Cash didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t need to. She moved closer and touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”
His barely-there smile didn’t cover the hurt in his eyes.
“Anyway, Dad loves two things: football and women. When he wasn’t playing, he was playing. I had a lot of nannies and stepmoms…and nannies who became stepmoms. But none of them stayed. The only way to get his attention was football. The more I made him look good, the more he showed up for games. He got to have his legacy, and I got to pretend I had a dad.”
All Kenadi could picture was a young Cash with a broken heart having to earn love and attention. She wanted to punch Cash’s dad in the face.
She grabbed his beer bottle from him and took a sip before handing it back. “Your dad didn’t give you enough attention, and my mom gave me way too much.”
“Meaning?”
“I think my mom decided who she wanted me to be before I was even born. But despite all her efforts, I turned out to be everything she never wanted in a daughter.”
Cash draped his arm around her and pulled her into a side hug.
“Look at us, functioning despite our dysfunctional parents.”
“Except your functioning has a lot more zeros in the bank account than mine.”
Cash’s genuine grin took over his face just as the buzz of the intercom interrupted.
“Food’s here. Be right back.”
She watched him walk away in a strange sense of awe. Forget a heart of gold, his heart had to be made of diamond—unique and only beautiful through enduring pressure. She decided she was grateful he’d tackled her.
FIVE
Kenadi
“I HAVEN’T HAD a chance to really talk to you since the other night. What’s been going on?” Quentin questioned, crossing his arms as he leaned against the massive refrigerator.
Glancing out her brother’s massive kitchen window, she caught a glimpse of the pool. Cash’s face instantly popped into her mind. Dinner with Quentin and her future sister-in-law was usually something she looked forward to, but tonight, she was regretting turning down Cash’s offer to go to a concert instead.
“Oh, you know me...”
When it became clear she wasn’t going to elaborate, he chuckled.
“Sounds pleasantly vague.”
“And you sound like my big brother trying to be all up in my business.”
He held up his hands.
“I’m just a concerned sibling making sure my baby sis is actually getting out and having some fun.”
She was getting out all right. Her budding dating life, however, was not on the list of topics she wanted to discuss with him.
“I am. How about you?”
“Candice had a shoot out of town for a couple days, so I occupied my time by working out with a few of the guys this week.”
“How was it?”
Kenadi accepted the glass of sparkling water from Candice, watching the way Candice’s hand squeezed Quentin’s bicep as she passed. The tenderness between them made her heart ache a little.
Ugh. She wanted a man.
“Caleb is awesome to work with and an all-around nice guy anyone would want on their team. I’m hoping we find our rhythm and sync before the preseason.”
She made sure to keep her eyes focused on the bubbling water as she feigned nonchalance.
A change of subject would be good.
“And Cash?”
Quentin’s countenance shifted. “Cash has good instinct. But he walks around under this cloud of unearned hype because of his last name. He’s a bit too cocky if you ask me.”
Her head shot up. “You don’t even know him, Quentin!”
“And you do?”
Her brother stared at her in question. Candice stared at her in suspicion. Kenadi swallowed hard. She had never wanted an escape button as badly as she did right then.
“I’m just saying. I’ve never met a football player who wasn’t a little too cocky when it comes to playing…you included. Give him a chance or you might screw yourself out of a championship season before it even starts.”
“Cheers to that!” Candice raised her glass.
Questions still danced in Quentin’s eyes as he met his glass with theirs, but she was grateful to be done talking about Cash and Caleb.
“By the way, Mom said you’ve been avoiding her calls again.”
The mention of their mom popped the bubbles of gratitude.
“Of course I am. I don’t need the reminders of everything I’m doing wrong”
“So, is this a bad time to mention she and Dad are on their way?”
It was an ambush.
“What the heck, Quentin? Now I have to try to lose ten pounds in fifteen minutes in order