As soon as Gavin spotted Mick, he signaled him over.

“Sorry, ladies,” Gavin said. “I have some business to do with my brother tonight.”

“Oh. My. God,” the tall blonde said. “It’s Mick Riley the football player.”

The brunette standing next to the blonde sized Mick up with a head-to-toe glance, then offered up a sexy smile that said she was all his for the taking. A couple months ago he might have been interested. Now ... not so much.

“See you later,” Gavin said, taking his beer and moving to the other end of the bar, much to the disappointment of all the women, who pouted and flounced off.

“Hearts are breaking,” Mick said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Gavin took a seat. “Didn’t figure you for the sight-seeing type, but the view is nice, both outside and inside the bar.”

“What? You don’t want me to take you down the world’s crookedest street?”

Gavin smirked. “I’ll pass.”

“Good game today.”

“I would have sent you tickets.”

Mick laughed. “I see you play plenty. Caught some of the game on TV, though. Nice homer.”

Gavin grinned and tipped the bottle of beer to his lips. “Thanks. Your hometown fans didn’t seem to care too much for it, since it was the winning run.”

“San Francisco will get you next time.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

The hostess called them to their table, so they headed into the restaurant. Mick had asked for a booth with some privacy, so Casey had given them the small private room. After their waiter took their orders, he shut the door.

“We having a party here tonight? And if we are, please tell me those three gorgeous women we met in the bar earlier are somehow involved.”

Mick shook his head. “No, I just didn’t want to be overheard.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gavin laid his beer on the table and leaned forward. “If it’s illegal, immoral, and na**d women are involved, I’m all in.”

“It’s kind of serious, Gavin.”

His smile died. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?

“A few things. I really didn’t know who to talk to about this stuff.”

“Look, I realize I’m full of shit most of the time, Mick, but you know if you ever need me, I’m here to listen. No judgment.”

And that’s what he needed to hear. “It’s a lot of things. Tara and me, Liz, football.”

Gavin leaned back. “Start talkin’. You have me all night.”

Mick inhaled and blew out a breath. “I told Tara I was an alcoholic.”

Gavin’s eyebrows rose. “Really. So you trust her that much?”

“I do. Something happened with Nathan, and I wanted to show her, and him, what could happen if a kid got too involved with alcohol.”

Gavin leaned forward. “So wait. The kid knows, too?”

“Yeah. I took him to a meeting with me.”

“Jesus, Gavin. I can maybe understand you telling Tara. But the kid? You know how volatile they are. What if he spills? You’ve taken a lot of care to keep your secret out of the hands of the media.”

“I know. I don’t think Nathan will say anything. He understands it’s important to me to keep it a secret.”

Gavin snorted and took a long pull of his beer. “Yeah. Best intentions and all that. What if you dump his mother or hurt her in some way? You know the first thing he’s going to do is spread the word across the Internet that you’re a drunk.”

Mick shrugged. “I took the gamble. Now I have to trust them both.”

“Well, that’s your risk to take, I guess. Me, I don’t trust anybody. All my skeletons stay in the closet where they belong.”

“Hell, Gavin, you publicize all your skeletons. You’re the bad boy of baseball, and you love it that way. That’s why women flock to you like you’ve been sprayed with some kind of goddamned aphrodisiac.”

Gavin waggled his eyebrows. “What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

“Don’t make me sick before dinner, okay?”

“Hey, you’re the one who’s gone all one woman, so don’t blame me if you’re jealous.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe I invited you to dinner.”

“You can read all about me in the magazines, brother. And remember the good times you used to have.” Gavin grabbed his bottle and leaned back in his chair.

Mick laughed and shook his head. This was just what he needed. The playful teasing of his brother to help lighten his mood and lift some of the seriousness.

“Okay, so tell me what else, besides you vomiting up all your secrets to Tara and her kid. So things are serious between you two?”

“I don’t know. I think so. I might want them to be. I thought that’s where things were going.”

“But she pulled back?”

“No.”

“You pulled back?”

“No.”

Gavin laughed. “What the fuck, man? What’s going on then? Sounds like it’s all goin’ good. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know.” He leaned forward, clasped his hands together. “I’m scared, Gavin. What if I can’t do this?”

“You’re asking me about love and relationships? Maybe you should talk to Mom about that. I’ve never had a real relationship with a woman in my entire life. I don’t do girlfriends. You’re way ahead of the game as far as women and the commitment thing.”

Mick leaned back in his chair. “It’s just that I don’t know if I’m good long-term material. And then with the new season starting, I’m worried about my career.”

Gavin lifted his beer. “Aren’t we all. But I thought you were locked in to a contract?”

“I am. But that’s only as good as the last season and the current season. They’ve drafted a young hotshot with a rocket for an arm. And the kid they brought in a year ago is hungry.”

“So? That keeps you on your toes. And a team always has to have backup. I face the same thing in baseball. The farm clubs have kick-ass first basemen with stellar averages just waiting for me to f**k up or pull an injury. In sports you’re up one day and down the next. You know there are no guarantees and you can’t ride the high forever. At least you have the smarts and the business sense for backup when you’re done with the game, so you’re ahead of me on that.”

“If you’d paid attention in school, you’d have had the same thing.”

Gavin took a long pull of his beer. “Yeah, yeah. Now you sound like Mom.”

“You can still invest, start some business on the side, prepare for your own retirement. You aren’t getting any younger, you know.”

“Uh-huh. And we aren’t here to talk about me and my failings, are we?”

Mick sighed. “Fine.”

