Page 4 of Off Limits
The ball whooshes past my ear and bounces off the wall of the house. I glance down at my phone again. ‘Nah, this one looks real enough.’
It’s the first week in August and ninety-three degrees out. In the late afternoon sun, River rests her chin on her arms at the water’s edge. Then she runs her tongue across her retainer. I’ve just gotten the keys to this place this morning and already the brat is treating it like her own personal palace. ‘They prolly generated the picture using AI, idiot. But if it was real, like, would she pass the Mom test?’
I check out the picture one more time, then tuck my phone away in my pocket. It vibrates again. It’s not quit doing that since I moved here for pre-season training from Pennsylvania a month ago. The girl is cute for sure, but looks like she’s had a little work done, or maybe she’s just wearing too much makeup. Meaning, no, she wouldn’t pass Bridget Walsh’s unreasonably strict standards on who can, and cannot, date her son.
‘Prolly not,’ I mumble.
‘Because the answer is never yes!’ River declares, throwing herself backward in the pool waters and kicking up her legs violently. ‘No mortal is good enough for the King himself! Ugh!’
I rub my eyes, rolling out the tension in my shoulders. ‘Can you quit it with that?’
River treads water, wiping her face. ‘I’m so sorry, I failed to use your full title! Forgive me, oh mighty King Midas.’
I wince. I know she’s just trying to be funny, but whenever she uses her brotherly nickname for me, her words twist in my gut. Because that’s how my parents view me. That everything I touch turns to gold. In fact, the term ‘golden-boy’ gets thrown around a lot these days and I hate the implication, even if I did just sign a mega-bucks deal to star in the NFL.
As a kid, I was fast. Agile, too. Maybe that’s why I became a running back. I played college football on a scholarship for Penn State. Of the twenty-four running backs in the NFL Draft, I was the first-round pick, fourth overall, aged twenty-three. My agent and I discussed all the options on the table, with Mom and Dad in the room. We knew from the outset that the Mutineers were prepared to pay top dollar for me, were prepared to trade for me, and they were on our list of teams I wanted to play for. So here I am: the Canyon Mutineers’ newest running back, an offensive lineman. In a brand-new house, paid for wholly out of the money from my signing bonus.
But family matters to me. I wasn’t going to leave them all behind. So, they’ve uprooted their lives for me, even though it means River transferring high schools just prior to her senior year.
‘River!’ Mom’s voice cuts through the tranquil air of the back yard. ‘Sweetie, get outta that water! School starts in a matter of days, honey. We gotta stock up on supplies. And groceries.’
‘I can get groceries,’ I offer up with a wave of my hand, because it’s my new place and technically they’re my long-term guests, living in an annex off the main house, but sharing my kitchen. And right now, I got a brand-new double-door refrigerator with precisely fuck all in it.
‘Do you even know where the nearest store is?’ she asks as River heaves herself out of the pool and into my mom’s waiting towel. I didn’t even know we had towels.
‘I saw a few places on our way out here,’ I say with a shrug. ‘Shouldn’t be that big of a deal.’
‘Then buy something healthy. Not just bags of chips and peanut M&Ms. I know the way you like to shop, Jake Walsh. You wander aimlessly with a cart and pay no attention to what goes into it. I do not want to be eating Cheetos with cheese strings for dinner tonight.’
I give her a mock salute as River leaves wet footprints across the veranda. ‘Ay, Captain,’ I say, because she’s the kind of woman you don’t say no to, not if you can help it.
I go inside to get showered and changed. Ten minutes later, the doorbell sounds.
When I open it, two of my new teammates are standing there, side by side, wide grins on their faces, both wearing shorts and chequered shirts. One of them is the Mutineers’ captain and our quarterback, Dalton Briar. The other is our wide receiver and Dalton’s younger brother, Hudson Briar. I look up to these guys so much – even literally, Dalton is taller than me by a couple of inches, standing at six foot three. He’s broad, clean shaven, and the shining example of a legend in the game. While Hudson has a layer of stubble, wears a backwards cap and chews on a piece of gum.
Honestly, I’m surprised to see them here. ‘Hey, fellas,’ I say and we bump fists.
‘Hey, man,’ Hud says with a grin. ‘Do you not check your phone?’
I laugh, shaking my head. There’s a team WhatsApp group with, like, more than fifty members in it. Seems like its main function is so everybody can trash talk everybody else. ‘It was blowing up; I can’t keep track.’
‘That happens when you just signed for the best team in the NFL,’ Dalton says and Hud cocks his head to one side.
‘So, you’re gonna have to get used to the popularity,’ Hud adds.
‘You guys wanna come in for a beer?’ I ask.
Dalton holds up a plastic container. ‘Can’t. But thanks for the invite. We’re doin’ the rounds. Calling in on all the rookies. This is a housewarming gift from my wife, Ally. She baked you a cake.’
My eyes go wide. I take it from him. ‘Wow. That’s so nice of her. Please tell her I said thank you.’
River appears behind me in the doorway, her wet hair from the shower falling straight at her shoulders. Looking shy, she comes out onto the porch. I decide it’s best to introduce her before she can embarrass the hell out of me. ‘This is my sister, River,’ I say. ‘River, this is—’
‘I know who they are, idiot,’ she says, stepping forward and shaking their hands, the shy act not lasting very long. ‘Hi.’
‘You going to school here, River?’ Dalton asks.
‘Transferring in for my senior year,’ she confirms, making a look as though she’s gone loco.
