Page 79 of Game Plan
Yeah, me too kid, I thought.
"Time to go back to Mommy." I gave a kiss on her tiny forehead and carefully handed her back to Vera.
Brody handed me a coffee, which I thought was a pretty fair swap for his youngest kid. Maybe better, since coffee didn't have to have its dirty nappy changed.
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of chances to baby sit," Brody said.
"I thought you loved your kids," I said jokingly. "Leaving them with me might not end well."
Of course, that wasn't true at all, not so far. The kids liked me, for some reason, and we always had fun together. I was like the cool Uncle Conrad. My favourite part was handing them back at the end, exhausted and full of hotdogs and pizza.
"You're not getting out of it that easily," Vera growled playfully. Like the expert she was, she already had Emilie latched on and feeding. They both looked like they'd been doing it for months, not hours.
"Fine, I'm in." As long as I wasn't playing, training, watching plays, doing interviews or any of the gazillion other things I needed to do for work.
"Of course you are." Vera flashed a grin, then focused her attention on the baby.
"So," Brody said, in that way he had of starting a conversation when he was unsure of the outcome.
"So?" I prompted. "So what?"
"Your friend, Becca, has a blog," he said slowly.
My heart jumped at the mention of her name.
"Does she now?" I pretended not to look interested, but I was immediately on edge. Suspicious of anything she might have to say about me. I hadn't entirely ruled out the possibility she'd filmed us having sex.
"Yeah. Seems she's quit her job." Brody sipped his coffee and watched me over the top of the cup.
"Ah. Why would she do that?" I sipped my coffee like the cool, calm guy I pretended to be.
"You should probably read it for yourself," he said. "I've sent the link to your phone."
I nodded slowly and resisted the urge to rip my phone out of my pocket and look at it right now. "Thanks. I'll take a look if I have the time."
Brody nodded and shrugged one shoulder at the same time. "You don't seem too busy right now."
Shit. Talk about being called out. I thought quickly. "It's rude to look at your phone while visiting family in the hospital."
"Bullshit. I've seen you do it lots of times, Conrad," Vera said. "Evading isn't healthy, you know."
"It works on the field," I retorted. I was starting to feel cornered, and I didn't like it.
Vera shook her head and looked back down.
Brody gave me a glance and then sat on the bed beside his wife and baby.
"I'll, um, should go," I said. "I'll see you guys later. Congrats, she's super cute."
"Thanks, Conrad," Brody said over his shoulder.
I hurried out the door and down the corridor. I'd spent enough time in hospital with various injuries that I didn't like the place. Did anyone? It smelled of medicine and cleaning agents. And yeah, okay, it reminded me of sad times and pain.
I stepped out into the early May sunshine and let it warm my face. Autumn was my favourite season. Not just because the football season started up again, but because I loved the weather. Christmas stuff would be in the shops soon and everything would turn festive. Then it would be a new year…
Yeah, this line of thought was one hundred percent me putting off reading Becca's blog post.
Why should I read it, really? For all I know, she'd put the article up on there, even after I asked her—okaytoldher—not to. Even if that wasn't what she posted, it was none of my business now. Right?
