Page 119 of Game Misconduct

We’ve dedicated our lives to this sport. It fulfills us as much as it consumes us. I know I’m nearing the end, but I still can’t fathom actually walking away. Giving it all up.

He nods. “I’m not quite done yet. But I’m getting there. I want to be around to see my kids grow up.”

My eyes rush to Elsy. “Are you…?”

She nervously twirls her wedding band around her finger. “Not yet.”

“Yet.”

“We’re not trying, but we’re not not trying,” she says. “If it happens, we’ll be happy.”

Bex lets out a little squeal. “Oh, I’m so excited for you!”

“Well, nothing’s happening yet,” Elsy rushes to add. “But if you guys want to stay in Boston, we’ve talked about it, and, well, we’re not opposed to moving there too.”

“We want to be close to you,” Whitney adds. “So if Boston isn’t the right place, I’m open to elsewhere. Just… not so close to the parents.”

Bex laughs. “Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon.”

“Have you thought about what you want to do after?” I ask my once-rival turned future brother-in-law.

Elsy nudges her husband. “Tell him,” she hisses.

“I like the idea of a podcast,” Whitney finally says. “And if you maybe wanted to cohost with me…”

Hmm.

Now there’s an idea.

“I did study journalism in college…” My mind whirrs with possibilities—and logistics. “We’d need a producer. An editor. And someone to help market it…”

“But you’re interested?”

“Hell yeah. I’m definitely in.” Reaching over the table, I offer my hand, and he shakes it heartily.

“So we’re doing this,” Whitney says. “I guess you really can’t get rid of me now.”

“Don’t want to,” I tease. “You keep treating my best friend right, and we’ll have no issues.”

“Same. With you and Bex, I mean.”

My girlfriend grins at me. “Look at you two, getting along. Who’d have thought?”

“Certainly not me,” Elsy chimes in.

“Oh, fuck off,” Whitney says, rolling his eyes.

We make it through dinner without bloodshed, lingering over dessert until the waitstaff makes it clear we’ve overstayed our welcome.

Bex and I head back to the hotel, hand in hand. I’m eager to get her upstairs, to spend some quality time just the two of us, but when I see a cluster of my teammates in the hotel bar, and they summon us over, I know we’re not getting out of this.

Henry, Gonzo, Logan, and MacGregor sit at a table, each with a paperback in front of them. They didn’t even invite me to this meeting of our book club—how rude!

“Date night?” Henry asks with a cocky smirk.

“Seeing my brother,” Bex says.

His face falls. “Mine are shitheads. They won’t even call me back.”