Page 119 of The Keeper

“Vincent.”

He gave me an exasperated look. “Don’t be dense. What the fuck is going on? Because let me tell you, it’s not fun when any one of the girls is upset. I have to hear about it all day and all night.”

“We got in a fight. That’s all.” I hadn’t told the guys about the custody suit. If I had trouble opening up about it with Carina, the person I felt most comfortable with, I definitely wasn’t baring my soul to the team. They meant well, and I was touched they’d gone to such lengths to support me in my time of need, but they weren’t exactly pillars of emotional maturity.

“A fight about what?” Vincent asked. I side-eyed him, and he held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I can take a hint.”

I returned my attention to my drink, my knuckles whitening around the glass. “How’s she doing?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself.

Talking about her was like ripping open a wound, but I’d been in the dark for days, and I was starved for any details about her.

“She’s…fine, but you’ll have to ask Asher for the details. He’s the one living with her.” Vincent’s mouth pursed. “You didn’t ask for my advice, but I’m going to give it to you anyway. Apologize. That’s it. Whatever you did, whatever you think is holding you back, just apologize and tell her how you feel. Otherwise, you’ll look back and kick yourself for waiting so long when you could’ve been together this entire time.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It never is until it is.”

I scowled. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Vincent clapped me on the back. “Just something to think about. And yes, I’m being selfish because I don’t want to hear Brooklyn cussing you out anymore, nor do I want to see you miserable all season. Can’t top the Premier League table when your keeper is moping by the net.”

“I’m not miserable, and I don’t mope,” I grumbled, but judging by his snort, we both knew that was a lie.

Thankfully, Adil interrupted us before Vincent could call me out. He breezed into the room carrying a giant box and wearing an equally giant grin. I hadn’t realized he’d left, and I definitely didn’t know where he got that box from.

“We have a present for you! Consider it a get-well-soon gift for your shoulder combined with a screw-the-tabloids-for-being-assholes gift.” He dropped the box at my feet with a heavy thud and beamed.

I eyed the box warily as the rest of the team gathered around me. Thoughts of Carina retreated behind a sudden fear of what ridiculous prank they might be pulling on me.

“You didn’t get me a stripper in a cake, did you?” I asked suspiciously.

Gallagher’s eyes lit up. “No, but what a great idea for a party.” He nudged Samson, our resident party host, who rolled his eyes.

At everyone’s urging, I unwrapped the gift paper and opened the box to unveil…

A piñata. A huge, multicolored piñata plastered with the logos of every tabloid that’d trashed me over the past month.

I blinked. “You got me a piñata as a get-well-soon gift when I have a shoulder injury?”

“It’s motivation for you to heal faster so you can swing at these bastards,” Adil explained, tapping one of the logos. “Trust me. It’s very cathartic. For even more motivation, we stuffed the piñata with secret gifts, but you won’t find out what they are until you break it. Don’t cheat and have someone else do it for you either, or I’ll find out.”

That wasn’t ominous at all.

However, I couldn’t look away from the piñata. It was the ugliest horse (donkey? unicorn?) I’d ever seen, but it was also strangely beautiful in its own way. The gift was so ridiculous yet so unmistakably Blackcastle that it was perfect.

“Thank you,” I said quietly. The strange tickle in my throat returned, and I didn’t dare move as chatter broke out again and everyone resumed their previous activities. Vincent left to take a call from Brooklyn while Adil chattered on about his vacation plans with Yasmin.

I’d played on the same team as these guys for years. We were a tight-knit club, and I’d gradually gotten closer to them over time. I even considered some of them friends. But I’d always held myself a step apart, observing their antics the way I observed a match on the pitch. Included, but separate. I didn’t offer to host book club meetings, and I didn’t actively participate in their group chat.

I’d thought that was enough, and I hadn’t asked for more. But in that moment, as I looked around at all the people who’d gathered here for me, I realized something had changed. For the first time since I joined Blackcastle, they felt like more than my teammates.

They felt like family.

CHAPTER 49

CARINA

“You need to get out of the house.”