I need to go back out there and be with Elijah before he leaves to rejoin the team, but I hate leaving my dad. He’s got his eyes closed, but I’m not sure if he’s resting or sleeping. My mom is in the corner, looking completely drained, but the crease between her eyes is gone. Still, she’s aged about five years in the last forty-eight hours. The doctor checked on Dad while Eli was at my place getting me clothes and officially confirmed we were—miraculously, as he called it—out of the woods. Dad would most likely make a full recovery. Well, as full as an ALS patient can make. His breathing ability had been on the decline before this happened. He was on the low end of normal, but at least he will get back to that level, which doesn’t require oxygen or machines.

I glance at the clock on the wall and his voice, gravelly but strong, interrupts my thoughts. “If you need to be somewhere, Little D, then go. Your job and your life are important too. I’m on the road to fine, so don’t let me mess things up.”

I smile at him. “I’m right where I need to be, Dad. But I have a friend who came to check on me, and he’s leaving soon, so I’m going to sneak out and say good-bye to him.”

I stand. My mom and dad are both intently focused on me now. “Enid, did she say ‘he’?”

My mom nods, biting back a smile. “She did, Randy. Her friend is a boy.”

“Honey, run home and get my shotgun from the hall closet, will you?” my dad jokes, and my mom snickers.

“I know you don’t own a shotgun, Dad.” I laugh. “And I know you have a few questions, like maybe a thousand or so, but right now is not the time for them.”

I walk toward the door and hear him say. “But I’m bored and I have all the time in the world right now.”

I laugh again. “Get better and get out of here. Your reward will be that you can give me the third degree.”

I glance out the door and see Eli standing in the hall outside the lounge. My mom also sees him and smiles. “Oh. He’s tall. And rugged-looking. Nice smile.”

“Wave him in here, Enid!” my dad demands.

“Family only in the ICU. Don’t piss off your nurses, Dad.” I start out the door. “I’ll be back. No wild parties while I’m gone.”

He chuckles a little at that, and I hate the way it makes the stuff in his lungs rattle. I march down the hall, take Elijah by the hand and without a word pull him around the corner to a little alcove with pay phones and a water fountain. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard and deep.

His hands press into my lower back, pulling me closer to his body. I started the kiss, but he’s instantly in control of it. The movement of his tongue, the press of his lips, everything exposes his hunger for me and my own fiery need for him explodes. I press my palms to the sides of his gorgeous face, scared he might pull away before I’m satiated…which may be never. I press my torso into his, relishing the hard delineation of the muscles in his abdomen and the growing fullness in his jeans. Finally, with a low moan he breaks the kiss. “If I don’t end this now, I’m going to end up in a room next to your dad being treated for blue balls.”

A laugh bursts from me, and I cover my mouth until it passes and is replaced by a smile. “It’s your fault. You brought me toothpaste and a toothbrush.”

“I should have brought you a condom too,” he retorts and winks at me. He runs a hand over the back of my head, stopping to cup my neck, tilting my face toward his. “Are you okay?”

“I will be because he will be,” I promise him. “Thank you for coming. I don’t know how you did it, but it means everything.”

“You mean everything to me,” he says in a quiet, firm voice. “I know it’s not ideal timing, and I’m working through my own stuff with a sports psychologist.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. Some incredibly good-looking, overbearing woman kind of forced me into it,” he kids with a cheeky grin. “But I thought you should know, even if the timing doesn’t work right now, I will be around when does. Because for maybe the first time in my life I’m serious about something, and it’s you.”

The desire inside me starts to flicker and reality seeps back in. “Who’s Julie?”

He laughs, which is not what I was expecting at all. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and goes through his contacts, pulling up one with that name. “You are Julie.”

I stare at the screen and it is my number under that name. “Dixie isn’t exactly a common name, and I didn’t want to risk someone seeing you call me or accidentally see one of our texts. Like the half-naked ones.”

A tidal wave of relief crests inside me. There’s no one else. I look up into those perfect green eyes. “Why Julie?”

He shrugs, a little bit of a sheepish expression covering his features. “I had a thing for the character Julie Taylor on Friday Night Lights when I was younger.”

“Oh my God! I had a thing for Eric Taylor!”

“Her dad?” His face contorts in disgust. “He’s like a hundred.”

“I’ve always been into older men,” I admit with a shrug, and then I wink at him. “You’re the exception, not the rule, boy toy.”

He grins and pulls me into him, holding me tight, and I cling to him just as fiercely. He gently pulls away, stopping to kiss my forehead, then claiming me in another kiss just as passionate as the last. I’m the one who breaks it this time, because if I don’t, I’ll have to find an empty room and fuck him senseless. “I wish I could take you home.”

“You need to focus on your dad.” He kisses my neck and then my cheek. I shiver with need. “And the fact is, we still have a big problem and no solution. So that’s our last kiss for a while.”

Right. The rules. Him or my career. The rock and the hard place.

His expression darkens, his smile fading and his mouth slipping into a serious line. “Remember, I’m not going anywhere. If you need me, I’m here.”

“Okay.”

He hugs me so hard he lifts me off my feet, and everything inside me feels warm and relaxed. He takes my hand and we leave the little alcove and walk to the elevators.

