to eat, and then we can walk.”
“There you go. Your knight in shining armor has arrived.” Nicole stood and gathered her