Gavin waved the bottle at him. “Look, Mick. You just have to enjoy the game while you have it. Play the best game you can, and stop worrying about the other shit you have no control over.”

“You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so messed up over all this bullshit. It just hit me all of a sudden. And then there’s Liz bombarding me by trying to throw women at me.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Mick laughed. “Right now it is a bad thing. She’s fighting me over Tara. She wants me to be seen with the latest actress or model and isn’t happy I’m with Tara.”

“Who gives a shit what Liz thinks?” Gavin finished his beer and set it aside, then signaled for their waiter, who brought him another beer and Mick another mineral water. After the waiter shut the door, Gavin leaned forward. “Look, Liz is great for our careers and rarely steers us wrong, but she’s a giant pain in the ass. A smokin’-hot pain in the ass with the best damn legs I’ve ever seen, and she makes us a ton of money. But if Tara’s who you want, then set Liz straight and don’t let her push you into doing something you don’t want to do.

“I’ve never known you to let anyone push you around, so what’s going on inside your head?”

“I don’t know.” Mick pulled a piece of bread from the basket in the center of the table and slathered it with butter, waving it around in his hand. “It’s like my whole life has changed in the past couple months, and I’m suddenly at a crossroads. I used to know exactly where my life was headed, and now I’m not sure anymore.”

Gavin grabbed the bread from Mick’s hands and shoved a bite into his mouth. He chewed for a few seconds, then said, “You’re in love, brother. It’s obvious. That has to be the only thing to mess you up this bad, because I’ve never seen you like this.”

Mick took a sip of water to coat his dry throat. “You think?”

“Well, I don’t know anything about love, but you’re all over the place with your thoughts and feelings. So yeah, you’re in love. And if this is what love does to a guy? I hope to hell it never happens to me, because dude, you are one fucked-up son of a bitch.”

“So what do I do?”

“Man up, suck it up, and deal with it. Look what you’ve been through in your life, Mick. You went through college as a drunk but still managed to fight it and get an NFL contract. You’ve been sober for all these years, and not once have you touched a drop of alcohol, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, so if you love Tara, then do something about it. If you decide you don’t, then cut her loose. Tell Liz to butt the hell out of your personal life and start telling her how to manage your goddamned career the way you want it managed. Just because you’re at a crossroads and some things in your life are changing doesn’t mean you need a drink to get through it. You haven’t needed one all these years, and you sure as hell don’t need one now.

“Sure, you’re thirty years old now. But I’ve never seen a guy work harder than you to stay in shape, so go out there, play football, and continue to enjoy the game. And don’t worry about losing your stamina or your mojo or whatever the f**k it is you’re worried about losing. When the time comes to step away, you’ll know it, and you’ll deal with it just like you’ve always dealt with things—head-on. A drink isn’t going to help you escape from the realities of your life, and you know that. You went down that road once, and you know how well that worked. Or didn’t work. But only you can make that choice. I can’t make it for you. So the decision is yours.”

The waiter brought their food, and Mick dug in and ate, pondering all Gavin had said to him.

“You sure grew up while I wasn’t looking.”

Gavin lifted his gaze from his plate. “No, I haven’t. I still party my ass off and see a different woman every week, just like I’ve been doing since I was sixteen years old.”

“You handle it. You have your career right where you want it and your priorities straight. You didn’t end up a drunk like me.”

“I had the benefit of an older brother who f**ked things up in a major way, so I got to learn from his mistakes.”

Gavin winked, and Mick laughed.

“I love you, asshole.”

Then Gavin laughed. “Right back at you, dickhead.”

EIGHTEEN

TARA WIGGLED IN HER SEAT, CAUGHT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT of the sold-out crowd. The stadium was packed, even though it was only the first preseason game. But San Francisco had come so close to winning the division championship last season, and the team looked to be even stronger this season with a few free agent signings that would bump up their defense.

And if she was thrilled to be there tonight, Nathan’s enthusiasm was off the charts, especially since Mick had gotten them seats on the fifty-yard line where the rest of the families of players sat. Nathan had been wide-eyed and taking it all in since they’d arrived a couple hours before game time, and he hadn’t been able to sit still, taking pictures and texting all his friends with the new phone he’d gotten for his birthday. Mick had gotten them an extra ticket so Nathan could bring his new friend, Bobby, another freshman football player and a really nice kid who was also thrilled to be at the game. The two of them had their heads huddled together pointing fingers, talking player stats and pretty much ignoring the fact that Tara was there.

Just as it should be.

She’d settled in, feeling somewhat conspicuous in the Riley number fourteen jersey Mick had given her, but also a little possessive and okay, just a touch warmed to be wearing his name and number on her back, especially since she was sitting with all the wives and girlfriends of the players.

“So, you’re Mick’s girl.”

She turned around and smiled at a cute brunette. “I don’t know about that, but yes, we’re dating.”

The woman held out her hand. “I’m Roseanne Lewis. My husband is Tommy Lewis, number seventy-two. He’s right tackle, offensive, and he’ll be protecting Mick’s butt tonight.”

Tara laughed and shook her hand. “Then thank you in advance for Tommy’s work.” Tara introduced Roseanne to Nathan and Bobby. Roseanne introduced her to the other women seated nearby.

“How long have you and Mick been together?”

That question had come from Sue Shore, a very pregnant adorable woman seated next to her, whose husband Derek was the kicker.

“We met earlier this summer.”

“We love Mick. He’s great with all our kids. He’s never seated a girl here with us before. His mom and dad have been here, and his brother a couple times, but never a girlfriend, so you’re a first.”