“So, am I listed under a fake name in your phone?” he asks as we wait.

“Yeah.”

The elevator arrives, and he steps inside next to an orderly and a doctor holding a chart. “Who?”

“Justin Bieber.”

His horrified face as the elevator doors close is priceless.

I walk back into my dad’s room, grinning, because I can’t wipe it off. He watches me intently as I plop down on a chair next to him. “Enid, honey, forget the shotgun. Any boy who makes my Little D smile like that is okay by me.”

That makes my grin grow. “He’s a good friend for now. That’s all.”

“Sweetie, we raised you not to lie,” my mom says in a serious tone with a giant smile.

I cover my face with my hands and laugh. “You guys, cut me some slack.”

“Okay, for now, but when I get home I’m going to grill you,” he warns and coughs again.

My mom stands. “I’m going to get you some fresh water.” She takes the small plastic cup with the lid off the tray beside his bed.

“Make it a beer.”

My mom chuckles as she heads out of the room. My dad is silent for a few minutes, with his eyes closed. I assume he’s drifting off, but then he says, “Dixie, honey, shouldn’t you be back at work?’

“I would only be getting back from the road trip this afternoon if I’d stayed there,” I explain and inch my chair closer so I can lean on the edge of his bed. “And I need to be here. If they don’t like it, they can fire me.”

“I don’t want you and Jude messing up your careers over me.” The guilt in his voice slices through me as if it’s a buck knife.

“Don’t worry about that. First of all, Jude is their top player. He can do virtually anything he wants,” I say. “Players would have to murder someone at center ice to get their hand slapped by the management.”

His blue eyes flare at that, because my bitterness is more than apparent. He moves, struggling a bit to pull himself up a little on his pillows. I reach for the remote and tap it, moving the top part of his bed up a bit. He smiles gratefully, but his expression quickly turns back to concern. “The players are the heroes, and you and the rest of the people behind the scenes are the unsung heroes. It’s the way it is in any sport. You knew that going in.”

“I did. But the team is owned by a woman, the most incredible businesswoman I’ve ever heard of, so I guess maybe I thought they would be different.” I sigh. “I’m just tired and cranky. It happens when your dad scares you to death.”

I smile at him, and he smiles back. “You know I’m just as proud of you as I am of Jude, right?”

“I know.”

He reaches out and puts his hand over mine on the edge of his bed. “I’m proud of all my kids for following their hearts and doing what they love. It wouldn’t matter if Jude was a fourth-line player on a farm team or if you were still an intern. If you’re giving it your all and passionate about what you do, that makes me proud.”

I nod and drop my other hand on top of his, sandwiching it between mine. His skin feels thin and his hand is cold. “I’m great at what I do.” I pause and find myself admitting to him something I haven’t even admitted to myself yet. “But I’m not sure I’m passionate about it anymore.”

Wow. It feels good to say that. I hadn’t realized how much this has been weighing on me until I finally said it out loud.

“Really?” my dad asks, obviously a little bit shocked.

“I went in there thinking I could change the culture,” I explain quietly. “And maybe I could, after a couple hundred more years. But now I feel like there’s things I’d have to give up that are worth more than the job, you know?”

I tilt my head to look right at him. He doesn’t look disappointed at all. He just nods and squeezes my hand under his. His grip is still strong and calms me. “Then move on. I want you to smile about your job the way you smile about that mystery boy.”

I laugh. “Is that your way of trying to get me to talk about him again?”

“Maybe.” He laughs and it turns into a cough.

“Rest, Daddy,” I command as my mom walks back into the room.

He has some of the water she brought him and closes his eyes. He starts to snore lightly, and a few minutes later Jude and Zoey appear at the door. I get up and offer Zoey my seat. She gives me a quick hug before sitting down.

Jude walks over and hugs Mom and whispers. “Everything good?”

“He still seems to be on the mend, thankfully,” Mom tells him. “Did you book your flight back to the team?”

“I leave tonight,” Jude says and he looks and sounds upset about it.

Mom pats his cheek. “Honey, he wants you to play. He’s out of the woods, and if that changes, I will call you immediately.”

“I know.” He still doesn’t seem convinced.

“I’m going to work tomorrow too,” I say to make him feel better. “I have a meeting at the ALS Foundation, and then I’ll spend the entire day in the office because he wants me to. You know how he hates disrupting our lives.”

He nods. I tell them I’m going to head home. Jude says he’ll walk me to the elevator. As soon as we’re out of the room he says, “So, Casco, huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, not right now, but yeah.” I try not to sound as awkward as I feel. My comfort zone around my brother is being annoying and bossy, not serious and vulnerable.

He pushes the button for the elevator and then leans against the wall across from it. His eyes land on mine. “You’ve got some pretty complicated choices to make.”

I nod. “I do.”

“Well, I just want you to know that I support you, no matter what.”

He’s being so damn sweet I can’t handle it. The last few days have been way too emotional already. So I give him my best smartass smile. “Good, because when it all goes to hell and I’m jobless and penniless, I am totally moving in with you. I can be a nanny for your little girl.”

The elevator doors open, and I jump in and hit the Close button, but I still hear him call out, “It’s a boy!”